Flush from their confidence-boosting sweep of Tampa Bay, the Jays cruise into the Bronx to take on the struggling Yankees.
* General: The Yankees lead the AL in hits allowed, a rather telling indictment of the club's poor defence ... Unfortunately, the Jays draw none of Brown, Mussina or (the injured) Wright, whose poor starting pitching has been holding the Bombers down ... Think the Yankees miss the 4-1 Jon Lieber? ... Offensively, the Yankees have scored as many runs as Boston ... Proof of an aging lineup: The Yankees are the only lineup yet to triple this season ... Ruben Sierra's injured right biceps is feeling good and the veteran is hopeful to return ahead of schedule -- perhaps as soon as next week ... Tanyon Sturtze should be ready by next week. When he returns, the Yankees are expected to keep Buddy Groom on board. So what gives? Well, the Cubs and Giants are rumoured to be interested in Steve Karsay, and the Yankees are reportedly willing to eat salary to make a deal happen ...
* Randy Johnson: Every first inning this season has been three-up, three-down ... Has simply not had the overpowering fastball with which we've always associated the Unit this season ... For that reason, two strikes no longer makes at-bats against him foregone conclusions ... Not everything is hard fastball, hard slider anymore. He throws a slower curve ... Still a fiercely intelligent pitcher ... Amazing movement on his slider. When it starts thigh-high, it's extremely tough on lefties and righties alike ... Likes to backdoor righties with the slider ... Has never been good at stopping the running game despite being a lefty ...
* Gary Sheffield: Sloppy fielder prone to misplays with his glove ... Poor range over his head ... Embarrassingly threw to a vacant second base last night with a potential play at the plate developing and a cutoff already set up ... Good bad-ball hitter that can drive pitches even well out of the strike zone ... Feels like he's getting better extension and plate coverage this year with his shoulder in good shape ... Throw him slow stuff away with two strikes ...
* Derek Jeter: Won't win a Gold Glove this season if his April is any indication. He's had the yips with the glove ... He is, however, a good relay thrower on the double play ... Generally, tremendous approach at the plate ... Remember: His power tends to be opposite-field ... He doesn't always read breaking pitches down very well ... He's seemingly made more outs on the basepaths this season than in seasons past. He was uncharacteristically picked off first last night, although many thought John Lackey balked ...
* Chien-Ming Wang: Age 25 as of late March ... The Yankees' Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2004, going 11-5 in AA and AAA while tossing seven shutout innings against Australia for his native Taiwan in the Olympics ... Also faced the mighty Japanese club, and wasn't shelled, giving up three runs on eight hits in 6 2/3 IP ... Will probably not be a huge strikeout guy in the majors, relying instead on four pitches and changing speeds ... Pitched very well in spring training and respectably with the Columbus Clippers in his first regular-season starts of the year ...
* Andy Phillips: Likes the ball up, up, up ... Has a classic "wheelhouse" swing ... Good power ... Tries to pull everything -- I mean, everything ... Does not stay down well on low breaking pitches and will swing over them ... Hustles and is eager to impress ...
* Jorge Posada: Good level swing from the right side, where he makes hard contact ... Tremendous ability to spoil two-strike pitches ... More of an uppercut swing from the left side, but he stays down on balls well ... Tremendous faith in his own understanding of the strike zone; doesn't like pitches off the plate and can be caught looking on the corners ... Can be jammed inside, especially as a lefthanded hitter ... Is he entering Catcher Decline Phase? ...
* Tony Womack: Punches at inside pitches effectively and usually puts it in play ... That said, he can't lay off anything on the inner half of the plate or even further inside than that ... Waves helplessly against lefthanded breaking stuff ... Great bunter who regularly bunts for hits. Not a drag bunter; he likes to push it toward third and beat it out ...
* Alex Rodriguez: Good reaction ability at third base ... Obviously, his ten-ribbie performance on Tuesday night was an all-time performance ... Awesome power to all fields and can take fastballs anywhere in the strike zone deep ... Hard to fool on breaking pitches down and in. He sees the ball very well in that zone ... It's almost better to leave breaking pitches up and in, where he prefers to lay off ...
* Tom Gordon: Has rewarded Torre's faith by pitching better lately ... Tighter movement on his splitter, which really tied up Russ Adams last week down and in ... Overpowered Sparky with his fastball, which is still plenty fast ... Much better location in his recent appearances ...
* Carl Pavano: Somewhat slow delivery to the plate from the stretch. You can run on him ... Leaves his two-seamer up in the zone; Rios really belted one such hanger ... Very consistent movement and location with his splitter; Vernon and Zaun both really struggled with it ... Looks like a good signing for the Yanks, unlike so many others this season ...
* Bernie Williams: No longer boasts speed among his offensive weapons ... Not as much power, but he's still quick enough to get around on fastballs from either side of the plate ... Will pull pitches up in the zone ... Continues to draw walks ... When he strikes out, it's usually looking. He can be backdoored ...
* Hideki Matsui: Just 4 for his last 27 (.148), and has gone 18 games without a home run ... Whiffed twice against Chacin -- once swinging on a belt-high breaking pitchand once frozen by a breaking ball down and in ... Can sometimes pull off the ball, especially against lefthanded pitchers ... Deceptively strong throwing arm in left; ask Cat ...
* Jason Giambi: Two hits last night after a 2-for-17 slump ... Has gone eight games without an extra-base hit ... Actually hit against the shift last night, poking an uncontested groundball single to left ...
Of course, the Yankees remain a dangerous club with a ferocious lineup and two tough starting pitchers sandwiched around a Taiwanese rookie making his big-league debut. Can the Jays put the ball in play and pressure the Bombers' suspect defence?
This week's Scout features a scuffling Godzilla, a surging superstar and some trade talk in the bullpen. It's a critical sink-or-swim weekend for the 12-11 Jays.
On to the Advance Scout!* General: The Yankees lead the AL in hits allowed, a rather telling indictment of the club's poor defence ... Unfortunately, the Jays draw none of Brown, Mussina or (the injured) Wright, whose poor starting pitching has been holding the Bombers down ... Think the Yankees miss the 4-1 Jon Lieber? ... Offensively, the Yankees have scored as many runs as Boston ... Proof of an aging lineup: The Yankees are the only lineup yet to triple this season ... Ruben Sierra's injured right biceps is feeling good and the veteran is hopeful to return ahead of schedule -- perhaps as soon as next week ... Tanyon Sturtze should be ready by next week. When he returns, the Yankees are expected to keep Buddy Groom on board. So what gives? Well, the Cubs and Giants are rumoured to be interested in Steve Karsay, and the Yankees are reportedly willing to eat salary to make a deal happen ...
* Randy Johnson: Every first inning this season has been three-up, three-down ... Has simply not had the overpowering fastball with which we've always associated the Unit this season ... For that reason, two strikes no longer makes at-bats against him foregone conclusions ... Not everything is hard fastball, hard slider anymore. He throws a slower curve ... Still a fiercely intelligent pitcher ... Amazing movement on his slider. When it starts thigh-high, it's extremely tough on lefties and righties alike ... Likes to backdoor righties with the slider ... Has never been good at stopping the running game despite being a lefty ...
* Gary Sheffield: Sloppy fielder prone to misplays with his glove ... Poor range over his head ... Embarrassingly threw to a vacant second base last night with a potential play at the plate developing and a cutoff already set up ... Good bad-ball hitter that can drive pitches even well out of the strike zone ... Feels like he's getting better extension and plate coverage this year with his shoulder in good shape ... Throw him slow stuff away with two strikes ...
* Derek Jeter: Won't win a Gold Glove this season if his April is any indication. He's had the yips with the glove ... He is, however, a good relay thrower on the double play ... Generally, tremendous approach at the plate ... Remember: His power tends to be opposite-field ... He doesn't always read breaking pitches down very well ... He's seemingly made more outs on the basepaths this season than in seasons past. He was uncharacteristically picked off first last night, although many thought John Lackey balked ...
* Chien-Ming Wang: Age 25 as of late March ... The Yankees' Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2004, going 11-5 in AA and AAA while tossing seven shutout innings against Australia for his native Taiwan in the Olympics ... Also faced the mighty Japanese club, and wasn't shelled, giving up three runs on eight hits in 6 2/3 IP ... Will probably not be a huge strikeout guy in the majors, relying instead on four pitches and changing speeds ... Pitched very well in spring training and respectably with the Columbus Clippers in his first regular-season starts of the year ...
* Andy Phillips: Likes the ball up, up, up ... Has a classic "wheelhouse" swing ... Good power ... Tries to pull everything -- I mean, everything ... Does not stay down well on low breaking pitches and will swing over them ... Hustles and is eager to impress ...
* Jorge Posada: Good level swing from the right side, where he makes hard contact ... Tremendous ability to spoil two-strike pitches ... More of an uppercut swing from the left side, but he stays down on balls well ... Tremendous faith in his own understanding of the strike zone; doesn't like pitches off the plate and can be caught looking on the corners ... Can be jammed inside, especially as a lefthanded hitter ... Is he entering Catcher Decline Phase? ...
* Tony Womack: Punches at inside pitches effectively and usually puts it in play ... That said, he can't lay off anything on the inner half of the plate or even further inside than that ... Waves helplessly against lefthanded breaking stuff ... Great bunter who regularly bunts for hits. Not a drag bunter; he likes to push it toward third and beat it out ...
* Alex Rodriguez: Good reaction ability at third base ... Obviously, his ten-ribbie performance on Tuesday night was an all-time performance ... Awesome power to all fields and can take fastballs anywhere in the strike zone deep ... Hard to fool on breaking pitches down and in. He sees the ball very well in that zone ... It's almost better to leave breaking pitches up and in, where he prefers to lay off ...
* Tom Gordon: Has rewarded Torre's faith by pitching better lately ... Tighter movement on his splitter, which really tied up Russ Adams last week down and in ... Overpowered Sparky with his fastball, which is still plenty fast ... Much better location in his recent appearances ...
* Carl Pavano: Somewhat slow delivery to the plate from the stretch. You can run on him ... Leaves his two-seamer up in the zone; Rios really belted one such hanger ... Very consistent movement and location with his splitter; Vernon and Zaun both really struggled with it ... Looks like a good signing for the Yanks, unlike so many others this season ...
* Bernie Williams: No longer boasts speed among his offensive weapons ... Not as much power, but he's still quick enough to get around on fastballs from either side of the plate ... Will pull pitches up in the zone ... Continues to draw walks ... When he strikes out, it's usually looking. He can be backdoored ...
* Hideki Matsui: Just 4 for his last 27 (.148), and has gone 18 games without a home run ... Whiffed twice against Chacin -- once swinging on a belt-high breaking pitchand once frozen by a breaking ball down and in ... Can sometimes pull off the ball, especially against lefthanded pitchers ... Deceptively strong throwing arm in left; ask Cat ...
* Jason Giambi: Two hits last night after a 2-for-17 slump ... Has gone eight games without an extra-base hit ... Actually hit against the shift last night, poking an uncontested groundball single to left ...
