River Avenue Blues

Yanks can’t protect 3-0 lead, drop third straight

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Source: FanGraphs

I picked a great game to miss. Didn’t see any of it television and I Gameday’d just a few innings, which was more than enough for me. That early 3-0 lead was nice, but just like the month of April, it was a tease. The Yankees didn’t get a single runner beyond first base after the fourth inning while CC Sabathia melted down in the sixth and seventh innings. Sure, the dinky infield singles hurt, but the Manny Machado two-run double and Nate McLouth go-ahead homer were more than well-struck.

Of course, this is all par for the course these days. The Yankees have an awful offense and Sabathia has been prone to the big inning all year, even after looking dominant early on — he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning with an Alberto Gonzalez error accounting for the only base-runner. Therein lies the real problem. Guys like Gonzalez are playing everyday. David Adams started at first base and sure enough, his inexperience contributed to that three-run sixth, which was not unexpected. In fact, the Yankees had just one player on the field (Robinson Cano) who would have started for the Orioles. Maybe Brett Gardner, but you’d have to really argue that. Either way, the point stands.

That is where this team is at right now. If the so-called Bombers don’t get help soon — and I don’t mean right at the trade deadline either, I mean in the next week or so — they’ll be lucky to go into the All-Star break in third place and not fourth or fifth. The season is half over, it’s time for the front office to actually go out and make some moves to improve the club, something they haven’t done since the 2011-2012 offseason. They’ve now lost three straight, four of their last five, and 19 of their last 31.

Anyway, MLB.com has the box score and video, FanGraphs some other stats, and ESPN the updated standings. The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays and the Rays lost, so the Yankees are four back of Boston, one back of Baltimore, two up on Tampa, and three up on Toronto. This ship … she is a sinkin’. David Phelps and left-hander Zach Britton is your pitching matchup for Saturday afternoon’s night’s game.

Game 79: A Big Series

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(Jamie Squire/Getty)
(Jamie Squire/Getty)

This is the most important series of the season to date. The Yankees and Orioles are tied in the loss column, both three back of Boston and two up on Tampa. Whoever wins this series will end the weekend in second place, and whoever loses could wind up as far back as fourth. The Yankees have little margin of error because of their inability to score runs, so these intra-division games are so damn important. They can’t afford to fall any further back in the division. Having to pass one team is hard enough, nevermind having to pass two or three. Here’s the lineup that will face rookie Rule 5 Draft left-hander T.J. McFarland:

  1. CF Brett Gardner
  2. SS Jayson Nix
  3. 2B Robinson Cano
  4. DH Vernon Wells
  5. RF Ichiro Suzuki
  6. LF Zoilo Almonte
  7. C Chris Stewart
  8. 1B David Adams
  9. 3B Alberto Gonzalez

And on the mound after much confusion is left-hander CC Sabathia.

It has been raining in Baltimore for most of the afternoon and it’s supposed to rain again later tonight, but apparently there’s a three or so hour window for them to play. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm ET and can be seen on My9. Enjoy.

Injury Updates: Mark Teixeira (wrist) will have his surgery at NYU on Monday … Derek Jeter (ankle) took some simulated at-bats in Tampa today and yesterday, his first time facing live hitters. He also started running on the field recently … Alex Rodriguez (hip) continues to face live pitchers in simulated at-bats, plus he’s running the bases and doing more side-to-side movement while fielding grounders.

Rotation Update: Joe Girardi confirmed Ivan Nova will start at some point against the Twins next week, but he’s not sure which day. This is so dumb, I don’t understand why they’re playing with a short bench considering how awful the offense has been.

Heyman: Yankees looking to acquire a third baseman

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Via Jon Heyman: The Yankees are looking to acquire a third baseman via trade. This could be an indication they aren’t confident in Alex Rodriguez down the stretch, but remember, even if he comes back from the hip surgery fine, he’d still see plenty of action at DH. Upgrading the hot corner should be one of their top priorities right now.

New York’s third basemen have hit a woeful .238/.294/.325 (69 OPS+) this season thanks to Kevin Youkilis’ continued back trouble and David Adams’ hard time at the big league level. Third basemen like Aramis Ramirez, Michael Young, Trevor Plouffe, Jeff Keppinger, Mark Reynolds, and Placido Polanco could all become available before the trade deadline. Ramirez is owed $25M through next season though, and Heyman says the Yankees consider him too pricey. Hard to blame them given all the other red flags (knee problems, strikeouts up, power down).

Update: CC Sabathia starting tonight’s game

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3:38pm: Pitching coach Larry Rothschild said it was just a mix-up and Sabathia was always scheduled to start tonight. Phelps goes tomorrow and Hiroki Kuroda goes on Sunday.

3:21pm: I misread, sorry. David Phelps has been scratched from tonight’s start for an unknown reason, and Sabathia is starting in his place. CC had extra rest thanks to the off-day on Monday and Ivan Nova’s spot start. No idea what’s up with Phelps.

3:20pm: CC Sabathia has been scratched from tomorrow’s start for an unknown reason. The probable pitcher is listed as TBA at the moment, but I have to assume it’ll be Ivan Nova. No word on what’s up with Sabathia, but fingers crossed obviously.

6/28-6/30 Series Preview: Baltimore Orioles

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(AP Photo/David Goldman)
(AP Photo/David Goldman)

Man, late-June series are not supposed to be this important. The Yankees and Orioles are tied in the loss column for second place in the AL East, both three games back of the Red Sox. Needless to say, neither team wants to leave this three-game series any further back than they already are.

What Have They Done Lately?
Baltimore won yesterday and just took two of three from the Indians, but they lost four straight games before that. Like the Yankees, they’ve been playing .500 baseball since early-May. The Orioles are 44-36 with a +17 run differential overall.

Offense
At 4.9 runs per game with a team 107 wRC+, Baltimore is the one of the very best offensive teams in baseball. They are without the injured 2B Brian Roberts (153 wRC+), OF Nolan Reimold (51 wRC+), and UTIL Wilson Betemit (hasn’t played this season) at the moment, but apparently Roberts will return some time this weekend. The other two will be out a while longer though.

Davis. (Rob Carr/Getty)
Davis. (Rob Carr/Getty)

The Yankees will have to pick their poison this weekend. Do they pitch around 1B Chris Davis (193 wRC+)? What about 3B Manny Machado (125 wRC+)? Adam Jones (119 wRC+)? OF Nate McLouth (109 wRC+) has stolen 24 bases and has been pretty awesome, you know. SS J.J. Hardy (103 wRC+) and OF Nick Markakis (102 wRC+) have been solid as well. Very tough.

C Matt Wieters (82 wRC+) is in the lineup because of his defense, but he can hit lefties (105 wRC+). IF Alexi Casilla (56 wRC+) and UTIL Ryan Flaherty (62 wRC+) split time at second while 1B Travis Ishikawa (-37 wRC+ in very limited time) and IF Danny Valencia (137 wRC+ in limited time) sub in at DH and the corner infield spots. C Taylor Teagarden (-9 wRC+ in limited time) is the backup backstop, former Yankee Chris Dickerson (98 wRC+) the fourth outfielder. The Orioles have hit the most homers in all of baseball (108) and they’re a top ten team in steals as well (54 wRC+). The Yankees pitching staff will have their hands full this weekend.

Starting Pitching Matchups

Friday: RHP David Phelps vs. LHP T.J. McFarland
This spot belonged to former Yankee Freddy Garcia, but he was designated for assignment earlier this week after getting his brains beat in by the Blue Jays. Tonight’s start was expected to go to right-hander Kevin Gausman, but the Orioles changed gears last night and announced McFarland, a Rule 5 Draft pick, would get the ball instead. I have very little doubt manager Buck Showalter made the switch after seeing how much the Yankees struggled against left-hander Derek Holland on Thursday.

Anyway, the 24-year-old McFarland has a 4.14 ERA (3.58 FIP) in 41.1 relief innings this year. His peripheral stats — 7.84 K/9 (19.7 K%), 3.05 BB/9 (7.7 BB%), 0.87 HR/9 (10.3% HR/FB), and 53.8% grounders — are solid, but starting is a different animal than relieving. The southpaw sits in the upper-80s with his four-seamer in relief, so he might be a tick or two below that tonight. A soft upper-70s curveball is his top secondary pitch, and he’ll also throw a low-80s changeup. McFarland’s season high is 4.1 innings and 61 pitches, both of which came five days ago. I’m guessing Showalter will be thrilled with five innings. The Yankees saw McFarland way back in April, when he held the scoreless in two innings of relief.

Britton. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
Britton. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

Saturday: LHP CC Sabathia vs. LHP Zach Britton
Britton, 25, has a 5.51 ERA (5.31 FIP) in three starts after spending most of the year in Triple-A. He has gotten plenty of ground balls (50%), but he’s walked as many men as he’s faced (eight) in 16.1 innings. In parts of three big league seasons, the southpaw owns a 6.16 K/9 (15.6 K%), 3.97 BB/9 (10.1 BB%), 0.78 HR/9 (10.1% HR/FB), and 54.5% grounders. Britton’s low-90s two-seamer is his calling card and the pitch he uses to get all those ground balls. He’ll also throw a straight low-90s four-seamer, with a mid-80s changeup and upper-70s slider representing his two offspeed offerings. The Yankees have seen Britton a few times over the years and have clobbered him pretty much every time (26 runs in 25.1 innings). This is a different lineup now, of course.

Sunday: RHP Hiroki Kuroda vs. RHP Chris Tillman
The 25-year-old Tillman is perhaps best remembered for surrendering the base hit that moved Derek Jeter past Lou Gehrig and into the top spot on the Yankees’ all-time hits list. He was a trendy breakout pick this year after a strong second half in 2012, but his 3.72 ERA (5.01 FIP) is backed up by strikeout (7.16 K/9 and 19.1 K%), walk (3.43 BB/9 and 9.2 BB%), homer (1.62 HR/9 and 16.9% HR/FB), and ground ball (38.2%) rates that range anywhere from okay to awful. Tillman uses two fastballs in the low-90s (four-seamer and cutter), and he’ll throw three different offspeed pitches: mid-80s slider, low-80s changeup, and mid-70s curveball. The slider is more of a show-me pitch than anything. The Bombers have seen Tillman plenty of times over the last few years, mostly hitting him hard.

McFarland. (Rob Carr/Getty)
McFarland. (Rob Carr/Getty)

Bullpen Status
Buck Showalter’s relievers are a little beat up at the moment. LHP Troy Patton (4.35 FIP) has pitched in three straight games while LHP Brian Matusz (3.51 FIP) and closer RHP Jim Johnson (3.81 FIP) have both appeared in three of the last four games. RHP Darren O’Day (3.56 FIP) is fresh, ditto RHP Tommy Hunter (4.04 FIP) and RHP Pedro Strop (5.72 FIP). Gausman (5.85 FIP) is the de facto long man.

Outside of Preston Claiborne, the Yankees are in good bullpen shape thanks to Phil Hughes’ eight-inning effort on Thursday. Remember, they’re carrying eight relievers at the moment because they don’t have the heart to send Ivan Nova back to Triple-A. Here’s our Bullpen Workload page for recent reliever usage details. Camden Chat is my spot for Orioles coverage.

Badler: Yankees looking to trade for international pool money

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Via Ben Badler (subs. req’d): The Yankees are among several clubs looking to acquire more international spending pool money in advance of the July 2nd signing period. Teams can indeed trade pool money, but the deal can not be officially announced until July 2nd.

The Yankees have just $1.88M to spending internationally this year, which is nothing. Only seven teams have pools worth more than $3M this year, so the number of clubs willing to deal international money is very limited. Badler also says clubs are having trouble working through trades because they can’t figure out how to value a chunk of money. That’s not surprising, this stuff is very weird.