Shelley Duncan

After winning in dramatic fashion on Thursday afternoon on a walkoff two run homer by Jason Giambi, the Yankees hoped to take that momentum into tonight's game. Tonight wasn't the night as Royals rookie pitcher, Kyle Davies, pitched a gem, scattering only one run and seven hits over a well pitched 6 2/3 innings.  Davies earned the win as he rendered trhe Yankee bats quiet. Davies was called up from Triple A last Saturday. He proceeded to defeat the Indians' C.C Sabathia in snapping the Royals 12 game losing streak. Tonight he snapped the Royals 11 game road losing streak by mixing up his pitches, attacking the strike zone early and often and keeping the Yankees hitters off balanced and guessing.

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After last night's disaster in Joba Chamberlain's first career start, things were back to normal tonight for the Yankees as they didn't have to deal with the media circus.

 Mike Mussina took the ball looking to get the Yankees back on track by ending their three-game losing streak.  He did so, pitching six effective innings and earning the win.  The win was number nine for Mussina, which ties him for the league lead. Mussina, whose loss of velocity has been well documented this season, kept the Bluejays hitters off balanced with an array of different offspeed pitches and a fastball which sported impressive late movement.  One night after Chamberlain went 2.1 innings in his first start, the Yankees were in need of a good start to give the bullpen a bit of a breather and Mussina provided that.

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However, when Shelley Duncan slid into second base with his spikes high, that is just plain dirty and something that is unacceptable at anytime in the season. The home plate collision was a young kid trying to make a play, done with no malicious intent. Sliding into a base with your spikes in the air can only be seen as trying to injure another player.

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You've got to think that Shelley Duncan will be back on the big squad. He hit 7 HRs in 74 ABs last year and became a fan favorite. Everyone loves Shelley, right? He's tearing it up this spring, with three doubles, two homers, a team-leading 9 RBI and a .500 average in 16 ABs. He bats right and he can also play rightfield. That mean he can occasionally spell either Giambi or Abreu. (And those are both tough to spell!) Unfortunately, Shelley has iron hands. I watched five minutes of the Yankee game on Saturday and saw him botch a routine play. The announcers blame it on inexperience, but I don't get that. Hasn't this guy been playing first base since he was 8 years old?

Continue reading "Yankees' Spring Game: Who's On First?"