Who's Cliff Lee Again?

As Justin Smoak comes off the DL, I sincerely hope Jack Zduriencik regrets not pulling the trigger on the Montero deal as much as he regrets the spelling of his own name. Anyone with a short memory will remember that we tried to trade Montero for Lee last season, only to get undercut at the deadline by Texas and Smoak. We lost Lee, spit on his wife during the playoffs, and then lost him in free agency to Philadelphia. It will be so sweet to beat Cliff Lee and the Phillies again in the World Series.

Much of Monday, when not cheering Jesus, was spent riding Kyle Hudson. Listed generously at 5-11 and 162 lbs, this small child went 1-5 in his second career game hitting leadoff for the O's. Favorite lines hurled in his direction from myself and others:

"Weren't you in Williamsport last week?"

"Hey Rowengartner! Stick to pitching!"

But speaking of September call-ups, its that time in New York and we saw a handful of them this weekend.

Jesus Montero - To believe the hype, this kid IS the real deal. Originally slotted in as the DH vs. LHP, Montero struggled in his first two outings, notably against two of the leagues premier lefties, Jon Lester and Ricky Romero. A tough measure for any rookie, but what jumped out at me was that now in 5 at bats against RHP, he cranked 2 opposite field blasts. If Jesus shows that kind of effectiveness against righties, he will definitely be in the starting lineup during playoff time. The questions then become, does he catch or stay as the DH? As long as he's DH'ing and hitting righties, Jorge's Yankee career is effectively over.

Scott Proctor - He's back! He's apparently improved his ability to throw strikes since he left (31 pitches, 21 strikes on Monday), but what he's gained in location, he's lost in stuff. Robert Andino's 5th career home run the opposite way was really a black mark on a day where the Yankees really needed innings to cover up a stinker from Garcia.

Aaron Laffey - The Yankees need a left-hander in the pen for the playoffs, and will probably need 2. Unfortunately Laffey just doesn't throw strikes. At age 26, that may come in the future, but for now with his career 1.54 WHIP with lefties hitting .264 off him, he's not ready for David Ortiz.