Afternoon Baseball

Yes, a terrible headline.
But Chase Wright proved to be just as mediocre as Jaret Wright, minus several million dollars and exceeding expectations rather than provoking fear. Also, this Wright doesn't constantly get batted balls smacked off of him.
This is how the Yankees have to win for now: Hit enough, hope the pitching is a shade better than terrible and overcome the defense. It's also, unfortunately, the game plan of the 1996-2007 Texas Rangers and the 2004-2006 Yankees. It'll get you only so far.

But enough doom and gloom. The happy-haps tonight? Alex Rodriguez hit another home run, and as a Yankee fan and first-place fantasy team owner, I couldn't be prouder. Now, of course, it's still early, and he's had "redemption" before, but he's playing as if he realizes all he can control is on the field. And fans, for now, are realizing that they have to accept what he is, and if they can't, it's on them. (I'm heavily backlinking myself, I know. Sorry.)

The other happy news is the most-underrated catcher of the young century, Jorge Posada, and his flying-high start (.364/.408/.568, 2 HR, 11 RBI in 12 games). Last year, he started off at .288/.395/.452 and had an excellent year. In 2005, when he had somewhat of a down year, he started .244/.330/.333, although both years saw a powerful May. In '04, April was .300/.434/.683 with a strong-average, low-power May. Not a lot to go on, but I've a hunch that this is going to be a good year for Posada.

Labels: A-Rod, Baseball, Yankees