Thursday game notes

This may be a case of (very) wishful blogging, but Yankee second baseman Robinson Cano did nothing to derail his 2008 MVP hopes, which I'm proud to say started right here, yesterday.

During New York's 7-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday, Cano swung a sharp bat, going 2-for-4 with an RBI against Jays pitching that was, shall we say, somewhat less than stellar. In the field, there was no denying (obligatory hyperbole alert!) Cano's brilliance.

After Blue Jays leadoff hitter David Eckstein had slapped a double down the rightfield line to open the game, Yankee rightfielder Shelley Duncan dug the ball out of the corner and fired a terrific relay throw to Cano. With Eckstein intent on stretching the hit to a triple, Cano wheeled and gunned a strike to Wilson Betemit, who applied the tag at third base for the game's first out.

Cano stole second base in the third inning for his third swipe of the spring. Later in the game he was tagged out at second when he attempted to stretch a single to a double.

The MVP watch starts now!

Young arms continue to look good

It's difficult to get too excited about Joba Chamberlain's 11-pitch, three strikeout performance when considering that the hitters he faced -- Ryan Patterson, Sean Shoffit and Anthony Hatch -- have never done much if anything above Class A ball. That being said, Joba's postgame remarks about feeling sharper after returning full-time to the bullpen should leave Yankee fans feeling good about Chamberlain's attitude in the pen.

"You just attack the zone," Chamberlain told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. "You stop worrying about your mechanics and your abilities take over."

And for any Yankee fan still smarting over Girardi's decision to send Joba to the pen -- and there are Yankee fans who are dead-set against this move, long-term or short -- Joba's 6.14 ERA as a starter this spring might shake those fans out of their delusions of starting pitcher grandeur. All indications are that this kid is a born reliever.

Thursday's Yankee starter Ian Kennedy wasn't Cy Young sharp against the Jays -- three of the first four hits off Kennedy were doubles -- but he got the outs he needed when he needed them. Kennedy surrendered a run off six hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out four and didn't walk a batter.