Joe Girardi said he moved up Mike Mussina in the Yankees’ rotation to make tonight’s start at he Stadium against the Rangers (7:05 p.m., YES, WCBS) because the veteran righty threw 46 pitches Thursday in Pittsburgh and is ready to go with three days’ rest.
That might be true, but it’s not the whole truth.
Joba Chamberlain was scheduled to pitch tonight, and the fact that he threw a career-high 114 pitches during Wednesday’s 10-0 victory over the Pirates surely played into Girardi’s decision to give his young ace an extra day of rest. Chamberlain will start tomorrow on five days’ rest.
Mussina (10-5, 3.93 ERA) will be opposed by right-hander Scott Feldman (1-3, 4.60 ERA), whom the Yankees have seen once before, and that was for a third of an inning in relief.
The Yankees will be rested despite playing four games in three days over the weekend. Left-handed batters Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu and Robinson Cano, all of whom sat yesterday against lefty Oliver Perez of the Mets, will be back in the lineup as the club leaves interleague play behind and resumes its traditional American League schedule.
This week will provide a good measuring stick for the Yankees. They play three games against the Rangers and four against the Red Sox. The Rangers’ offense, led by Josh Hamilton (.312, 19 HR, 79 RBIs), Ian Kinsler (.323, 13 HR, 20 SB) and Milton Bradley (.323, 16 HR, 49 RBIs), is tied with the Red Sox for the AL lead with a .280 batting average. The Rangers (42-41) hold the outright league lead in numerous categories, including runs scored (456), hits (821), slugging percentage (.458), doubles (183), RBIs (437) and total bases (1,344), and are second in home runs (102) and on-base percentage (.349).
Clearly, the Yankees (44-38) will have their hands full.
“You look at their top four hitters in that lineup, you’re talking about four guys that can make the All-Star team, having All-Star-caliber years,” Girardi told mlb.com.