N.Y. Yankees Put Hughes on DL with Case of "Dead Arm"

Today, Phil Hughes desire to be a season-long starter took another detour after the New York Yankees put the 24 year-old pitcher on the disabled list with a case of what they are calling "dead arm."  The team is blaming the nasty sounding ailment for the cause of the right-hander's bloated 13.94 ERA.

Bartolo Colon, who was edged out of the fifth spot in the rotation in spring training by Freddy Garcia, will replace Hughes.

Hughes (0-1) has been roughed up in all three starts this season and his struggles came to a boil after giving up five runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings against the Baltimore Orioles last night.  The Yankees came back to win in the 10th-inning after Hughes staked the O's to a 5-0 lead.  Amazingly, Hughes' old ERA (16.50) dropped almost three runs after the beating.

After last night's blown outing, the Yankees took a hard look at Hughes' situation, decided to pull him from the rotation and put his arm on a slab.

"We just feel like he's going through a dead arm period," said manager Joe Girardi.  "We don't feel that he's hurt."

Hurt or not, there is no arguing something is wrong with Hughes' right arm.  The former flamethrower has seen his fastball turn into an 80 mph changeup.   Now, his bread-and-butter pitch, which was once clocked in the mid-90's,  has a hard time reaching the mid-80's.

After last night's game, Hughes stoically attempted to explain the unexplainable.

"I don't have a magic potion," the glum Hughes said.  "I feel like I'm bringing nothing to the team.  My fastball had a decent life after the first inning and then it just disappeared.  I tried to balance it with cutters, but made some mistakes.  Same old story, I guess."

While Hughes gets 15 days to revive his corpse of an arm, Colon will get to start.  Fans had been calling for the hefty righthander to replace Hughes for the past few days after he had a couple of good  outings while Hughes struggled.

Colon brings a respectable 3.97 ERA into the mix.  In three relief appearances, he has struck out 16 batters in 11.1 innings.

Girardi must be wringing his hands over where he went wrong with his No. 3 starter.  The manager had babied Hughes by limiting the number of innings he could through in a season (The Hughes Rules) and shuffling him between the starting rotation and the bullpen throughout his Yankee career.

The manager's hands-on approach seemed to work last year after Hughes went 18-8 with a 4.18 ERA and was selected to the All-Star team.  Although Hughes faded down the stretch and got rocked in two playoff appearances against the Texas Rangers, the team believed this was going to be their young pitcher's first full season as a starter.

While Hughes attempts to regain the zip in his arm, his roster spot will be filled by right-handed pitcher Lance Pendleton from the Yankees Scranton affiliate.  Pendleton is 1-1 with a 1.59 ERA for the Triple-A club.

Just yesterday Girardi said, "It's our job to get him [Hughes] right.  We got to have him pitch.  He can't just go on a sabbatical.  We need to get this kid right."

Sabbatical?  No.  Morgue?  Maybe.

Yankees Garcia Slated to Start Saturday; Forecast: More Rain

New York Yankees fifth-starter Freddy Garcia is still awaiting his first start of the regular season after being bumped from his two previous attempts due to weather.  It will be 18 days between his last start in spring training and his first regular season start on Saturday against the Texas Rangers.  The forecast: rain.

Garcia's new nickname should be Dopler.  So far this season, his slated starts are more likely to be called for rain than by any weatherman at National Weather Service--at least he's been more reliable.

Garcia's last scheduled start was pushed back again after Tuesday night's rainout at Yankee Stadium against the Minnesota Twins.  After a bumpy spring training, Garcia is anxious to get on the mound.  The gap between his last start and this Saturday's is the longest of his career.

"I've just got to pitch, that's it, " said Garcia. "I don't really know what to say."

Garcia earned the fifth spot in the starting line-up after an up-and-down spring training, but he is far from a lock to stay there, even if the bottom of the five-man rotation is looking a little stormy.

The 34 year-old Garcia's first start as a Yankee now carries a lot more significance than at the beginning of the season.  CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett are the only starters making any thunder so far this season.  Slow starts by Phil Hughes, whose fastball looks more like fog than lightning, and the No. 4 starter Ivan Nova, who is still getting his feet wet have raised some concerns with the team.

If you believe Garcia, the early season layoff shouldn't affect his rhythm.

"I don't think so, I'm too old for that," the righthander joked.  "I've got to go out there and pitch, that's all I can do, and win.  If I don't have the rhythm, I don't have it, but I don't see a problem.  I've got to go out and make my pitch, that's it."

Garcia did throw one inning of relief against the Boston Red Sox last week, giving up one hit and one run, but says he has been keeping in shape by throwing bullpen sessions while waiting to get an actual start.

"Working out, man, throwing bullpen, doing my stuff," He said.  That's all I can do.  That's all I can control.  [I've been throwing] a lot, 40 [pitches], 50 , whatever I need.  That's it, throw in the bullpen and [make] it like a game, two or three innings."

The Yankees signed Garcia to a minor league deal for $1.5 million.  The veteran hurler won the fifth spot over Bartolo Colon and doesn't think pitching only one real inning in over two weeks can stop him on the mound.

The Weather Channel says:  Avoid plans for the outdoors on Saturday; Freddy Garcia is slated to start.

A.J. Burnett Is Ready To Keep Perfect April Record Intact

You have to look pretty hard to find highlights of A.J. Burnett's career as a New York Yankee, but the amazing fact is that the much-maligned right-hander is 7-0 in pinstripes during the month of April.  The lanky starter is 2-0 this year and off to another to another quick start.

Tonight Burnett tries to extend his undefeated April record as a Yankee against the Baltimore Orioles to 8-0.

Burnett, who entered this season as the teeth-gnawing piece of the Yankees rotation, has now been replaced by Phil Hughes as the big question mark.  Maybe, by turning the manager's glare from Burnett to Hughes, will help Burnett regain the confidence he lost a season-and-a-half ago?

Hughes has replaced the 34 year-old Burnett as the team's biggest concern with his 0-1 record and sky-high 16.50 ERA as Hughes, the No. 3 starter, continues to search for his fastball.

Burnett, the shaving-cream-pie-throwing, mystery-on-the-mound has looked good so far.  He is coming off a economical 6-inning, 5-hit win against the Minnesota Twins--while battling a nasty cold-- and has 11 strikeouts to go with his 4.09 ERA for the season.

Yankee fans shouldn't get too excited.  Last year Burnett started the season with a 4-0 record and then spiraled out of control the rest of the season.  He finished with a inconsistent 10-15 record and a bloated 5.26 ERA.  He was about as predictable as a Charlie Sheen show--unless you call it bad.

So far, as a Yankee, Burnett has blossomed in April.  He has a 3.91 ERA in 12 starts to go with his unblemished record, but those April showers seem to bring May sours.

If you take away the seven April wins, Burnett's record as a Yankee is a dismal 18-24, but the tattooed hurler says things feel a little different this year.

Burnett says new pitching coach Larry Rothschild altered his delivery during spring training and, more importantly, he has found a battery soul-mate with new catcher Russell Martin.

It was no secret that Burnett and catcher Jorge Posada clashed over the last two seasons and now that Posada has been assigned to a DH position, their days together are limited to high-fives in the dugout.

During his win against the Twins, Burnett showed he can once again wiggle out of trouble and after wards, he sounded like he prefers throwing to Russell.

"I shook [Martin] off today and he put the same sign back down," said Burnett.  "He's got me believing."

The Yankees have to encouraged by Burnett's first two outings--lord knows they have very little else to be happy about--but tonight he will be facing a division-leading Orioles team.

"I've said it before, it's absolutely about  consistency and doing my work in between (starts) with Larry and keeping it rolling," said Burnett.  "Not thinking about it, just go out and pitch."

N.Y. Yankees Digging the Long Ball and Not Much Else

The New York Yankees are tied for the league lead in home runs with 18 but still look anemic at the plate.  A .236 team average is something the team is not used to--even if it is only nine games into the season--and seems worse when you realize four regular starters are well below the Mendoza Line with two others barely above it.

The Yankees No. 4 and No. 5 hitters,  Robinson Cano (.324) and Alex Rodriguez (.321), are batting at least 115 points over the leadoff and No. 2 spots--Brett Gardner (.167) and Derek Jeter (.206).

Out of the Yankees 70 total hits this season, 18 have gone over the fence.  They are on pace for a record 324 jacks and only 1260 hits.

Hot starts by Jorge Posada, Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira are faded memories.  The sliding threesome went 0-for-9 with 8 strikeouts against Josh Beckett and the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.  They have combined for nine home-runs but, with an average of .182, Teixeira is the stud of that bunch.  Take away the homers and those three are a combined 6-of-81.

Yankee hitting coach Kevin Long hasn't heard the Steinbrenner alarm yet--thanks to the awful start by the Red Sox and he puts on a happy face when asked about the slumping players.

"I've felt good about our offense thus far and I still do," Long said after the Sox ace struck out ten Yankees on Sunday.  "This isn't any time to hit the panic button just because Josh Beckett came out and threw the ball really well."

True.  But how does he justify the lack of hits against pitchers who didn't throw the ball as well as Beckett so far this year?

It seems unlikely that Jeter or Gardner won't pick it up at the top of the order or that Mark Teixeira won't be rattled from his annual April swoon.  And there's no way that the DH Posada or outfielder Granderson will still be batting .138 and .172, respectively, at the end of the season, but there has to be concern--even with a 5-4 record.

If anything the Yankee hits have been timely.  They were sixth in runs scored (50).

Manager Joe Girardi knows nine games do not make a season.  "You can't make too much of a few at-bats," he said.  "You can't just do it because early in the season you're going to see guys have ups and downs.  You're going to see it, and then as they start getting more at-bats under their belts, they start to get more consistent."

The Yankees may be hiding their lack of hits behind their home-run onslaught.  Everyone knows chicks really dig the long-ball, but I don't think hitting coaches do.

the other paper: Former-Boxer Butterbean Turns Lawman In New TV Rea...

the other paper: Former-Boxer Butterbean Turns Lawman In New TV Rea...: "Former boxer, kickboxer and MMA fighter Eric 'Butterbean' Esch will be followed by cameras as a reserve deputy sheriff in his hometown of Ja..."

Former-Boxer Butterbean Turns Lawman In New TV Reality Show

Former boxer, kickboxer and MMA fighter Eric "Butterbean" Esch will be followed by cameras as a reserve deputy sheriff in his hometown of Jasper, Ala. on a new series premiering this August on the Investigation Discovery channel.

If you've been wondering what the popular, chicken and butterbean chomping, bald-headed Esch has been up to, you'll now be able to ride along the newly appointed lawman as the 400-plus former World Toughman Champion and his best friend and police partner, Adam Hadder, are followed by a camera crew as they patrol the streets of Jasper.

The two Walker County cops, Esch and Hadder, will be shown helping the sheriff's department making drug busts, working crowd control and performing other sheriff's duties, according to the New York Post.

"I don't get paid a dime to do the deputy sheriff stuff," said the 44 year-old Butterbean.  "But I love it because I want to make Jasper a better place to live for my grand kids and children."

Esch knows his size is scary, but claims he hasn't had to rough any one up yet.  "My size kind of intimidates people," he said.  "Normally, people realize that it's not a winning situation for them with me."

It looks like Esch has joined the ranks of another bigger-than-big tough-guy personality, actor Steven Seagal, in fighting crime; but Esch, the former-boxer with a pro record of 77-8-4, insists his gig is tougher.  Esch says A&E's "Steven Seagal: Lawman" is a lighter version of his reality show.

"It's like trying to compare the WWF to ballet," he said.  "There's no comparison, and my show is the WWF."

Butterbean is no stranger to the cameras.  His fight fame was built on his huge TV persona and American flag shorts.  He was one of the most televised fighters during his heyday and once knocked out Johnny Knoxville in a department store for the movie "Jackass: The Movie."

Yankees Teixeira Deals With April's 'Funky Stats' Again

If New York Yankees Mark Teixeira is 0-for-18, it must be April.  Never mind showers that bring flowers, it's usually his April slumps that bring a little power every spring.

Teixeira, notorious for his slow spring starts, may have been fooled by the season's early start date and stormed out of the gate.  He batted .333 with 4 home-runs in his first five games leading fans to believe the first-baseman had conquered the spate of early-season struggles which have dogged Teixeira throughout his career.

The surprisingly great start had a reality check and now a dreadful 0-for-18 slump leaves Teixeira batting .182 in the third spot.  The slide was highlighted by a hitless weekend against the Boston Red Sox.  The Yankees dropped 2-of-3 against their division rivals culminating with Josh Beckett's 2-hit gem on Sunday night.

Teixeira, who turns 31 today, had a blistering start to the season.  He hit four home-runs with 10 RBI's during that span.  He now has six hits and 10 strikeouts in 33 at-bats.

The top of the Yankee order is, so far, pretty bland and can't be helping Teixeira much.  Leadoff batter Brett Gardner is hitting .167 followed by Derek Jeter and his piddling .206 average.  The healthy stats of the No. 4 and 5 batters, Alex Rodriguez (who sat out last night's game) and Robinson Cano, make Tex less of a concern to opposing pitchers than the hitters who follow him.  Teixeira has become the cheese on a white-bread and multi-grain sandwich.

"They pitched me really tough this weekend," Teixeira said last night.  "Any ball I hit hard got caught.  They pitched me tough.  [Today's] day off will be nice to just regroup and get back to work on Tuesday."

Teixeira doesn't have to feel relatively bad about last night's three-strikeout performance.  Beckett made the rest of the Yankees team look just as small.  The rejuvenated Boston right-hander mowed down 10 pinstripers on strikeouts and looked like the Beckett of old.

For the weekend, Tex was 0-for-12 with six strikeouts.  When last seen he was arguing a strikeout call against Jonathan Papelbon.

"He [Beckett] was really good tonight," said Teixeira.  "Some nights you beat yourself up and some nights you tip your cap and this was one of those nights."

It looks like the Yankees will have to just wait until May for Teixeira to get his groove back.  While the four-time Gold Glove winner earns his keep in the field, Teixeira says he doesn't put too much emphasis on early-season swoons and batting stats.

"If I did, I would have retired years ago," he said.  "The first nine games you're going to have some funky stats.  You're going to have guys that you say that this guy is going to be the next MVP and he's sent down a month later.  You're going to have guys that are hitting .050 and then he wins the MVP.  It's a such a small part of the season."

Yankees manager, Joe Girardi, seems to take Teixeira's .232 career April average in stride.

"He's just missing balls a little bit, that's all," the manager said.  " And you're seeing good pitching out there."

Teixeira may be sugar-coating his frustration.  While the Red Sox were celebrating their win, after Teixeira's final swing, he followed the umpire to dispute the call.

"You guys saw it," Teixeira said.  " I'm not allowed to say anything.  I didn't yell at him.  It is what it is.  He said he might have missed it.  I wasn't going to hit a grand slam with no one on.  I might have gone nuts, but we didn't get the job done."

"It's raining, it's cold. You can't get a rhythm sometimes," said Teixeira.  I'd love to be able to hit .300 from day one...that's the way baseball is."

Funky.