The Pronk Is Back

The Yankees decided to activate Travis Hafner from the 60-day disabled list with just five games left in the season. Hafner could probably walk on water and still not get the Yankees into the playoffs. I think the move is probably just a nice thing to do for the oft-injured Hafner, who won't find it easy to get a new gig over the winter.

The Yankees placed CC Sabathia on the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man roster for Pronk. I could have picked up Astros closer Josh Fields in my keeper league if they had only done that over the weekend.

Hafner appeared in 81 games before he was placed on the disabled list on July 27 with a strained right rotator cuff. He also missed time in May due to the shoulder and also sat out some games with a sore foot.

Hafner returns with a .684 OPS with 12 HR and 37 RBI. The majority of his numbers came in the first month of the season when he hit .318/.438/.667 with 6 HR and 17 RBI in 22 games. Hafner wouldn't have an OPS above .600 for the remainder of the season.

Gwen Stefani Has No Doubt And So Does Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter hates injury, talking about injuries, talking to the media at length, not playing baseball, and holding press conferences in which it is clear he would rather be water boarded than answering questions about his state of health and age.

Despite all of that, Jeter sat down prior to Thursday's game to discuss his current status with the Yankees beat writers, national guys, and anyone else who dropped in. The main theme was "I'll be back". There's "No doubt I will be back."

Jeter confirmed that he's frustrated; upset that he had made progress and thought he was on the verge of coming back when a new fracture appeared. He didn't feel he had pushed himself to play on Opening Day, he merely went at the pace the doctors told him to follow. He was also not sure when the new fracture occurred.

He showed some sense of humor when ESPN baseball guy Pedro Gomez asked that if being at an advanced age (for baseball) could affect his rehab. Jeter joked that there were a lot of people in the room at an "andvanced age". Gomez countered with "Yes, but none of us are out there."

Jeter also said if it were up to him he would take a CT scan every day to monitor his progress, though "I don't know how much they cost."

Jeter reminded everyone that when he comes back he will no longer address the injury, because that's not the way he does thing.

Mark Feinsand of the NY Daily News asked if Jeter had a date in mind to return. The Captain said, "Yes, but I'm not telling you."

The shortstop said he was happy to be back around his teammates and he had kept in touch with them while he was rehabbing in Tampa. When queried, he said that Mariano Rivera's comeback from last year's knee injury had no impact on his psyche towards his own comeback.

The Captain also had Eduardo Nunez's back and said he'll do a good job while he's out. Though, with a laugh, he mentioned he didn't have the MLB package and hadn't seen many games.

So now we just wait.

Overbay In, J-Rivera Out

The good ol' days. Overbay objects to A-Rod''s "HA"

I was all for the Yankees releasing Juan Rivera (reported a short while ago by Fox's Ken Rosenthal), who has lost any of the pop he had in his bat and had little experience at first base. I just didn't expect someone older than Rivera to take his place on the roster.

The 34-year old became expendable when the Yankees brought in 36-year old first baseman Lyle Overbay yesterday. Overbay had been released early Wednesday and was picked up immediately by the Yankees. Overbay played in last night's exhibition game with Baltimore as well as today's game with Pittsburgh.

Neither player hits much any more, but Overbay has a big advantage defensively and will help immeasurably with his glove. However, if the Yankees lose Mark Teixeira for the season, someone else with more pop needs to occupy first base on a  regular basis.

In the meantime it appears Overbay will hold down the fort.

A-Rod Has Torn Meniscus

Not good news from Yankeeland this morning. The team revealed that Alex Rodriguez has a slight meniscus tear in his right knee and may need in-season surgery. As someone who has had a torn meniscus in their right knee for the last eight years, let me tell it can really hurt sometimes. I've just had no reason to mess with it since most of the time it doesn't bother me.

My good buddy @YankeesInk is covering today's game and tweeted that Joe Girardi is waiting to make a decision as to whether or not A-Rod will play in today's game. If so, he'll be the DH.

FullCountPitch - Ellsbury The Front-Runner For Comeback POY

This time last year Jacoby Ellsbury was absolutely miserable. He couldn’t stay healthy, the media speculated that the team was upset with him for not playing through pain, and Ellsbury openly questioned the diagnosis made by the Boston Red Sox team doctors. There was also widespread speculation by the media that Ellsbury wouldn’t be back with the Red Sox for the 2011 season. Not only is Ellsbury back, but he’s back with a vengeance.

The Red Sox leadoff man and center fielder entered Sunday night’s play in the top ten in batting (.312), hits (89), doubles (22), runs (51) and total bases (135). In addition, he led the American League with 24 stolen bases and had an .844 OPS. Though overshadowed by new teammate Adrian Gonzalez, Ellsbury has established himself as a legitimate Most Valuable Player candidate this season.

Ellsbury finished up Spring Training in 2010 in fairly good shape, with just four games missed due to a sore arm. All that changed though on April 11 when the Red Sox were two outs away from a road win against the Kansas City Royals. Mitch Maier hit a pop up towards the left field line. Ellsbury, then the left fielder, came charging hard towards the line. The only problem was third baseman Adrian Beltre, head down, was charging towards the ball too.

Read the rest of this free article at fullcountpitch.com

Jeter's Rickets Wastes Some Tickets

Pardon the pun. The fact of the matter is there are a number of people who are disappointed right now, because they had tickets for the Texas Rangers series that concludes the Yankees current home stand or bought seats in Chicago or Cincinnati as the Yankees go on the road for interleague play. Their blues became official earlier tonight when Derek Jeter was officially put on the 15-day disabled list with a grade one calf strain. It's Jeter first trip to the DL since his devastating shoulder injury in 2003.

Jeter did his best to talk Brian Cashman and company out of putting him on the DL, but with Jeter needing a minimum of a week to recuperate, the Yankees couldn't afford to be shorthanded when playing without the DH in NL towns. Jeter will be eligible to return during a home series against the Milwaukee Brewers at the end of the month. The Brewers series will be the end of a six game home stand and precedes a three game series with the Mets at Citi Field, now the likeliest place for Jeter to get his 3,000th hit.

Ramiro Pena has taken Jeter's spot on the roster and should serve primarily as a late game defensive replacement for Eduardo Nunez.

Brian Cashman told the press that the Yankees are "leaning" towards using Scranton starter David Phelps on Thursday. It could be for just one start with Hector Noesi or Phil Hughes a possibility after that, though Hughes will likely pitch in Trenton or Scranton before being activated.

Breaking News: Wainwright May Have Significant Injury | Baseball Digest

Breaking News: Wainwright May Have Significant Injury | Baseball Digest

The St. Louis Dispatch has reported that Cardinals ace right-hander Adam Wainwright has flown back to St. Louis to have his painful right elbow examined.

General Manager John Mozeliak believes that it is a “significant injury”, which could very well mean Tommy John surgery is in Wainwright’s future. “After his bullpen on Monday, he did feel something in his right elbow,” Mozeliak said. “I can say just based on the initial evaluation from our training staff, things do not look encouraging. But before we jump to any conclusions, we’ll just wait until the re-evaluation this afternoon.”

Wainwright has had problems with his right elbow before, including a tear to the same ligament back in 2004. Needless to say this would be a major blow to the Cardinals chances in the NL Central and wild card races. The right-hander won 39 games over the past two seasons and was runner up to Roy Halladay in the NL CY Young voting last season. He averaged over 231 innings the past two seasons and it has apparently taken a toll.

CC To Fix Knee Knee

Yeah, I really just said that. It must be the early childhood influence of Dr. Seuss.

CC Sabathia is undergoing surgery on Friday to repair a partially torn meniscus in his right knee. It'll be anywhere between 3 and 6 months before the big guy can resume his normal off-season conditioning (no jokes there please.)

Montero Has Minor Ankle Surgery

Jesus Montero is likely out for the remainder of the season after undergoing minor surgery to clear up an ankle infection.

This also means, of course, there's no chance that Montero will get a September "look-see" with the big club.

Pettitte On His Way Back To Comfort

Do you want a good laugh, just watch Andy Pettitte's commercial for Dove Soap - "My Journey to Comfort". How exactly does one take a journey to comfort?

Anyway, Pettitte is getting more comfortable as he works his way back from a groin strain. And oh do the Yankees need him back soon. Pettitte's bullpen session went very well yesterday, according to the pitcher himself, and if it were up to him he would go out on a rehab assignment sooner rather than later.

"If it was up to me, let me go somewhere and throw," Pettitte said after experiencing no problems with the left groin in a 40-pitch session. "I don't think that's going to happen. Probably throw another bullpen [session tomorrow] and figure it out from there. I need to push off on every pitch because for the first 15 or 20 I was a little hesitant."

In the meantime, enjoy:

No Mo, Oh No

Mariano Rivera is withdrawing from this year’s All-Star game in Anaheim due to injuries.

The news was revealed by the NY Daily News’ Mark Feinsand and the Star-Ledger’s Marc Carig via Twitter tonight.

Rivera has been pitching with injuries all season and has been bothered by a sore side that kept him out of action earlier this year. He’s also been plagued of late by an inflammed right knee.

Rivera is hoping not to miss any time in the games leading up to the break.

Posada Out With Fractured Foot

They call it the tools of ignorance, but most catchers know what they're getting into. Pain. Jorge Posada has had plenty of it in his career. That includes a foul ball he took off his foot while catching against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.

Needless to say, it hurt like hell. Posada sat out the next two games with swelling under his foot and last night it was announced he had a hairline fracture that will keep him out from 3-4 weeks. We'll now get to see just how well Francisco Cervelli can hold up playing on a full time basis.



The Yankees will also have to bring up a catcher from Scranton and that means someone may need to be nixed from the 40 man roster. No catchers other than the Yankees current duo exist on the list. The Yankees could also shift Nick Johnson to the 60 day DL, which is definitely an option.

Chad Moeller, who caught for the Yankees in 2008 and was re-signed after being released by Baltimore in spring training, would be the most likely candidate (not a LOST reference).

We HATE the NL

We've been against two styles of play for a long time, particularly making American League pitchers bat in the National League ball parks. These guys aren't used to the stop and starting it takes to run the bases. Well now we're REALLY ticked off.

Chien-Ming Wang pitched a gem his last time out and was again today against the Houston Astros. Then he got on the bases in the 6th and moments later had to be helped off the field with an undisclosed leg injury. Wang was halfway between 3rd base and home plate when whatever happened hit him. He scored and immediately grabbed on to Robinson Cano for support, and was helped off the field. A season that had started to turn around just took a big blow.

YES has now said it is a right foot injury.

We HATE the NL

We've been against two styles of play for a long time, particularly making American League pitchers bat in the National League ball parks. These guys aren't used to the stop and starting it takes to run the bases. Well now we're REALLY ticked off.

Chien-Ming Wang pitched a gem his last time out and was again today against the Houston Astros. Then he got on the bases in the 6th and moments later had to be helped off the field with an undisclosed leg injury. Wang was halfway between 3rd base and home plate when whatever happened hit him. He scored and immediately grabbed on to Robinson Cano for support, and was helped off the field. A season that had started to turn around just took a big blow.

YES has now said it is a right foot injury.

Nicked Up Again

Poor Nick Johnson. Just when you think it's safe for him to step out on a baseball diamond again, he gets hurt.

This time it's a torn tendon sheath in his right wrist. He'll be out a minimum of 4-6 weeks.

Band-Aid or Neosporin should hire this guy to do commercials.

Nicked Up Again

Poor Nick Johnson. Just when you think it's safe for him to step out on a baseball diamond again, he gets hurt.

This time it's a torn tendon sheath in his right wrist. He'll be out a minimum of 4-6 weeks.

Band-Aid or Neosporin should hire this guy to do commercials.

Alan Horne has Torn Muscle

Chad Jennings of the The Scranton Times Tribune reports that Alan Horne has a slight tear of his right biceps and has been put on the minor league DL. Jennings speculates that either Chase Wright or Dan McCutchen will be bumped up from Trenton to take Horne's place in the rotation.

Alan Horne has Torn Muscle

Chad Jennings of the The Scranton Times Tribune reports that Alan Horne has a slight tear of his right biceps and has been put on the minor league DL. Jennings speculates that either Chase Wright or Dan McCutchen will be bumped up from Trenton to take Horne's place in the rotation.

Jeter Out at Least a Few Days

That's the word from Joe Girardi after his captain, Derek Jeter, left Monday night's game with a strained quad. The injury first occurred on Sunday and Jeter aggravated it running out a ball in Monday's game.

Jeter was sent for an MRI after he came out of the game. For now it's being called a mild sprain, which really means nothing. Looks like Wilson Betemit and his .111 average will be in at shortstop.

If Jeter is not DL'ed the Yankees could send Ross Ohlendorf down and bring up a back up infielder.

Jeter Out at Least a Few Days

That's the word from Joe Girardi after his captain, Derek Jeter, left Monday night's game with a strained quad. The injury first occurred on Sunday and Jeter aggravated it running out a ball in Monday's game.

Jeter was sent for an MRI after he came out of the game. For now it's being called a mild sprain, which really means nothing. Looks like Wilson Betemit and his .111 average will be in at shortstop.

If Jeter is not DL'ed the Yankees could send Ross Ohlendorf down and bring up a back up infielder.