Results tagged ‘ Nick Swisher ’
Swisher day-to-day with biceps tightness
Weakened Joba can’t stomach start
That definitely wasn’t Joba Chamberlain’s best out there this afternoon, and there was a reason for it. After spending two days this week laid up in bed with flu-like symptoms, Chamberlain guessed he was at 60 percent when he took the mound today against the Rays. The results weren’t pretty, as he was rapped for five runs on three hits in 1 1/3 innings.
Chamberlain said that he had barely eaten in three days and almost felt “scared to eat” – yesterday he choked down a Subway sandwich; tonight he planned to dine on mostly Gatorade. It’s a drastic change after being on a daily weightlifting regimen since last month. In all, he said he’s lost eight pounds since this ordeal started, but skipping the start wasn’t an option in his mind.
“You’d probably have to chop my legs off,” he said. “I’m going to take the ball as much as I can and try to get better. I felt strong enough and I felt like I did enough inbetween to try and get ready.”
- Phil Hughes thought he was “OK” in his two innings of one-run ball. That homer he served up to Sean Rodriguez might have been wind-blown a little, and Hughes thought Curtis Granderson had it lined up until it carried over the wall.
“It was all right,” Hughes said. “It was nice to finally get out there in real game situations. My fastball command was all over the place, but I felt like I threw some good changeups. They were swinging early and often, which was good. I got a read on some things.”
- Joe Girardi said that he’ll probably give Nick Johnson until Monday now to rest his stiff lower back. He didn’t want to play Johnson tomorrow vs. the Blue Jays and he definitely doesn’t want him making the long bus ride to Fort Myers for the Twins on Sunday. So, Monday it is.
- Girardi said that he thought Curtis Granderson had “two really good at-bats” vs. left-handed pitching. No hits yet for him, though. … Nick Swisher (wrist) is fine after hitting the ground running the bases.
Field trip over, these Yankees win
Here are the winners and runners-up for this morning’s Yankees arcade events:
Indy car: A.J. Burnett wins; Dana Cavalea second place
Skeeball: Andrew Brackman wins; Eduardo Nunez second place
Pop-a-shot: Royce Ring wins; Mark Melancon second place
Photo from the Yankees: Mark Teixeira tries his hand at Skee Ball, as Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Jesus Montero watch.
Here’s some of what Teixeira had to say to the New York Daily News’ Mark Feinsand, who is acting as the pool reporter for the day:
“It was fun. It was good to have a change of scenery from the pool tournament. It was new and fresh and we enjoyed it.”
“The highlights were A.J. Burnett just smoking the field in the video game racing, and Royce Ring being probably the best pop-a-shot basketball player I’ve ever seen. Those two were hands-down the best at those two events. Whenever the basket is moving, Royce takes the cake.”
“It was a great day. The fact that we get three or four hours not to have to worry about baseball and not have to compete on the baseball field, it was fun. Playing video games, we felt like kids again. It promotes a light-hearted atmosphere.”
“The great thing about this kind of atmosphere is that there’s no veterans or rookies, starters or role players, Triple-A or Single-A; everyone is on the same playing field. We’re all having fun, really kind of letting our hair down and getting to know each other without competing on the field.”
“The young guys probably get into it more than anybody. A big-league clubhouse – especially the Yankees’ clubhouse – can be very intimidating. To go off-site to an arcade and enjoy each other, get to know people not as superstars or as New York Yankees, but just as men, it can easily build friendships.”
EDIT 6:02 p.m.: Feinsand checks in with some quotes from Curtis Granderson…
“I thought it was a great idea to get a bunch of guys coming from different sides, whether it’s their first big-league camp, guys that were acquired through trade or free agency and guys that had been there. For everybody to get a chance to meet up and see everyone outside of the intense training baseball mode, we can see that everybody does laugh and have fun. We’re all big kids.”
“The highlight had to be watching Igawa race on the Indy Car. He kept racing up against the wall and damaging his tires. He wouldn’t move off of it. He had his left hand on the wheel and he was just cruising like nothing was wrong. He was doing that for a good three minutes. Everyone was shouting, ‘Turn left! Turn left!’”
“People forget how long the season is. We have the training part that we’re doing now, then we have 30 or so spring training games and we haven’t even started the season. Then it’s 162 games in the regular season and hopefully the playoffs, then the next thing you know, you’re right back at it in 2011. The actual time away from competition is minimal, so to get a chance to go out and have fun in that large a group, it was a great thing. I’m really glad they did it and I would recommend other teams doing it.”
“Andy Pettitte and I sat there and talked before our Indy Car race, and it had nothing to do with baseball. We split up, were playing different games, then battled again on the Pop-a-Shot. I don’t normally see the pitchers during the day, so to get a chance to do that was well worth it.”
“I struggled in my first round of Pop-a-Shot when it counted on the bracket. When we came back for a side competition, that’s when I dominated.”
“Skee ball was difficult. I used to be good at Skee ball, but I was really disappointed at myself for my performance. I’ll need to go back and figure out this Skee ball machine compared to the ones I used to play.”
All photos courtesy of the Yankees.
Joba, Phil begin airing it out
That was Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes climbing into the bullpen six-pack on Thursday, each throwing 30 fastballs and changeups as they get ready for the competition to be the Yankees’ fifth starter.
And while each one of those pitches met a catcher’s glove under the watchful eye of Joe Girardi and Dave Eiland, you didn’t need to take mental notes from that session. It’s much too early to begin handicapping a race that hasn’t yet begun.
“The ball was coming out of their hands well, and that was encouraging,” Girardi said.
As for Girardi’s presence behind both pitchers, that also shouldn’t have racked the nerves of either right-hander. After all, they both did pitch in the World Series last year, when there were slightly more eyes fixed upon their actions.
There’s still more than a month to figure it all out, but Chamberlain said that he “feels good at this point” and Hughes agreed that everything “feels right about on pace.”
Really, all a guy can do with this session today is prove he can throw a fastball for strikes and pitch inside to a phantom hitter. It makes it pretty hard to read. We could use one of those wooden stand-in batters that Charlie Sheen decapitated in Major League as a reference tool.
Hughes joked that there should be a meter somewhere, with an arrow pointing to the winning player’s name, kind of like a popularity contest. So who’s winning on Feb. 19? Call it even for now.
“I don’t think any jobs are awarded on your bullpens or your BPs,” Hughes said.
- Nick Swisher made another appearance in the clubhouse today – seems like you just can’t keep him away, even though position players don’t have to get to George M. Steinbrenner Field until next week. Swisher says he’s 12 pounds lighter and Girardi believes he can be more productive than he was in ’09, though he was “pretty good” as the right fielder.
- We haven’t talked too much about the bullpen yet, but Girardi did acknowledge today that in a perfect world, he’d like to have two left-handed pitchers to create more options. Of course, there’s right-handers who can get lefties out like Dave Robertson, but Boone Logan will get a serious look during camp. Girardi said that Logan was acquired with the idea that he could do “big things” for the Yankees.
- Guest instructor Yogi Berra arrived today, and I didn’t see his golf clubs on Girardi’s couch. I thought for sure that they’d be safely stored in the building somewhere, but it turns out that Yogi’s saving his strength for the summer. That’ll give him more time to watch BP from behind the batting cage, we guess.
Nick Swisher, TV star
Set your TiVos: Nick Swisher is set to play himself in an episode of CBS’ ‘How I Met Your Mother,’ which will air on Monday, Feb. 1 at 8 p.m. ET. The show will begin shooting on Wednesday.
According to TheWrap.com, the premise is this: “Swisher drops by a bar and the women all swoon — putting a major crimp in bachelor Barney’s (Neil Patrick Harris) game.”
Sounds like standard sitcom fare, but this would be a good place to mention how many times Swisher has made it a point to say how happy he is with his girlfriend, TV actress Joanna Garcia. So, sorry ladies, but he may have to do a little acting here on the small screen. NPH wouldn’t do that.
Swisher soaks in the World Series stage
Nick Swisher finally had a World Series moment to smile about, and he was going to soak in every minute of it. When Swisher was led to the interview room last night, he pulled out his cell phone and began taking video of all the reporters assembled to ask him questions, saying that he wanted to remember this scene forever.
Here’s some of what Swisher had to say about his 2-for-4 showing in Game 3, which he believes has turned his postseason around after entering the game 4-for-35 and benched in Game 2 for Jerry Hairston, Jr.:
“Well, I think tonight just really, really turned things around for me. You know, I mean, obviously this post season has been kind of a struggle for me, but I’ll tell you what, I think the real thanks from me definitely goes to my teammates. My manager, those guys have never lost faith in me. And my family, they’ve been behind me this whole way. It’s different. When you’re in the post season and you’re in New York, it’s completely different than anywhere else I’ve ever been.
“It’s nice to have a day like this, but it’s just one game. I mean, right now we’re sitting 2 1, and it’s all about the team. We want to get this thing. Obviously coming here into a hostile crowd like tonight, it’s great to definitely get a game here.”
Here’s the quick Q&A Swisher did with MLB.com a few minutes later.
Swisher, Hairston discuss lineup swap
As far as right field goes in Game 2, the story is that the struggling Nick Swisher’s out and jack-of-all-trades Jerry Hairston, Jr. is in.
That’s the bad news for Swisher. The good news is that after he spoke to reporters on the field during Yankees batting practice, Swisher was corralled by the lovely Maria Menounos for an Access Hollywood interview. Lucky guy.
Here’s the rundown of the baseball-related interview:
SWISHER
“Jerry’s got good numbers against [Pedro], let him go out there and do his thing.
Obviously you are frustrated, upset , but hey, this is part of the thing. This is a team game, we’ve gotten here by playing every one we have, you know Jerry hair is ready today, and he’s going to go out and do a great job.”
“I don’t feel bad. It’s just finding holes; that’s it. I just used today as a work day, and you know, keep pressing and this and that and be ready to go to back [in Game 3].”
HAIRSTON
“I always prepare myself to play every day. If I’m not in the lineup, I’ll prepare myself to maybe get in there later in the game. Obviously I’ve faced Pedro an awful lot. He’s definitely without a doubt one of the top two pitchers of our generation. He’s been a great pitcher for a long time.”
“You always get nervous. That’s a good thing. You want to be nervous. That means you are ready. I remember when I first got called up, Cal Ripken Jr. said, ‘It’s OK to be nervous”. So yeah, I’m just trying to make sure that I’m ready to play.”
Yanks sticking with Swisher
Nick Swisher has seen no pitcher more in his career than John Lackey, logging 51 plate appearances against tonight’s Angels starting pitcher, and there has not been a whole lot of success to speak of.
Swisher is hitting .116 (5-for-43) with a double, home run and four RBIs and 17 strikeouts against Lackey, but Joe Girardi said that the Yankees have seen his history show good work without results (they haven’t locked up in 2009).
“I know the numbers aren’t great, but he has battled Lackey and I like that,” Girardi said. “When a guy has tough at-bats, it affects the whole lineup. It only takes one pitch to run into that.”
Swisher’s batting average is the lowest on the Yankees vs. Lackey; Alex Rodriguez (.176, 9-for-51, 23 K’s) is second. Most successful Bombers bats include Jorge Posada (.414, 12-for-29), Mark Teixeira (.388, 19-for-49) and Melky Cabrera (.360, 9-for-26).
Yankees tie MLB homers record
With Jorge Posada’s 20th home run of the season in the ninth inning tonight off Toronto’s Jason Frasor, the Yankees now have seven players with 20 or more home runs.
That sets a new franchise record and ties a Major League record also shared by the 1996 Orioles, 2000 Blue Jays and 2005 Rangers (credit: Elias Sports Bureau).
The Yankees with 20 or more: Mark Teixeira-32, Johnny Damon-24, Alex Rodriguez-24, Hideki Matsui-23, Nick Swisher-23 and Robinson Cano-22. The old Yankees franchise record of six players with 20 or more home runs was set in 1961 and tied in 2004.
Judge Mariano to preside Tuesday
The Yankees will be holding another session of Kangaroo Court Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET, commandeering the press conference room in the basement of Yankee Stadium as they address the latest fines.
Judge Mariano Rivera will finally get a chance to use the robe and gavel that Judge Marilyn Milian from ‘The People’s Court’ presented him with in June.
We haven’t peeked inside the summons box or anything, but it’s safe to say that Nick Swisher is going to be hit with at least one citation for – again – doing topless interviews. Derek Jeter called him out for it while the team was on the last road trip.
Bryan Hoch
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