Game 46: Heavyweights

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(Sabathia vs AP, Colon via Getty)

I mean this in the nicest way possible: today’s starters CC Sabathia and Bartolo Colon are enormous. Just two physically huge, very large men. The official sites list Sabathia at 6-foot-7, 290 lbs. and Colon at 5-foot-11, 265 lbs, but I don’t think those have been updated since high school. That’s just their build, they’re always going to be big. At least Sabathia has the advantage of height to go along with his girth. The mound in Oakland is really going to earn its paycheck today. Here’s the starting nine…

SS Derek Jeter
CF Curtis Granderson
DH Alex Rodriguez
2B Robinson Cano
1B Mark Teixeira
LF Raul Ibanez
RF Nick Swisher
3B Eric Chavez
C  Chris Stewart

LHP CC Sabathia

This afternoon’s game starts a little after 4pm ET and can be seen on YES. Enjoy.

Draft Links: Sabathia, Boras, MLB.com Mock

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(Mike Stobe/Getty)

We’re just nine days away from the draft now, so let’s round up the latest news and notes. Make sure you scroll back through our draft archive to make sure you didn’t miss anything, I’ve been posting player profiles, links to mock drafts, and all sorts of other stuff these last few weeks. Here’s the latest…

Sabathia to represent Yankees on Day One

The first day of baseball’s amateur draft will again be broadcast live on MLB Network this year, and the Yankees announced that their representative will be ace CC Sabathia. Apparently he drew the short straw. The Yankees do not have a game that day and Sabathia will be the only active player in attendance. Tino Martinez and Lee Mazzilli have represented New York in recent drafts. The broadcast will cover the first and supplement rounds on Monday, June 4th. The remaining rounds will be conducted via conference call over the following two days.

Scott Boras on the new spending restrictions

(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Every team will have their draft spending limited this season — the Yankees can spend just under $4.2M on the top ten rounds — with harsh penalties in place for any overages. Front offices don’t seen very fond of the changes put in place by the new Collective Bargaining Agreement but agents aren’t happy either. The new rules are taking money from their clients (and themselves), after all. Kevin Goldstein spoke to Scott Boras about the changes and the game’s most powerful agents had some suggests for improving the system. You can read the article on either ESPN or Baseball Prospectus, but you need a subscription either way.

First, Boras suggests a five-year spending pool, allowing teams to funnel money from year-to-year as the talent pool varies. “A lot of people won’t like that just because it’s Scott’s idea, but I love it,” said an unnamed GM. “The current system is short-sighted. It takes away individuality and the concept of having competitive advantages though the evaluation of talent.” Boras also suggests that low-revenue teams that win should be rewarded, specifically by being able to spend whatever they want on one pick each year. Goldstein says that it could take years for teams to adjust to the new rules and find the most efficient way to procure talent, though I’m sure some loopholes with pop up along the way.

MLB.com’s Mock Draft

Jonathan Mayo posted his latest mock draft for MLB.com this past week, though that one only goes 20 picks deep. That means the Yankees are left out, but it’s still good to check out just to get an idea of who is projected to go where. Pretty much the only thing that can substantially change draft stock at this point is injury.

Injury News: Robertson, Tex, Gardner, Venditte

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(Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Here are some injury updates courtesy of Chad Jennings, George King, and Brian Heyman…

  • David Robertson (left oblique strain) played catch on Thursday and felt fine yesterday. He’s on a throwing program and will play catch again on Monday, though Brian Cashman confirmed that the right-hander will need some minor league rehab appearances and won’t be back before the end of the current road trip.
  • Brett Gardner is still on track to swing a bat on Monday for the first time since his setback. An MRI earlier this week showed that the muscle in his right elbow has healed, but a few days ago he was still experiencing some stiffness.
  • Mark Teixeira‘s cough is finally starting to subside and it’s part of the reason he got thrown out at third trying to stretch a double into a triple last night. He wouldn’t even have attempted it a few weeks ago because he had trouble breathing.
  • Pat Venditte has a torn labrum in his right shoulder according to Steven Pivovar. He is currently rehabbing in Tampa and hopes to avoid surgery, but they’ll know if that’s possible in about two weeks. The ambidextrous Venditte had been pitching exclusively left-handed for a few weeks before hitting the DL.

Yankees top Athletics behind Nova and homers

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Source: FanGraphs

The winning streak has reached three games, believe it or not. Given how terrible the Yankees looked at this time last week, I’ll take it. I don’t care how bad the opposing teams are. Let’s recap…

  • Quality Start: Ivan Nova pitched well but he’s still not right, at least not when compared to the guy he was down the stretch last year. Maybe we should stop holding him to that standard. Nova allowed three runs — two on solo homers — in seven innings, striking out four and walking one. He still tends to miss his spot by a not small margin and quite frankly, Ivan’s got a little A.J. Burnett in him right now. That said, I’ll obviously take three runs in seven innings all season long.
  • Dingers: Although the first run of the game came when Coco Crisp over-ran a Robinson Cano line drive, the Yankees did most of their damage with the long ball. Mark Teixeira launched a two-run shot to right in the third inning, Cano led off the fifth with a rocket to center, and Nick Swisher drove in a pair with an opposite field shot a few batters later. Teixeira’s ball had the most height but Cano’s shot was the most impressive, out to dead center on a line.
  • More Offense: Two Yankees went hitless on the night (Derek Jeter and Eric Chavez) while five had two hits apiece (Curtis Granderson, Alex Rodriguez, Teixeira, Raul Ibanez, and Swisher). Chavez did draw a walk however, as did Granderson and Russell Martin. It’s probably worth noting that Teixeira doubled but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. He now has 12 hits (four doubles, two homer) and five walks in his last 47 plate appearances to raise his season line to .231/.294/.406. That still stinks, but it’s better than the .212/.269/.364 line he had before this little hot streak.
  • Leftovers: Left-handed batters vs. A’s starter Tyson Ross: 9-for-15 with three doubles, three homers, and two walks … Granderson had a pair of opposite field singles, only his sixth and seventh hits to left field this year … A-Rod stole his team-leading sixth base after swiping just eight in the last two years combined … Boone Logan (one strikeout) and Rafael Soriano (two strikeouts and one double allowed) threw scoreless eighth and ninth innings, respectively … Oakland’s bullpen retired 14 of 16 batters faced … Ibanez was left in to face a lefty in the late innings yet again … Chavez heard some boos, which is incredibly weak on the part of the A’s fans.

MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs the nerd score, and ESPN the updated standings. About 700 lbs. worth of pitcher meet tomorrow when CC Sabathia and Bartolo Colon give it a go in game two of this three-game weekend set on Saturday afternoon.

Murphy picks up five hits in Tampa win

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Make sure you scroll down for tonight’s game thread.

Remember RHP Jairo Heredia? He started the season on the DL with “something internal” but resumed throwing earlier this week. Heredia is one of the most enigmatic pitchers in the system, dominating for weeks at a time before forgetting how to record outs. He could be ticketed for Double-A Trenton once healthy.

In other injury news, RHP Diego Moreno had Tommy John surgery. He’s one of the two players the Yankees received from the Pirates in the A.J. Burnett trade. The other player, OF Exicardo Cayones, is in Extended Spring Training. Neither player is much of a prospect, but Moreno throws hard and has a non-zero chance of helping out of the bullpen at some point.

Anyway, if you’re unfamiliar with minor league baseball in general, friend of the blog @leokitty put together a pretty great primer for you. Make sure you check it out even if you know your way around the bush leagues.

Triple-A Empire State (8-7 win over Buffalo in ten innings, walk-off style)
CF Kevin Russo: 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K, 1 E (fielding)
2B Matt Antonelli: 1-4, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 E (fielding)
3B Steve Pearce: 0-5, 1 K, 1 E (throwing) — only his third game at third base this year
DH Jack Cust: 3-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K — walk-off homer
LF Ronnie Mustelier: 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K — his two-run homer in the seventh tied the game
1B Brandon Laird: 0-4, 1 E (fielding)
C Frankie Cervelli: 2-4, 2 R, 1 K — eight hits in his last 22 at-bats (.364)
RF Cole Garner: 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
SS Ramiro Pena: 0-3, 1 RBI, 2 K
RHP Dellin Betances: 2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 1 WP, 1 HB, 1 Balk, 1/1 GB/FB — 31 of 65 pitches were strikes (47.7%) … 42 walks and 41 strikeouts in 46.2 IP
LHP Mike O’Connor: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 0 K, 5/4 GB/FB — 31 of 59 pitches were strikes (52.5%)
RHP Chase Whitley: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 4/0 GB/FB — 25 of 40 pitches were strikes (62.5%)
RHP Jason Bulger: 1.2 IP, zeroes, 4/0 GB/FB — 14 of 23 pitches were strikes (60.9%)
LHP Juan Cedeno: 1 IP, zeroes, 1 K, 1/1 GB/FB — nine of 14 pitches were strikes
RHP Kevin Whelan: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K — nine pitches, five strikes

[Read more…]

Game 45: The Left Coast

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Swish is one of two former A's in tonight's lineup. (Al Bello/Getty Images)

It’s only a handful of games a year, but these late West Coast games are the worst. I’ve lived in out west before, I much prefer Yankees games starting at 4pm out there than 10pm here. First world problems, eh? Here’s the lineup…

SS Derek Jeter
CF Curtis Granderson
3B Alex Rodriguez
2B Robinson Cano
1B Mark Teixeira
LF Raul Ibanez
RF Nick Swisher
DH Eric Chavez
C  Russell Martin

RHP Ivan Nova

Tonight’s game starts a little after 10pm ET and can be seen on YES. Enjoy.

Ivan Nova News: Apparently Nova was dealing with a “minor hamstring” problem at some point recently, a separate issue from the right foot contusion and right ankle sprain he suffered two starts ago against the Orioles. He’s fine though and will make tonight’s start.

Friday Night Open Thread

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(Al Bello/Getty Images)

The Yankees don’t open their three-game weekend series with the Athletics for another few hours, so use this open thread to bide your time. The regular game thread will be along a little closer to first pitch. The Mets are playing the Padres (Dillon Gee vs. Anthony Bass) and MLB Network will be airing a game as well (teams depend on where you live), but the biggest game of the night is the Rangers vs. Devil (8pm ET on NBC Sports). If the Devils win, they move on to the Stanley Cup Finals. If the Rangers win, they’ll play a Game Seven. Talk about whatever you like here.