River Avenue Blues

Brett Gardner cleared to swing, no longer has any restrictions

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It was just a footnote in last night’s win, but Brett Gardner got an eighth inning at-bat and actually took some swings. He’s been taking batting practice over the last few weeks but has limited to pinch-running/defensive replacement duties off the bench in games. Joe Girardi confirmed last night that his Opening Day left fielder has been cleared by doctors and has zero restrictions going forward. That obviously gives him a leg up on a potential postseason roster spot.

“It’s definitely something you have to think about now … When you talk about a playoff roster, sometimes you have one extra spot for that runner. Now that he’s a full player, it makes it a little bit different,” said the skipper. Girardi added that he does not consider Gardner a full-time player going forward because he hasn’t faced enough big league pitching lately, which is really just a nice way of saying there’s no way in hell they’re taking Ichiro Suzuki out of the lineup considering how well he’s hitting. Still though, having Gardner back to 100% is a huge upgrade for the bench going forward.

The Return of Ichiro!

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(Mike Stobe/Getty)

I was very skeptical when the Yankees acquired Ichiro Suzuki from the Mariners prior to the trade deadline. He could still run and play strong defense, but his  offensive production had really cratered these last two years. From the start of last season through the date of the trade, Ichiro hit just .268/.302/.342 in nearly 1,100 plate appearances. That’s not a small sample, and at 38 years old, I thought he was done as even a league average hitter.

The Yankees made the trade and I suppose they believed three factors would help spark Ichiro’s bat. One, he was going from a last place team to a legitimate World Series contender. Ichiro had 10-and-5 no-trade protection and had to approve the deal, which he obviously did. That was at least an indication that he was looking forward to the opportunity to play meaningful games again. Two, he was moving out of cavernous Safeco Field and into hitter friendly Yankee Stadium. Three, they were going to limit his exposure to left-handed pitchers by platooning him.

Ichiro started his Yankees’ career with a 12-game exactly-one-hit streak, but through his first 41 games and 140 plate appearances with the team he had hit just .271/.297/.398. Yankee Stadium did help him hit some homers (three to be exact), but he was only 4-for-7 in stolen base attempts and really didn’t provide that game-changing speed on the bases. My expectations were low and I was still pretty underwhelmed. Worst of all, the Yankees were slipping in the standings and their one notable trade deadline acquisition wasn’t having much of an impact.

That all started to change about a month ago. The Yankees were wrapping up an important ten-game stretch against the Orioles and Rays with four games in Baltimore, a four-game series in which Ichiro went 8-for-14 with a stolen base and three multi-hit games. In a three-game series against the Blue Jays two weeks ago, he went 9-for-12 with three doubles, a homer, and four steals. All four steals came in the middle game, a 4-for-4 effort in which the fourth hit drove in the game-winning run. At one point he had six hits in six straight plate appearances against left-handed pitchers as well.

Since the start of that series in Baltimore, Ichiro has hit .417/.411/.560 with nine steals (in eleven attempts) in 24 games and 90 plate appearances. That has raised his batting line with the Yankees to a stout .327/.339/.461 in 230 plate appearances, and his season batting line to a respectable .284/.309/.391 in 653 plate appearances. He has eleven multi-hit games in his last 24 contests, which is Ichiro of old stuff. Exclamation point Ichiro. Ichiro!

The hot hitting as prompted Joe Girardi to bump Ichiro up in the lineup, and he now hits second rather than eighth or ninth. The move has added some length to the batting order, and in a lot of ways it has recreated the Derek Jeter-Johnny Damon dynamic of 2009. Ichiro doesn’t hit for the kind of power that Damon did in 2009, nor does he walk or work deep counts as often, but he’s a far better defender and is creating more havoc on the bases. With the resurgent Jeter leading off and the hot hitting Ichiro behind him, the Yankees have two high-contact, high-average hitters setting the table for the big power bats.

I was really skeptical at the time of the trade, but Ichiro … ahem, Ichiro! … has gone on to prove me and every other doubter wrong these last few weeks. It’s not like he’s hitting .300 or something during a hot homestand, he’s hit over .400 for nearly four weeks while saving runs with his glove and taking extra bases with his legs. Ichiro has more than replaced Brett Gardner at this point, the very man whose injury created the need for the trade in the first place. He’s also gone from the world’s most famous complementary player to a key cog in an offense that has averaged 6.3 runs per game since he moved up in the batting order.

Banuelos to have Tommy John surgery this week

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Via Josh Norris, left-hander and top pitching prospect Manny Banuelos will have Tommy John surgery on Thursday. Brian Cashman confirmed the news and said it’s a new injury. “If we knew he’d needed (surgery) a year ago, he’d have had it done a year ago,” said the GM.

Banuelos, 21, missed essentially all of 2012 with what the team called a “bone bruise” in his elbow, so this news is crummy but not completely unexpected. The worst part is that between this year and next, he’ll have lost two consecutive years of development due to injury. It’s probably not a coincidence that long-time pitching coordinator Billy Connors was recently dismissed given this news. He was working with the team’s rehabbing pitchers this year.

Hal Speaks: “Jobs are not riding on this”

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(Mike Stobe/Getty)

The regular season ends tomorrow, so all across the league owners are spending the final series with their teams as they look forward to the postseason, search for answers, or just want to pal around with the fellas after being off-the-radar for the last six months. Maybe it’s all three in some cases.

Hal Steinbrenner was at Yankee Stadium yesterday, and he briefly spoke to the media prior to last night’s blowout win. Hal isn’t his father, so there wasn’t anything too exciting to come out of the media session. There is still some stuff to talk about, however. The following quotes come courtesy of George King and Bryan Hoch.

On whether jobs depend on how the Yankees finish the season…

“Are jobs riding on this? Not that I know of. Jobs are not riding on this and that’s not something I am concerned about right now. We look at everything in the off-season as we always do.”

In our recent polls, the majority of RAB readers said that neither Brian Cashman nor Joe Girardi should be fired or would have been fired had the Yankees failed to qualify for the postseason. A wildcard spot is clinched, but I suspect that sentiment will not change regardless of how the Yankees finish the season.

Cashman is under contract through 2014 and I never really thought/still don’t believe his job is in any kind of jeopardy. Girardi’s contract is up after next season and I was in the “he shouldn’t be fired but will be” camp with regards to his job security had the Yankees missed the postseason. He a fine manager, not great and not terrible, but five years is a pretty long time for stick around in this business. With Terry Francona available and waiting to be hired, my gut said Joe would have been the easy scapegoat.

On the tight race in the final month of the season…

“I am excited, I think we all would like a bit more breathing room, we have zero breathing room. But the guys have been playing tough and we have (Mark Teixeira) back Monday night and he will give us a boost so I am excited … I was concerned (about blowing the ten-game lead), I wouldn’t say I was worried. These guys know what is expected out of them. They are professionals. I had no doubt they were going to persevere the best they could. We kept getting a big guy back and another big guy goes out and it’s frustrating after a while. But we have everybody back now and we are at full strength and we will keep pressing on.”

Nothing really to add here, I just find it a little funny that he was “concerned” and not “worried.” I know there’s a difference, but I still got a nice chuckle out of this.

On the plan to get under the $189M luxury tax threshold by 2014…

“I’ve made it clear that it’s very important to me for several reasons. Again, you’re talking about a 10 percent reduction in payroll. I don’t see that as an outrageous concept. I never have.”

The 2014 payroll plan was just a well-sourced rumor until Steinbrenner (and Cashman) confirmed it back in Spring Training. I don’t know of any fans that actually like the plan since what the hell, if you have the money spent it. That said, I think we can all understand why they’re striving to get under the luxury tax considering the potentially enormous savings. That doesn’t mean we have to like it, but part of me is hoping that it will force the team to be smarter with their spending and decision making. A $189M payroll is still nothing to sneeze at anyway, if they can’t contend with that then the problems go well beyond the money.

Late night update: AL playoff field set

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With their wins tonight, both the Athletics and Tigers have clinched playoff berths. The Yankees, Orioles, and Rangers all clinched last night. The Tigers have the seventh best record in the AL but still became the first team in the league to clinch a division title with their win over the Royals. The Athletics clinched at least a wildcard berth with their win over the Rangers. The AL East and AL West titles are still up for grabs, so we don’t know who is playing who just yet.

It remains to be seen how the Rays will play against the Orioles the next two days now that they’ve been eliminated from postseason contention, but the Yankees do control their own destiny. If they win their next two games, they’ll be the AL East champs regardless of what happens in St. Pete. It’s also worth noting that the Yankees are now tied with Texas for the best record in the AL. New York also holds the tie-breaker, which is a big deal. Lots on the line the next two days.

Big inning gives Yankees blowout win over Red Sox, sole possesion of first place

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Oh what a win. The Yankees made it nice and easy with an enormous second inning while CC Sabathia cruised for eight relatively stress-free innings. They got everything they needed and more on Monday.

Welcome back, Tex. (Elsa/Getty)

36 Minutes, 12 Seconds

When you score nine runs in one inning, it’s bound to take a while. The Yankees walloped Clay Buchholz and (to a lesser extent) embedded Yankee Al Aceves for nine runs in the second inning, taking all the drama out of this game before it really even had a chance to start. Here is the chain of events…

  • Robinson Cano homered to dead center to leadoff the inning. It hit the windows of the restaurant, which I believe makes him the first Yankee to do that. I know Russell Branyan did it a few years ago while with the Mariners.
  • Mark Teixeira struck out looking on a 3-2 inside two-seamer. Nasty pitch.
  • Nick Swisher singled on a hard-hit ground ball back through the middle. Buchholz did a little dance to get out of the way.
  • Curtis Granderson hit a two-run homer to right. Second deck shot that looked like it might be headed foul for a second or two. It tied Granderson’s career-high in homers at 41, set last year.
  • Russell Martin homered to right-center. A fan in Red Sox gear reached over the wall to catch the ball but missed. It hit the top of the wall and bounced into his hat, which he was using as a glove. The umpires looked at the replay and ruled it a dinger.
  • Eric Chavez and Derek Jeter followed with walks. Ichiro Suzuki singled through the hole on the right side to load the bases with one out.
  • Alex Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly to left, a little line drive/fly ball (fliner?). It was his first RBI in 57 plate appearances, though it would have been just 33 plate appearances if Melky Mesa hadn’t forgotten to step on third base.
  • Cano doubled into the right-center field gap to clear the bases. It was an absolute rocket, giving him six total bases in the inning and his seventh consecutive multi-hit game.
  • Teixeira homered into the second deck in right. It was his second at-bat off the DL (and of the inning) and had that good sound, if you know what I mean. This hit and Cano’s two hits were crushed.
  • Swisher doubled down the right field line before Granderson grounded out to first to finally end the inning.

All told, the two Red Sox pitchers threw 57 total pitches in the inning. The four homers tied the franchise record for one inning, done twice before and as recently as 2005. The nine runs were a single-inning high for the season, and the previous high (seven) was done three times, including twice in the 15-9 comeback in Fenway Park. After having just one six extra-base hit game in September, the Yankees had six in one inning of their first game of October. It was a massacre.

(Elsa/Getty)

200 Innings

The Red Sox trotted out a full blown Triple-A caliber lineup on Monday as Dustin Pedroia sat out with an injured thumb and Jacoby Ellsbury sat against the tough lefty. Cody Ross and Jarrod Saltalamacchia were only Boston starters who could pass for big league regulars. It certainly wasn’t the type of lineup we’re used to seeing that team run out there, that’s for sure.

Anyway, the weak lineup meant an easy night for Sabathia. He pitched around a leadoff double in the second, surrendered a solo homer to Daniel Nava in the fourth, and allowed another run in the seventh (walk, wild pitch, ground out, sac fly). It was a very stress-free outing for Sabathia, who struck out seven, walked one, and allowed just four hits in eight innings. I was and wasn’t surprised that Joe Girardi left him in that long — surprised because pulling him early could have set him up to pitch in a potential wildcard play-in game on three days’ rest if needed, not surprised because this game was crazy important the bullpen hardly qualifies as shutdown.

The eight full innings got Sabathia up to exactly 200 innings on the season, the sixth consecutive season he’s reached that plateau. Believe it or not, it’s the first time he’s thrown fewer than 230 (!) innings since 2006. That’s kinda crazy. Two-hundred is a lot of innings but fewer than he’s used to throwing, so maybe that’s a blessing in disguise heading into the postseason. Either way, that’s three very strong starts in a row to finish the year for Sabathia, which is very good news.

Leftovers

Another great catch by Ichiro. (Elsa/Getty)

Between the series finale against the Blue Jays and this game, Cano had hits in six consecutive at-bats at one point: double, double, push bunt single, homer, double, double. That’s kind of insane. He’s absolutely locked in at exactly the right time. His second double in this game set a new career-high with 48 two-baggers. Robbie’s working on career bests in doubles and dingers. Love it.

Believe it or not, only three Yankees had multiple hit games despite all of that offense. Cano (three), Swisher (three), and Granderson (two) did the honors. A-Rod was the only starter who failed to reach base while Jeter (one) and Chavez (two) made up for their hitless nights with walks. After scoring 10+ runs just nine times in the first 149 games of the season, they’ve now done it four times in their last dozen games. That’s pretty awesome.

Brett Gardner got an at-bat in the eighth and actually swung the bat, which I guess means the doctors cleared him and his elbow. I can’t imagine he’ll take playing time away from either Ichiro or Swisher at this point, but it’s still good news. Mesa also got an at-bat in the eighth, picking up his first big league hit and RBI with a ground ball single passed the shortstop. Chavez was yelling at him to touch the base from the dugout, which was awesome.

Last, but certainly not least, Freddy Garcia threw a perfect ninth inning to nail down the win. Two ground balls to third and a strikeout. Nice and easy.

Box Score, WPA Graph & Standings

MLB.com has the box score and video highlights while ESPN has the updated standings. The Orioles lost to the Rays, so the Yankees are now one game up in the AL East with two to play. The magic number is just two. I suppose it’s worth noting that with the win, the Athletics would now have to come to the Bronx for a potential wildcard play-in game if it comes to that. Prior to this game the Yankees would have had to go out west. That’s clinched, Oakland can’t win home field advantage back.


Source: FanGraphs

Up Next

The weather forecast isn’t great, but these same two teams are scheduled to play the penultimate game of the regular season on Tuesday evening. David Phelps, not Ivan Nova, will get the ball against Jon Lester. Make sure you check out RAB Tickets for some last minute deals if you want to catch the game.

Yankees shut out of Baseball America’s top 20 NYPL prospects list

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Just like the rookie level Gulf Coast League, the Yankees did not land a single prospect on Baseball America’s Top 20 NY-Penn League prospects list today. Short Season Staten Island was terrible this year, as the club was stocked with lower round draft picks from last year and college seniors from this year. The best prospect on the club was probably OF Ravel Santana, who was recovering from his devastating ankle injury and only produced an 83 wRC+.

The full top 20 schedule can be found here. The next relevant list is the Low-A South Atlantic League, which will be released on Wednesday. The Yankees will be well-represented on that list, as OF Mason Williams, C Gary Sanchez, and OF Tyler Austin are all but guaranteed spots, likely in the top ten.