River Avenue Blues

NYDN: A-Rod cleared to begin rehab games on July 1st

by 66 Comments

Via NYDN: Alex Rodriguez has been cleared to begin playing in official minor league rehab games on July 1st. “It sounds like it’s on schedule. He’s been running, throwing, fielding, and I know it’s approaching. It’s coming,” said Brian Cashman. The GM did say the rehab stint would begin in Tampa, which is not surprising. The team’s High-A and rookie ball affiliates call the Spring Training complex home.

Rodriguez, 37, started facing live pitching last week as he works his way back from left hip surgery. Assuming the Yankees take advantage of the full 20-day rehab window — remember, he didn’t have a Spring Training and will need more than a handful of at-bats to prepare — A-Rod is still a month away from returning to the team even if he starts a rehab assignment in a week or so. The Yankees have gotten a .246/.302/.337 (75 OPS+) line out of their third basemen this year, so even a declining Rodriguez is a big upgrade.

Fan Confidence Poll: June 24th, 2013

by 101 Comments

Record Last Week: 3-3 (23 RS, 28 RA)
Season Record: 41-34 (293 RS, 294 RA, 37-38 pythag. record), 2.5 games back in AL East
Opponents This Week: Mon. OFF, vs. Rangers (three games, Tues. to Thurs.), @ Orioles (three games, Fri. to Sun.)

Top stories from last week:

  • The Yankees returned home from the West Coast and enjoyed two straight off-days at the beginning of the week — one scheduled and one rainout. They took the opener of Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Dodgers before being shutout in the nightcap.
  • The Rays came to town for four games after that, and Tampa took the series opener by roughing up Andy Pettitte. Zoilo Almonte led the Yankees to a win on Friday night, then Vernon Wells did the same on Saturday. The bullpen gave it up in yesterday’s loss.
  • Injury Updates: Mark Teixeira (wrist) was placed on the DL with inflammation. Kevin Youkilis (back) will be out 10-12 weeks following surgery. Alex Rodriguez (hip) has started facing live pitchers. Curtis Granderson (hand) had the pin removed as scheduled. Michael Pineda (shoulder) will make his next rehab start at Double-A Trenton on Tuesday. Frankie Cervelli (hand) has started taking dry swings.
  • The Yankees and Robinson Cano remain far apart in contract talks and the second baseman is likely to become a free agent after the season. The team is unlikely to have interest in Manny Ramirez or Ramon Hernandez, but are “open for business” as far as trades are concerned.
  • Almonte and Adam Warren were both recalled from Triple-A while Chris Bootcheck and Reid Brignac were both designated for assignment. Alberto Gonzalez was recalled and Thomas Neal was sent down as the furniture shuffling continued.
  • Among the players the Yankees acquired to bolster their Triple-A squad last week were Corey Patterson, Brent Lillibridge, Mike Zagurski, Yoshinori Tateyama, and Fernando Martinez. Chris Bootcheck cleared waivers and signed a new minor league deal with the team.
  • The Yankees signed supplemental first rounder LHP Ian Clarkin ($1.65M), second rounder 2B Gosuke Katoh ($846k), and ninth rounder LHP Conner Kendrick ($115k). Supplemental first rounder OF Aaron Judge has been offered slot money but has yet to sign.
  • MLB investigators are convinced some suspensions will be handed out as a result of their investigation into the alleged South Florida performance-enhancing drug hub Biogenesis.

Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. You can view the interactive Fan Confidence Graph anytime via the nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks in advance for voting.

Bullpen can’t pick up Nova in 3-1 loss to Rays

by 48 Comments

Splitting a four-game series with a Rays is not a terrible result, but it is kinda disappointing the Yankees were unable to make it three of four on Sunday. The Bombers head into Monday’s off-day on the heels of a 3-1 loss.

(Al Bello/Getty)
(Al Bello/Getty)

Nova Returns
By Game Score (52), this was Ivan Nova’s best start since his third to last start of 2012. That’s kinda telling since he still managed to put a dozen men on-base — seven singles, three walks, two hit batsmen — in 6.2 innings of work. The Rays scored a run in the first and it appeared like the same ol’ Nova was ready to make this one a laugher before it really got started, but he settled down and followed with five scoreless frames before things unraveled a bit in the seventh. More on that in a second.

Nova threw 68 of 103 pitches were strikes and started 17 of 30 batters faced with a first pitch strike, and he seemed to be relying on his breaking stuff a ton. First pitches, put-away pitches, ahead in the count, behind in the count … it seemed like every important pitch was a breaking ball. Fifty (!!!) of those 103 pitches were breaking balls according to PitchFX, and 32 of those 50 were strikes. Eight of those strikes were swings and misses. Fifty breaking balls is a ton. Hell, half that is a lot for one start.

Anyway, nice very job by Nova in the spot start. He gave the Yankees exactly what they needed and probably more than they expected. I can’t imagine the team will make the decision to re-insert him back into the rotation based on one decent outing, but I’m sure he’ll get another chance before long. Hopefully he’s ready.

(Al Bello/Getty)
NoBoone.jpg (Al Bello/Getty)

Two Outs, Two Strikes … Two Runs
The afternoon was moving along just fine for Nova, who retired the first two men he faced in the seventh without much of a problem. Then he hit Desmond Jennings with two outs. Usually that wouldn’t be a big deal, but the inning snowballed out of control after that. Nova plunked Ben Zobrist with an 0-2 breaking ball to put two on with two outs, then Shawn Kelley came out of the bullpen to walk Evan Longoria on five pitches to load the bases.

Joe Girardi summoned Boone Logan out of the bullpen to face the left-handed James Loney with two outs, and the southpaw quickly jumped ahead in the count 1-2. Instead of burying the put-away slider in the dirt or off the plate away, Logan hung it middle-middle and Loney lined it back up the box for a two-run, two-strike, two-out single. That proved to be the difference in the game.

Nearly halfway through the season, lefties are hitting .295/.311/.432 against the team’s only lefty reliever. If Logan doesn’t show some improvement soon, the Yankees are going to have to think about adding a second southpaw to the bullpen for those important late-inning matchup spots.

Robinson Cano was very aware Jose Molina was running on this GIDP.

Leftovers
If the Rays hadn’t scored in the seventh, this game would have gone about 20 innings. The Yankees scored their only run on a hard-hit Cano sacrifice fly in the very first inning, but after that they only had four players reach second base. None reached third base and the final eight batters they sent to the plate made outs. Just two of their final 16 batters reached base. After back-to-back games of 6+ runs, it was back to offensive incompetence on Sunday.

After starting his big league career with 14 straight walk-less appearances, Preston Claiborne has now walked four batters in his last five outings. Nine men have reached base across four innings in those five games. Joba Chamberlain, meanwhile, had just his second scoreless appearance in his last six outings. Kelley and Logan each allowed the only he faced to reach base, so the bullpen combined for five base-runners in 2.1 innings in relief of Nova. Yuck.

Brett Gardner continues to be outstanding atop the lineup, going 3-for-4 with a double on Sunday. He’s hitting .339/.378/.514 over the last month, but with only two steals in four attempts. Only eleven steals nearly halfway through the season? Weird. Anyway, Zoilo Almonte went 2-for-4 with two doubles while the rest of the lineup went a combined 2-for-24 (.083) with six strikeouts.

Box Score, WPA Graph & Standings
MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs some other stuff, and ESPN the updated standings. The Red Sox lost and the surging Blue Jays — they’ve won eleven straight, you know — destroyed the Orioles, so the Yankees are tied with Baltimore and one back of Boston in the loss column. Toronto is just two back (!) while Tampa is three back.


Source: FanGraphs

Up Next
For the third consecutive week, the Yankees are off on Monday. The Rangers are coming to the Bronx for a three-game series starting Tuesday night, when countrymen Hiroki Kuroda and Yu Darvish square off in the opener. Check out RAB Tickets if you want to catch the tenth matchup of Japanese-born starting pitchers in baseball history in person. At least I think it’s the tenth such matchup; my count is unofficial.

DePaula strikes out six in first High-A start

by 42 Comments

Triple-A Scranton (4-3 win over Norfolk)

  • C J.R. Murphy: 2-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI — 12 hits in his last 29 at-bats (.414) with two homers and two doubles
  • RF Fernando Martinez: 0-2, 1 BB
  • SS Brent Lillibridge: 1-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB
  • RHP Brett Marshall: 6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 8/2 GB/FB — 57 of 90 pitches were strikes (63%) … best start in a long time, needs to build off this now
  • LHP Mike Zagurski: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K — 11 of 17 pitches were strikes (65%)
  • RHP Chase Whitley: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K — nine of 15 pitches were strikes (60%)

[Read more…]

Sunday Night Open Thread

by 74 Comments

The 67th annual Old Timers’ Day went off without a hitch this afternoon; in fact it went so well that the Old Timers’ Game lasted five innings. I can’t remember it ever lasting more than three innings, but apparently all the Old Timers’ felt good and time was plentiful, so they just kept going. That was pretty fun. Pat Kelly can still hit a little bit. I wonder if he has the arm for third base these days? Anyway, a slideshow of Old Timers’ Day photos are above. Enjoy.

Here’s your open thread for the night. The Rangers and Cardinals are your ESPN Sunday Night Game (Tepesch vs. Wainwright), and that’s really it. Talk about that game or anything else here. Have at it.

Yankees are “probably not” going to have interest in Ramon Hernandez

by 15 Comments

Via Joel Sherman: The Yankees are “probably not” going to have interest in catcher Ramon Hernandez, who was designated for assignment by the Dodgers last week and released yesterday. Because he’s been designated and released, Los Angeles is on the hook for his $3.2M salary and whatever team signs him will only be responsible for the pro-rated portion of the league minimum.

Hernandez, 37, hit .208/.291/.438 (104 wRC+) in only 55 plate appearances for the Dodgers. He hit .217/.247/.353 (45 wRC+) in 196 plate appearances for the Rockies last season while battling pretty severe hand and hamstring injuries. Hernandez, who has first base experience, has graded out as a slightly-below-average defensive catcher in recent years. Austin Romine has been terrible (-17 wRC+), so the Yankees have a chance to upgrade their backup catcher position at a very low cost here. Considering their emphasis on catcher defense and knowledge of the pitching staff, I guess it’s no surprise they aren’t expected to show interest in the freely available Hernandez.

Game 75: Old Timers’ Day

by 627 Comments

(Presswire)
(Presswire)

There isn’t another team in sports that can pull off an event like Old Timers’ Day, at least not on the same scale as the Yankees. Hall of Famers, bench players, solid regulars, and a whole bunch of World Champions will be on the field today as the team celebrates its history. The awesomeness of Old Timers’ Day doesn’t translate well across television — it really is an event everyone should experience in person at least once. I highly recommend it.

The full roster of Old Timers can be found right here. Among the first timers are Orlando Hernandez, John Flaherty, and Andy Phillips. I am most looking forward to seeing El Duque again; hopefully he pitches in the Old Timers’ Game. Jorge Posada will not be making his debut this summer, but it’ll happen eventually. I am definitely looking forward to it.

The ceremony and baseline introductions start at 11:15am ET with the Old Timers’ Game to follow. All of that can be seen on YES. The Yankees and Rays are scheduled to start at 2:05pm ET, which you’ll be able to watch on YES locally and TBS nationally. Enjoy all of it.

Update (11:34am): Here is the lineup for Yankees-Rays, which is identical to yesterday’s:

  1. CF Brett Gardner
  2. RF Ichiro Suzuki
  3. 2B Robinson Cano
  4. DH Travis Hafner
  5. 1B Lyle Overbay
  6. LF Zoilo Almonte
  7. SS Jayson Nix
  8. 3B David Adams
  9. C Chris Stewart

The roster move has not been announced yet, but Ivan Nova will be summoned from Triple-A to start the game. The rotation was thrown out of whack by Tuesday’s rainout.

Injury Updates: Mark Teixeira (wrist) was checked out by the doctor yesterday but has not yet been cleared to resume any kind of activity. They’ll re-evaluate again soon and go from there.

Roster Move (12:04pm): Thomas Neal has been optioned to Triple-A Scranton to clear a spot for Nova. He went 2-for-11 (.182) in four games with New York after being called up last week, but Almonte has since zoomed passed him on the outfield depth chart. The Yankees currently have a 13-man pitching staff and a three-man bench, but it seems likely Nova will be sent down following the spot start.