The Yankees are in Kansas City today to open up Kaufman for the year against the Royals. They are avoiding probably the best pitcher in KC’s rotation (Zack Greinke), thankfully. Here’s how it shapes up:
Friday, April 10th
Andy Pettitte (NR) vs Sidney Ponson (NR)
Andy’s first start of the year. He faced the Royals a few times last year and did not do very well against them. The Kansas City lineup he faces this year is of about the same quality, though with more punch and less “getting on base”. He often starts slow, however, and who knows how his shoulder is really feeling. Sidney Ponson, quite frankly, sucks. But he does use black magic BABIP voodoo and sometimes pulls out what looks like a good start on the surface. The Royals don’t have a very good defense, though, so if the Yankees can keep the ball away from Coco Crisp and David DeJesus they may score some runs!
Saturday, April 11th
Joba Chamberlain (NR) vs Horacio Ramirez (NR)
If there is a starter out there worse than Sidney Ponson, it is Horacio Ramirez. He is a truly awful pitcher and I’m not really sure why the Royals decided to keep him on the roster instead of Brian Bannister or Luke Hochevar. Joba’s first start of the season will hopefully be better than his Spring Training outings, or Sabathia and Wang’s first starts. He could benefit from the fact that there are only like two people in the Kansas City lineup who like taking a free base.
Sunday, April 12th
CC Sabathia (0-1, 12.46) vs Gil Meche (1-0, 1.29)
Sabathia and Meche had opposite outings last time. Meche put up a gem (7IP, 7H, 1R, 0BB, 7K) against the White Sox, where CC absolutely imploded against the Orioles. I’m not going to retread the happenings in that game, so I’ll just say that I find it hard to believe CC could be worse than he was last time.
