Rich “Goose” Gossage reminded me of a very nasty version of Mariano Rivera when he was with the Yankees. He burst onto the scene with the Yankees in 1978. Gossage pitched in 63 games (0 starts) for the Yankees in 1978 and he was 10-11 with 27 saves, a 2.01 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. The Goose only gave up 87 hits in an amazing 134 1/3 innings for the Yanks back in 1978 as he was nearly unhittable. Gossage pitched in 319 games (0 starts) in his seven years with the Yankees and he was 42-28 with 151 saves, a 2.14 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He only gave up 390 hits in 533 innings for the Yankees while whiffing 512 batters. Gossage is the Yankees’ all-time leader in ERA (2.14). He is also #3 in saves (151) and #2 in WHIP (1.08) in team history. The Goose made it to 4 All-Star Teams with the Yankees and he also was elected into Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 2008.

37-year old righty Bartolo Colon and 34-year old righty Freddy Garcia are holding down the fort for the Yankees at the back end of the rotation. Colon has pitched in 5 games (2 starts) for the Yankees so far this year and he is 2-1 with a 2.77 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. He has only given up 23 hits while walking 6 batters in his first 26 innings this season and he has 26 whiffs. It looks like he’s turning back the clock and the Yankees need him to keep up the good work. Freddy Garcia has pitched in 3 games (2 starts) for the Yankees so far this year and he is 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA and a 0.69 WHIP. Garcia has only given up 5 hits in his first 13 innings for the Yankees despite not coming near 90 mph with his fastball. Garcia knows how to pitch though ,so he might be able to get away with not having good stuff anymore.

27-year old lefty swinging LF Brett Gardner earned himself a starting job last year for the Yankees as he played well. Gardner played in 150 games for the Yankees last year and he was 132 of 477 (.277 avg, .762 OPS) with 97 runs scored, 5 homers, 47 RBIs and 47 stolen bases. It looks like the pitchers have read a lot of scouting reports on Gardner over the winter as he has looked helpless at the plate so far this year. He has played in 15 games for the Yankees so far this year and he is 6 for 47 (.128 avg, .388 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 2 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. If Gardner doesn’t get straightened out soon he’s going to either find his butt nailed to the bench or he’s going to get sent to AAA-ball. 34-year old righty swinging Andruw Jones is going to start cutting into Gardner’s P.T. soon if he continues to struggle. Jones has played in 6 games for the Yankees so far this year and he is 4 for 16 (.250 avg, .750 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs.

Righty reliver David Robertson has been really solid for the Yankees this year. He has pitched in 8 games (0 starts) for the Yankees so far this year and he is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He has only given up 5 hits in his first 7 innings this year while whiffing 9 batters and walking only 2. In my opinion, Robertson is a better pitcher than Joba Chamberlain right now. If Chamberlain struggles like he did last season, don’t be surprised if Robertson bumps him out of his 7th inning role.

The New York Yankees have placed 24-year old righty starting pitcher Phil Hughes on the 15-day disabled list due to a dead arm. Hughes has pitched in 3 games (all starts) for the Yankees so far this year and he is 0-1 with a 13.94 ERA and a 2.23 WHIP. He has given up 19 hits (4 of which are homers) in his first 10 1/3 innings of the year! Hughes has also whiffed only 3 batters this year as his velocity has been way down so far in 2011. 37-year old righty Bartolo Colon will step into the Yankees’ starting rotation in Hughes’ place. Colon has pitched in 3 games (0 starts) for the Yankees so far this year and he is 0-1 with a 3.97 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. He has whiffed 13 batters while only walking 3 in his first 11 1/3 innings of the year for the Yankees as he has been impressive so far. The Yankees have called up 27-year old righty reliever Lance Pendleton to replace Hughes on the roster and Colon in the bullpen. He has pitched in 2 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball so far this year and he was 1-1 with a 1.59 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP. Pendleton was picked by the Astros in the Rule 5 Draft over the winter before being returned to the Yankees. Pendleton has pitched six seasons in the minors and this will be his first taste of pitching in the show.

The Yankees have called up 24-year old righty reliever Hector Noesi to replace Luis Ayala in the bullpen. Noesi came into this season as the Yankees’ #7 prospect according to Baseball America. Noesi pitched in 1 game (1 start) in AAA-ball so far this year and he was 0-0 with a 3.60 ERA and a 2.20 WHIP. He pitched in 28 games (27 starts) in A+AA+AAA-ball last year and he was 14-7 with a 3.20 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. Noesi has now pitched in 79 games (60 starts) in his first six years in the minors and he was 24-14 with 1 save, a 3.17 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He also has shown outstanding control in the minors as he has only walked 64 hitters in his first 358 innings. Noesi had Tommy John Surgery early in his career, but he’s ready to rock now. Look for Noesi to be a middle reliever with the Yankees.

The New York Yankees have placed 33-year old righty reliever Luis Ayala on the 15-day disabled list due to a strained lat. Ayala has pitched in 3 games (0 starts) for the Yankees so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 3.60 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. Bartolo Colon and David Robertson will pick up the slack until Ayala is ready to return, so they shouldn’t miss him too much.

Switch hitting Jorge Posada came out like a ball of fire for the Yankees as their new starting DH, but things have changed as of late. That’s because he is 0 for his last 17! Posada has played in 8 games for the Yankees so far this year and he is 4 for 29 (.138 avg, .642 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 3 homers and 6 RBIs. Posada has whiffed 9 times already this year as all of a sudden he’s having a hard time DHing. Luckily for the Yankees, they have Andruw Jones and Eric Chavez on board if Posada continues to struggle.

When the Yankees signed catcher Russell Martin, they thought he would be a good stopgap catcher until #1 prospect Jesus Montero was ready for Prime Time. But, Martin whacked two homers today against the Red Sox to propel the Yankees to a nice win at Fenway Park. Martin has now played in 8 games for the Yankees so far this year and he is 9 for 28 (.321 avg, 1.023 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 3 homers, 8 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Martin was a good hitter until last year when his body finally gave out after playing in 449 games in his previous three years with the Dodgers. As long as the Yankees get Martin enough rest during the year, I see Martin being a huge asset with the bat at the bottom of the Yankees’ batting order.

The New York Yankees have signed 31-year old righty starting pitcher Carlos Silva to a minor league deal. Silva pitched in 21 games (all starts) for the Cubs last year and he was 10-6 with a 4.22 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. He has now pitched in 316 games (180 starts) in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 70-70 with 2 saves, a 4.68 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. Silva will go down to AAA-ball to get ready along with Kevin Millwood just in case the Yankees’ starters don’t work out. He is not a bad choice to stash in AAA as he pitched pretty decent for the Cubbies last year.