Showing Signs of Life

Although the Yankees lost their second consecutive game to the Boston Red Sox, the offense began showing signs of life today. First, new Yankee Travis Hafner belted a long solo home run into the Yankees bullpen, followed by new acquired Vernon Wells lining one out to the left field stands in the eighth inning. I understand that these runs mean nothing when the pitching surrenders seven runs, however you need to take small bites. This offense is certainly not news worthy by any stretch but when you have a group of new guys playing together for the first time, meshing takes some getting used to. Robinson Cano and Brett Gardner are the only players who played in last year's Opening Day and this year's Opening Day, meaning there were a lot of new faces in the lineup.

The pitching in tonight's game is something that needs to be discussed as Hiroki Kuroda left the game with a contusion in his right hand's middle finger after a Shane Victorino line drive hit the finger en route to center field. If Kuroda misses any amount of time, the Yankees are in trouble. With a struggling offense, the starting pitching was considered a strength before breaking camp. With Sabathia's dip in velocity and Kuroda's injury the Yankees have to pray that Kuroda's injury is insignificant, otherwise they need to scramble to find a formidable starting pitching to insert into the rotation. The age in the rotation is a red flag that adds to the worry of the state of the Yankees.

This will be a long season for the New York Yankees if they games like they played tonight are commonplace. The team is in desperate need of a spark, and I think that the loss of Swisher and the absence of Derek Jeter takes away from the team's character. I don't feel like I am watching the New York Yankees when I watch these first two games of the season.

Andy Pettitte will try to stop the Yankees' skid tomorrow night as the lefty will face Ryan Dempster in his Red Sox debut. Yankee Stadium has not been kind to Dempster who has awful career numbers at the Stadium. Hopefully, the trend continues tomorrow night.