With Alex Rodriguez on the D.L. and Javier Vazquez pitching like crap the Yankees have turned to infielder Eduardo Nunez and starting pitcher Ivan Nova with impressive results. 23-year old righty swinging infielder Eduardo Nunez has played in 10 games since he was called up by the Yankees and he is 8 of 27 (.296 avg, .789 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer, 7 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Ivan Nova has bumped Javier Vazquez to the pen. Nova has pitched in 4 games (2 starts) for the Yankees so far this year and he is 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. He has whiffed 11 batters while only walking 2 in 14 innings as he is attacking the strike zone early and often in games. It’s odd to see the Yankees giving their prospects a chance instead of dealing them for proven players so maybe the Yankees are trying something new.

The Yankees really thought they could depend on A.J. Burnett and Javier Vazquez in the starting rotation this year but they were wrong. Burnett has started 25 games for the Yankees this year and he is 9-11 with a 4.80 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. He has given up 158 hits (19 homers) and he has walked 60 batters in only 148 innings this year. A guy with the stuff that Burnett has shouldn’t be putting up numbers like he does, period. Javier Vazquez has pitched in 24 games (23 starts) for the Yanks this year and he is 9-9 with a 5.05 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. He has given up 130 hits (26 homers) and he has walked 53 batters in 130 innings for the Yankees this year. The Yankees are going to skip Vazquez’ next start giving it to rookie Ivan Nova instead. It’s amazing to me that the Yankees are 77-48 with Burnett & Vazquez starting 40% of the games for them so far this year.

The Yankees have placed 34-year old starting 3B Alex Rodriguez on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right calf. A-Rod has played in 112 games for the Yankees this year and he is 113 of 427 (.265 avg, .818 OPS) with 58 runs scored, 21 homers, 97 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The Yankees have recalled 23-year old righty starting pitcher Ivan Nova from AAA to replace A-Rod on the active roster. Nova has started 23 games in AAA-ball for the Yankees this year and he is 12-3 with a 2.86 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. He also has pitched in 2 games (0 starts) earlier this year for the Yankees and he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP.

The Yankees have sent 22-year old righty starting pitcher Zach McAllister to the Indians to complete the Austin Kearns trade. McAllister came into this season as the Yankees’ #5 prospect according to Baseball America but he has not pitched well at all this year. McAllister pitched in 24 games (all starts) in AAA-ball for the Yankees this year and he was 8-10 with a 5.09 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP. He finished his minor league career with the Yankees having pitched in 98 games (86 starts) in five years and he was 38-32 with 1 save, a 3.40 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Austin Kearns better continue to play well for the Yankees or they might regret trading McAllister down the road.

The Yankees have placed 34-year old switch hitting 1B/DH Lance Berkman on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right ankle. Berkman has played in 12 games for the Yankees since coming over in a deal with the Astros and he is 7 of 39 (.179 avg, .555 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 4 RBIs. Look for Marcus Thames to get a huge bump in playing time until Berkman gets healthy. Thames has played in 51 games for the Yankees so far this year and he is 38 of 121 (.314 avg, .853 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 4 homers and 16 RBIs. Don’t look for his average to stay as high as it is right now because he whiffs a lot (39 times so far this season), but the Yankees will be o.k. with the whiffs because of Thames’ power. The Yankees have recalled 23-year old righty swinging shortstop Eduardo Nunez who was their #14 ranked prospect coming into this season according to Baseball America. Nunez has played in 118 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 134 of 464 (.289 avg, .721 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 4 homers, 50 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. He has now played in 656 games in six years in the minors and he is 701 of 2,557 (.274 avg, .687 OPS) with 312 runs scored, 30 homers, 300 RBIs and 113 stolen bases. Don’t look for Nunez to get much P.T. for the Yankees unless they suffer some injuries in the infield.

Lance Berkman, Austin Kearns and Kerry Wood have had mixed results as members of the Yankees after coming over to them at the trade deadline. Berkman has been a huge disappointment so far in pinstripes. He has played in 12 games for the Yankees and he is 7 of 39 (.179 avg, .555 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 4 RBIs. The Yankees need him to pick up the pace as they traded for him to give them another weapon offensively. Austin Kearns has been playing pretty well for the Yankees so far. He has played in 9 games for the Yanks and he is 8 of 24 (.333 avg, .907 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI. The Yankees are now able to give CF Curtis Granderson the day off when they play against a tough lefty starting pitcher. Reliever Kerry Wood has been up and down but mostly solid for the Yankees. He has pitched in 7 games (0 starts) for the Yanks and he is 1-0 with a 1.08 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. He has whiffed 11 batters in only 8 1/3 innings so far for the Yanks but he has also walked 6 batters which is way too many.

Starting 3B Alex Rodriguez isn’t hitting for the big time power that he’s used to in 2010 but he still has been producing a lot of runs for the Yankees. A-Rod has played in 111 games for the Yankees this year and he is 113 of 426 (.265 avg, .820 OPS) with 58 runs scored, 21 homers, 97 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Despite the 97 RBIs the Yankees expect more out of A-Rod whose batting average and OPS is way down this year. The Yankees can’t win the World Series or even the American League East without A-Rod performing at peak levels so they need him to pick it up the rest of the year.

28-year old righty starting pitcher Dustin Moseley is doing a fine job as the #5 starter for the Yankees. He beat Josh Beckett and the Red Sox last night as he outpitched Beckett pretty badly giving the Yankees a easy win. Moseley has pitched in 7 games (3 starts) for the Yankees this year and he is 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. His success is likely tied to the fact that he is pounding the strike zone as he has only walked 9 batters in 30 1/3 innings pitched for the Yanks. The #5 starter job is his at least until Andy Pettitte comes back if he keeps throwing the ball so well.

36-year old shortstop Derek Jeter finally appears to be slowing down a bit for the Yankees. He went 4 for 4 with 2 doubles and 3 runs scored earlier today against the Blue Jays but days/nights like these have been rare this year. Jeter has played in 105 games this season and he is 125 of 447 (.280 avg) with 78 runs scored, 9 homers, 48 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. He also came into the game today with a pretty poor .719 OPS which obviously went up a bit today. Jeter’s career lows in batting average (.291 in 1997) and OPS (.771 in 2008) could both be topped this season unless today is the beginning of a nice hot streak for Jeter.