25-year old righty Ivan Nova has been the best Yankees’ starting pitcher to this point in the season. He has started 3 games for the Yankees so far this year and he is 3-0 with a 3.79 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. He has given up 25 hits (4 homers) in only 19 innings so far this year, but he has limited the damage by whiffing 20 batters while only walking 2. Nova has now pitched in 41 games (37 starts) in his first three years with the Yankees and he is 20-6 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP.

25-year old righty swinging infielder Eduardo Nunez is off to a good start with the bat this year for the Yankees. Nunez has played in 10 games for the Yankees so far this year and he is 10 for 22 (.455 avg, 1.000 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 0 homers, 3 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Nunez has made 2 errors already this year, and he glove has been suspect in his whole career with the Yankees so far. In his defense, he does play all over the infield, but that doesn’t excuse the errors he makes. Nunez has now played in 152 games in his first three years with the Yankees and he is 106 of 381 (.278 avg, .714 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 6 homers, 40 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. He has already made 23 errors in his career with the Yankees. If Nunez tightens up his D a little bit, I think he will get to start playing more so the Yankees can use A-Rod and Jeter at DH more….which was the gameplan when this season started.

Righty swinging Willie Randolph was a master of playing small ball when he played with the Yankees. He played in 1,694 games in his 13 years with the Yankees and he was 1,731 of 6,303 (.275 avg, .731 OPS) with 1,027 runs scored, 48 homers, 549 RBIs and 251 stolen bases. His best year for the Yankees came back in 1980, when he played in 138 games in which he was 151 of 513 (.294 avg, .834 OPS) with 99 runs scored, 7 homers, 46 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. Randolph also led the major leagues with 119 walks in 1980 and the result was a .427 on base percentage. Randolph made the All-Star team, finished 15th in the MVP Voting in the A.L. and he won a Silver Slugger Award in 1980 for the Yanks. Randolph made is to 5 All-Star teams and he won 1 Silver Slugger Award in his 13 years with the Yankees. Randolph is currently #9 in runs scored (1,027), # in stolen bases (251) and #5 in walks (1,005) in Yankees’ history. Willie Randolph was a darn good 2B for the New York Yankees.

31-year old lefty swinging Curtis Granderson had what many have called a “career year” in 2011. He played in 156 games for the Yankees last year and he was 153 of 583 (.262 avg, .916 OPS) with 136 runs scored, 41 homers, 119 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. This year, Granderson is proving that his power numbers of last year were not fluky. He has played in 15 games for the Yankees so far this year and he is 17 of 61 (.279 avg, 1.003 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 6 homers and 10 RBIs. The Yankees need Granderson to keep up the good work with a bat in his hands, as they have had to outscore teams due to some weak starting pitching so far this year.

The Yankees have signed 37-year old righty reliever/starter Nelson Figueroa to a minor league deal. He pitched in 8 games (5 starts) for the Astros last year and he was 0-3 with a 8.69 ERA and a 2.10 WHIP. He has now pitched in 145 games (65 starts) in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 20-35 with 1 save, a 4.55 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. The Yankees continue to snap up major league veterans for their AAA team and that’s a good thing.

37-year old righty swinging SS Derek Jeter has come out with all of his guns blazing in 2012. Jeter has played in 12 games for the Yankees so far this year and he is 21 of 54 (.389 avg, 1.089 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 4 homers and 10 RBIs. Derek Jeter is now #20 in both hits (3,109) and runs scored (1,777) in major league history, and if he keeps locked in like he is right now…..he’s going to move way up those lists. He is now 1,147 hits behind Peter Rose, who is baseball’s all-time hit leader. It will be interesting to see how long Jeter decides to play to see if he can make a legit run at Pete Rose or not.

The Yankees have placed starting LF Brett Gardner on the 15-day disabled list due to a strained right elbow. Gardner has played in 10 games for the Yankees so far this year and he is 9 for 28 (.321 avg, .817 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 0 homers, 3 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Yankees are going to miss Gardner’s speed both in the field and on the basepaths. Andruw Jones will likely get most of the P.T. while Gardner is out of action. Jones has played in 6 games for the Yankees so far this year and he is 4 for 19 (.211 avg, 799 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 2 homers and 4 RBIs. He should do a decent job while Gardner is out of action. The Yankees have recalled 26-year old righty reliever Cody Eppley to replace Gardner on the active roster. He pitched in 5 games in AAA-ball for the Yankees so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.47 WHIP. He has only given up 2 hits and 1 walk in 6 1/3 innings in the minors while whiffing 9 batters.

39-year old lefty starting pitcher Andy Pettitte is looking sharp in the minors for the Yankees. He has started 2 games in A-ball so far and he is 0-0 with a 1.29 ERA and a 0.57 WHIP. Pettitte has only given up 4 hits without walking any batters in his first 7 innings in the minors, while also whiffing 5 batters as he is looking good. He has now pitched in 489 games (479 starts) in his major league career so far and he is 240-138 with a 3.88 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. When the Yankees deem Pettitte ready, he will likely bump either Phil Hughes or Freddy Garcia out of the starting rotation.

31-year old switch-hitting RF Nick Swisher has been the Yankees’ most productive hitter so far this year. He has played in 7 games for the Yankees so far this year and he is 7 for 28 (.250 avg, .954 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 2 homers and 9 RBIs. Swisher is leading the team in RBIs and he is also tied with Curtis Granderson for the team high in homers. Swisher is not just hitting the ball, he is hitting it really hard. The Yankees need Swisher to keep up the good work.

37-year old righty swinging shortstop Derek Jeter is in a zone so far this year. He has played in 6 games for the Yankees so far this year and he is 10 for 27 (.370 avg, .969 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. Jeter has only walked 2 times and whiffed 2 times so far this year, so he has been at the plate hacking. The Yankees hope that Jeter keeps up the good work as he is still defying his age on the baseball diamond.