Joe Girardi tends to be one of the more positive managers. He likes to see the silver lining on bad performances. But there was no silver lining to the Yankees overwhelming loss to the Pittsburg Pirates on Tuesday night. His response was without equivocation—“We stunk!” This loss was then matched by an equally great performance Wednesday by the same team and Joba Chamberlain on the mound.

Tuesday’s loss was their third loss in four games. All of those teams, I might add, have losing records. Hitless Alex Rodriguez, when being interviewed about the game, felt that Girardi’s expression of disgust was unnecessary. But being a leader is about stating the reality, and the reality is that the Yankees grossly underperformed Tuesday. They missed multiple chances for victory.

Wednesday’s win shows the Yankees in all of their promise and capacity. They won 10-0. Chamberlain proved Girardi’s decision to move him to starter. Girardi is quoted in the Daily News as saying:

“Joba has the ability to pitch games like this; that’s the kind of stuff he has. When you lose three out of four, you want to get back on the right track. Joba was up to the task.”

It’s hard to know who Yankees fans are going to see from one night to the next. Are they going to see a powerful winning team, or a team that throws all of it’s opportunity down the toilet?

It’s spring training and the Yankees are working on giving fans a reason to buy NY Yankee tickets. This is likely going to be a very well conditioned team. Girardi seems to be running his team more than the Torre era. They are running more in practice and you can expect them to be running more in games. Girardi is also making defense a major focus.

Team captain and shortstop, Derek Jeter, is also doing some running. Gerry Fraley reports in his blog:

“Rather than trying to add bulk that would enable him to remain strong throughout the season, Jeter concentrated on quickness. Jeter said he worked on speed, lateral movement and a quicker first step.”

This same blog also mentions the three young pitchers that seem to be forming the future for this franchise’s mound. Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, and Joba Chamberlain are getting a lot of attention at training. When Chamberlain took Legends Field recently, the crowd burst into cheers. Fans see a lot of potential and talent.

These three young athletes could be the key to Yankee’s success in 2008. Fraley quotes Andy Pettitte:

“They all have so much talent. The sky is really the limit for them. They’ve even picked it up from last year, and that’s what’s exciting to me.”