Sunday, April 20, 2014
Yankees.com: Four-run 12th inning gives Yanks split with Rays
ST. PETERSBURG—Dean Anna’s cell phone has already been buzzing regularly with greetings from the friends and family members who tuned in to witness his mop-up inning of relief pitching on Saturday. After Sunday, Anna might want to consider upgrading his messaging plan.
The rookie infielder turned in a veteran at-bat, checking his swing to work a bases-loaded, full-count walk that forced home the go-ahead run in the 12th inning, propelling the Yankees to a 5-1 victory over the Rays at Tropicana Field.
“I was having fun. It’s a fun at-bat,” said Anna, whose free pass against C.J. Riefenhauser pushed home Brett Gardner with the deciding run. “Baseball’s all about moments, and that was a moment right there. It was a fun moment—and we prevailed and got the run in.”
I thought for sure this one was lost after the Rays tied it. Vidal Nuno made a pretty strong case for taking the rotation spot vacated by Ivan Nova’s injury, going five scoreless innings on a restricted pitch count.
Yankees (10-8) @ Rays (9-9), Sunday, April 20, 2014, 1:40pm
NYY:Vidal Nuno (#57, 26, LHP, 0-0, 14.54) vs. TBR:Cesar Ramos (#27, 30, LHP, 0-1, 7.50)
Lineups
Yankees
1. Jacoby Ellsbury (L) CF
2. Derek Jeter (R) SS
3. Carlos Beltran (S) RF
4. Alfonso Soriano (R) DH
5. Mark Teixeira (S) 1B
6. Yangervis Solarte (S) 3B
7. Brett Gardner (L) LF
8. Brian Roberts (S) 2B
9. John Ryan Murphy (R) C
Tampa Bay
1. Sean Rodriguez (R) LF
2. Ben Zobrist (S) DH
3. Logan Forsythe (R) 2B
4. Evan Longoria (R) 3B
5. Wil Myers (R) RF
6. James Loney (L) 1B
7. Brandon Guyer (R) CF
8. Yunel Escobar (R) SS
9. Ryan Hanigan (R) C
If a $22M bust is activated from the disabled list, should we really care?
With the news that Ivan Nova has a partial tear of the UCL, I am really not all that interested in today’s game.
Yankees.com: Yankees Stink
ST. PETERSBURG—Ivan Nova’s Saturday evening went from bad to worse in a hurry, as the Yankees right-hander surrendered a career-high four home runs, then was driven away from Tropicana Field and wheeled into an MRI tube for a better look at his ailing pitching elbow.
Ryan Hanigan and Wil Myers each homered twice and Evan Longoria clubbed a tape-measure shot to left field as the Rays tied a home record with five round-trippers, highlighting a lopsided, 16-1 thumping that sent the Yankees to their second defeat in as many nights.
I saw literally two pitches from last night’s game. The pitch that Myers hit for his first homer and the pitch that Longoria hit to make it 4-0. I"m glad I didn’t see anything else.
Good news though, Mark Teixeira returns today!
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Yankees (10-7) @ Rays (8-9), Saturday, April 19, 2014, 7:10pm
NYY:Ivan Nova (#47, 27, RHP, 2-1, 5.94) vs. TBR:Chris Archer (#22, 25, RHP, 1-1, 4.50)
Lineups
Yankees
1. Jacoby Ellsbury (L) CF
2. Brett Gardner (L) LF
3. Carlos Beltran (S) DH
4. Brian McCann (L) C
5. Alfonso Soriano (R) RF
6. Yangervis Solarte (S) 3B
7. Kelly Johnson (L) 1B
8. Brian Roberts (S) 2B
9. Dean Anna (L) SS
Rays
1. David DeJesus (L) CF
2. Ben Zobrist (S) 2B
3. Matt Joyce (L) DH
4. Evan Longoria (R) 3B
5. James Loney (L) 1B
6. Wil Myers (R) RF
7. Sean Rodriguez (R) LF
8. Yunel Escobar (R) SS
9. Ryan Hanigan (R) C
Newsday: Yankees call up LI’s Matt Daley, DFA Cesar Cabral
Cesar Cabral’s misfortune is LI native Matt Daley’s gain.
The Yankees called up the Garden City native on Friday and designated Cabral for assignment following their 11-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Cabral played a big part in the bullpen’s meltdown on Friday, giving up three earned runs on three hits and hitting three batters while failing to record an out.
I’m somewhat surprised the Yankees are cutting ties with Cabral so quickly after investing what seems like a decade in getting him into their bullpen, but I don’t think it’s a big deal. He may end up clearing waivers and remaining in the organization.
I’ve felt Daley deserved a chance in the pen and am happy to see him getting one. He isn’t going to blow people away with his stuff, but his minor league track record is very good and he has pitched 80+ above average innings at the big league level split across four separate seasons. He’s a side-armer who will likely need to have his appearances against left-handers minimized.
The bullpen is a work in progress, and I’d expect more ugliness at times like we saw yesterday. But hopefully it can get ironed out before it cost the team too many games.
Friday, April 18, 2014
The Championship Caliber Yankees (10-6) @ Rays (7-9), Friday, April 18, 2014, 7:10pm
NYY: Hiroki Kuroda (#18, 39, RHP, 2-1, 3.86) vs. TBR: Erik Bedard (#40, 35, LHP, 0-0, 0.00)
Lineups
The Championship Caliber Yankees
1. Brett Gardner (L) LF
2. All that Remains of Derek Jeter (R) SS
3. I paid $153 MIllion and All I Got Was Jacoby Ellsbury (L) CF
4. Alfonso Soriano (R) DH
5. Brian “Bust” McCann (L) C
6. Yangervis Solarte (S) 2B
7. Kelly Johnson (L) 1B
8. Tom Sizemore (R) 3B
9. Ichiro! (L) RF
Rays
1. David DeJesus (L) CF
2. Ben Zobrist (S) 2B
3. Matt Joyce (L) LF
4. Evan Longoria (R) 3B
5. James Loney (L) 1B
6. Wil Myers (R) RF
7. Logan Forsythe (R) DH
8. Yunel Escobar (R) SS
9. Ryan Hanigan (R) C
Erik Bedard is so talented he was once traded for Adam Jones, Chris Tillman and George Sherrill.
Hiroki Kuroda has never been traded for anyone.
Advantage, Rays.
Fangraphs: Sullivan: Masahiro Tanaka’s Non-Secret Weapon
In the early going, we have a couple outliers. Felix Hernandez has thrown about 42% of pitches in the zone, and he’s thrown about 69% strikes. Masahiro Tanaka has thrown about 42% of pitches in the zone, and he’s thrown about 70% strikes. Felix is interesting, but known — we’re aware he’s one of the world’s greatest pitchers. Tanaka’s still new, and the early results couldn’t really be much more encouraging.
According to The Frog this article may not be safe for work, so proceed with discretion.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Yankees.com: Offense, defense, pitching a winning blend for Yanks
ST. PETERSBURG—The Yankees turned yet another triple play behind CC Sabathia, their third since 2010, and got back-to-back home runs from Alfonso Soriano and Brian McCann in a 10-2 victory over the Rays on Thursday at Tropicana Field.
New York turned the triple play in the second inning on a chopper hit by Sean Rodriguez. With runners at first and second, third baseman Yangervis Solarte forced out Evan Longoria at third base and threw to Brian Roberts at second base to force out Wil Myers.
Roberts fired on to first base, where Scott Sizemore—playing his first career game at the position after being summoned from the Minor Leagues earlier this week—scooped a one-hop throw in time to retire Rodriguez.
The Yankees had turned their last two triple plays with Sabathia on the mound; on April 22, 2010, against the Athletics in Oakland, and on April 12 of last season against the Orioles at Yankee Stadium.
Solarte not only turned the triple play, but hit his first career homer, off Grant Balfour in the ninth. He sure has been wonderful, even if he’s not really an actual MVP-caliber player.
I don’t feel like looking it up now, but I’m fairly certain the Yankees had lost something like 9 of the 10 times that Sabathia and Price have matched up prior to tonight. So winning this was nice.
I still can’t get over how much velocity CC has lost without being officially injured. He’s like Frank Tanana when he went from Frank Tanana to Frank Tanana. Sabathia’s fastball was around 87 mph most of tonight, but he was effective so I guess we should be happy about it. I’m not sure that he’s a good bet for sustained success with that velocity though.
The Championship Caliber Yankees (9-6) @ Rays (7-8), Thursday, April 17, 2014, 7:10pm
NYY: CC Sabathia (#52, 33, LHP, 1-2, 6.63) vs. TBR: David Price (#14, 28, LHP, 2-0, 2.91)
Lineups
The Championship Caliber Yankees
1. Jacoby “Can’t be bothered to start two games of a doubleheader after two days off” Ellsbury (L) CF
2. All That Remains of Derek Jeter (R) SS
3. The Tattered Remains of Carlos Beltran (S) RF
4. Alfonso Soriano (R) DH
5. Brian “Bust” McCann (L) C
6. Yangervis Solarte (S) 3B
7. Tom Sizemore (R) 1B
8. Brian Roberts (S) 2B
9. Ichiro! (L) LF
Rays
1. Ben Zobrist (S) 2B
2. Desmond Jennings (R) DH
3. Logan Forsythe (R) LF
4. Evan Longoria (R) 3B
5. Wil Myers (R) RF
6. Sean Rodriguez (R) 1B
7. Brandon Guyer (R) CF
8. Yunel Escobar (R) SS
9. Jose Molina (R) C
One of tonight’s starters has a long track record of success and a great fastball. The other one has a 6.63 ERA.
The over/under on Longoria homers tonight is three.
NJ.com: Mark Teixeira could return to Yankees Sunday; David Robertson targeted for Tuesday
NEW YORK—First baseman Mark Teixeira and closer David Robertson, two players on the long list of injured Yankees, could be getting closer to returning.
Manager Joe Girardi said Wednesday night that Teixeira—who went on the disabled list on April 5 with a hamstring injury—will play three innings on Thursday (he didn’t clarify where exactly, except that it will be somewhere in Florida) and that he’s “right on track where we want him to be and [a return off the DL] Sunday is definitely a possibility.”
Girardi said Teixeira took a full batting practice Wednesday at the Yankees complex in Tampa, and also ran the bases.
Robertson, who was placed on the DL with strained groin earlier in the month, said “Tuesday is the plan” to return to the Yankees.
If Teixeira does come back, does it make the team worse? I guess it depends on who’s healthy going forward, but it seems to me the best Yankee infield right now has Yangervis Solarte and Kelly Johnson in it, and Teixeira’s return complicates that unless the Yankees decide to cut bait on Brian Roberts. It’s probably too soon to do that despite Roberts’ disappointing results to this point, but he’s limited to 2B which makes him sort of a poor bench option. Then again, in Johnson, Scott Sizemore, Solarte and Dean Anna the Yankees do have some flexibility in the infield.
Roberts’ defense has looked better than I expected so far, and I do like the fact that he’s working deep counts (4.56 P/PA, higher than everyone on the team but Ichiro that’s had more than 1 PA). But the hits aren’t falling in, and I don’t know if that’s just bad luck or the loss of some of the bat speed needed to get hits. There’s a fairly good chance Roberts’ health will make the decision on him for the Yankees, so I’m not worried about it yet.
As much as I’m enjoying watching Joe Girardi mix and match his various non-Robertson relief options, getting Robertson back will be nice. The bullpen has been fine, albeit a little scary at times, but it will look a lot better with a healthy Robertson in it.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Yankees.com: Pineda’s six shutout innings steer Yanks to sweep
NEW YORK—The Yankees got to take a long look at what they hope will be the future of their rotation, as Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda each turned in dominant efforts on Wednesday to help the club sweep a day-night doubleheader from the Cubs at Yankee Stadium.
Pitching under chilly conditions, Pineda whipped six efficient innings of scoreless ball in the evening contest, backed by a solid performance from Yankees newcomer Scott Sizemore as New York posted a 2-0 victory over Chicago.
Can the Yankees play the Cubs all the time? I didn’t think Pineda looked great, but the weather was pretty crappy and six shutout innings are six shutout innings.
Earlier today, Tanaka’s 10 K’s lead Yanks in twin-bill opener.
If this is what Tanaka does when he feels settled in, that spells bad news for the rest of the league. Tanaka limited the Cubs to a pair of bunt singles and struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings, pitching the Yankees to a 3-0 victory on Wednesday afternoon in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.
“I feel that I was a little bit more calmer, compared to the first two,” Tanaka said through an interpreter. “I’m very satisfied with how I pitched out there today.”
So were the Yankees, who watched Tanaka use his trademark splitter and a sharp slider to retire 14 straight Cubs after Junior Lake’s video-reviewed bunt single in the second inning.
After a great home stand, it’s off to St. Petersburg now to play a real major league team with the struggling CC Sabathia taking the hill tomorrow.
Cubs (4-8) @ The Championship Caliber Yankees (7-6), Wednesday, April 16, 2014, Double Header
Game 1: CHC:Jason Hammel (#39, 31, RHP, 2-0, 2.63) vs. NYY:Masahiro Tanaka (#19, 25, RHP, 1-0, 3.21)
Lineups
Chicago Cubs
1. Emilio Bonifacio (S) 2B
2. Justin Ruggiano (R) CF
3. Anthony Rizzo (L) 1B
4. Nate Schierholtz (L) RF
5. Starlin Castro (R) SS
6. Junior Lake (R) LF
7. Luis Valbuena (L) 3B
8. Mike Olt (R) DH
9. John Baker (L) C
The Championship Caliber Yankees
1. Brett Gardner (L) LF
2. The Tattered Remains of Carlos Beltran (S) RF
3. $153M for a singles hitter (L) CF
4. Alfonso Soriano (R) DH
5. Brian “Bust” McCann (L) C
6. Yangervis Solarte (S) 2B
7. Kelly Johnson (L) 1B
8. Dean Anna (L) SS
9. Scott Sizemore (R) 3B
The Cubs would not be outbid for Masahiro Tanaka. Until they were. Let’s see if they regret it today.
Game 2: CHC: Travis Wood (#36, 27, LHP, 0-1, 2.92) vs. NYY: Michael Pineda (#35, 25, RHP, 1-1, 1.50)
Lineups
Chicago Cubs
1. Emilio Bonifacio (S) CF
2. Ryan Sweeney (L) LF
3. Anthony Rizzo (L) 1B
4. Nate Schierholtz (L) DH
5. Starlin Castro (R) SS
6. Luis Valbuena (L) 3B
7. Welington Castillo (R) C
8. Ryan Kalish (L) RF
9. Darwin Barney (R) 2B
The Championship Caliber Yankees
1. Brett Gardner (L) CF
2. All That’s Left of Derek Jeter (R) SS
3. The Tattered Remains of Carlos Beltran (S) DH
4. Alfonso Soriano (R) LF
5. Yangervis Solarte (S) 2B
6. Ichiro Suzuki (L) RF
7. Tom Sizemore (R) 3B
8. Kelly Johnson (L) 1B
9. John Ryan Murphy (R) C
We’ll see how the loss of his pine tar affects Pineda in the night cap. It would be nice if he continued to pitch well, but more likely he’ll have a bad game and we’ll hear that it’s because he no longer has grip. Maybe the Yankees should trade him before this game for Jesus Montero.
NY Post: Why the Yankees are using the shift more than ever
With just two weeks down in this baseball season — if we were at a football game, there would be roughly 11:11 left in the first quarter — the Yankees are on pace to win two more games than last year. Hit 18 more home runs.
And save 22 more runs via the defensive shift.Yes, the Yankees have become hard-core believers in the shift. If the quality of their infield has dropped precipitously, with a new guy expected in time for Tuesday night’s game against the Cubs at Yankee Stadium, then they are getting far more bang for their buck.
“You’re going to be burned on it,” Billy Eppler, the Yankees’ assistant general manager/pro personnel, said Monday in a telephone interview. “You just want to have more instances of run-saving circumstances than run-yielding circumstances.”
Smart shifting can help cover for up some of the limitations of the Yankees’ infield defense, so I applaud this shift (get it?) in thinking. The Yankees did shift quite a bit last year, they just did it poorly as their BABIP against with the shift was around .030 higher than it was without. So far this year they appear to be doing it better.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Lohud: Murphy and Sizemore called up; Cervelli placed on 60-day
The Yankees have announced their anticipated roster moves.
1. Francisco Cervelli was placed on the disabled list with a strained hamstring. The injury is serious enough that he’s going directly to the 60-day DL.
2. John Ryan Murphy was called up to replace Cervelli as the backup catcher. The Yankees have already had four different catchers on their roster this year.
3. Infielder Scott Sizemore was called up to give the Yankees a full bench. He’ll take the roster spot opened when Shane Greene was optioned to Triple-A. Sizemore gives the Yankees a second reserve infielder, which they haven’t had since Mark Teixeira landed on the disabled list. Sizemore has major-league experience at second and third.
Mel Hall can rejoice, as Sizemore has been freed!
Poor Cervelli. He just can’t catch a break…
Seems like the right moves, particularly if they plan to play Murphy as opposed to running McCann into the ground.
NY Post: Cervelli going to DL as Yankees continue to jumble roster
Move over Mark Teixeira, David Robertson and Brendan Ryan, make room for Francisco Cervelli on the disabled list. And you might want to make room for others.
As expected, the Yankees put Cervelli on the 15-day DL Monday with a Grade 2 right hamstring strain. A Grade 1 strain is the slightest; Grade 3 the most severe. But, eventually, Cervelli could be headed to the 60-day DL.
The Yankees are likely to promote catcher John Ryan Murphy from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre instead of Austin Romine, who was with the club briefly last week and was Chris Stewart’s backup last season.While the Yankees lost Cervelli they were fortunate frontline catcher Brian McCann didn’t suffer a broken index finger Sunday night when he was hit on the hand while catching. X-rays Sunday evening were negative. His status for Tuesday night wasn’t addressed by the club.
You get the sense Cervelli is jinxed.
The Yankees could probably use another infielder, but they’ll have to make a 40 man roster move to get one onto the team. They could 60 day DL Brendan Ryan if they don’t think he will be ready before the end of May, which is what I guess they will do. They could also DFA someone like Preston Claiborne. If the Yankees are deep in one thing, it’s right-handed relievers.