NY Yankees: Who's HOT Who's NOT

   Okay now that the Yankees are a couple weeks into the season it's time for my first who's hot who's not blog of the season.

I could make this very short and simple by just saying, you want to know who's hot ? Every Yankee that just played against the Red Sox April 21st 2012 !! LOL !!  As the Yankees just came back from a 9-0 deficit to beat the Red Sox 15-9. Instead I'll give you a little more than that.

     There are two Yankees that have been hot since the first pitch of the season. The first is not only the heart and soul of this team, he is the leader. He's none other than the "Captain"  Derek Jeter ! Jeter is off to a phenomenal start. He's fifth in the American League in hitting with an average of .382. He has four doubles, four homeruns and has twelve RBIs. His OBP is .411 with a .618 slugging percentage and an OPS of 1.029. Since coming back from a calf injury last season Jeter has been hitting roughly .340. So far this season he is hitting the ball with more power. Last season he had a total of six homeruns. Fifteen games into this season he already has four.

     The other Yankee off to a great start is one of my favorites. Nick Swisher. " Swish " is hitting .283 with six doubles, four homeruns. He leads the American League and is tied in all of baseball with twenty RBIs. He has six doubles, has on OBP of .371, a slugging percentage of .583 and OPS of .955.

     Another player starting to come on is Curtis Granderson. He's hitting .279. He has six homeruns (3 in one game vs Twins)  which ties him for the American League lead along with Texas Rangers Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli. He has an OBP of .380, a .623 slugging percentage and an OPS of 1.003

     As a team the Yankees offense is starting to heat up. Their second in all of baseball hitting .285 and lead all of baseball with twenty homeruns, nineteen of which came in the last seven games.

     Ivan Nova is really the only hot starting pitcher right now. He has a record of 3-0 which ties him for first in the American League along with Oakland A's Bartolo Colon (3-1) and Texas Rangers Matt Harrison (3-0).

     Pitching well out of the bullpen is David Robertson who has and ERA of 0.00 who has appeared in 8 games. In eight innings Robertson has struck out 11 and has a WHIP of 1.13.

     After blowing his first save in the first game of the year against the Tampa Rays Mariano Rivera is becoming " Mo " like. He has a record of 0-1 in 6 games. His ERA of 3.83 is high but I'm sure that will come down, it just takes time when you only pitch one inning at a time. He has struck out 7 and has a WHIP of 1.31 in 5.1 innings. As a whole the bullpen has done a solid job so far. Their have been games where the starters didn't pitch well but the bullpen guys kept teams from tacking on more runs allowing the Yankees offense to come back and win games.

      As far as who's not hot. I'll begin with three starting pitchers. Phil Hughes, Freddy Garcia, and Hiroki Kuroda. Hughes is 1-2 with and ERA of 6.75. In 13.1 innings he's given up 19 hits. He's walked 6, struck out 15, has a WHIP of 1.88. Opponents are hitting .317 of him and he has given up 4 homeruns. So far his velocity is up from last season. His fastball has been clocked between 90-93 mph. Personally, I think he's so concerned about throwing hard that he's over throwing which causes pitches to up in the zone and that's why he's getting hit hard.

     Freddy Garcia is 0-1. He has an ERA of 9.75. He's given up 20 hits in 12.0 innings. Opponents are hitting .385 and he has a WHIP of 1.92 Wow ! All I can say is. What is this ? High arc beer league softball pitching !

     In his three starts as a Yankee Hiroki Kuroda is 1-2 with an ERA of 5.00. In 18 innings he's given up 23 hits, walked 6 and struck out 12. Opponents are hitting .311 and he has a WHIP of 1.61. In his second start he pitched Opening Day at Yankee Stadium against the LA Angels and did pitch well. He threw 8 scoreless innings giving up 5 hits walking two while striking out 6. In my previous blogs I have not been bashful about how I feel regarding the signing of Kuroda. But for now I will cut him a break. Let's give him a few more starts and see what happens. All I know is with Andy Pettitte pitching down in the minors and Micheal Pineda working his way back from rotator cuff tendinitis somebody better start pitching well if they want to stay in the starting rotation or even stay on the team.

     Speaking of Andy Pettitte. Pettitte is pitching down in Tampa in the Florida State League. He is 0-0 in two starts. He's thrown 7 innings giving up 4 hits. He has an ERA of 1.29. Opponents are hitting 1.74 against him. He has not walked a batter or given up a homerun.

      Here's a quick peek at who's hot down on the farm at the Yankees Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Right-handed starting pitcher William Mitchell is 2-0 with an ERA of 2.12. In 17 innings he's given up 8 hits, one homerun while walking five. Opponents are hitting .143 off him and he has struck out 15.

      Right-handed hitting first baseman Steven Pearce is hitting .345. In 15 games he has 20 hits, 4 doubles, 2 homeruns, 6 walks while striking out 9 times. His OBP is .406. He has a slugging percentage of .517 and an OPS of .923.

      Coming soon will be a look at who's hot at all the Yankees Minor League affiliates. Stayed tuned !