YANKEE NOTES
TAMPA – An hour before last night’s Yankees game against the Red Sox at Legends Field, Jorge Posada was sent for X-rays after a ball struck him in the face and possibly broke the catcher’s nose.
According to Joe Torre, the ball struck Posada on the bridge of the nose.
Posada was playing catch with Kelly Stinnett when the accident occurred. Posada either was distracted by another ball or turned his head when his name was called.
“He was a little puffy above the left eye and his nose was bleeding,” Torre said of Posada, who missed four games two years ago when he suffered a fractured nose when hit by a thrown ball sliding into second. “It didn’t look displaced. The nose still looked like it was in place.”
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Johnny Damon said his left shoulder was well enough to play center field against his former team last night. However, the medical staff and Joe Torre decided another night of rest would benefit Damon.
“They said [tonight],” Damon said of his return to the field after battling tendinitis in his throwing shoulder during the World Baseball Classic. “It feels good and I am definitely pleased about that. My arm feels good today and I want to make sure it stays that way.”
Torre used Damon as the DH and Bernie Williams in center.
Damon downplayed facing the Red Sox, the team he played four years with and helped win a World Series title in 2004.
“It’s an exhibition game,” Damon said. “It’s a spring-training game. A lot is made out of these games, but we are still trying to get our work in.”
Asked if he misses his flowing locks and facial hair, Damon said, “I have enjoyed not messing with it. And I am enjoying shaving. I feel a bit younger. My mom has got her baby back.”
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Carl Pavano threw 35 pitches during a batting-practice session yesterday, and outside of a mechanical problem with his landing foot, he said it went well.
“Today was probably the best I have felt,” said Pavano, who will start the season on the disabled list and likely won’t be ready for big-league action until the end of April or early May. “I thought the life on the ball was pretty good. I did everything I wanted.”
Pavano will repeat the exercise Saturday and could pitch in an exhibition game next week.
Brian Cashman confirmed Pavano, Aaron Small and Octavio Dotel would start the season on the DL.