Via Chad Jennings, the Yankees have optioned Andrew Brackman, Brandon Laird, Melky Mesa, Kevin Russo, Steve Garrison, and Ryan Pope to various levels of the minor leagues. All six guys are on the 40-man roster, and the actual level they were assigned to isn’t important. They’re just paper moves for the time being. By my count, there’s still 40 players in camp, but that doesn’t count the injured Frankie Cervelli, Reegie Corona, and Colin Curtis.
ST Open Thread: The A-Team
For the first time all spring, Joe Girardi is trotting the A-lineup out there, starting all of the regulars in what is their expected Opening Day batting order spot. Of course those guys won’t play the full game, but Girardi did say that he was going to start tinkering with some lineup arrangements after yesterday’s off-day. Perhaps tomorrow we’ll get a look at Brett Gardner leading off with Derek Jeter batting second. He won’t bat eighth or ninth, so don’t get your hopes up.
On the mound will be Ivan Nova, who’s scheduled for 75 or so pitches. and could conceivably get five innings of work in. Here’s the starting nine…
Derek Jeter, SS
Nick Swisher, RF
Mark Teixeira, 1B
Alex Rodriguez, 3B
Robbie Cano, 2B
Jorge Posada, DH
Curtis Granderson, CF
Russell Martin, C
Brett Gardner, LF
Available Pitchers: Ivan Nova, Mariano Rivera, Rafael Soriano, Mark Prior, and David Robertson. Ryan Pope, Eric Wordekemper, Steve Garrison, and Romulo Sanchez are also in the house in case of emergency.
Available Position Players: Jesus Montero (C), Eric Chavez (1B), Doug Bernier (2B), Ramiro Pena (SS), Ronnie Belliard (3B), Eduardo Nunez (LF), Justin Maxwell (CF), Jordan Parraz (RF), and Andruw Jones (DH).
In other news, Sergio Mitre threw 26 pitches in the bullpen and felt “perfect.” He’d been battling some kind of oblique issue, but it appears all is (on its way to being) well. The game starts at 7:05pm ET and is being broadcast on YES. Smile, the regular season starts two weeks from tomorrow.
March 15th Camp Notes
The Yankees don’t have an official Grapefruit League game to play today, but some players still got their regularly scheduled work in. Let’s briefly recap…
- CC Sabathia and Bartolo Colon faced off in a simulated game, pitching to a total of four minor leaguers (two righties, two lefties). CC threw 82 pitches (51 strikes) and struck out four with two walks in 6.1 “innings” while Colon threw 79 pitches (56 strikes) and struck out seven in six frames. Nothing crazy, just getting some work in and staying on schedule. (Yankees PR Dept.)
- Joe Girardi said he expects Manny Banuelos, Andrew Brackman, and Dellin Betances to make at least one more pitching appearance each before being sent to minor league camp. Kyle Higashioka was sent down today. (Chad Jennings)
- Mark Prior’s sick and will probably be away from the team for a day or two. Hopefully it’s not his arm that’s sick. (Jennings)
ST Game Thread: Banuelos goes national
With Sergio Mitre on the shelf due to an oblique issue, Manny Banuelos gets the start this evening, taking on the Red Sox in a nationally televised game. The bean-towers are trotting out their A-ish lineup, so it’ll be a fine test for the young left-hander just a day after his 20th birthday. Here’s the starting nine…
Brett Gardner, LF
Ramiro Pena, SS
Curtis Granderson, CF
Nick Swisher, RF
Eric Chavez, 1B
Eduardo Nunez, 2B
Ronnie Belliard, 3B
Jorge Vazquez, DH
Jesus Montero, C
Available Pitchers: Manny Banuelos, Dellin Betances, Romulo Sanchez, Mark Prior, Luis Ayala, Ryan Pope, Steve Garrison, and D.J. Mitchell.
Available Position Players: Austin Romine (C), Jose Gil (1B), Kevin Russo (2B), Doug Bernier (SS), Brandon Laird (3B), Justin Maxwell (LF), Melky Mesa (CF), Jordan Parraz (RF), and Gustavo Molina (DH).
The game can be seen on ESPN2 at 7:05pm ET. Enjoy.
Update: Looks like the game is blacked out in the Tri-State Area. Lovely. Use this as your open thread then.
Predicting the Next Round of Cuts
The first Spring Training cuts of the season have come out, but it’s also good to see that no one has been cut off the roster, just sent off to their respective minor league camps. Today, we bring you some expert analysis (heh, heh) over who will be next to go. Keep in mind that I am not a member of the Yankees organization, and some other excellent predictions from this blog include Yankees will be unable to draft Andrew Brackman (from Mike) and, more recently, they won’t sign Eric Chavez (from yours truly). Five guys were cut this time, I’ll round down and make it an even four: two hitters and two pitchers.
Jose Gil
The 24-year-old Venezuelan has seven at-bats in seven games and has nothing to show for it besides a walk. To his credit, though, he doesn’t have any strikeouts, either. The other thing working against him is that he’s a catcher, and the Yankees are absolutely set there. They’ve got an everyday catcher in Russell Martin and ambitious super-prospect Jesus Montero waiting in the wings. If that’s not enough, there’s also Francisco Cervelli, who’s most likely itching to get out of the boot cast and back into the catcher’s gear. Even if none of these work out (which seems unlikely), I’m willing to say Austin Romine is higher up in the depth chart than Gil. If Montero makes the bigs and Romine is in AAA, we might see him in Trenton. He played a lot of first base in Spring Training this year, though there’s a lot blocking him from that angle too.
Doug Bernier
Doug Bernier signed first with the Rockies as an amateur free agent in 2002 and has showed up in two big league games since then. He’s spent the past four seasons in AAA for three ballclubs: Colorado, Pittsburgh, and the Yankees twice. He shown up in twelve Spring Training ballgames this year. He’s scored a run and gotten two walks, but he’s also struck out in nearly half his plate appearances (6Ks in 13 ABs) for an unimpressive batting average of .154. To make his Bronx chances worse, he plays shortstop, and is blocked by Derek Jeter, Ramiro Pena, and Eduardo Nunez. He’ll likely head to AAA again if he’s in the system.
Daniel Turpen
(Originally this paragraph was about Robert Fish, but at the time of writing this article, he was picked up off waivers by the Royals.)
Daniel Turpen is quickly proving why Boston left him unprotected for the Yankees to pick up as a Rule 5 pick. His numbers are unimpressive – to say the least – in the 3.2 IP he’s pitched this spring. He’s given up three hits and three earned runs along with four walks and four strikeouts. Although it doesn’t mean much, he’s blown both save opportunities that have been given to him. I wonder if the Red Sox will want him back? If so, he’ll most likely start in AA, where he was last year. Also, I couldn’t find a decent picture of him in Yankees attire with proper attribution, so that might say something – I just don’t know what it is yet.
(Edited to add: Turpen is going back to Boston, from the Star Ledger.)
Steve Garrison
Garrison hasn’t necessarily been the worst this Spring Training, but he certainly hasn’t impressed anyone, giving up ten hits and 5 ER in six IP. On the bright side, he’s only walked one, but he’s also only struck out one. He’ll only be 24 this year, so he’s got some time to work on his stuff before clubs begin to see him as ‘too old.’ Garrison has pitched up and down the ranks in the Padres’ minor league system, and it’s difficult to say where he’ll get planted in the Yankees system if they decide to keep him. He’ll most likely be headed to A ball if he stays, simply because the Yankees have so much good pitching floating around already.
ST Game Thread: Some pitchers cut as Mo debuts
Happy first day of cuts! As the U.S. lost an hour last night, the Yankees lost six players from the Big League camp as well. Per the team’s press release, Hector Noesi has been optioned back to AAA while Adam Warren, David Phelps, Brian Anderson, Buddy Carlyle and Andy Sisco were reassigned to the Minor League camp. Some of those guys will stick around while others may leave the organization before the end of Spring Training.
With that slate of six sent down, the Yankees say they now have 26 pitchers, eight catchers, 13 infielders and 11 outfielders remaining in camp. Of the pitchers still around, those intriguing ones include birthday boy Manny Banuelos, Andrew Brackman, Dellin Betances and the feel-good story of the spring Mark Prior. Soon, however, the club will send down their heralded arms. As the Major League hurlers throw more innings, it’s harder to find the frames for the young kids in Grapefruit League game action. Many of them will be back.
So as camp thins out, the Yanks are set to take on the Minnesota Twins today in Tampa. Freddy Garcia, making his third appearance today, will continue his bid for a spot in the rotation. In five innings so far, he’s allowed just two hits while striking out three. Following him at some point will be Mariano Rivera, who is making his spring bid while competing for a spot in the Yanks’ bullpen. Joba and Rafael Soriano may get the ball today as well.
The lineup looks pretty good this afternoon.
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Andruw Jones LF
Russell Martin C
Freddy Garcia P
First pitch is at 1:05 p.m., and this one’s on YES where Bob Lorenz and Kenny Singleton will have the game.
Spring Training Game Thread: Playing Two
It’s a bit grey and only around 50 degrees in New York this afternoon, but down in sunny Florida, the Yanks are gearing up to play two games at the same time. The club has some split-squad action today as Ivan Nova and the outfielders head to Dunedin to take on the Blue Jays while the infielders stick around in Tampa to face the Braves. Phil Hughes gets the start, and the game will be on the YES Network at 1:05 p.m.
Unfortunately, those of us watching at home will miss the chance to watch Jesus Montero. He’s catching Ivan Nova today, and in the field, the other game features Eric Chavez at first and Ronnie Belliard at second. Those two are battling it out for a reserve spot on the Yanks’ bench.
In the game we get to see, we have the lineup:
Jeter SS
Jones LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Posada DH
Nuñez 2B — I’d hate to see Eduardo batting sixth anytime after March.
Romine C
Maxwell RF
Krum CF
Hughes P
On the bench, we have Gustavo Molina; infielders Addison Maruszak, Corban Joseph, Carmen Angelini and Bradley Suttle; and outfielders Ray Kruml and Brett Gardner. Rafael Soriano, Steve Garrison, Joba, Pedro Feliciano, Eric Wordekemper, Andrew Brackman, Hector Noesi and Luis Ayala will be in the bullpen. It is unlikely, however, that Brackman will get in the game.
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