Yankees Notebook: Rain won’t go away, Brackman gets call
Last night’s four-hour delay marked the 20th time this season the Yankees have been impacted by weather with either a delay or rainout. That means that one out of every seven games has been adversely impacted by rain.
Seven hours before the delay, manager Joe Girardi said he had heard that the rain’s intensity supposedly was lessening shortly after the scheduled first pitch. But even as he cited that, he appeared dumbfounded to be discussing more rain.
“It’s hard to believe I’m talking about this again,” Girardi said.
If the game had been postponed, the preferred scenario was to play a straight doubleheader, but Girardi said he would have accepted a day-night doubleheader, especially if the times could be pushed up earlier.
“If you had an off-day [Thursday], it’s a different story. But you’ve got a day game the next day in Baltimore,” Girardi said. “So, to me, starting a game here at 7 o’clock [Wednesday], it is a little issue.”
Napping during a rain delay
Card games usually are among the more popular rain delay activities for major leaguers, but for Phil Hughes, getting some sleep was his activity.
Hughes spent two hours — from approximately 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. — taking a light nap on the couch while some of his teammates checked the weather.
“We heard a rumor there was a window around 10,” Hughes said. “Guys weren’t cashing in their meteorological hat, so we just stayed as ready as possible.”
Brackman’s rough year gets rewarded with promotion
It has been a rough year for 2007 first-round pick Andrew Brackman.
Brackman was 3-6 in 33 appearances (13 starts) this season and his ineffectiveness as a starting pitcher is why he became a reliever in Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre.
After finishing with a 6.52 ERA as a starting pitcher, Brackman wasn’t much better as a reliever. He had a 5.15 ERA, but posted a 2.28 ERA over his last 10 appearances.
During his relief outings Brackman said he worked with a new split-fingered fastball while also adjusting his mechanics.
Brackman’s appearance in the pen occurred after he nearly contemplated quitting. Now he hopes to return to starting.
“I had some conversations with my dad talking about what to do after baseball. It was definitely the lowest point of the season for me,” Brackman said. “We didn’t come up with any Plan B’s. He yelled at me and told me to get on the bus.”
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