Injury of the Year

Hip injuries are apparently, well, hip.

I'd never heard of a baseball player tearing his hip labrum before. I mean, I didn't even know hips had labrums, I thought they were in your shoulder. And now we have Brett Myers joining the list of guys with hip injuries. Just last year Justin Duchscherer hurt his hip and I didn't hear any talk of labrums... but now we have Mike Lowell, Chase Utley, Alex Rodriguez, Carlos Delgado, Alex Gordon and now Myers. WTF, people? Did they start putting some hip-weakening agent in infield dirt? I really don't get it.

Anyway, the Phillies are discussing who will come up to replace Myers. In addition to the usual suspects -- Kyle Kendrick and Carlos Carrasco -- some think they'll call up Antonio Bastardo, who was 2-2 with a 1.82 ERA and 0.81 WHIP (7 BB, 39 K) in 34.2 IP in Double-A, and then struck out 11 in his first start in Triple-A.

Judging from those numbers he looks like a really good prospect. But if I were the Phillies I'd call him up for the jersey sales alone. The entire population of South Philly would line up to buy a jersey with BASTARDO across the back of it.

Breaking My Cherry

Finally getting my first look at the new Yankee Stadium today.

The good news is Andy Pettitte is on the mound, which makes for a nice combination of the old and the new. (No offense, Andy.) Pettitte's always been one of my favorites and it'll be nice to see him on the mound again. If this is the last time I see him pitch in person, it'll be a nice bookend with the first time I saw him -- in the snow on Opening Day in 1996. The weather should be better this time.

The bad news is the Yankees are facing J.A. Happ, who they've never faced before. Gulp. The good news is his numbers this year are pretty good (2.49 ERA, 1.06 WHIP). If he had a 7.00 ERA, he'd be a lock for a two-hitter.