The Yankees' 7-6 record puts them 2.5 games behind the Blue Jays. With only 8% of the season finished, here are the issues currently facing the Yanks.
- Chien-Ming Wang has allowed 23 hits and 23 earned runs in six innings spanning three starts. He'd need to pitch four shutouts to get his ERA under 5.00…that has to affect a guy's confidence. Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Yankees will skip Wang's next start. He believes the team attributes the poor start to a lack of arm strength. Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News says the Yankees found mechanical issues, though Wang says everything's the same as last year. Tyler Kepner of the New York Times notes that Wang is out of options, so the Yankees won't end up sending him to the minors. Benjamin Kabak at River Avenue Blues suggests the Yankees saw this coming, given their reluctance to lock Wang up long-term. Kabak believes a DL stint would make sense.
- Is the new stadium a launching pad? It's early, but many say the ball is flying out to right field. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports looks at the stadium and other issues, including the bullpen. ESPN's Buster Olney calls the park "a veritable wind tunnel that is rocketing balls over fences." He notes that the team cannot structurally alter the park this season.
- Regarding Xavier Nady's elbow injury, Sherman says "the Yanks were privately a lot more optimistic by Sunday that Nady could avoid Tommy John surgery and that he might be able to return in June and form a righty-lefty DH platoon with Hideki Matsui." Nady had a second MRI on Saturday, and the team doctor will speak with Dr. Lewis Yocum.
