River Avenue Blues

Pineda throws 74 pitches across 5.2 innings in latest rehab game

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In yesterday’s Extended Spring Training rehab start, Michael Pineda allowed no runs on three hits and a walk in 5.2 innings. He struck out five and threw 57 of 74 pitches for strikes (77%). I wouldn’t worry too much about the specific results — ExST is a very controlled environment — the important thing is that he and his surgically repaired shoulder threw those 74 pitches and came through in one piece.

No word on what the next step will be, but High-A Tampa will be done with their All-Star break on Monday. Pineda could make his next rehab start there, or they could bump him up to Double-A Trenton, who will be on the road in Akron next week. We’ll find out eventually. Either way his 30-day rehab window expires on July 8th.

When the cavalry arrives

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

With a little luck, it shouldn’t be too much longer until some of the prominent Yankee regulars start returning from their respective DL stints. Although Cashman’s cast of fill-ins have generally done a fine job keeping the team in contention, the team will surely benefit from the return of its traditional starters. Let’s take a look.

Alex Rodriguez

Once upon a time, Alex was one of the best players on the planet. Unfortunately, this really hasn’t been the case for the past several years. In addition to an increasing number of injuries and subsequent trips to the DL, he’s appears to have lost bat speed and continues to produce more dramatic batting splits as time goes on.

In 2012, A-Rod batted .272/.353/.430 (.342 wOBA, 114 wRC+) with 18 home runs. Frankly, given his age and health, who really knows whether he can produce at even this level moving forward. For what it’s worth, ZiPS projected Alex at .253/.335/.412 in 2013 (.327 wOBA). If I had to guess, he’ll probably hit about 8-10 home runs once he returns, assuming his activation date still falls around the All-Star break.

Is he the guy who’s going to turn the team’s offense around and ensure the 28th championship and live up to his mega contract? No. He is not, nor should that be the expectation at this point. I think we have to look at A-Rod in terms of incremental benefit. Basically, is he better than league average, and at the very least, does he represent an upgrade over what the team currently has?

3B comparison
(click for larger)

Given that the Yankees have received fairly lousy production from their third basemen so far, I’d say there is a distinct possibility that the answer is “Yes!” to the latter question. According to B-Ref, league average would be approximately .255/.320/.408, so that benchmark may be attainable too.

Defensively, I imagine he’ll be stiff as a board out there, but what else is new as far as Yankee infielders are concerned? Joe Girardi will likely give him some time at DH as well, along with a few off days or partial off days to keep him fresh.  Color me naive, but I’m actually looking forward to seeing A-Rod back on the field if for no other reason than Kevin Youkilis looks completely cooked (and now injured).

Of course, A-Rod’s difficulties with Biogenesis could certainly complicate the matter depending how that plays out.

Derek Jeter

Are we all feeling super confident about the Yankees ageless Captain? Of course not. Derek is pushing 39 (!) years old at this point, and is coming off of a pretty substantial ankle injury. Personally speaking, I think Derek is the biggest wild card here. Unlike Alex, who has been steadily declining the past few seasons, Jeter’s been more sporadic with his performance. After having arguably the worst season of his career in 2011 (and really a very mediocre year by his standards in 2010), he bounced back and was effective in 2012. ZiPS has Jeter batting .277/.344/.369 (.311 wOBA) when he returns which would represent a drop off from last year. Still, I think he too would have to fall into the better-than-the-alternatives category and given how tight the A.L. East is, every bit counts.

My guess is he’ll spend a fair amount of time DH, which still leaves plenty of room on the roster for the likes of Jayson Nix or Eduardo Nunez (if he ever returns). Honestly though, this would probably be an ideal scenario as it would allow the team to deploy a more capable defensive alternative to Jeter while still retaining whatever’s left of his bat.

While I typically don’t put much stock into the intangibles, I tend to change my stance a bit when it comes to Derek Jeter. Every time I doubt him, he proves me wrong. Great players don’t always follow the trend line neatly. Eventually Father Time will catch up and he’ll stink. Whether that’s this season remains to be seen, but until I see it, he’ll have the benefit of the doubt.  Having his name back in the lineup card will be a welcome addition.

Curtis Granderson

The Grandy-man can! He will be back, and he will be fine. That’s my official stance. His two freak injuries this season were unfortunate and frankly, I’m still a little worried that the power may be sapped a bit after having his forearm/hand broken. Still, he’s still relatively young and seemed to be just starting to contribute positively during his brief return. If I were a betting man, I’d mark him down for 10-15 home runs once he returns. His 2012 campaign, which resulted in a .232/.319/.492 (116 wRC+) line, seems like a reasonable starting point though I certainly wouldn’t mind a little bit more contact and a little less feebleness against lefties, but such is life.

Aside from Granderson’s personal contributions, he’ll also offer the gift of outfield reconfiguration. All of a sudden, there won’t be black holes sitting in both corner outfield positions. Ichiro Suzuki and Vernon Wells can go back to situational hitting (and dare I say, even show some improvement). Between Grandy, Jeter and A-Rod, you’d have to think Travis Hafner would benefit from some additional rest as well.  If this is the last year we get to see Curtis in pinstripes, hopefully he’ll make the remainder of it a good one.

Futility Now: Yankees drop series opener 5-2 to Angels

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That is the season in a nutshell right there. A routine infield pop-up falling between Reid Brignac and David Adams on June 14th. That play led to a run (of course) in the eventual 5-2 loss to the Angels. The free-falling New York Generic White Guys have now dropped four straight and 12 of their last 19 games. Let’s recap Friday’s loss:

  • Two Strikes, Two Outs: Andy Pettitte made some really bad two-strike pitches in this game. He hung some breaking balls and caught too much of the plate with some fastballs, leading to three two-strike hits that led directly to runs for the Halos. All five runs scored with two outs as well. Andy allowed eleven hits in his seven innings of four-run ball, striking out four and walking one. Sixty-eight of his 101 pitches were strikes (67%). As has been the case all season, the Yankees don’t win if they get something less than a very good pitching performance.
  • A Flag Day Miracle: I think we were all wondering how the Bombers were going to blow their bases loaded situation in the fourth, but instead Adams put together a very nice at-bat that culminated with a two-strike, two-run, ten-hop ground ball single back up the middle. It was their first run(s) in 20 innings (!) and the only two runs they scored in the game. For the fourth time in the last five games, the Yankees scored no more than two runs.
  • Is Anyone Paying Attention?: The Bombers allowed Chris Iannetta to steal second base uncontested in the eighth inning — he ran, a pitch was fouled off, then he ran again, so it was no surprise — and the run eventually came around to score. It’s the fourth time (five total steals) in the last three days they allowed a runner to steal a base without even attempting to hold him on. New York can’t score runs to save their lives, so you’d think they’d make a point of preventing opposing runners from taking the extra base. This needs to be cleaned up immediately.
  • Leftovers: Robinson Cano had a chance to get the club back in the game when he batted with two on and no outs in the eighth, but he instead flew out to right … the Yankees had six hits (all singles, of course) and four walks as a team, that’s all … Chris Bootcheck made his Yankees debut and allowed a run in the eighth. He’ll be the guy you forget in the end-of-year “Name the 2013 Yankees” Sporcle quiz … for the second day in a row, Vernon Wells threw a runner out at the plate in a tie game. It helped that the corpse of Albert Pujols was running, but it was still a strong and accurate throw. Bravo.

MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs the WPA Graph, and ESPN the updated standings. The Rays lost and the Orioles beat the Red Sox, so the Yankees are two back of Boston, one back of Baltimore, and two up on Tampa in the loss column. David Phelps and Tommy Hanson is your pitching matchup for game two of this series, which will be one of those always enjoyable FOX Saturday night broadcasts.

Mustelier hurt, Betances dominates in AAA loss

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RHP Jose Ramirez was bumped up to Triple-A Scranton, reports Josh Norris. Pitching coordinator Gil Patterson confirmed it is just a one-start thing though, they needed a starter after RHP Chris Bootcheck was called up the big leagues.

Triple-A Scranton (4-1 loss to Lehigh Valley)

  • LF Ronnie Mustelier: 0-1 — left the game with “midsection tightness” in the third … no idea what happened, but the guy has such bad luck, just when it looks like he could get called up, he gets hurt again … same thing happened at the end of Spring Training
  • CF Zoilo Almonte: 1-3, 1 BB
  • C J.R. Murphy: 0-4, 1 K — allowed four stolen bases in five attempts as well
  • DH Josh Bell: 1-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB
  • RHP Jose Ramirez: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, 1 WP, 2/1 GB/FB — 46 of 78 pitches were strikes (59%), and he ran his fastball as high as 97 … not too bad for a late-notice spot start/debut at Triple-A
  • RHP Dellin Betances: 2 IP, zeroes, 4 K, 1/0 GB/FB — 19 of 26 pitches were strikes (73%), and he was sitting 93-95 and touching 98 … 22/6 K/BB in 18.2 innings as a reliever

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Game 67: Just Win

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(Ezra Shaw/Getty)
(Ezra Shaw/Getty)

The Yankees just wrapped up a disastrous three-game series in Oakland in which nearly every one of their flaws — old and unproductive lineup, shaky CC Sabathia and Phil Hughes, sketchy defense in some spots — was exposed. If Thursday’s marathon 18-inning loss wasn’t rock bottom, then I’m not sure I want to see how much worse they can actually play. Just get a win tonight against the awful Angels. Ugly, pretty, blowout, nail-biter, extra innings, rain-shortened … I don’t care. Just get a win and go from there. Here’s the lineup that will face left-hander C.J. Wilson:

  1. CF Brett Gardner
  2. 3B Jayson Nix
  3. 1B Mark Teixeira
  4. DH Robinson Cano
  5. LF Vernon Wells
  6. RF Thomas Neal
  7. 2B David Adams
  8. SS Reid Brignac
  9. C Austin Romine

And on the mound is the rotation leader in strikeout rate at 9.1 K/9, right-hander David Phelps lefty Andy Pettitte. Bit of a brainfart there.

I can confirm reports that the weather is indeed gorgeous in Anaheim, mid-70s with almost no humidity or clouds and a light breeze. Perfect weather, basically. The game is scheduled to starter at 10:05pm ET and can be seen on YES. Try to enjoy.

Roster Moves: In case you missed it earlier, the Yankees made a slew of roster moves this afternoon. Kevin Youkilis hitting the DL with more back trouble was the most notable.

Friday Night Open Thread

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The Yankees announced their plans for Old Timers’ Day yesterday afternoon — Chad Jennings has the details — and one name stuck out from the roster: Orlando Hernandez. El Duque will make his Old Timers’ debut next weekend, and I haven’t been this excited since Mike Mussina made his debut a few years ago. Hernandez was the best and I can’t wait to see the leg kick one more time.

Here is your open thread for the night, or at least until the regular game thread comes along in a few hours. The Mets are playing the Cubs (Jackson vs. Marcum), plus MLB Network will air the Giants and Braves (Bumgarner vs. Medlen). No NHL or NBA action tonight, unfortunately. Talk about either of those games or anything else here. Have at it.

Roster Moves: Youkilis, Neal, Bootcheck, Warren

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The Yankees announced a series of roster moves this afternoon, so let’s recap:

  • Kevin Youkilis has been placed on the 15-day with a lumbar strain. That’s the same back injury that send him to the DL earlier this year. He woke up with numbness in his right foot and will see a specialist. Not the most surprising news in the world, hopefully the injury explains his lack of production.
  • Thomas Neal and Chris Bootcheck have both been called up from Triple-A Scranton. We heard both moves were coming earlier today. Neal will primarily DH against lefties while Bootcheck gives the bullpen a fresh long reliever.
  • Adam Warren has been optioned to Triple-A Scranton. He threw 85 pitches across six innings in yesterday’s 18-inning marathon, so he was the obvious send down candidate to clear to a roster spot for a fresh arm.
  • To clear spots on the 40-man roster for Neal and Bootcheck, the Yankees have transferred Eduardo Nunez to the 60-day DL and outrighted Cesar Cabral to Double-A Trenton. Because Cabral cleared waivers, the Rule 5 Draft rules no longer apply and he is officially Yankees property with no strings attached.
  • Obviously, David Adams remains with the team with Youkilis hitting the DL.