Wang to start season on disabled list

Wang to start season on disabled list

Right-hander out until late April with right hamstring injury

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Yankees will begin the season without the services of ace right-hander Chien-Ming Wang, who suffered a Grade 1 strain of his right hamstring while performing conditioning exercises on Friday.

Wang, who turns 27 on March 31, is expected to miss at least the first three weeks of the season.

"I don't look for him to touch our Major League roster until sometime in late April," general manager Brian Cashman said.

Wang was running sprints following fielding practice at the Yankees' Legends Field complex when he said he felt a "pop" in his right hamstring. The right-hander was sent for an MRI exam on Friday evening, which revealed the strain.

Wang said he hopes to be able to return to a mound in "hopefully 10 days," which may be optimistic thinking. The Yankees plan to place Wang -- who said he was "very, very sad" -- on the disabled list retroactively at the conclusion of Spring Training.

"I want to come back 100 percent," Wang said. "I hope it gets better."

A candidate to pitch on Opening Day on April 2 in the Bronx, Wang was the runner-up in last season's American League Cy Young Award voting.

The hurler tied Minnesota's Johan Santana for the league lead in victories, finishing 19-6 with a 3.63 ERA in 34 games. In four starts this spring, Wang was 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA.

"You don't want stuff like this to happen, but unfortunately, this does happen," Cashman said. "It's in front of you; you deal with it. This won't be the first and it won't be the last, unfortunately."

Cashman said that Wang's injury will open up a roster spot for another pitcher currently in Major League camp. The team still intends to carry 12 pitchers.

Right-hander Jeff Karstens would appear to be a leading candidate to join the rotation. The 24-year-old has been a standout in Spring Training, compiling nine scoreless innings before he allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings to the Blue Jays in his last start Monday.

"We have depth and we have choices," Cashman said. "We have people who have impressed this spring. It's a short-term issue that you're dealing with. We'll wait until we get Wang back and then, in the meantime, someone else will get that opportunity."

The injury is the second this week for the Yankees, who also sidelined left-hander Andy Pettitte with back spasms. Pettitte felt the injury while performing squat exercises on Monday and has been receiving continued treatment.

"It's definitely still a little sore, but I'm a lot better," Pettitte said Friday.

The 34-year-old had originally been scheduled to pitch on Friday, but the southpaw instead was only permitted to throw softly and stretch with the team at Legends Field. He said he has been "feeling better every day."

"I've been told it's just back spasms," Cashman said. "Nobody has told me to worry about Andy, so I'm not going to worry about it right now. Obviously I'd like to see him back on the mound and throwing well, but all in due time."

Because of the scratched start, Pettitte will likely have just one more Grapefruit League appearance before the Yankees open the regular season.

He said that he would not mind pitching in a Minor League game if need be, saying that the most important thing would be to head north with the team on April 1.

"I just want to make sure I get out of here," Pettitte said. "Tampa is not the place to be."

Notes: Wang has work yet to do

Notes: Wang has work yet to do

Despite perfect stat line, righty admits to being rusty

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

TAMPA, Fla. -- Chien-Ming Wang's results through two innings of Grapefruit League work -- six up, six down, five ground-ball outs -- made it look like he is in midseason form.

But his stuff isn't there yet, according to Wang. After whisking through his allotment of Minnesota Twins on Thursday, Wang said his bowling ball-like sinker is still catching a bit too much of the zone, a point he'll need to rectify.

"He spoils you so much with how efficient he is," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "If he misses by a little bit, he feels that he's not right."

Wang, 27, spread the wealth in the Yankees' Spring Training opener, inducing grounders to Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano in the first inning.

He had two more bounceouts in the second inning before Jason Kubel lofted a harmless fly ball to left field, ending Wang's 19-pitch, 10-strike effort. He might not have been completely satisfied, but his Yankees teammates will take those results any day of the week.

"If he pitched a complete game, it'd probably be a couple of strikeouts, 22 ground balls and a couple of popups," Alex Rodriguez said. "It's awesome. It keeps everybody involved.

"You know that when you're driving to the game that day, you're probably going to get six, seven, eight ground balls. That's exciting."

Still, Wang felt his pitches were "too high" and his arm slot was "too wide." Catcher Jorge Posada agreed, saying that the results were good for the first time out, but provided Wang with a base upon which to improve.

"He looked good, but from my standpoint, he wasn't down in the zone like usual," Posada said. "He got the ground balls and that's all you can ask for. He should be a little lower. It's normal [for] the first time out there."

A walk on the wild side: Top pitching prospect Phil Hughes admitted his first Spring Training appearance at Legends Field "wasn't great," but said there were positives to take from the experience.

First, Hughes -- who hasn't struggled with much adversity through his brief, successful professional career -- has an item to kick around as motivation for next time.

Hughes walked two Twins in 1 1/3 innings and also threw a wild pitch, keeping Posada busy blocking overthrown pitches behind the plate.

"That's not something that I like to do or want to do," the 20-year-old Hughes said. "I think it's kind of good that I have something in my mind that I can work on, instead of getting six outs [easily]."

Hughes admitted to being "a little bit anxious" in his first appearance this year, taking over pitching duties in the third inning after Wang retired all six Minnesota batters he faced.

"That can be expected," Hughes said. "It was good to get back out there and actually see some guys."

Before yielding to reliever T.J. Beam with one out in the fourth, Hughes was satisfied to at least leave on a high note, striking out last year's American League MVP, Justin Morneau.

"He struck out a pretty good hitter to say goodbye," Torre said.

Phillips leaves club: First baseman Andy Phillips has been granted a leave of absence from the club. The Yankees said that Phillips' mother was involved in a "serious car accident" on Wednesday in Alabama, and that Phillips has been granted as much time as he needs to attend to the situation.

He has been in communication with the club, calling left-hander Andy Pettitte early on Thursday to update his status.

"We all hope and pray everything will be OK," Torre said.

No second thoughts: Hideki Matsui's consecutive games streak ended last May after he attempted a diving catch in left field at Yankee Stadium, breaking his left wrist.

With that memory in mind, the Yankees could be excused if they'd gasped a little bit when Matsui ran full speed toward the left-field corner in the third inning on Thursday, hunting down a Nick Punto fly ball.

Bearing in on a railing, Matsui snagged the drive. He later joked, "The wrist is not broken," and said he had never given his aggressive pursuit a second thought.

"I've never really thought about the injury," Matsui said. "Today, too, it never really passed my mind."

No problems: Wearing a tight wrap on his left foot, Carl Pavano threw a bullpen session on Thursday and reported that he was "pleasantly surprised" by his touch and feel.

The right-hander -- who sustained a bruise last week when he was hit by an Alberto Gonzalez line drive in batting practice -- is now cleared to make a scheduled start on Sunday in Clearwater against the Phillies.

"I'm excited for it," Pavano said. "Can't wait."

This and that: Pitching coach Ron Guidry has still not decided if closer Mariano Rivera will make his spring debut on Monday or Wednesday. Rivera is, as usual, not traveling to Yankees road games. ... Pitching prospect Ross Ohlendorf showed "real good sink" in a scoreless two-inning relief stint, Torre said. ... Luis Vizcaino, Mike Myers and Jose Veras each fired scoreless innings for New York.

Quotable: "Just to look good with the shirt off. [So] the wife still digs me. Stuff like that. You've got to keep your sexiness at all times." -- Johnny Damon, on why he constructed a gymnasium at his Orlando, Fla., home

Coming up: The Yankees head to St. Petersburg on Friday to play their first road game of the spring, a 1:05 p.m. ET affair with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Pettitte will be on the mound for New York, making his first Grapefruit League appearance for the Yankees since 2003.