MLB notebook: Ailing Yankees creak toward opening day
BY Associated Press
Saturday, March 09, 2013
3/09/13 at 4:01 AM
As Derek Jeter dug in against Andy Pettitte, a familiar voice boomed from the top step of the dugout.
"Hundred bucks if you drill him!" former teammate David Wells hollered.
The way things are going lately for the New York Yankees, it's a surprise some mishap didn't occur. Instead, Jeter batted six times - without incident - during Pettitte's simulated outing Friday at the team's spring training complex in Tampa, Fla.
Already missing Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees have been struck by a startling series of injuries since arriving in camp.
They've been hit so hard, it's no wonder their 3-10 record in exhibition play is the worst in the American League.
Curtis Granderson broke his arm in his first exhibition at-bat. Mark Teixeira is sidelined after straining his right wrist swinging a weighted bat during warmups for the World Baseball Classic. Reliever David Robertson has a sore shoulder, the result of sleeping on it wrong. And general manager Brian Cashman broke his leg while skydiving in Florida.
"It's crazy," ace CC Sabathia said. "... we'll just have to try to hold the fort down until both (Teixeira) and Curt are able to get back on the field, get healthy."
2B for Royals is up for grabs: The Kansas City Royals don't have that many open spots for a team coming off a 90-loss season.
For the second straight March, Johnny Giavotella and Chris Getz are competing for the second base job. The Royals went 21-22 when Giavotella started at second base last season and 30-25 when Getz was the starter.
Giavotella is a career .308 hitter in 534 minor-league games. However, Giavotella has a .242 average in 99 big league games.
Getz went on the disabled list three times last season. While Getz is considered better defensively than Giavotella, he has only 31 extra-base hits in 793 at-bats with the Royals.
