The Series Ahead: Yankees vs. White Sox

Yankees - White Sox
@ Yankee Stadium
(three games)

There were points on the last road trip where the Yankees really didn't look good, but five out of nine on a trip that takes you from Oakland to Anaheim to Baltimore isn't so bad when you think about it. They come home with a 14-7 record, good for 3rd best in baseball, and 2.5 games behind the first-place Rays. They start this six-game homestand tonight against the White Sox.

Chicago comes into town in 4th place in the AL Central with a 9-13 record. Let's start with the things they do well. They hit homers, they're third in the league with 29 as a team, but most of that is due to league leader Paul Konerko, who has 10. They also lead all of baseball with 25 stolen bases, so having Jorge hurt isn't might not be the worst thing in the world. The White Sox also have a solid bullpen. Most of their relievers are throwing the ball very well. They've added a healthy J.J. Putz to a pen that already included Bobby Jenks, Matt Thornton and Scott Linebrink. Rookie Sergio Santos has also been impressive. He's throw 8 scoreless innings out of the pen so far, allowing just two hits, walking three, and striking out ten.

But while they have power, speed and a solid pen, not much else has gone right for the White Sox. Besides the homers, they don't really do much else on offense. They currently rank last in team batting (.222), 27th in team OBP (.309), and with RISP they're hitting just .202 as a team. But like Baltimore last series, this team is better than they're performing right now.

Their starters also haven't been doing the job, posting an ERA of 5.18 over the first month, good for 26th in baseball. Jake Peavy has been a huge disappointment, going 0-2, with a 7.85 ERA over his first five starts. Gavin Floyd and Freddy Garcia have also struggled. Luckily for the White Sox, they only have one of those three going in this series, and will be throwing John Danks and his 1.55 ERA on the mound for the middle game against Vazquez.

Besides Vazquez, I'm not too worried about the other Yankees starters. CC and AJ both look sharp at the start of the season, Andy Pettitte has been one of the best pitchers in the AL over the first month, and Phil Hughes has looked great in his first three starts. Offensively, they're fine. Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson are all slumping, but they're still finding ways to score runs and win ballgames. A lot of credit goes to Robinson Cano, who has arguably been the league's best player.

One thing that has been disappointing over the first month has been the Yankees pen. They come into this series with a bullpen ERA of 4.21, which would be a lot worse if it wasn't for the Mariano Rivera and his eight scoreless innings. We'd be looking at an ERA slightly above 5 without Mo. However, this is the norm for a Joe Girardi managed team. Usually it takes him some time to find the right formula, so for now I'm not too concerned.

The Yankees have won 6 out of 7 series so far this year and that should jump to 7 of 8 after this weekend. While Saturday's games looks like a tough one, I like the pitching matchups for the other two, so my best guess is another two out of three.

YANKEES STATS --- WHITE SOX STATS

Matchups

Game 1: Tonight @ 7:05 p.m. | TV: YES | Radio: WCBS
LHP Andy Pettitte (3-0, 1.29) vs. RHP Freddy Garcia (0-2, 5.82)

Game 2: Satuday @ 1:05 p.m. | TV: YES | Radio: WCBS
RHP Javier Vazquez (1-3, 9.00) vs. LHP John Danks (3-0, 1.55)

Game 3: Sunday @ 1:05 p.m. | TV: YES | Radio: WCBS
RHP Phil Hughes (2-0, 2.00) vs LHP Mark Buehrle (2-3, 4.68)

Three Questions

• What will the Yankees get from Javier Vazquez on Saturday? This is a big start for Vazquez, who really needs to show, not only the Yankees and their fans, but himself that he can pitch well for this team.
  
• Is Robinson Cano human? Can the MVP of the first month carry his hot start into May?
  
• Speaking of the month of May, now that April is over will Mark Teixeira start hitting? He looks like he's slowly coming out of it (a hit in his last three games) and the new month could give him a sense of a fresh start.
  

Injury Report

YANKEES:
- RHP Chan Ho Park is on the 15-day DL with a slightly strained hamstring. Test have showing no major injuries, but he's not progressing as quickly as the Yanks would have liked.
- 1B/DH Jorge Posada is day-to-day after being hit on the right knee by Jeremy Guthrie. He'll miss a few days, but this shouldn't cost him too much time.

WHITE SOX:
- C Ramon Castro is on the 15-day DL with a bruised right heel and calf.
- OF Carlos Quentin has a strained hamstring and will miss at least tonight's game, according to ESPN.