Burnett Works On the Change, Yanks Lose Again

(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darren Calabrese)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Toronto	0	2	0	0	5	0	2	0	0		9	18	2
NY Yankees	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0		1	6	1

WP: S. Marcum (1-0)
LP: A.J. Burnett (0-1)

I know I'm not supposed to care about winning and losing in spring training, and I really don't, but it still pisses me off when I see the Yankees losing. I just don't like seeing it. But, unlike the regular season when losses will linger for hours, and sometimes until the next game, I get over these in a matter of seconds.

There were two stories from today's game: 1) A.J. Burnett had his first shot at working on his changeup in a game scenario. 2) Francisco Cervelli was plunked on the noggin and had to leave the game with a concussion. Let's begin with Burnett...

The right-hander allowed two runs on five hits and a walk in just 1.2 innings of work, but that's not really important. What is important is that of his 36 pitches, around 10 were changeups and he and Posada felt good about them. Here's some quotes via Mark Feinsand, Bryan Hoch, and Marc Carig. We'll start off with his catcher, Jorge Posada:

"His changeup was good. He was finishing them good and I thought he did a great job with it," Posada said. "I think it's going to be a good pitch. It looks like it's going to be a swing-and-miss pitch. Having a third pitch is going to be important for him. Now is the perfect time for him to use it, and to be comfortable (for me) to call it and use it."

"He's an overpowering fastball guy, and we can't get away from that," Posada said. "But having a third pitch is going to make him keep the hitters off balance. That's the biggest thing. We're not going to stay away from his fastball and his curveball. That's his bread and butter.

"It could be effective. We've just got to make sure that it's down. ... It's like a BP two-seamer. It's going to be 90, 91 miles an hour, five to six miles per hour less than his fastball. That's all that we really want."

And the man himself:

"When I'm throwing it right, I get [split-finger action], straight down," Burnett said. "I don't have to worry about velocity when I've got that kind of action to it. It's about confidence and not being stubborn, and pitching, not throwing."

"I don’t feel like I’ve had the success that I should have," Burnett said on Saturday.... "I’m a .500 pitcher and there’s a reason behind that."

"I know I’ve battled injuries in the past, but over three-quarters of my career I’m a two-pitch pitcher, so there’s got to be some theory behind it," Burnett said. "Why not learn another pitch? It’s only going to help."

And his manger:

"A.J. was just working on arm strength today," Girardi said. "He threw only fastballs and changeups. He threw some good changeups today. He did what he wanted to do and what we wanted him to do."

Regarding Cervelli, after being hit in the third inning he was taken to the hospital after the game for a CT scan, which came back negative, and he said he expects to return to the lineup in a few days. However, as you might expect, Joe Girardi is going to be a little more cautious.

"I'm not going to rush it," Girardi said after the game. "It's a concern. Anytime you start to talk about injuries to the head like that, you're concerned about it. He's feeling OK now, but you worry about it. It's scary."

This is also not his first concussion this year. He suffered a similar injury during winter ball in Venezuela when he was hit in the head by a batters backswing, so it's smart to take it slow at this point. He'll be fine for the regular season and that's what matters.

It's worth mentioning that Jason Hirsh hit Toronto's Jesus Merchan in the ninth. Was it on purpose? I'm not sure, but it was a first-pitch fastball with two outs, and Hirsh is probably trying to open some eyes this spring, so yea it probably was.

Not much to talk about offensively. The Yankees only score one run, which was brought home by Ramiro Pena with a fielder's choice in the third scoring Austin Romine who had previous singled.. No Yankee had more than one hit, and Curtis Granderson remains hitless for the spring.

On the mound it was another rough day for Jonathan Albaladejo, who gave up another five runs in just one-third of an inning. His ERA is now at 198.00 for the spring. Maybe he should gain that weight back.

Andrew Brackman struggled in his spring debut, allowed two runs on three hits in his inning of work.

On the positive side, Boone Logan had another nice outing, holding Toronto batters hitless for two innings and strike out two. And Mark Melancon also had a good day, throwing 1.2 innings of shutout ball. Romulo Sanchez and Jason Hirsh also threw scoreless innings.

The Boss also visited his field today and sat with Mr. October to take in the action.

YANKEES BOX

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.143
Corona, SS	3	0	1	0	0	1	2	.143
Granderson, CF	2	0	0	0	1	1	1	.000
Hoffmann, CF	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.143
Posada, C	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000
Pilittere, C	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000
Rodriguez, A, 3B	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	.200
Laird, 3B	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	.500
Winn, RF	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000
Winfree, RF	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	.200
Gardner, LF	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.000
Curtis, LF	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	.600
Cervelli, DH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.667
1-Romine, Au, PR-DH	3	1	1	0	0	0	5	.250
Miranda, 1B	2	0	1	0	0	0	2	.286
Vazquez, Jo, 1B	2	0	0	0	0	0	5	.200
Pena, R, 2B	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	.200
Russo, 2B	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	.500
Totals	32	1	6	1	6	4	25
1-Ran for Cervelli in the 3rd.
BATTING 2B: Curtis (1, Register). TB: Corona; Laird; Curtis 2; Romine, Au; Miranda; Russo. RBI: Pena, R (2). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Posada; Miranda 2; Vazquez, Jo. GIDP: Gardner; Corona; Vazquez, Jo. Team RISP: 1-for-9. Team LOB: 11. BASERUNNING SB: Pena, R (1, 2nd base off Zinicola/Molina, J). FIELDING E: Corona (1, throw). DP: (Miranda).

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Burnett, A (L, 0-1)	1.2	5	2	2	1	0	0	10.80
Sanit	0.1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Logan	2.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
Albaladejo	0.1	7	5	5	1	0	1	189.00
Melancon	1.2	1	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Brackman	1.0	3	2	2	0	0	1	18.00
Sanchez, Ro	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	5.40
Hirsh	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00

BLUE JAYS STATS

Tomorrow's Game

The Yankees head to Fort Myers to take on the Minnesota Twins tomorrow afternoon at 1:05 p.m. Sergio Mitre will make his second appearance for the Yankees this spring. Chad Gaudin, who is also in the running for the fifth starters spot, will also pitch for the Yankees. Scott Baker gets the start for the Twins. The game will not be televised.