New York Yankee News: A Loss, A Loss, At A Loss

The Yankees lost yesterday, unable to rally against the Red Sox bullpen.  Boone Logan, unsurprisingly, was not as effective as Jenks, Bard and Papelbon.  Small wonder, considering the talent gap.

Of course, if Phil Hughes hadn't lost a lot of mph off his fastball, the Yankees might not have needed 6 runs just to get back in the ball game after their starters two innings of work.

"I think it’s fixable in the way that it’s going to be a natural occurrence, that the arm strength comes back," said Larry Rothschild, the Yankees’ pitching coach. "I’ve seen guys go through it. But it’s a tough road until he gets back to that point."

92.1 IP in 2009 (including postseason).

189.0 IP in 2010 (including postseason).

Cue the dead arm, and fears of an injury from the Verducci effect (when young pitchers increase their workload by a large amount).

Could the best thing for Hughes to be DL'd and sent to Tampa to rehab and regroup while Garcia, Colon and Nova are all healthy and effective?

A lot has already been said about Manny Ramirez's sudden retirement after his third failed PED test (and his second punishment). In a way, this should make me feel more secure about the honesty of the rest of major leagues; if Manny Ramirez (multimillionaire, Boras client, hugely well connected) can't get an invisible designer drug, then who really can?

But knowing what I know is no comfort. I still suspect everyone. It's this sick little knot in the pit of my stomach that I just can't shake whenever I think about it. So I try not to think about the men playing the game- their superhuman feats, or the ways their bodies will collapse in hormone deficiencies and cancer.

I cheer for laundry.