Curtis Granderson is making Yankee fans quickly forget all about Johnny Damon. That home run he hit off of Papelbon had some legs behind it. Curtis isn't a big guy. From watching his swing, I can see that he moves his hips quickly and gets the barrel of the bat around fast. He isn't going to hit many opposite-field home runs, but he's going to feed off of that short-porch in right.
What is encouraging to me as a Yankee fan is that our 2-4 hitters (Johnson, Teixeira, Rodriguez) really haven't gotten going. Once Johnson starts hitting and drawing more walks and when Mark and Alex get into the rhythm of the game, we're going to score a lot of runs. I love Johnson's OBP. It tells me that A-Rod and Tex won't be hitting many solo-shots this year.
We've gotten a lot of contribution from Yankee veterans, Jeter and Posada. I was worried about the possibility of decline for Jorge, and aside from his horrid base-running, he's been spectacular. To my surprise, Mr. Brett Gardner is already proving the doubters wrong. He's playing fairly good defense in left, hitting well, and when he gets on base, pitchers need to play close attention. The kid is going to steal 50 bases this year. He's fast. Did you see how many times they threw to first when he was on? I think it was around 10 times. He still stole the base.
Chan Ho Park redeemed himself on Wednesday, pitching three great innings. Mariano was his normal self. Does he age? I'm not entirely sure. He has two saves already. I can't wait for the count-down to him breaking the record next year. You're watching the greatest of all-time every time he comes out. Pettitte was great, which encouraged me. Burnett has nasty stuff and the potential to carry the staff. CC had a rough outing, but if you think he won't show up, you're a fool. Vasquez pitches next. Can't wait for that. Hughes might surprise some people. Hope they don't restrict him so much like Joba.
Our question mark is still the bullpen, or maybe the back end of the rotation. But when you're most concerned about Vasquez and Hughes or Aceves, Park, Chamberlin and Marte, I think you don't have much to be concerned about.
I just have to feel like the Yankees are on their way to another division crown. The team is stacked, and I think that the Red Sox offense may have out-done themselves slightly this opening weekend. I'm still of the mindset that if they don't add a bat, say an Adam Dunn, then they're going to run into issues toward the end of the season. Of course, their woes would be gone if Papi could find his swing, but no one knows if it's coming this year. He got good pitches to hit that he would have jacked 500 feet two or three years ago, but he's just hitting ground balls into the shift and soft flies to Nick Swisher. That rotation is straight-up stacked 1-2-3, though. They're always going to be dangerous.
