[If Friday night was a bad dream for the Yankees, Saturday afternoon was a nightmare. A 10-2 loss was the least of New York's worries. Starter Jaret Wright, who signed with the Yankees in the off season, left the game in the sixth inning with pain in his shoulder, the same shoulder that had been operated on before. After the game, it was revealed that Wright will miss 4-6 weeks with inflammation and torn scar tissue in his right shoulder. Wright took a positive approach after an MRI confirmed the injury.] There wasn't a whole lot of sleep with everything going through your mind what it could be, ... I think tearing scar tissue is better than anything else. |
[That was evident in how sharp he was in his first start since April 23. He threw only 79 pitches, allowing just four hits and two runs. Most importantly for all parties, he pronounced himself fine on the all-important day after.] It feels like it did after I threw in April [when he was healthy], ... There's normal soreness. It feels all right. I don't see any problem with going every five days. |
[Wright also gave credit to Connors, whose official title is vice president of player personnel for the Tampa operation.] When I first started throwing [after returning from his torn scar tissue in his shoulder], I really screwed up my mechanics and my arm slot, ... I worked with Billy and he helped me get back in synch. Now, my mechanics are the best they've been in a while. |
[Wright played catch yesterday for the first time since a broken bat bruised his elbow in Toronto on Sunday.] There was a lot of improvement from last night to this morning, ... All the treatment we did all day long helped a lot. |
A bat, two balls -- I don't know. When it keeps happening, it's definitely frustrating. |
A bat, two balls — I don't know, ... When it keeps happening, it's definitely frustrating. |
a big lift for us. |
After that, we got better movement and just backed off a little bit. |
Coming off what happened, it was a start I wanted to get under my belt, ... And in the first inning, I was just trying too hard. These are big games. |
Every guy relishes this, especially in this room, where Derek Jeter has four World Series [rings]. A lot of us are trying to catch up. |
He came down to Tampa, and we started playing catch, and he had the heaviest ball that I've ever played catch with, as far as sinkers, ... If you could teach everyone what you need to make a ball that heavy, then everybody would do it. That's such a valuable pitch, and he throws an absolute bowling ball. |
He helped me out a lot, and he's done that for a lot of years with a lot of guys, |
He just takes care of you, ... You're down there every day. If you're tight, he loosens you up. He keeps your throwing program. He holds everything together. He's like the chief down there. |
He's been here for so long, it's definitely going to have an effect, ... I thought he did a great job. I've played long enough where these things do happen, so you have to be professional and deal with new people. |
Hopefully, it feels better tomorrow, |