Eiland working with Wang
Hello from the Trop. Good thing we’re under cover. It rained hard all day.
Tonight’s game is on My9, which usually means I don’t work. Today I’m at the Trop to finish up some interviews for a Jackie Robinson feature tomorrow — should be a good one; the pressure is on producer Jared Boshnack 🙂 — and to watch at least the beginning of what should be a great pitching matchup.
Just got back to the booth from the field. Flaherty bought dinner and made the independent decision to get me a grilled chicken sandwich. Nice move. He’s having the same thing. Kay and Cone are eating chicken tenders and fries.
Some notes:
Dave Eiland talked about Wang, saying he’s seen the same struggles and arm angle issues before — during the ’07 playoffs and during a brief period last year, before Wang got hurt.
Eiland said Wang looked strong in the bullpen, as late as 6:45 p.m. Monday. But, the stuff obviously didn’t translate into the game.
“He’s the one who has to do it,” Eiland said. “The player always has to do it.”
Eiland and Girardi met with Wang behind closed doors, probably talking about those things and also making sure Wang remains confident.
“It’s there; I’ve seen it,” Eiland said of Wang’s good stuff. “He just has to take it into a game. He’s going to get it. He’s going to get it because it’s there.”
All of that being said, the Yankees believed last night was a big start for Wang because they didn’t want his awful debut to carry over. That makes Wang’s next start really big, for his mechanics as well as his confidence.
Talked with Alex Rodriguez, who is at the game again tonight. He said he awoke with usual workout soreness but nothing that would be of any concern. He said Dr. Philipon was delighted to hear that. The rain changed Alex’s workout a bit, but not much, and he remains encouraged and upbeat. (His interest in the blog was minimal, though he did ask the name of it. He suggested I sign up Swisher for some sort of a role. Not an awful idea. Everyone wants a piece of Swisher these days.)
Hung out with Mariano for a while as the Rays took BP. Evan Longoria walked along the third base line and tipped his cap. Nice. Mariano appreciated that. It was funny to watch the Rays, especially Longoria, keep an eye on Mariano. He’s baseball royalty. Once Don Zimmer started motioning and yelling over, I knew I was done. Sure enough, Mariano went over to Zim, saying he loves him and had to say hello.
Gabe Kapler had an awesome response to being struck out by Swisher: He now has an answer when people ask him his most embarrassing moment. Also said he had no problem with Swisher’s wanting to keep the ball.
Joe Maddon marveled at that catch Upton made. (Who didn’t?) He said it was as technically perfect as it could have been. Maddon and Molina shared a nice moment during BP. There is much respect between the two, from their days with the Angels.
A long trip is a step closer to coming home. Kay says he’s already packed. Already a better start for the Yanks with Gardner getting a bloop hit.
The Kimberly Jones Blog 
Without a doubt Kim, you should get the Nickster to come and visit the blog and allow him to liven this place up, like only he can! 🙂
Wang was whacked no doubt but AJ took the sting away. What a game!!!!!! The Yankees Win…theeeeeee Yankeeeeeees Win!!! Wow
btw it was a team effort win. That’s what made it saaaaaweet. But it starts with pitching and boy did AJ pitch except for one hiccup inning.
Kay has got to leave the fried food alone. But his eating habits are very “different”.
Great Game last night. Hope Wang can get it together. Otherwise, Girardi is going to have to start looking outside the box to help preserve his pitchers which means he might be asking you to help pitch Kim !!
Kim, congrats for the top-10 debut in the MLBlogs Latest Leaders, our regular rankings of tens of thousands of baseball blogs by page views. Enjoying your posts!
Mark/MLB.com
http://mlblogs.mlblogs.com
hey Kim,
Great game last night! now that i’m living out of the NY/NJ area, I depend upon your interviews and posts, thanks goodness for having an mlb acct. so keep them coming, i too enjoy the posts.
What a game, and next to 6 no-hit innings from AJ my favorite part was Gardner’s 2 doubles! He absolutely burned Crawford and Upton for playing so in on him! it was almost as if he was hoping to get something away that he could drive over Crawford’s head on that first one. Most of all, it looks like he’ll start hitting with a little more authority and that’s needed it Pena or Ransom is going to play 3rd.
Burnett was spot on last night. He’s living up to the billing and his big $ contract. It’s unfortunate that Nady seems to be suffering from some elbow issues & now learning he’ll have perhaps a season-ending injury, with that being said, it may just be a “blessing in disguise”. You never wish for a starting player to be out of the line up due to injury & weakening the bench to a lesser degree, especially a player from your own team but this will allow Swisher to be the everyday right fielder and keep his bat in the lineup. As I listen to WFAN and reading some of the comments from other boards regarding Wang, I think people are too overly concerned with his 2 starts being that it’s so early in the season. If you look around the league there are several other high brand names such as Dice-K, Tim Linescum, Cliff Lee & a couple of others who are also having their early struggles. There’s cause to be somewhat concerned maybe more to do with his confidence level but sending him down to the minors and bringing up a Hughes or Kennedy really wouldn’t be a benefit. I mean who’s to say that they’ll do much better. Bringing them up where they may get knocked around a little may add another blow to their confidence level as well. It’s a marathon people and not a sprint, as the “cliche” goes..hahaha. Wang will eventually get back into form and work himself out (we all hope). Looking forward to the home opener..the schedule makers whoever they might be should be tied up and whipped with a wet noodle for scheduling their home opener so far out!..hahaha. Thank goodness I ate before reading this latest blog entry! d;]
After seeing the start Nick Swisher has had, I suggested red Bulls for our 12yr old little league team and wouldn’t ya know it, we won 12-3. Stuff really works!!! All kidding aside, this is NOT the stuff you want young players to be drinking, perhaps Nick can put that stuff in a unlabeled bottle?
I too agree that “Red Bull” is not necessarily the best drink for younger kids of any age or even for most adults imo. It’s marketed as an energy drink..hahaha..like kids need an added boost in that dept..most sugar drinks could all be labeled as such. On a different topic, All the A-Rod haters need to get a grip also..steroids do not make you a better hitter since hitting & fielding is an eye-hand coordination skill..& A-Rod has always had that God given gift’n’talent. Roids may make you stronger & hit/throw the ball a little further/harder & faster recovery time from working out but it does not give you the ability to super naturally hit a baseball. People who make the claims it’s “cheating” may be right in one aspect, in that, they are cheating their own health but to play a game and put up #’s is far from the truth. Just the fact it’s A-Rod is more about envy/jealously or of his personality & ‘cos of which the lifestyle he’s able to live/afford for playing a game that some of all wish we could be apart of & dreamt of as a kid. He’s a great ball player and when all is said and done he will make the Hall ‘cos roids or not he can still hit the ball regardless of how far it travels. Hope he comes back & makes a huge contribution to the team & he is a large part of it like it or not.