News Archives - River Avenue Blues

Sunday Links: Kikuchi, Acevedo, AzFL, King, Judge

September 30, 2018 by Mike

The Yankees and Red Sox close out their 2018 regular seasons with their three-game series finale later today. Every game across the league starts at 3pm ET today. There are some great postseason races in the National League. American League? Not so much. I’m looking forward to one last stress-free game. Here are some notes to check out prior to today’s season finale.

Yankees scouting Kikuchi

According to Jim Allen, the Yankees were among the teams with a scout(s) on hand to watch Japanese left-hander Yusei Kikuchi during his most recent start. Kikuchi, 27, has a 3.08 ERA with 153 strikeouts in 163.2 innings for the Seibu Lions this season. He’s been among the best pitchers in Japan the last few years. The Lions are expected to post Kikuchi for MLB teams this offseason.

I wrote about Kikuchi and the Yankees back in April. His stuff is legit. He has a qualify fastball and a wide array of secondary pitches. The biggest concern with Kikuchi is a history of arm problems. That doesn’t automatically disqualify him as a possible offseason target. It’s just something that has to be considered. The Yankees have two starters in place for next season (Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka) and I’d bet the farm on CC Sabathia returning. Kikuchi could be a candidate to fill one of the other two rotation spots.

Acevedo removed from AzFL roster

Right-hander Domingo Acevedo has been removed from the Glendale Desert Dogs roster and will not pitch in the Arizona Fall League this year, the league announced. No reason was given but I assume it is injury related. Acevedo was placed on the disabled list with a biceps injury — his second biceps injury of 2018 — at the very end of the minor league season. Injuries limited him to 69.1 innings this season.

The Yankees had an open AzFL roster spot to fill — I have no idea whether that spot is a pitcher spot or position player spot — and now they have to fill Acevedo’s spot as well. I wonder if this opens the door for Jonathan Loaisiga to go to the AzFL to make up for the innings he lost to shoulder inflammation earlier this season. Loaisiga has thrown only 78.2 innings this year and he’s been sitting in the bullpen as a September call-up these last few weeks. The Yankees might not want to throw him to the wolves in the historically hitter friendly AzFL without being properly stretched out.

King among top Eastern League prospects

Baseball America (subs. req’d) continued their look at the top 20 prospects in each minor league earlier this week with the Double-A Eastern League. Blue Jays third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. predictably claims the top spot. He is the top prospect in baseball. Righty Mike King is the only Yankees prospect on the list. He ranks 18th. Here’s a snippet of the scouting report:

He’s lauded internally for the extraordinary amount of work he puts into every start, which has helped him game plan opposing hitters all year long … He starts by commanding a pair of average 89-93 mph fastballs to both sides of the plate and backs it up with a slider and changeup that can generate swings and misses … Because he’s jumped so quickly this year, scouts are understandably hesitant about his future role, with most seeing him as a possible No. 5 starter.

In the chat (subs. req’d), Josh Norris notes righty Erik Swanson showed well this year, though he didn’t throw enough innings with Double-A Trenton to qualify for the Eastern League top 20 list. “(Swanson) saw particular results because of the way his fastball carried through the zone. He also got better at commanding his entire arsenal and made progress with his changeup,” says the write-up. King is not yet Rule 5 Draft eligible. I’m curious to see whether Swanson gets added to the 40-man roster.

Judge has MLB’s highest selling jersey (again)

For the second straight season, Aaron Judge has the highest selling jersey in baseball. MLB and the MLBPA jointly announced their annual most popular player jerseys list earlier this week — that is based on sales at MLB.com’s online shop — and it is dominated by young players. Here’s the press release and here’s the top five:

Aaron Judge, Yankees
Jose Altuve, Astros
Javier Baez, Cubs
Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
Mookie Betts, Red Sox

Giancarlo Stanton is ninth on the list, one spot behind Shohei Ohtani. I’d love to see the numbers on these jersey sales. Anecdotally, it seems to me there are more Judge jerseys and shirts in the stands these days than any other player since Derek Jeter retired. Jeter always dominated the jersey and shirt scene. Feels like Judge is right up there with him now.

CC Sabathia suspended five games, effective in 2019

September 29, 2018 by Mike

As expected, CC Sabathia has been suspended as a result of his “that’s for you, bitch” actions the other day against the Rays. MLB announced this afternoon that Sabathia has been suspended five games, effective at the start of next season. He is appealing the suspension. Rays reliever Andrew Kittredge received a three-game ban as well.

Thursday afternoon Sabathia grazed Jake Bauers with a fastball and Kittredge responded by throwing behind Austin Romine’s head in the next half-inning. Sabathia then hit Jesus Sucre in the leg in retaliation. Warnings had been issued so he was immediately ejected. Here’s the video:

Sabathia received a five-game suspension because he is a starting pitcher. Kittredge received a three-game suspension because he’s a reliever. It amounts to a one-appearance suspension for each guy, in theory. Both players received undisclosed fines as well.

A suspension was inevitable. Sabathia all but admitted he hit Sucre intentionally after Thursday’s game. Because he’ll be a free agent after the season, it is entirely possible Sabathia will serve the suspension with another team. I can’t see that though. The most likely outcome is a new one-year contract with the Yankees. Early season off-days mean Sabathia could serve the full five-game suspension and not miss a start at the outset of next season.

It’s long been MLB precedent that regular season transgressions result in regular season suspensions, at least for on-field matters. Throwing at hitters doesn’t result in postseason suspensions unless it happens in the postseason. There’s no special treatment here or anything. Standard procedure.

Today’s Yankees vs. Red Sox game postponed to 7pm ET

September 18, 2018 by Mike

Well this is a new one. This afternoon’s series opener between the Yankees and Red Sox has been pushed back from 1pm ET to 7pm ET, it has been announced. Can’t say I ever remember a game being postponed until later in the day.

Today’s game was an early 1pm ET start for Yom Kippur, which begins at sundown. Because today’s game is officially postponed rather than delayed, fans can exchange their tickets. Here’s the ticket policy. That’s why this is not technically a delay. To allow fans to exchange tickets.

There is rain in the forecast throughout the afternoon, though things are supposed to clear up around 5pm ET or so. When I checked yesterday, the forecast said it would rain right through the night, so things have improved. A night game it is.

Saturday Links: Bumgarner, Spring Training, Best Tools, CC

September 8, 2018 by Mike

The Yankees and Mariners continue their three-game weekend series later today. Much later today. It’s a 9:10pm ET start. Literally the latest game on the schedule today. So it goes. Here are some links and notes to check out in the meantime.

Yankees were “in the hunt” for Bumgarner

According to Nick Cafardo, the Yankees were “in the hunt” for Madson Bumgarner prior to the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline, but the asking price was too high. My guess is that asking price included Gleyber Torres plus more, possibly a lot more. Bumgarner strikes me as one of the least likely to be traded players in baseball. I think it’s far more likely he signs an extension than gets traded. Never hurts to make the call though. Wouldn’t surprise me if the Yankees check in again this winter.

Bumgarner, who turned 29 last month, has a 3.07 ERA (4.08 FIP) in 105.2 innings since returning from a fluke finger injury (a comebacker broke his pinky in Spring Training). As good as Bumgarner is now and has been throughout his career, he’s starting to show some of decline. Strikeouts are down, walks and homers are up. Six straight 200+ inning seasons from age 21-26, plus all those deep postseason runs, might be catching up to him. Felix Hernandez threw a ton of innings early in his career and he started to lose it age 29. Hmmm.

2019 Spring Training schedule released

Never too early to look ahead to next season, right? Right. A few days ago MLB released the 2019 Spring Training schedule. The Yankees open Grapefruit League play against the Red Sox on Saturday, February 23rd, next year. The spring home opener will be Monday, February 25th, against the Blue Jays. The Yankees close their 32-game spring schedule with an exhibition game at Nationals Park on Monday, March 25th. Opening Day is Thursday, March 28th. Here is the team’s spring schedule.

The Yankees have not yet announced their 2019 reporting dates. The last two years the Yankees had pitchers and catchers report ten days before the Grapefruit League opener and position players six days before the opener. Based on that, pitchers and catchers will report Wednesday, February 13th, with position players reporting Sunday, February 17th. Those are just my estimates. Official reporting dates usually aren’t announced until mid-to-late November sometime, after the awards rush.

Law’s best MLB tools

I missed this last week, but Keith Law (subs. req’d) released his rankings of the top tools at the Major League level. Several Yankees rank among the various categories. A recap:

Chad Green: Fifth best fastball (behind Max Scherzer, Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander, Jacob deGrom)
Aaron Hicks: Third best throwing arm (behind Andrelton Simmons and Brett Phillips)
Aaron Judge: Second best power (behind Joey Gallo)
David Roberson: Third best curveball (behind Corey Kluber and Aaron Nola)
Giancarlo Stanton: Third best power (behind Gallo and Judge)

No real surprises here nor any notable omissions. Maybe Luis Severino’s fastball? He does have the best average velocity among starters again. Well, whatever. Last year I made a kinda sorta bold prediction and said Green would top Law’s best fastball rankings this year. Came close. He’s top five.

Sabathia nominated for Clemente Award

Earlier this week MLB announced each team’s nominee for the 2018 Roberto Clemente Award, which is given annually to the player who “best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.” CC Sabathia is the Yankees’ nominee this year. Here are the 30 nominees. Three Yankees have won the award: Derek Jeter (2009), Don Baylor (1985), and Ron Guidry (1984). Current Yankee Andrew McCutchen won it while with the Pirates in 2015.

Amazingly, MLB turned a prestigious award intended to honor community involvement into a popularity contest. The Roberto Clemente Award winner will be selected via fan vote. Here’s the ballot. The winner will be announced during the World Series. Among other things, Sabathia and his wife run the PitCCh In Foundation, which promotes and supports educational and athletic activities for inner city youth. During Thursday’s off-day Sabathia gave away roughly 1,700 backpacks with school supplies to kids in the Bay Area, near where he grew up. Pretty cool. Congrats to the big man. Just getting nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award is an honor.

2019 Schedule Announced: Yankees open at home vs. Orioles

August 22, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

Another snowed out home opener? (Seth Wenig/AP)

Earlier today MLB officially announced the 2019 regular season schedule. Usually the schedule doesn’t drop until mid-September. MLB got it out of the way early this year. The Yankees open the season on Thursday, March 28th, at home against the Orioles. March 28th in the Bronx? Looking forward to the home opener getting snowed out for the third time in four years.

Anyway, the Yankees open the season with a three-game set against the Orioles — as usual, there is an off-day after Opening Day in case they get snowed out — before welcoming the Tigers to the Bronx for the three-game series. The first road trip follows after that and takes the Yankees to Baltimore and Houston. The Yankees and Orioles will be at each other’s home openers. Fun. Here is the full 2019 schedule and here are the highlights.

The London Trip

As part of MLB’s initiative to grow the game globally, the Yankees and Red Sox will play a two-game series in London on June 29th and 30th. It’s a Saturday and Sunday. Both the Yankees and Red Sox will have two off-days prior to the series and one off-day following the series. I imagine there are events planned for that Friday. The Yankees have a ten-game homestand, then two off-days, two games in London, one off-day, then they return to New York for a road series against the Mets.

I should note the Red Sox will be the home team for the two London games — the Steinbrenners weren’t going to give up two lucrative home dates — and, because of that, the Yankees only make two trips to Fenway Park next season. Two four-game series: Thursday, July 25th to Sunday, July 28th and Friday, September 6th to Monday, September 9th. First trip to Boston is in late July? Weird.

Interleague Play

The NL West is up as part of the interleague rotation and, yes, the Yankees are going to Dodger Stadium. Here are the NL West interleague dates:

at Giants: Friday, April 26th to Sunday, April 28th
at Diamondbacks: Tuesday, April 30th and Wednesday, May 1st
vs. Padres: Monday, May 27th to Wednesday, May 29th
vs. Rockies: Friday, June 19th to Sunday, June 21st
vs. Diamondbacks: Tuesday, July 30th and Wednesday, July 31st
at Dodgers: Friday, August 23rd to Sunday, August 25th

The Yankees go to Arizona, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The Padres and Rockies come to New York. Too bad the Yankees are not going to Coors Field. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton in the thin mountain air? Goodness.

Subway Series

Once again, the Subway Series will be a set of two two-game series. Bummer. I greatly prefer three-game series with a definitive winner. There are a lot of Mets fans in my family and bragging rights are fun. The Mets come to the Bronx on June 10th and 11th (Monday and Tuesday) and the Yankees go to Queens on July 2nd and 3rd (Tuesday and Wednesday), immediately following the London trip.

West Coast Trips

I was worried the Yankees would get stuck with three West Coast trips because of the NL West interleague play thing, but thankfully that is not the case. They have two long West Coast trips instead.

Monday, April 22nd to Wednesday, May 1st: Angels (four games), Giants (three games), D’Backs (two games)
Tuesday, August 20th to Wednesday, August 28th: Athletics (three games), Dodgers (three games), Mariners (three games)

Four games in Anaheim? What could possibly go wrong? I also like the travel for the second West Coast trip. Start in Oakland, then fly down to Los Angeles, then fly up to Seattle. Couldn’t go Los Angeles-Oakland-Seattle or Seattle-Oakland-Los Angeles? I guess that would’ve made too much sense.

The Final Week

The Yankees close out the 2019 regular season on the road and that last week is kinda weird. They have an off-day Monday, September 23rd, then play two games in Tampa. They have another off-day Thursday, August 26th, then they close out the regular season with three games in … Texas? Texas. Only seven of the final 17 regular season games next year will be played against AL East teams. The Yankees see the Tigers, Angels, and Rangers within the last three weeks next season. No big series in Boston to close out the season or anything like that.

Yankees will reportedly visit Dodger Stadium in 2019

August 20, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

Details about the 2019 regular season schedule are starting to trickle in, and, according to Bill Shaikin, the Yankees will visit Dodger Stadium next season. The Yankees are due to play the NL West as part of the interleague rotation, though they didn’t play in Los Angeles when they made their last jaunt through the NL West three years ago.

Only three times have the Yankees visited Dodger Stadium during interleague play. The Yankees dropped two of three in Chavez Ravine in 2004, won two of three in 2010, and split a two-game series in 2013. In the Yankees’ last game at Dodger Stadium, Hiroki Kuroda and Clayton Kershaw had a pretty great pitchers’ duel.

The Yankees and Dodgers of course have a rich history, including meeting in the World Series eleven times. They are far and away the most common World Series matchup in history. (Yankees-Giants is second with seven.) The Yankees beat the Dodgers in the World Series in 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1977, and 1978. The Dodgers beat the Yankees in 1955, 1963, and 1981.

It is entirely possible these two teams will meet in the 2018 World Series, though that would require the Dodgers getting their act together these next six weeks. They’re two games back in the NL West and 1.5 games back of the second NL wild card spot. And who knows, maybe next year’s Yankees-Dodgers series in Dodger Stadium will be a homecoming for Kershaw, who can opt out of his contract after the season and potentially sign a massive deal with the Yankees. That’d be pretty weird.

Saturday Links: Singleton, Players’ Weekend, Pride Events

August 11, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

Singleton circa 1983. (Owen C. Shaw/Getty)

Weather permitting, the Yankees and Rangers will continue their four-game series this afternoon at Yankee Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for a little after 1pm ET. Here are some links to help you pass the time until the game begins.

Singleton returning in 2019

Ken Singleton is reportedly postponing his retirement. According to Randy Miller, Singleton will return to the YES Network next year on a reduced schedule. He’ll work about 24 games rather than his usual 55, with a heavy dose of games in Baltimore and Tampa, where he has homes. Singleton will also do one other road trip plus some games at Yankee Stadium. Nothing is official yet, but Kenny pretty much confirmed he’s returning on this week’s R2C2 podcast.

Earlier this year Singleton announced 2018 would be his final season as a broadcaster. It wasn’t speculation. He announced it. Apparently the head honchos at the YES Network put on the full court press and convinced him to come back. Singleton said he wants to spend more time with his family and grandchildren, and the reduced schedule will allow that. Next season will be his 50th (!) in big league baseball. He played 15 years and has spent the last 35 as a broadcaster. Hell of a baseball life. I am very glad Singleton is returning. He’s my favorite broadcaster.

Players’ Weekend returns for 2018

Prepare yourself for another weekend of outrage from baseball purists. Earlier this week MLB announced the second annual Players’ Weekend will take place from Friday, August 24th, through Sunday, August 26th. The Yankees will be in Baltimore that weekend and they have a doubleheader that Saturday, so they’ll get to rock their Players’ Weekend uniforms for four games instead of three. You can see all the jerseys here. Here’s the Yankees’:

Same as last season. The Yankees didn’t change the jerseys at all. Boring! Last year they were at home for Players’ Weekend and those jersey tops looked weird with white pinstriped pants. I reckon they’ll look much better with the road gray pants this year. As for the uniform nicknames, you can see all of them right here. They really should’ve gone with each player’s Didi Gregorius emoji. Brad Boxberger will have emojis on his jersey. Yankees should’ve done it. Alas.

Yankees planning events to commemorate Stonewall Riots

The Yankees are planning “significant events” both inside and outside Yankee Stadium next season to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, report Andy Martino and George King. No details have been announced yet, though the events will be something that provide more meaningful engagement and interaction with the community than a simple LGBTQ Pride Night at the ballpark.

The Stonewall Riots were a watershed moment for gay rights in New York. The Yankees were the last team in baseball to announce plans for an event celebrating gay rights — the Mets have held an annual Pride Night since 2016, for example — which is disappointing, especially since they play in the largest and most diverse city in the world. Better late than never.