I'm liking what I'm seeing coming out of this Yankee squad. Everyone is producing, even more than anyone would have expected. Andy Phillips is tearing the cover off the ball, Melky Cabrera is a solid outfield replacement, and Kelly Stinnett is handling his backup role quite well. He reminds me of Ed Hearn for the 86 Mets when he stepped in for Gary Carter while he was on the DL.
With the exception of that loss to Detroit, they are winning close games and as a result, are in first place. The loss of Sheffield hurts us, but teams are pitching around our remaining stars and getting tagged by our bench players.
The one thing that bothers me is the way Torre is handling the bullpen. Farnsworth and Proctor are pitching way too many innings. Villone seems capable of handling a heavier load, and it's a wonder they don't use him more. Having just picked up Wang off waivers on my fantasy team, I hope he can fix his mechanics off the stretch. Putting him in as a closer a few more times will allow me to use him as a reliever AND starter.
Overall, despite our obvious problems off the mound (Dotel's return might ease that pain) We're settling in to what may be a great season.
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