The Yankees, Unobstructed — May 9

The Yankees have won seven of nine to start May, but not all is swell.

Three games into a stretch of 17 without a day off, the Yankees are already looking worn. Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson recently joined Chan Ho Park on the disabled list, and Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Alfredo Aceves and Mariano Rivera have all been dealing with minor injuries.

The 17 games includes 12 against above .500 teams — the other five games are against the Red Sox (they're still below .500, isn't that fun).

On the bright side of things, the Yankees won two of three against Boston over the weekend.

On the even brighter side (this is pyramidal), the Yankees look like farm-system geniuses right now:

• Brett Gardner has the fourth highest average in the American League (.348).
• Francisco Cervelli filled in for Jorge Posada and looked like a young catcher-version of Tony Gwynn.
• Phil Hughes has been the best pitcher on the team (other than Mariano, of course).
• Even Joba has settled comfortably into his setup role.

On the darkest side (see, pyramidal), Yankee youngster David Robertson has continued to suffer through the worst stretch of his career. Robertson has given up runs in four of his last five appearances, and his ERA has ballooned to 12.91. It's gotten ugly, and it's all my fault.

NOTE: Make sure to check back every weekend for The Yankees, Unobstructed, BNN's weekly Yankees opinion column.

For more of Graham Kates' sports writing, check out his True/Slant blog "Coaches in the Crosshairs" (http://trueslant.com/grahamkates).

The Yankees, Unobstructed

First, I think it's important to start off by apologizing to David Robertson. I have a long history of jinxing things, and poor Robertson never stood a chance. Just two days after I hailed the young reliever for giving up just one run since August, he fell victim to a grand slam.

I'm sorry, Dave.

But, if mentioning how good someone is in this column ruins them, maybe we can make it work the other way. So, the two Nicks — Johnson and Swisher — are struggling to come by hits. Johnson's pulling down a .158 average, and Swisher is hitting a clean .200. They just look bad.

If the world of baseball production really does revolve around me (and c'mon, it so obviously does), then the Nicks should start kicking into high gear pretty soon.

Time for a Yankees, Unobstructed first — talking about stuff that has nothing to do with the Yankees, at all.

Normally we don't talk about other teams on the Bronx News Network. But today an exception needs to be made. Last night the Mets and Cardinals played a 6 hour 53 minute, 20 inning, 120 out game. There are so many great numbers to pull from the affair.
Here are some good ones (courtesy of the sporting news):

• 11: Number of consecutive innings Francisco Rodriguez warmed up before entering the game in the 19th and blowing a save. Look, I said the Castillo bunt may have been Manuel's nadir.
• 110: Number of outs recorded before Jose Reyes became the first runner to score, on a Jeff Francoeur sacrifice fly in the 19th inning.
• 0: Number of times on base, combined, by Francoeur and Jason Bay in 14 at-bats.
• 2: Number of entire NBA playoff games (Hawks-Bucks and Celtics-Heat) played during Cardinals-Mets.

A Recap of the Ridiculous 20-Inning Cardinals-Mets Epic, By the Numbers

Today's completely useless trivia — courtesy of ESPN, who was obviously just trying to kill an extra three seconds — last night's Ubaldo Jimenez no-hitter was the first by anyone whose name starts with "U."

Back to the Yankees

This week the Yankees are heading to Oakland and Anaheim. I don't know if it's the Pacific air, the sushi snobbery or maybe distraction from being so near In-n-Out, but for the last couple of years the Yankees have been less than great on West coast roadtrips. Consider this a good test of their mettle. If they can pull two of three from both Oakland and Anaheim, then we can really feel comfortable with this April success.

NOTE: Make sure to check back every weekend for The Yankees, Unobstructed, BNN's weekly Yankees opinion column.

For more of Graham Kates' sports writing, check out his True/Slant blog "Coaches in the Crosshairs" (http://trueslant.com/grahamkates).

The Yankees, Unobstructed, April 11

I might like Nick Johnson a little too much.

"I think you've got a man-crush on Nick Johnson," my girlfriend recently said to me.

She's right.

The dude has turned walking into an absolute artform. Going into today's game, Johnson had just two hits on the season . . . and an on-base percentage (OBP) of .360. That's kinda outrageous. Two hits and six walks. It's just great to see a batter make pitchers pitch.

But there's more to Nick Johnson than his patience at the plate. The man is a walking, talking baseball-playing analogue. A cross between Babe Ruth and Private Pyle (from "Full Metal Jacket"). Seriously, look at that:

It's uncanny.

All this talk about man-crushes and doppelgangers is making me uncomfortable. How about something completely unrelated to Johnson.

Is it cool seeing speedy Yankees or what?

Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner are fun to watch. When they get on base — and at least this past week, that's been easy for them to do — they invariably distract pitchers. The two have combined for seven runs and five stolen bases. They both have OBPs of over .400. Not bad for two guys at the bottom of the lineup.

Whoa, I almost forgot to include what has become the obligatory Joba Chamberlain update.

I'm telling you, Joba's going to have competition

It started during last year's postseason. Young David Robertson was absolutely brilliant. He was the only Yankee pitcher not named Mariano to show up consistency during the '09 playoff run. Robertson hasn't allowed a run in 8.1 straight innings — through seven appearances — since Oct. 2, last year.

Going back even further, Robertson has given up only one earned run since Aug. 30.

It looks like Joba has the job right now, and in many ways he's earned it merely by putting up with the constant tinkering of his roles. But he has to watch his back.

NOTE: Make sure to check back every weekend for The Yankees, Unobstructed, BNN's weekly Yankees opinion column.

For more of Graham Kates' sports writing, check out his True/Slant blog "Coaches in the Crosshairs" (http://trueslant.com/grahamkates).