The Not So Merry Month of May

The Yankees up and down month of May was very indicative of how it appears the whole season will be. They finished the month above .500, 15-12, thanks to a month ending 3-game winning streak. They also had winning streaks of 5 and 3 games, while once losing 4 straight to the Rays, Mets, and Orioles.

Monthly Report Card

Chien-Ming Wang Grade: C

The Wanger breezed through his 3 starts (1-1, 1 no decision) before faltering in his final 3 (0-1, 2 no decisions). Overall he was 1-2, 5.03, and walked 18 batters in 39.1 innings.

Mike Mussina Grade: B+

Remarkably, Moose has had a decision in all 12 of his starts this season. He was 5-1 in May, with his lone blemish being that horrible 1st inning exit against the Orioles on May 20. He wasn't as effective in his last 2 starts as he has been, but he still pitched to win. Overall he posted a 3.72 ERA for May, and for the season has walked just 10 batters in 61.1 innings.

Andy Pettitte Grade: B

Pettitte was 2-2 in his 5 starts, 4 of them being quality performances. He was a hard luck loser to the Mets on May 17, and picked up two very strong victories after that. Unfortunately, he got off on the wrong foot for June. He posted a 4.34 ERA for the month, but it was 3.24 without his loss to the Rays on May 12.

Darrell Rasner Grade: A

Rasner was a Godsend in May, posting a 3-1, 1.80 mark. His lone loss came because of a lack of run support after he allowed 1 run in 6 innings against the Orioles. He went at least 6 innings in each of his 4 starts and had a 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio.

Ian Kennedy Grade: F

Kennedy has had only 2 good starts all year, 1 in April and 1 in May. He allowed 1 run against the Orioles in 6 innings, but gave up 12 earned runs in 13.2 innings in his other 3 starts. He then landed on the DL with a strained Lat and bursitis of his Scapula. Kennedy is clearly not ready for prime time, and should be sent down once he's ready to come off the DL.

Mariano Rivera Grade: A+

Mariano's remarkable season continued through May, when he finally allowed a run. But it is still the only run he's allowed this year. For the month he was 1-1, 0.64 with 13 Ks and 2 walks in 14 innings pitched. He was also 7-7 in save opportunities.

Joba Chamberlain Grade: B

Joba finished up the month in his final relief appearances for the immediate future. He allowed a run in just 2 of his 10 appearances, one being the crushing 3-run home run by David Dellucci of the Indians. He struck out 16 hitters in 12.1 innings, but did walk 8 men.

Edwar Ramirez Grade: A-

K-Ram finally gave up a run on the final day of the month, but his numbers were outstanding. He threw 11.2 innings, allowing 8 hits, 5 walks (higher than what anyone would like), and struck out 10.

Kyle Farnsworth Grade: C

Farnsworth started out with 6 straight scoreless appearances, but the shaky Farnsworth has returned, as well as his penchant for giving up home runs. Overall he had a 4.50 ERA and opponents hit .295 against him. Time for Joe Girardi to realize he's wrong about his boy.

Ross Ohlendorf Grade: C-

Ohlendorf's inconsistencies continued in May and we have to think it's a matter of time before someone else gets a shot at his roster spot. He had 3 scoreless innings in 3 appearances, but then got belted around to the tune of 9 earned runs in 6 innings. He picked up a win on Saturday against the Twins as he neatly navigated through a big time jam.

LaTroy Hawkins Grade: C-

Hawkins had Yankees fans feeling good about him with 5 straight scoreless appearances. That all went to pot when he spit the bit two straight days in Baltimore. Unfortunately, this will be the case all year.

Jose Veras Grade: B-

Veras hasn't been used in too many big spots, but he has gone unscored on in 8 of all appearances. He may get trusted more in big spots as others continue to struggle. He posted a 3.86 ERA and struck out 9 in 11.2 innings.

Incomplete - Jon Albaladejo, Chris Britton (did a great job of sitting on the bench)


Johnny Damon Grade: B

Damon had 2 different months in one. He was just 11-51 (.216) through May 15 and 19-46 (.413) after that. His home run and RBI totals were nearly identical to April, but he walked just 5 times after receiving 18 free passes in April. The Yankees really need him to steal more bases as he's been successful when he has (8-10). His .799 OPS was decent.

Derek Jeter Grade: D

Jeter had a month to forget, especially after getting hit on the hand by Daniel Cabrera on May 21st. He hit just .262 for the month with 7 extra-base hits and a pedestrian .715 OPS. He was 4-4 in steals, and again, the Yankees need him to run more to help manufacture runs. In all seriousness, it may be time to go to the optometrist. The Captain is hitting .234 at night compared to .381 during the day.

Bobby Abreu Grade: A

Abreu had 14 multi-hit games in May and put up a .977 OPS. He hit .330 with 20 RBI and had 14 extra base hits. He was also 4-5 in steal attempts. Yes, we're going to say it again. He needs to run more.

Alex Rodriguez Grade: A

A-Rod missed the first three weeks of the month with his quad injury. He came back strong, driving in 10 runs in 11 games, posted an 1.018 OPS, and added 3 home runs to his credentials. After making only 2 errors all season, he had 3 at the end of the month. All told though, he showed how much he was missed in the lineup.

Jason Giambi Grade: B

Gambi's month was similar to Damon's; after going 7-32 through mid-May, the Giambino finished strong, 16-41 (.390) to hit .315 overall. His home run production was good with 6, but he had just 14 RBI, one more than April. 13 walks helped him to post a 1.089 OPS. He's still a liability at 1st Base.

Robinson Cano Grade: C+

Cano was red hot to start the month, but tailed off a bit at the end. He ended up at .295 after being well above .300. He had an okay OPS of .765, but drove in just 12 runs and hit only 2 home runs.

Melky Cabrera Grade: D

It was a bad month for the Melkman, as he spiraled downward before a late month revival. His .234 batting average and .589 OPS really hurt the team with A-Rod and Jorge Posada out of the lineup. Melky's hitting .301 against right-handers, but just .212 against lefties. He continued to play stellar defense.

Hideki Matsui Grade: A

Matsui reached base safely in 24 of the 26 games he played. If not for his bat, the Yankees record could have been a lot worse in May. He hit .350 with an .889 OPS, while driving in 13 runs (matching his April total). He did hit just 2 home runs though as his power continues to go down. One of his biggest assets, is handling of left-handed pitching. With not much support from the Yankees right-handed hitters, Godzilla is batting .324 against left-handers.

Jose Molina Grade: Hitting: F Defense: A

Molina gets two grades, because there are two distinct aspects of his game. After a quick start, he started to decline in April and was just God awful at the plate in May. A .207 average and just 4 RBI had Yankees fans hoping for a quicker return from Jorge Posada. But as bad as Molina was at the plate (.537 OPS), he was that good behind it. Molina's defense, game calling, throwing out runners, etc., continues to excel.

Chad Moeller Grade: C

Moeller did nothing offensively (.188) in May, but did well defensively as the Yankees didn't lose much in that aspect when Molina sat.

Shelley Duncan Grade: F

Duncan is beloved, but he continues to be a liability with the bat, glove, and arm. He hit .163 with 1 HR and 6 RBI in 43 at-bats, and botched several plays in the field. Time for this nice story to come to a close.

Morgan Ensberg Grade: F

No need for details. Stink, stank, stunk, gone.

Incomplete - Wilson Betemit (but you know how we feel about him).