YANKEE NOTEBOOK
Joe Torre believes the Yankees will add a lethal bat to his lineup during the second half. Just don’t expect it to be Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon or Greg Vaughn right away.
No, Torre is convinced when David Justice returns from a second stint on the DL, the veteran left-handed hitter will provide the same amount of sock to the Yankees’ batting order that he did in the second half of last season. This despite Justice’s sub-par first half in which he batted .246 with 10 homers and 30 RBIs in 63 games.
“I have to think that way,” Torre said of Justice, who is in Tampa trying to heal a left groin injury that has limited him to two games since June 15. “I don’t think he is trying out for this team. He is a middle of the lineup type guy and I will expect that to be the case when he gets back.”
Of course, nobody knows when the 34-year-old Justice will return. He came back on June 30 from the first groin problem, played two games and landed on the DL again.
“We were counting the days the last time and I guess that wasn’t smart for us to do because it was the wrong thing to do when we brought him back,” Torre said of Justice who was out two weeks. “Probably playing in a couple of [minor] league games would probably benefit all of us just to be sure it’s ready when they think it’s time.”
When Justice surfaces, Torre will have to decide who gets bumped. It will be either Chuck Knoblauch, who has moved between DH and left field, or Shane Spencer.
Speaking of Spencer, today is the first anniversary of him tearing the right ACL in his knee. It has been a long, hard road back but during the rehab period and the disappointment of being optioned to Triple-A, Spencer stayed focused on the goals he set coming out of surgery.
“The only things I kept thinking about in rehab was getting healthy, getting back to the big leagues and playing all the time,” said Spencer, who has been playing regularly since Justice went down for the second time. “More hits would be fun, but it’s not like I am getting fooled. I am just missing up there.”
Spencer started last night’s game hitting .216 with four homers and 12 RBIs in 20 games.
Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens will start the first three games of the second half against the Marlins.
Clemens and Pettitte weren’t at Yankee Stadium last night. They flew to Seattle yesterday. Clemens is expected to be named by Torre as the AL starter for tomorrow night’s All Star Game.
Torre announced yesterday that Devil Ray outfielder Greg Vaughn won’t be able to play in the All-Star Game due to an injury. Torre replaced Vaughn with Mariner outfielder Mike Cameron.