Blue Jays-Yankees: Grading New York

In a nearly polar opposite performance from their opening day victory, the Yankees fell to the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 Wednesday night in front of a crowd of more than 48,000, which included myself.  Let's take a look at how each Yankee did:

Joe Girardi, Manager: (C)  Sitting in the left field upper deck with a clear view of the bullpen last night, my dad turned to me in the top of the seventh inning and commented how unusual it was to see no one warming up for the Yankees this late in a game they were losing.  Despite the struggles of LaTroy Hawkins, Girardi let the reliever complete his 1.1 innings of work without ever threatening to take him out.  Over the last seven years of the Torre regime, there would always be at least one severely mediocre reliever warming up from the seventh inning on, no matter who the pitcher on the mound was or how well he was doing. It's nice to see a manager let his pitchers pitch.

There are some bad Yankee habits Girardi needs to get rid of though.  What if I told you that you had a hitter on your team who's batting .247 since 2003.  Where would you place him in the lineup?  Eighth?  Ninth? On the bench?  How about fifth?  For some reason, some people continue to believe Jason Giambi is the same guy who hit .342 for Oakland in 2001.  Seven years and a whole lot less steroids later, Giambi is a shell of his former self and why the human rally killer continues to bat in the heart of the Yankees order befuddles me.

Johnny Damon, LF: (D+)  0-4 with a strikeout and two left on base is not good from your lead-off hitter.  Bringing back a home run with your glove in left field is.

Derek Jeter, SS: (B+)  2-4 is more like it for the Captain.

Bobby Abreu, RF: (B)  Abreu has gotten off to a terrific start.  He was 1-3 with a walk and a run scored last night.

Alex Rodriguez, 3B: (A-)  A-Rod's two-run shot to center in the seventh may be the last home run I see in person at the current Yankee Stadium and it was a beauty.  Too bad he couldn't do it again in the ninth.

Jason Giambi, 1B: (D-)  The second highest paid player in baseball continues to be 0 for 2008 after he couldn't get a hit in four at bats last night.  He continues to refuse to hit the ball the opposite way and he even had the nerve to make an error in the field as well.  A nice stretch on a throw from Jeter late in the game keeps the Giamzero from failing completely.

Robinson Cano, 2B: (D)  Not a good night for Cano, who went 0-4 with two Ks.  He was in the middle of several big double plays, though.

Hideki Matsui, DH: (B-)  1-3 is always appreciated.

Jose Molina, C: (B-)  I was wondering why Girardi inserted Molina in the lineup on the second day of the season until I learned of Posada's shoulder stiffness.  1-3 is pretty good in the pinch.

Melky Cabrera, CF: (B-)  Yet another guy at the bottom of the lineup who had a single in three at bats.

Mike Mussina, SP: (D)  This is why Joba Chamberlain needs to be in the starting rotation right away.  Mussina's line of 5.2ip, 8h, 4r, 3er, 2bb, 2k and the loss are actually a little kind for the way he pitched last night.  The Moose gave up nearly two base runners an inning and was bailed out by Damon's grab in left and three double plays behind him.  I'll give him credit for making a good pitch to get a ground ball when he needed it, but at this point, Mussina is the sixth best starter on the team.  You can't blame it on the cold weather, either, because A.J. Burnett pitched a great game in the same conditions for the Blue Jays.

LaTroy Hawkins, RP: (D-)  Yet another bullpen savior.

Kyle Farnsworth, RP: (C)  Not a bad outing for one of the worst pitchers in baseball.

Ross Ohlendorf, RP: (A-)  Why was he the third guy out of the pen last night?

Yankees Overall Grade: (D+)  The Yankees were playing like they just wanted to get out of the cold until the ninth inning, but it's all about winning series and that makes tonight's game important.