Good morning, Pinstripe Alley readers. Here's your usual morning news, as Hiroki Kuroda prepares to take on the Braves in just a few short hours.
- According to USA Today, Joba Chamberlain expects to pitch at the Major League level this season. Despite recovering from Tommy John Surgery and a dislocated ankle that saw him lose a large amount of blood, Joba announced that he's been told there is a great chance for him to pitch for the Yankees in 2012.
- There's been a lot of talk about how Ivan Nova has pitched poorly this Spring (6.86 ERA), but I was on the Yankees website and saw that Nova had the lowest qualified WHIP on the team at 1.22. Going further, I saw that Nova has walked just one batter in 19 2/3 innings. Let's hope that translates over into the regular season.
- According to Mark Feinsand of The Daily News, Andy Pettitte battled through rust and fatigue during his bullpen session yesterday. The lefty threw thirty-five pitches and he started to lose his legs. Andy discussed that he needs to be able to "drive and explode" over the course of 100 pitches, but he's not there just yet.
- Kieran Darcy of ESPN reported that Curtis Granderson will have an MRI on the sore right elbow that forced him out of Tuesday's game. General manager Brian Cashman is not worried about the issue, but you never want to hear about, arguably, your best player needing an MRI.
- George A. King III of the New York Post reported that another talent evaluator came away unimpressed with Michael Pineda's fastball, stating that "the fastball has no life." The scout also added that he saw a back-of-the-rotation starter with the stuff Pineda showcased during his last start. He also noticed that Pineda was throwing some cutters, but explained that some of his fastballs cut naturally.
- Josh Norris posted some video featuring Gary Sanchez, Ravel Santana, Dante Bichette Jr., Tyler Austin, and others. This is definitely worth a look for all those interested in the Minor League system.
Be sure to check back later this morning for my piece on Brett Gardner's offense and stick around for the game thread, which will open at 12:30. I won't be around much throughout the day (I have field work until just after 3), so have a good one, and remember that you can e-mail me at frankcampagnola@yahoo.com with any questions, feedback, potential article topics, or anything else Pinstripe Alley or Yankees baseball related.