ST Game Thread: Banuelos on the bump (again)

March 26, 2011 by Mike Axisa 90 Comments

Derek Jeter, Rudy Giuliani, Nick Swisher, Kevin Long — Guiliani with the photobomb. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Another televised Spring Training game, another Manny Banuelos appearance. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, but it’s just weird how he seems to pitch in every game that’s on the tv. He’s starting today’s game while CC Sabathia pitches in a minor league game that gives the team some flexibility (in case he has a short inning or something, they can add a fourth out, etc.). From what I understand he’s only going to throw two or three innings as well, since it’s his final tune-up before Opening Day on Thursday. I don’t know how many innings are on the docket for Banuelos, but the more the merrier. Here’s the lineup…

Brett Gardner, CF
Derek Jeter, SS
Mark Teixeira, 1B
Alex Rodriguez, 3B
Nick Swisher, RF
Jorge Posada, DH
Chris Dickerson, LF – say hello to the new guy
Eduardo Nunez, 2B
Austin Romine, C

Available Pitchers: Manny Banuelos, Mariano Rivera, Rafael Soriano, Joba Chamberlain, David Robertson, Boone Logan, Mark Prior, Luis Ayala, Romulo Sanchez, Steve Garrison, Josh Schmidt, Pat Venditte, and Chase Whitley. It will be the second of back-to-back days for Joba, Robertson, Soriano, and Logan by design.

Available Position Players: Gustavo Molina (C), Eric Chavez (1B), Doug Bernier (2B), Ramiro Pena (SS), Ronnie Belliard (3B), Austin Krum (LF), Justin Maxwell (CF), and Abe Almonte (RF).

The game is scheduled to start at 1:05pm ET and can be seen on YES. Enjoy.

http://www.CarlsYankeeDugout.com Carl

No wonder Manny hasn’t been sent to minor league camp yet. Guess they wanted to give him one more chance to impress, and make up for what happened on Monday, before the eventual optioning to Trenton and send down to Minor League Camp.
- Stuckey
  
  What happened on Monday???
  - Urban
    
    He didn’t pitch all that well on Monday, so maybe they want to give him a chance to go out on a high note. He wasn’t bad on Monday, but it was his weakest appearance.
    - Stuckey
      
      No, I understood that. I was just wondering why any fan feels he needed to “make up for” not being perfect.
      
      I think the bar is becoming a tad high for the guy.
      - http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com/ bexarama
        
        Yeah, and it’s not like he embarrassed himself, he just wasn’t great. /shrug
      - Urban
        
        Agreed on the bar becoming a tad high. Once a Yankee rookie is declared a top prospect, many fans — and certainly the NYC media — expect greatness from day one. I mean, I heard Francesca (I know, I shouldn’t ever listen to him unless I purposely want to get annoyed) basically writing off Montero forever based on ST.
        
        The Big City of Dreams
        
        I’m one of the few Yankee fans that like Mike. I watch his show everyday but I can’t the guy when it comes to talking about the Yankee prospects.
        
        As you said a few days ago he’s basically packing Montero’s bags out of NY and even felt the need to drop “the Yankees are down on him” phrase. I was shocked when he said the Yankees might as well trade him if he can’t stick at catcher. Wait so you mean to tell me based on a handful of ST AB’s it has been determined that not only can’t he catch but he also shouldn’t be a Yankee. Francesa did the same thing with Gardner…”I don’t think he’s ever going to hit” WTF
        
        I shouldn’t be surprised because Mike does what he always does which is criticize the Yankee players but cream his pants for players on other teams. Does anyone remember his infatuation with Nate Mclouth. What about that one off season when he wanted to do Hughes and Cano for Mclouth. He admitted to harassing the FO the for yrs about trading for his “little center fielder” Lol you couldn’t pay the Yankess to take Mclouth now and I think Hughes and Cano are solid players. They might have a future here.
        
        But it gets better what about when he made the idiotic statement that the Yankees would rue the day the didn’t trade Hughes for Santana. He felt the non trade for Johan was a move that would scar the franchise for yrs and it would take a while for them to recover. Yrs later Hughes is continuing to develop and Santana dealing with injuries and diminished stuff.
        
        Hey that’s not all lets not forget his master plan to improve the Yankees when A-rod opted out of his contract. His plan was to give up Hughes and everybody on the farm for Willis and Cabrera. Yes folks he wanted to trade Hughes and many others for one guy who became Oliver Perez and another guy with all the talent in the world but has character and substance abuse issues.
        
        What about him bashing Joba every single day he started in 2009. Downplaying his good starts and blowing up bad ones. Mike hit an all time low when he said “I hope he fails as a starter so that he can go back to the pen and be a reliever” Well Mike got his wish and now Joba is a spare part on a team that doesn’t have faith in him.
        
        Mark my words if Montero comes up catches well and mashes you will hear Mike say I always believed in Montero. I wouldn’t trade him for anybody. His bat is all world. Teams would have to give up portions of the team to get him.
        
        Urban
        
        I usually catch him on days I work from home and I have YES playing in the background. He refuses to acknowledge that any of his listners might know more about a topic than he does (although, granted, the people that call in, or they allow through, all seem pretty clueless), reguarly belittling his callers, yet if a so-called expert guest appears on his program and states the same opinion as the caller he previously belittled, he’ll gush over the expert’s opinion and then adopt it as his own.
        
        I remember at the start of 2009, some listner called in to say he thought the Yankees had a better team than the Sox. He nearly had a fit, demanding the listner show where the Yankees were better, position by position. So the guy starts out saying Teixeira was better than Youkilis. The caller never got any further. Francesca nearly had a heart attack, saying it was insult to Youkilis to suggest Teixeira was as good. Granted, an argument can be made that Youkilis when healthy, at his peak as a player, is as good as Tex, but it was clear from that call that Francesca had no understanding of how good of a ballplayer Teixeria was. That changed within a few months when he started saying Tex was better than advertised (Tex, of course, was exactly as advertised), and that he was also suprised of how good a fielder Tex was. I mean, does this guy even follow baseball?! Anyway, the caller was right. From a career perspective, Tex is better than Youkilis, and the Yankees were better that year than the Sox as the Yankees went on to blow the Sox out and win the World Series.
        
        He seems totally unaware of the minor leagues or understand that because of blogs and Twitter, Internet coverage and fantasy sports that fans have been following these minor leaguers for a few years, long before they appeared on his radar screen, and know far more about their strengths and weaknesses than he can ever hope to.
        
        He has a man-crush on Bronson Arroyo, believing he’s an even better pitcher than his stats suggest, and would no doubt trade the Yankees’ entire minor league system to acquire him. He’d probably think trading Montero and Banuelos for Arroyo would be a steal for the Yankees. I’m sure the Yankee front-office thinks Francesa is a joke, but they have to play up to him because of his audience and his ability to muddy the waters if they don’t deal with him.
        
        Anyway, too many words wasted on Francesca.
        
        The Big City of Dreams
        
        Very well said you hit the nail on the head with everything you laid out especially about Arroyo and the farm system. When fans say I’ve seen player X in the minors he can’t wait to explode and say you haven’t seen him play. SMH hello Mike just because you haven’t seen the kid play doesn’t mean other fans haven’t.
  - Tank the Frank
    
    He gave up his only runs of the spring, I believe.
Tank the Frank

I love watching ManBan. I love rooting for him. It’s like I’m a cheerleader…
Urban

Appropriate that in ManBan’s final start before going to AA he’s facing a AA team today.
NC Saint

Tabata leading off, how about that?

Please spring training gods, let Pat Venditte get into this ball game.
Reggie C.

Got squeezed on that last pitch.
pete

Every time I try to watch a game on mlb.tv, i log in and it does nothing for a while, then says “Something didn’t work right…please try again.” Anybody know what’s up with that? It’s been happening for about 2 weeks – was working fine before that.
- AnthonyMichael
  
  If that doesn’t work, try hitting reset on w/e you use (PS3 or you computer). Should fix the bug :) If that doesn’t work, get in touch with MLB.tv support.
Reggie C.

This is probably the last time ManBan graces the screen for a long while. My bet is ManBan’s back with the club in August. Lets enjoy!
Cy Pettitte

impressive recovery by Romine
Reggie C.

Seriously … 95. Already.

This kid is gonna mow AA hitters down.
- Girardis Matchup Book
  
  Most AA hitters should be able to hit a fastball at that level, it’ll be his offspeed stuff that blows them away. That changeup is filthy.
Tank the Frank

Looks like Joe G. is definitely going to employ a leadoff platoon huh?
Girardis Matchup Book

Who’s faster between Gardner and Ellsbury?
- Tank the Frank
  
  Who knows? Ellsbury is the better basestealer IMO. Better instincts, reading the pitcher, getting jumps and such.
  - Girardis Matchup Book
    
    Yeah, I agree with you there. And those instincts can usually override speed… Think we’ll see Gardner develop his base stealing game better this year? I remember last year he said he wore himself out before the All-Star break and should have “paced” himself for the long second half.
    - Tank the Frank
      
      I remember that too. He knows speed is the biggest part of his game and I’m sure he’s constantly working with the coaches to improve his basestealing, route-running etc.
  - http://twitter.com/#!/iiKeane JobaWockeeZ
    
    I’m sure that’s not opinion.
- putt
  
  I believe the meticulous waxing of Elsbury’s eyebrows gives him a slight edge in wind resistance.
- http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com/ bexarama
  
  I think Gardner’s purely faster but Ellsbury is the better base-stealer. IMO.
  - Urban
    
    I agree. Pure speed wise, I’m not sure there are many (if any) MLB players faster than Gardner. Ellsbury is a better base-stealer, will hit for a little more power and a higher average than Gardner, but Gardner will draw more walks and have a higher OBP, and is a substantially better defensive OFer than Ellsbury.
    - Gonzo
      
      Buchholz supposedly beat Ellsbury in a foot race.
      - Chip
        
        That’s because they put a new laptop at the finish line
      - Urban
        
        Buchholz stole the race.
      - dkidd
        
        the winner got meth
Cuso

I have a power-heavy fantasy baseball team with very little pitching. this guy keeps trying to get Prince Fielder off me (with my team, he is expendable if you can believe it). but he’s been offering garbage.

but he finally offered this: Matt Cain, Brett Gardner and Carl Pavano (puke)

for Prince, Jeter and Ryan Franklin

I still can’t do that right? or am I overvaluing my team?

is Prince Fielder for Cain straight up a good idea?

i’m thinking i could do better, but my starting pitching is pretty bad.
- Girardis Matchup Book
  
  I wouldn’t do it. Jeter is still a top five shortstop in fantasy.
- Rey22
  
  Plus, don’t underestimate Prince on a contract year. I think he’ll be a beast.
- Guest
  
  Do not make that trade. Prince Fielder has BEAST fantasy season written all over him.
  
  1. Contract year (see Beltre, Adrian)
  2. Significantly lower BABIP last year
  3. He still had a .400 OBP and + 30 HRs
  4. Braun had a rough (for him) season, reducing Prince’s RBI opportunities.
  5. The dude does not get hurt. Brett Gardner and Carl Pavano have. Often.
  
  I could be wrong (obviously)…but based on the most probable outcomes, do NOT make that trade.
  - http://www.twitter.com/deanezag Zack
    
    2. His BABIP was .291, his career BABIP is .298. That’s not a huge difference
    3. OBP usually doesnt matter in most fantasy leagues,
    4. He had 152 and 153 AB with RISP the previous 2 years, and 146 this year – Fielder’s .233 with RISP was the issue, not Braun.
Tank the Frank

This guy has to be fucking kidding me.
http://www.twitter.com/deanezag Zack

Don’t be so mean to the ball Alex
Cy Pettitte

lol at the kid in the pirates hat and yankees jersey

honestly, i didn’t know pirates fans existed, let alone fans that would wear pirates stuff in public
- http://danielslifka.wordpress.com Jerome S.
  
  It’s a hipster thing. Seriously, I go to high school here in CT and the “cool” thing to do is to be the fan of a team that hasn’t been relevant since the first Bush administration.
- Cuso
  
  Pirates hats are one of the top-5 most gang-affiliated team gear
  - Cy Pettitte
    
    I don’t think you can count them as fans
    
    how many of them have actually watched a pirates game?
  - Poopy Pants
    
    The Reds must be up there, too. Lots of hoods wearin’ Reds gear these days.
Loturn

That gun better be broken because one of his pitches said 99mph
Nick

Who’s supposed to pitch tomorrow?
dennis

his breaking ball is inconsistant, once he gets its down there is nothing holding him back from becoming a true ace.
icebird753

lol maybe they’re purposely having him pitch on televisions so other teams that didn’t send scouts to the game can see what a show stoppah this kid could be. he is the third coming of Jebus Christ for this Yankees team; final score 4-3 Red Sawx.
Esteban

Not a god route there from Dickerson.
- Esteban
  
  good*
  - Urban
    
    He’s a good defensive OFer, so I’m guessing it was a misread.
- Loturn
  
  Terrible read by Dickerson. He looked silly taking that path to the ball.
- Tank the Frank
  
  I saw a ball that was absolutely smoked right past him. I didn’t think he had a chance at the ball.
Urban

Did I see 100mph on the radar gun? Something’s wrong.
xnyles

100?
Justin

Did I just see 100mph from Manny? Sure it ended up with a double but the triple digits definitely caught my attention.
CP

Thank you John Sterling. Until today I didn’t know that Banuelos was pronounced: Ban-you-eh-los.
- http://twitter.com/#!/iiKeane JobaWockeeZ
  
  It’s not supposed to be but that’s how everyone is saying it that just learned about him.
  - Tank the Frank
    
    So it is Ban-WAY-los? I’m confused now.
    - http://twitter.com/#!/iiKeane JobaWockeeZ
      
      Every scout that was asked this prior to this Spring Training has said Ban-Way-Los.
      
      I’ve never heard Ban-You-Way-Los until ST started.
      - Rivera Venue Blues
        
        Banuelos himself said it was Ban-You-Way-Los though so I’ll take his word for it.
      - Tank the Frank
        
        Yeah I heard it called that way during the ESPN game and people starting saying it ever since. I always thought it was wrong but since everyone starting saying it that way I assumed it was right.
        
        And now I’ve gone cross-eyed.
        
        Rivera Venue Blues
        
        Michael Kay asked Manny directly I believe and he told him it was banyouaylos
    - Urban
      
      We need Bob Sheppard to settle this.
  - Esteban
    
    Is it Bañuelos or Banuelos. I’m still unclear on this.
    - http://www.twitter.com/yanksnats4ever Alex C.
      
      Bañuelos.
      - Esteban
        
        Okay, then it’s Bahnyouehlos.
Urban

Is Chris Dickerson the son of Eric Dickerson?
Cuso

dickerson has a little bit of a Ricky Ledee thing going on
Cuso

Bob Lorenz, that wasn’t a fastball
http://www.yankeeanalysts.com/ Matt Imbrogno

In that picture, Kevin Long looks like he should be in a study, smoking a pipe.
whozat

Banuelos out already?
Tank the Frank

Enjoy Milwaukee Sergio.
Tank the Frank

MFIKY looks like a grumpy boy.
mike_h

when is Pat Venditte coming in?
Tom Zig

Feliciano maybe heading to the DL to start the season.

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/yankees
Chip

Well, enjoy Scranton Montero, we hardly knew ye
http://danielslifka.wordpress.com Jerome S.

joba’s career has been at a crossroads since august 2007. why is now any different?
Urban

Joba’s fastball was at 93 mph during ST 2008. He just hit 97 two pitches back. Have to be encouraged about that.
- The Big City of Dreams
  
  Definitely something nice to see. If he continues to pitch well he’ll probably be apart of a package for a starter.
- http://www.twitter.com/deanezag Zack
  
  Wasn’t Manny hitting 100 on this gun before? So don’t think the gun is good today.
  - Urban
    
    Yeah, the gun was freaky at times, but most of the readings seemed about right, although earlier in the game there was a couple of UFOs, including that 100mph from Banuelos.
Esteban

Great Dickerson’s hurt too.
- Urban
  
  Well, I hope he enjoyed his three-for-three Yankee career.
  - whozat
    
    what happened?
    - The Big City of Dreams
      
      Hamstring
Total Dominication

Why are A-rod’s rate stats not on the MLB.com leaderboards? Does he have that few pa’s?
pat

House of Steinbrenenr on ABC right now, it’s an espn 30 for 30.
James G.

Motherfucking Mark Prior.