Yanks' Bullpen Good?

Here's a pretty good blog post from the NY Times' Tyler Kepner making the case that the Bombers' pen might actually be starting to come together. Frankly, with the return of Bruney (and did he lose even more weight since he left?) last night, and with some great young arms in the minors, I think the bullpen will end the season as a strength. We just need more consistency from our starters. Outside of Sabathia, you don't know what you're gonna get from a Yankee starter from one game to the next.

The other 5 look this way to me right now: I expect Joba to bounce back off his last start and be good this year. Pettitte's gonna struggle, but still be a good 5th man. I don't know what I'm gonna get from Burnett day-to-day, but I expect mostly dominant starts sprinkled with a few disasters. I have complete faith that Hughes is going to be a front of the rotation guy down the line, but can he do it this year if Wang falters? And, what about Wang?

No, seriously. WHAT THE F**K ABOUT WANG?!?!

We'll have to wait and see.

Game 15 - YANKEES 5, Rays 3

Yesterday was Jackie Robinson Day throughout Major League Baseball, and every one of the Rays wore number 42 to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the day Jackie broke the color barrier in baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Then, just like the Brooklyn Dodgers, they went out and lost to the Yankees.

It looks like everything is starting to fall into place with the team. The hitters seem to be getting into a rhythm. Pettitte's rounding into form. Except for a few notable exceptions, the bullpens done pretty well, too. So, we'll see if they can maintain a little momentum tonight and tomorrow against the Hated Red Sox when Chien Ming Wang takes the hill to try and shut the Sawx down twice in one week.

Speaking of Wanger, there's a really great piece on what a huge phenomenon he is in his native Taiwan over at SI.com. He's literally the most famous and most popular person in the country, and they say his pitching performance even effects their stock market. Great stuff.

Below is a picture of the Yankees' own #42 after closing out the game last night. The last active player to wear it, and, in my mind, he beats Jackie out as the best to ever wear it, Mr. Mariano Rivera:

Game 6 - YANKEES 2, Rays 0

I don't have much time to write too much about yesterday's game. I did, however, actually put some time into the drawing today. Bottom line is Wang was great, Hideki got his first HR, Cano made a HELL of a play at second, and what the NY Post is calling JO-MO were fantastic and are going to be bowlfuls of fun to watch this year. It's good to see Wanger get off to a great start after his lousy postseason and poor spring training. It'll be interesting to see his performance Friday night in Fenway.

I'll leave you with a pen and ink sketch of Wang and Hideki for your Monday viewing pleasure.