2B Robinson Cano is a notorius slow starter but not this season. In 47 games with the Yankees this season Cano is 62 for 194 (.320 avg, .887 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 9 homers and 28 RBIs. With the way that the new Yankee Stadium is playing I wouldn’t be surprised if Robinson Cano gets consideration for the MVP Award this season if he can stay healthy all year. I remember when Cano was a rookie, batting coach Don Mattingly predicted a batting title in his future…could this be the season? Only time will tell.

The Yankees have placed righty reliever Brian Bruney on the 15-day disabled list with right elbow discomfort. Bruney has pitched in 10 games for the Yanks this season and he is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA and a 0.56 WHIP. He has whiffed 13 batters while only allowig 3 hits in 9 innings with the Yankees this season. Losing Bruney is a big blow to the Yankees bullpen as they were depending on him to help set up things for closer Mariano Rivera. The Yankees have recalled righty reliever David Robertson to replace Bruney in the bullpen. Robertson has pitched in 7 games for the Yanks this season and he is 0-0 with a 2.84 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. He has only allowed 4 hits while whiffing 9 batters in only 6 1/3 innings for the Yanks.

The Yankees have placed 33-year old switch hitting catcher Jorge Posada on the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in his left shoulder. Posada has played in 23 games for the Yankees thus far this season and he is 24 for 77 (.312 avg, .986 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 5 homers, 20 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Yankees will no doubt miss Posada’s bat but with Jose Molina replacing him the defense will be improved. Molina has played in 14 games so far for the Yanks and he is 10 for 38 (.263 avg, .675 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 5 RBIs. In a surprise move the Yanks recalled 23-year old righty swinging rookie Francisco Cervelli over veteran Kevin Cash to back up Molina. Cervelli was the #21 rated prospect in the Yankees’ system coming into this season according to Baseball America. But, he’s off to a rough start to the 2009 season. In 16 AA-games this year, Cervelli was 11 for 58 (.190 avg, .576 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 2 homers and 7 RBIs. He played in 3 games last September for the Yankees and he was 0 for 5 with 3 whiffs. Look for Molina to play most of the games while Posada is out of action.

The Yankees have placed lefty reliever Damaso Marte on the 15-day disabled list with a case of left shoulder tendinitis. With the way Marte has pitched so far this season I’m surprised that his injury isn’t whiplash. Marte has pitched in 7 games (0 starts) for the Yanks so far this season and he is 0-1 with a 15.19 ERA and a 2.25 WHIP. Marte has allowed 9 hits, 3 homers and he walked 3 batters in only 5 1/3 innings so far this season for the Yankees. The Yanks have recalled 24-year old righty Anthony Claggett to replace Marte in the bullpen. Claggett has pitched in 1 game for the Yanks this season and he worked 1 2/3 innings allowing 9 hits and 8 earned runs (43.20 ERA, 6.60 WHIP). Claggett also has pitched in 7 games (0 starts) this season and he was 2-0 with 1 save, a 4.26 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. Hopefully he’ll do better this time around.

The Yankees have signed 31-year old lefty starter/reliever Casey Fossum to a minor league deal. Fossum pitched in 3 games (0 starts) for the Mets this season and he was 0-0 with a 2.25 ERA and a 2.00 WHIP. Fossum has now pitched in 237 games (120 starts) in which he is 40-53 with 2 saves, a 5.45 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. Don’t expect much out of Fossum who has been a lousy pitcher pretty much his whole major league career.