YANKEES GETTING WINS....AND INJURED

Last night the Yankees got another win, Mo got another save and unfortunately another player got hurt. After only 5 pitches into the game, a foul ball hit Cervelli's hand and he was immediately taken out of the game. Turns out "Cisco" not only broke his hand, it requires surgery and will miss a minimum of six weeks. Romaine has been called up from the minors and will probably share the catching duties with Stewart. Cervelli has got to be wondering what exactly he did to piss off the baseball gods. In his short career he has had a broken wrist (spring training collision at the plate), a broken foot (fouled a ball off it) and got hit in the head by a pitch sustaining a pretty good concussion. The tough part for Cervelli is how hard he worked after spending last season in AAA, finally getting his chance to be the starting catcher, only to have this freak injury happen. He is a fighter, a grinder and although this must feel like a devastating setback to his career, he needs to find the fight again to come back once again. No doubt he will.

We also saw Nova get pulled in the 3rd after experiencing elbow pain. One must wonder how long he has really been feeling this pain and never said anything. He knows he had been fighting for a starter position and may have hoped the pain would just go away. Elbow pain for a pitcher can be scary and the first thing everyone thinks is Tommy John surgery. Nova is scheduled for an MRI and we'll just have to wait and see.

Youkilis was once again a scratch with back stiffness and may actually wind up on the DL, joining his teammates Jeter, Teix, A-Rod, Granderson, Cervelli and possibly Nova. Well if nothing else he is in all-star quality company. *sigh*

Yankee fans are starting to feel snake bit for sure when it comes to player injuries; but every team goes through it and though it may sound cliche, it's better this happen in April versus August. That said, the Yankees REALLY need to stay healthy because we are starting to run out of catchers and infielders.

Despite all this last night, Mariano got his 8th save, Robertson got his 3rd hold and the Yankees won the game, due to timely hitting and a little bit of luck. Sometimes in baseball it's better to be lucky than good. Last night the Yankees were both..well kind of lucky..

As usual, GO YANKEES!!

YANKEE FANS - TIME TO PANIC? NO BUT TIME FOR SOME CHANGES...

The Yankees lost their second consecutive game tonight against the Rangers. Phil Hughes started the game and only went 2.2 innings, giving up 5 hits and 4 runs. Unlike the Red Sox game on Saturday where Freddy Garcia had only a slightly worse outing, the Yankees were unable to rally back.

This bad outing by Hughes came on the heels of the news this afternoon that Michael Pineda is finished for at least this year (probably until May 2013). So, now Garcia and Hughes have struggled and Pineda is gone. So now what?

First, Phil Hughes needs to go to the bull pen. He honestly was better in relief. The Yankees and Phil need to face that fact and move him there. Don't get me wrong, I like Phil a lot and want him to do well, but sometimes we need to face what our strengthens and weaknesses are. I don't think you give up on him, just adjust his role on this team. There is nothing wrong with making him a relief pitcher. It's not a sign of failure but a sign of playing to your strength. As for Freddy Garcia - I'm sorry but he does need to go. He is not happy about the potential of losing his spot - so how well will he do if he does. I just don't think he will accept that role in the pen.

Phelps can't take Garcia's next spot because he pitched a couple of innings tonight. Unfortunately, the Yankees are going to have to deal with whatever Garcia gives them in his next rotation spot (probably Sunday against the Tigers). Hopefully, Kuroda has figured some things out after his well pitched game yesterday and can win the games CC and Nova pitch.

That said, the Yankees need to consider calling up DJ Mitchell who is pitching pretty well in Triple A. Make the Mitchell and David Phelps starters (replacing Hughes and Garcia). Yes, it will mean shifting people around - but it can be done. Lastly, we hopefully will also have Andy Pettitte back by mid May (fingers crossed).

Although it is early in the season and the Yankees are not in any real trouble right now - that can change quickly with a losing streak. The Yankees have to figure this out soon and going to your young pitchers may just be the answer. The Yankees have the talent to pull this together.

Pitching aside, the Yankees also need to start getting hits in key situation. The teams are leaving too many runners in scoring position.

It's not time to hit the panic button - but it really is time for changes to me made.