River Avenue Blues

DotF: Scranton advances to IL Championship Series for third straight season

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Two quick roster notes now that Double-A Trenton has been eliminated from the postseason, leaving Triple-A Scranton as the only affiliate still playing:

  • RHP Erik Swanson was removed from the Triple-A postseason roster and placed on the disabled list with a groin injury, reports DJ Eberle. RHP Domingo German takes his place. German is still working his way back from a nerve issue and was MIA for a bit after High-A Tampa’s season ended last weekend. Now he’s with the RailRiders.
  • SS Kyle Holder has moved up from Trenton to Scranton, according to Conor Foley. I had a feeling that was coming. Said so last night. Holder has not been added to the active roster yet. He’s with the team in more of an emergency capacity right now.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (7-2 win over Lehigh Valley in ten innings) they won the best-of-three first round postseason series three games to one … they’ve advanced to the International League Championship Series for the third consecutive season … they’ll face Durham (Rays) when that series begins Tuesday night

1. LF Mark Payton: 0-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP
2. SS Rey Navarro: 2-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 K — went 6-for-14 (.429) in the series … the Yankees signed him out of an independent league as a roster filler earlier this summer
3. 3B Gio Urshela: 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB — he went 5-for-13 (.385) in the series
4. 1B Ryan McBroom: 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K — drove in the go-ahead run with a swinging bunt grounder in the tenth
5. DH Mike Ford: 0-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K — he went 2-for-13 (.154) in the series … the RailRiders will need more from their best power bat in the Championship Series to win
6. RF Zack Zehner: 1-4 — threw a runner out at first
PR-RF Quintin Berry: 0-1, 1 R, 1 K — pinch-ran for Zehner in the ninth and scored the game-tying run from second base on an infield single
7. 2B L.J. Mazzilli: 0-3, 2 K
PH-2B Bruce Caldwell: 1-2, 1 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI — swatted the insurance grand slam in the tenth
8. CF Shane Robinson: 1-5, 1 RBI — he went 2-for-16 (.125) in the series
9. C Francisco Diaz: 1-4, 1 R
RHP Mike King: 6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 1 HR, 9/1 GB/FB — 64 of 98 pitches were strikes (65%) … if this was his final start of the year, he finishes with a 1.82 ERA and 160/30 K/BB in 168 total innings
RHP Raynel Espinal: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 1/2 GB/FB — 14 of 22 pitches were strikes (64%)
RHP Joe Harvey: 1 IP, zeroes, 1 K, 1/1 GB/FB — eleven of 16 pitches were strikes

The season is over for the Double-A Trenton Thunder, the High-A Tampa Tarpons, the Low-A Charleston RiverDogs, the Short Season Staten Island Yankees, the Rookie Pulaski Yankees, and the two Rookie GCL Yankees affiliates. Trenton was swept in their best-of-five first round postseason series. None of the other teams affiliates qualified for the postseason.

Game 142: A night with the King

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(Stephen Brashear/Getty)

Not that long ago, a matchup with Felix Hernandez would’ve meant the Yankees were in for a long night. Or a short night, depending how you look at it. Felix was as good as they come during his prime. Father Time remains undefeated though, and coming into tonight, Hernandez has a 5.55 ERA (4.97 FIP) in 147.2 innings. It’s a 4.60 ERA (4.85 FIP) in 387.2 innings dating back to Opening Day 2016. Yuck.

The Yankees have their own formerly reliable veteran on the mound tonight in Lance Lynn. Lynn pitched quiet well in his first three outings as a Yankee (one run in 16.1 innings), but his last four starts have been bad (19 runs in 18.2 innings), and I can’t help but wonder whether the Yankees would’ve started Sonny Gray today had Gray not been away from the team for the birth of his second child earlier this week. Hopefully Lynn bounces back tonight. Here are the lineups:

New York Yankees
1. RF Andrew McCutchen
2. DH Giancarlo Stanton
3. CF Aaron Hicks
4. 1B Luke Voit
5. 3B Miguel Andujar
6. SS Didi Gregorius
7. 2B Gleyber Torres
8. C Austin Romine
9. LF Brett Gardner

RHP Lance Lynn

Seattle Mariners
1. CF Mitch Haniger
2. SS Jean Segura
3. 1B Robinson Cano
4. DH Nelson Cruz
5. LF Denard Span
6. 3B Kyle Seager
7. RF Ben Gamel
8. C Mike Zunino
9. 2B Dee Gordon

RHP Felix Hernandez

Another cloudy and cool night in Seattle, though there’s no rain in the forecast tonight, so the Safeco Field roof will probably be open. That’s good. Baseball outside is better than baseball inside. Tonight’s game will begin at 9:10pm ET and you can watch on YES. Enjoy the ballgame.

Injury Updates: Didi Gregorius (heel) is in the starting lineup, as you can see, but he is not expected to play the entire game. The Yankees are treating these as rehab games right now, so it might be a few days before Didi plays a full nine innings … Aaron Judge (wrist) hit in the batting cage today and went through his usual defensive drills as well. He started swinging a bat earlier this week and everything continues to go well … Aroldis Chapman (knee) is throwing on flat ground in Tampa. He’s still relatively early in his throwing program though.

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

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MadBum. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty)

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.

Yankees 4, Mariners 0: A Masahiro Masterpiece

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After that messy series in Oakland, I’m not sure we could’ve asked for a better start to this series than this. The Yankees earned a crisp 4-0 win over the Mariners in Friday night’s series opener at Safeco Field. The magic number to clinch a postseason spot is down to 12, hence Wade Boggs in the sidebar. This was a West Coast night game, so let’s go with a bullet point recap.

  • Two Two-Run Homers: In two starts against the Yankees this year, James Paxton allowed four home runs in ten innings. A fifth homer was robbed. The Yankees got to the man they call Big Maple for two two-run homers in five innings Friday night. Luke Voit stroked a two-out single in the second, then Gleyber Torres parked one in the bullpen for a 2-0 lead. That was Gleyber’s 100th career hit. Brett Gardner slashed a leadoff single to left to start the third, then Andrew McCutchen jumped on a hanging breaking ball for a towering two-run homer and a 4-0 lead. McCutchen’s first dinger as a Yankee. I hope that made all the luggage trouble worth it.
  • Masterful Masahiro: What an outing for Masahiro Tanaka. Eight innings, three hits, ten strikeouts, no runs. He retired 15 of the first 16 batters he faced, and, in his only jam of the night, he struck out Robinson Cano with runners on the corners to end the sixth inning. That was satisfying. The final line: 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K on 102 pitches. In his last 14 starts now, Tanaka has a 2.73 ERA (3.41 FIP) in 85.2 innings. As awesome as J.A. Happ has been since the trade, right now, I’d hand the ball to Tanaka with the season on the line in a winner take all Wild Card Game. The Yankees have some good options for that game even with Luis Severino struggling.
  • Didi Returns: Welcome back, Sir Didi Gregorius. He was activated off the disabled list earlier in the day and entered the game in sixth inning as a defensive replacement for Miguel Andujar (Adeiny Hechavarria slid over to third). Gregorius grounded out to second in his only at-bat. He is essentially playing rehab games now and he wasn’t going to play all nine innings, so the Yankees waited until the tough lefty (Paxton) was out to put Didi in.
  • Leftovers: Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks, and Gary Sanchez (the 2-3-4 hitters) went a combined 0-for-12 with six strikeouts. Ouch … two hits for Voit (singles) and one apiece for McCutchen (homer), Torres (homer), Hechavarria (single), and Gardner (single). McCutchen drew the only walk … David Robertson was the only reliever used and he pitched around a one-out walk in the ninth. He started warming up in the eighth in case Tanaka ran into trouble, and once he warmed up, you might as well use him.

Here are the box score, video highlights, updated standings, and postseason odds. Here’s our Bullpen Workload page. The Yankees and Mariners will continue this series Saturday night. That’s a 9:10pm ET start. Lance Lynn and Felix Hernandez are the scheduled starters. Bold prediction: Runs will be scored.


Source: FanGraphs

DotF: Scranton unable to advance to IL Championship Series

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One quick minor league note to pass along before we get to tonight’s action. According to Lou DiPietro, the Yankees still have one Arizona Fall League roster spot to fill. It is a “taxi squad” spot, meaning the player will only be eligible to play Wednesdays and Saturdays. SS Kyle Holder would make sense after injuries limited him to 48 regular season games this year. Here are the seven players the Yankees are sending to the AzFL. We’ll find who the eighth is soon enough.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (3-2 loss to Lehigh Valley in 13 innings, walk-off style) they still lead the best-of-five first round postseason series two games to one … one more win and they’re back in the International League Championship Series for the third straight year … in case you’re wondering, they do not use the “put a runner on second base” tiebreaker rule in extra innings in the postseason, so it’s regular old extra innings baseball

1. CF Shane Robinson: 1-7 — now 1-for-16 (.063) in the series
2. LF Mark Payton: 1-6
3. 3B Gio Urshela: 2-5, 1 BB, 2 K — 5-for-13 (.385) in the series
4. 1B Ryan McBroom: 3-6, 3 K — went 1-for-8 (.125) in the first two games of the series
5. DH Mike Ford: 1-5, 1 R, 1 BB — 2-for-12 (.167) in the series
6. RF Zack Zehner: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 K
7. 2B Bruce Caldwell: 1-5, 1 BB, 1 K
8. C Wilkin Castillo: 1-6, 1 K
9. SS Rey Navarro: 4-6, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI — hit .242/.285/.409 in 62 games after signing out of an independent league in midseason
LHP Ryan Bollinger: 5.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 7/4 GB/FB — 51 of 87 pitches were strikes (59%)
RHP George Kontos: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 1/2 GB/FB — eleven of 16 pitches were strikes (69%) … gave up the game-tying two-run home run that allowed the runner he inherited from Bollinger to score
RHP Cale Coshow: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1/0 GB/FB — 24 of 42 pitches were strikes (57%)
RHP David Sosebee: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 1/2 GB/FB — 24 of 48 pitches were strikes (50%), though one of those walks was intentional
RHP Brady Lail: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 2/2 GB/FB — only eleven of 25 pitches were strikes (44%), though the walk was intentional … manager Bobby Mitchell saved closer RHP Joe Harvey for a save situation and got burned … I suppose the good news is they still only need one win to advance, and they’ll go into tomorrow’s game with Harvey and LHP Justus Sheffield ready to go out of the bullpen

Double-A Trenton Thunder (5-1 loss to New Hampshire) they were swept in their best-of-five first round postseason series, so the season is over … bummer … one or two of these guys might get moved up to Scranton should the RailRiders advance to the next round

1. 1B Gosuke Katoh: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI
2. 3B Angel Aguilar: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 K, 1 HBP
3. DH Brandon Wagner: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K — went 1-for-10 in the series
4. LF Trey Amburgey: 1-4 — went 1-for-11 in the series … hard to win when your 3-4 hitters go a combined 2-for-21 in the three games
5. SS Kyle Holder: 0-4, 1 K– he’s a guy I could see getting moved up to Scranton for the next round, assuming they advance … the RailRiders have been making do at short since Tyler Wade returned to the big leagues
6. RF Dom Thompson-Williams: 1-4, 1 K — threw a runner out at first base
7. C Jorge Saez: 0-4, 1 K
8. CF Rashad Crawford: 1-3, 1 R
9. 2B Wendell Rijo: 1-3
RHP Nick Nelson: 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, 2 WP, 4/2 GB/FB — 66 of 101 pitches were strikes (65%) … finishes the 2018 season with a 3.62 ERA and 150/67 K/BB in 126.2 innings
RHP Matt Wivinis: 2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 2/2 GB/FB — 26 of 38 pitches were strikes (65%)
LHP James Reeves: 2 IP, zeroes, 2 K, 1 HB, 0/2 GB/FB — 18 of 23 pitches were strikes (78%)

The season is over for the High-A Tampa Tarpons, the Low-A Charleston RiverDogs, the Short Season Staten Island Yankees, the Rookie Pulaski Yankees, and the two Rookie GCL Yankees affiliates. None of those teams qualified for the postseason.

Game 141: A New Series

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(Presswire)

I don’t know about you, but that series against the Athletics irked me all through the off-day. Pretty crummy series all the way around. At least it’s over. The Yankees are now in Seattle for a three-game series against a Mariners team that managed to go from seven games up on a postseason spot to 5.5 games back of a postseason spot the last two and a half months. Ouch. Seattle is nine games behind the Yankees at the moment.

Masahiro Tanaka is on the mound and, at this point, the Yankees are basically holding open auditions for the Wild Card Game starter. On any given day the Wild Card Game starter will be the last guy who pitched well. Right now, it’s J.A. Happ. With a strong start tonight, everyone will say it’s Tanaka. I hope that is the case in a few hours. Here are tonight’s lineups:

New York Yankees
1. RF Andrew McCutchen
2. DH Giancarlo Stanton
3. CF Aaron Hicks
4. C Gary Sanchez
5. 3B Miguel Andujar
6. 1B Luke Voit
7. 2B Gleyber Torres
8. SS Adeiny Hechavarria
9. LF Brett Gardner

RHP Masahiro Tanaka

Seattle Mariners
1. RF Mitch Haniger
2. SS Jean Segura
3. 2B Robinson Cano
4. DH Nelson Cruz
5. LF Denard Span
6. 1B Ryon Healy
7. 3B Kyle Seager
8. C Mike Zunino
9. CF Dee Gordon

LHP James Paxton

Chilly evening in Seattle and there are some showers in the forecast later on, so the Safeco Field roof is probably going to close at some point, if not before the game. First pitch is scheduled for 10:10pm ET and YES will have the broadcast. Enjoy the ballgame.

Injury Updates: In case you missed it earlier, Didi Gregorius (heel) has been activated off the disabled list, and the hope is he’ll play tonight. Aaron Boone said they want to ease Didi back into things since he hasn’t played any rehab games, and it sounds like the plan is to have him come off the bench once the tough lefty (Paxton) is out of the game. Gregorius will play tomorrow, but likely not the entire game. It’s a rehab assignment at the big league level, basically … Aaron Judge (wrist) took another step forward in his rehab today. He hit off a tee and soft toss on the field today, and again everything went well. The wrist is essentially pain-free. “This is kind of what we’ve been waiting for the whole time,” said Boone.

Roster Note: Sonny Gray has rejoined the Yankees. He missed the A’s series because he was home with his wife, who gave birth to their second child earlier this week. Congrats to them.

9/7 to 9/9 Series Preview: Seattle Mariners

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(Stephen Brashear/Getty)

The Yankees opened up their West Coast trip in disappointing fashion, dropping two out of three to the Oakland A’s. And that 1-2 record doesn’t come close to capturing just how frustrating the series was. With their Wild Card home-field advantage lead now sitting at 3.5 games, they’ll head up the coast to face the sinking Mariners.

The Last Time They Met

The Yankees were rude hosts to the Mariners back in June, earning a three-game sweep by a combined score of 18-10. Some notes:

  • Domingo German was excellent in the first game, tossing 7 innings and allowing just two hits and two runs (one earned), while striking out 9.
  • Clint Frazier – who turned 24 yesterday – started all three games of the series. He went 4-for-11 with a double and three runs scored. Bringing this up makes me both happy and sad.
  • Aaron Judge, Miguel Andujar, and Giancarlo Stanton were a triple-headed monster in the series, going a combined 12-for-36 with two doubles, five home runs, and 11 RBI.
  • The Yankees hit eight home runs overall in the series, with Andujar (2), Stanton (2), Aaron Hicks, Gleyber Torres, Gary Sanchez, and Judge chipping in.

Check out Katie’s Yankeemetrics post for more fun facts.

Injury Report

Juan Nicasio (knee surgery), David Phelps (Tommy John surgery), and Sam Tuivailala (Achilles tendon surgery) are all out for the year. Marco Gonzalez is currently on the DL with a neck injury, and it’s questionable whether he’ll be back in time for this series.

Their Story So Far

The Mariners are 78-62 with a -47 run differential, and are currently 5.5 GB in the Wild Card race. That -47 run differential is by far the worst among teams with a .500 or better record (the Rockies are next-worst at -8), and their Pythagorean record is 65-75 – so they may’ve overachieved a bit on the season. Regression to the mean is in full-swing, though, as the Mariners have went 32-36 since they landed in the Bronx back in June.

There isn’t one clear-cut reason for the Mariners backslide. Rather, it’s a combination of injuries, poor performance (and poorly timed poor performances), and the simple fact that they were playing above their talent level for a time. The fact that they’ve literally descended into clubhouse chaos probably doesn’t help, either.

The Lineup We Might See

Manager Scott Servais has continued to have a mostly-steady hand on the lineup card, with most of the movement being from position to position (e.g., Robinson Cano has played 1B, 2B, and 3B and Dee Gordon has played 2B, SS, and CF). We’ll probably see something like this:

  1. Mitch Haniger, RF – .279/.365/.490, 24 HR, 7 SB, 138 OPS+
  2. Jean Segura, SS – .314/.345/.430, 8 HR, 20 SB, 117 OPS+
  3. Robinson Cano, 2B – .286/.369/.445, 7 HR, 0 SB, 128 OPS+
  4. Nelson Cruz, DH – .267/.353/.538, 34 HR, 1 SB, 146 OPS+
  5. Denard Span, LF – .277/.353/.449, 11 HR, 8 SB, 123 OPS+
  6. Ryon Healy, 1B – .249/.283/.445, 24 HR, 0 SB, 100 OPS+
  7. Kyle Seager, 3B – .216/.267/.393, 20 HR, 2 SB, 83 OPS+
  8. Mike Zunino, C – .188/.246/.395, 18 HR, 0 SB, 76 OPS+
  9. Dee Gordon, CF – .272/.293/.337, 2 HR, 30 SB, 77 OPS+

Ben Gamel (110 OPS+) and Cameron Maybin (86 OPS+) will probably see some time in the outfield; David Freitas (66 OPS+) is the back-up catcher.

Edwin Diaz donning his Players Weekend uniform. (Norm Hall/Getty)

The Starting Pitchers We Will See

Friday (10:10 PM EST): RHP Masahiro Tanaka vs. LHP James Paxton

Paxton started against the Yankees back on June 21, and didn’t fare too well, pitching to the following line – 5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 9 K. He has had two subsequent stints on the DL, the first coming in July due to back soreness, and the second in August, which was the result of being hit with a line-drive in his left arm. He’s otherwise been good, putting up a 3.74 ERA (107 ERA+) and 11.6 K/9 in 144.1 IP.

Last outing (vs. OAK on 9/1) – 5.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 10 K

Saturday (9:10 PM EST): RHP Lance Lynn vs. RHP Felix Hernandez

Hernandez was sent to the bullpen a month ago, following a 6 IP, 11 R effort on August 7. That stint lasted exactly one appearance, as he relieved Paxton following the aforementioned comebacker, tossed 5.2 solid IP, and returned to the rotation the following week. Things haven’t gotten much better for Hernandez, though, as he still has a career-worst 5.55 ERA (72 ERA+) in 147.2 IP.

Last outing (vs. OAK on 9/1) – 5.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 3 K

Sunday (4:00 PM EST): LHP CC Sabathia vs. RHP Erasmo Ramirez

Ramirez has been an up-and-down guy for the last several years, and he has done well in that role. He’s been in the rotation since mid-August due to injuries (first to Paxton, then to Gonzalez), and he’s performed admirably through five starts (24.1 IP, 24 H, 6 BB, 19 K, 3.70 ERA). There’s a non-zero chance that Gonzalez will be activated in time for this start, but, as of now, it’s Ramirez’s turn.

The 28-year-old is a three or five pitch guy, depending on how you look at it. He throws three fastballs (a low-90s four-seamer, a low-90s sinker, and a high-80s cutter), a low-80s slider, and a low-80s change-up.

Last outing (vs. BAL) – 5.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K

The Bullpen

Edwin Diaz is in the midst of a ridiculous season. He currently boasts a 1.87 ERA (215 ERA+), 1.34 FIP, 15.6 K/9, and 2.1 BB/9, and he’s 53-for-57 in save opportunities. He leads all relievers in WAR, and he’s second in WPA (behind the A’s Blake Treinen) … and he’s still just 24. He’s a legitimate stud.

Chasen Bradford (3.33 ERA in 48.2 IP), James Pazos (3.02 ERA in 41.2 IP), and Alex Colome (3.05 ERA with the Mariners) are the primary high-leverage options behind Diaz, and they’ve all been good thus far. Things are a bit dicey after that, though.

Who (Or What) To Watch

It’s always a pleasure to see Robinson Cano on the field, even with his PED-related fall from grace. And Edwin Diaz has a very outside shot at matching Francisco Rodriguez’s single-season saves record of 62.