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Yankees drop second game to Mariners 4-1

June 8, 2013 by Mike 60 Comments

Well that wasn’t fun. The amazing disappearing offense was a no-show against a pitcher who’s been out of the league for more than two years while Hiroki Kuroda was done in by one bad inning on Friday night. Let’s recap the 4-1 loss…

Two Outs: After pitching around two-out doubles in the second and third, the wheels came off the Kuroda train in the fourth. Another two-out double spiraled into a four-run inning that featured a walk to Nick Franklin (#7 hitter), a walk to Kelly Shoppach (#8 hitter), and a two-run single by Brendan Ryan (#9 hitter). A two-run single by Jason Bay (#2) accounted for the other two runs. Kuroda was one strike away from ending the inning scoreless on two occasions. Four runs on eight hits and three walks in 6.1 innings is a decidedly un-Kuroda-like effort. Shake it off, Hiroki.
LMAOffense: One run on four singles and one walk in 12.2 innings against Blake Beaven and Jeremy Bonderman. I wish I would say I was surprised, but I’m not. After forcing Bonderman to throw 51 pitches in the first two innings, the Yankees coaxed just 46 pitches out of him in the next four innings. You can file this one under “well-earned losses.”
Death by Bunting: I know Reid Brignac is terrible, but I don’t get bunting on Bonderman (!) in the second inning (!!!) after the first two batters of the inning reach base. What’s the plan, set up Chris Stewart for the RBI opportunity? It’s super early in the game and Bonderman has been out of the big leagues since 2010. Swing the damn bats that early in the game. Strategy fail.
Leftovers: The two through six hitters went a combined 1-for-19 (.053) with one walk, and the one hit was Kevin Youkilis’ two-out double in the ninth … Preston Claiborne threw 1.2 scoreless innings in relief of Kuroda and almost walked the first batter of his big league career, but the would-be ball four pitch hit Shoppach in the arm. Claiborne still has yet to issue a walk in 18.1 innings.

Go to MLB.com for the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs for some other stats, and ESPN for the updated standings. The Red Sox were rained out while the Rays beat the Orioles, so the Yankees are two back of Boston and one up on Baltimore and Tampa (in the loss column). Andy Pettitte will get the ball against Joe Saunders in game three of this four-game series on Saturday afternoon.

Nuno injured in Triple-A loss

June 7, 2013 by Mike 28 Comments

Triple-A Scranton (4-2 loss to Syracuse)

DH Thomas Neal: 0-2, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K
LF Zoilo Almonte & CF Melky Mesa: both 0-4 — Almonte struck out once, Mesa twice
RF Ronnie Mustelier: 1-3, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K — threw a runner out at the plate … ten hits in his last 20 at-bats with three doubles and a homer
LHP Vidal Nuno: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 0/1 GB/FB — 18 of 26 pitches were strikes (69%) … apparently he called the trainer out and left the game due to injury, so that really sucks
RHP Chase Whitley: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 2/0 GB/FB — 26 of 37 pitches were strikes (70%)
RHP Mark Montgomery: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 0/2 GB/FB — 12 of 23 pitches were strikes (52%)
RHP Dellin Betances: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 2/0 GB/FB — 14 of 26 pitches were strikes (54%) … allowed just one run in his last three appearances (6.1 innings)

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Game 61: Keep It Going

June 7, 2013 by Mike 291 Comments

The Yankees have won four straight and they seem to be playing better and better with each passing win. The offense has put together a few big games and the pitching staff has rebounded after hitting the skids for about two weeks, and it doesn’t hurt that the Mariners are close to the total pushover. For whatever reason, the Yankees always seem to hit their midsummer stride whenever they make their first West Coast trip. Here’s the lineup that will face right-hander Jeremy Bonderman…

CF Brett Gardner
2B Robinson Cano
1B Mark Teixeira
DH Travis Hafner
3B Kevin Youkilis
LF Vernon Wells
RF Ichiro Suzuki
SS Reid Brignac
C Chris Stewart

And on the mound is a second round pick in the 1996 Nippon Pro Baseball draft, right-hander Hiroki Kuroda. Tonight’s game is scheduled to start at 10:10pm ET and can be seen on YES. Enjoy.

Friday Night Open Thread

June 7, 2013 by Mike 49 Comments

The Yankees are still a few hours away — aren’t West Coast night games on the weekend just the worst? — so use this as your open thread until the regular game thread comes along. The Cardinals and Reds will be on MLB Network (Wainwright vs. Leake), plus there’s some NHL playoff action on as well. Talk about either game or anything else here. Have at it.

Chien-Ming Wang opts out of contract; signs with Blue Jays

June 7, 2013 by Mike 38 Comments

Right-hander Chien-Ming Wang has exercised an opt-out clause in his contract and the Yankees have granted him his release, the team announced. I guess he had more opt-out clauses than the five that were originally reported. Ken Rosenthal says he will sign with the Blue Jays and join their rotation next week.

Wang, 33, pitched to a 2.33 ERA (3.36 FIP) with 58% ground ball rate in 58 innings across nine starts for Triple-A Scranton this year. Rumor has it he was seeking a big league contract before opting out of his contract, and it looks like Toronto is willing to give him one. The Jays are dealing with a ton of pitching injuries and need the help. The emergency of Vidal Nuno and Michael Pineda’s encouraging rehab pushed Wang further out of the picture, so it’s no surprise he opted out. Oh well.

Mailbag: Hughes, Bullpen, A-Rod, Pena

June 7, 2013 by Mike 23 Comments

Four questions in this draft-free mailbag. If you’re interested in the draft though, check out today’s open thread. Otherwise, think up some questions for next week’s mailbag and send them to use with the Submit A Tip box in the sidebar.

Kenny asks: What are your thoughts on re-signing Phil Hughes next year to close? Granted, he’d have to want to close and it would take a few other things like Michael Pineda coming back strong, re-signing Hiroki Kuroda and David Phelps continuing to progress, but he could dominate there.

Barring injury or a complete performance collapse, there’s no chance Hughes will re-sign with the Yankees as a closer. Zero. None. Not unless they pay him like a starter. Some team(s) will offer him a nice contract and a rotation spot, and that’s where he’ll go. He has no reason to come back as a reliever.

I do think Hughes would be awesome in the bullpen though, and in fact we already know he would be. We’ve seen him do it in 2009 and remember, he was dynamite out of the bullpen late in 2011 and during the postseason. If for some unexpected reason the Yankees don’t need a starter next year, sure, bring him back a reliever. He wouldn’t be open to it, however. The money is in the rotation.

Nick asks: Why not have an eleven-man pitching staff? They have several guys in the pen who can throw multiple innings, and a long man in Adam Warren so I think they can handle it. The 12th guy on the staff seems to go weeks between games (at least for the last few years). The extra bench player could allow them to do more of a platoon with several of their veterans, who are old and have platoon splits.

The easy answer is that a seven-man bullpen is commonplace these days and teams always hesitate to go against the grain. It’s been a while since the Yankees used a six-man bullpen and I don’t see them going back anytime soon. Having the extra arm is always nice, really.

That said, I do think teams could get away with it as long as they have three or four relievers capable of throwing two innings at a time. It also means having no lefty specialist. The Yankees have more platoons than they know what to do with — seriously, pretty much the only positions they aren’t platooning in some way this year are catcher, first base, second base, and center field — so having that extra position player would be nice.

Considering how important the pitching staff is for this team, carrying the extra pitcher (Joba Chamberlain? Shawn Kelley? Preston Claiborne?) over the extra position player (Brennan Boesch?) isn’t the end of the world. I do think a six-man bullpen is more doable that most realize, however.

Biggie asks: If an Alex Rodriguez suspension comes is he suspended without pay? If so, does his entire salary count against the salary cap or is it adjusted? We are almost 60 games in and suspensions sound two weeks away. Add an appeal and this can possibly carry over into next year. What would that mean to the 2014 $189 budget if anything. Thanks!

Well, the suspensions are nowhere close to two weeks away. The appeals alone will probably take months, especially if they do indeed go after 20 or so players. If A-Rod gets suspended, it won’t happen anytime soon. This labor war party is just getting started.

Anyway, yes the salary Alex forfeits during a suspension would not count against the luxury tax. Ken Davidoff was nice enough to spell it all out today, so I strong suggest reading that. We’re talking upwards of $15M in savings if he does get the 100-game ban MLB is seeking, so it’s a big chunk of change. That can fill a lot of roster holes.

Ariel asks: With our replacement shortstops playing abysmally, do you think the Yankees regret giving up on Ramiro Pena? Do you think he would be playing as well as he has with the Yanks?

You can file this under questions I never thought would be asked. New York has gotten a .216/.286/.289 (67 OPS+) from their shortstops this year while Rakin’ Ramiro has hit .318/.372/.506 (143 wRC+) in 95 plate appearances as utility infielder with the Braves. What the hell is that about?

Now, obviously Pena won’t maintain that pace. It’ll be a minor miracle if he does. A 50.0% ground ball rate and 16.7% HR/FB rate in that ballpark just don’t make sense considering the type of hitter he is, plus the .353 BABIP is a bit above what you’d expect even if he was a true-talent .320 BABIP guy. Pena could always pick it defensively, so that wasn’t the issue.

Considering who the Yankees have used at short and what they’ve gotten out of the position this year, I definitely think they want him back. Of course this kind of production was completely unforeseen, and I don’t think he’ll maintain this at all. He might hit better than he did in the Bronx, but Pena didn’t suddenly become Troy Tulowitzki.

2013 Draft: Day Two Open Thread

June 7, 2013 by Mike 161 Comments

Day One and the first 73 picks of the 2013 draft came and went last night, with the Yankees selecting four total players and three legitimate first round talents. There are still another 38 rounds and roughly 1,150 picks to go however, and thankfully none of them will come with the pomp and circumstance of last night’s MLB Network broadcast. The MLB draft just isn’t a made-for-television event, though I understand the league’s effort to increase popularity and all that. It all boils down to money and marketing, as usual.

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of Day Two, here are some draft-related links to peruse:

Here are Baseball America’s top remaining players. The top three — Oklahoma HS C Jon Denney, Virginia HS RHP Connor Jones, Tennessee HS RHP Kyle Serrano — are all considered very tough signs. Serrano pretty much confirmed he will go to college on Twitter, and Jones reportedly sent a memo to teams telling them not to draft him recently.
Meanwhile, Baseball America says the Yankees’ top three selections — Notre Dame 3B Eric Jagielo (#26), Fresno State OF Aaron Judge (#32), and California HS LHP Ian Clarkin (#33) — would all slot into the middle of their top ten prospects list. Of course, their top ten is different than my top ten. They also call Judge “a great get” at his draft slot and note Clarkin “could have gone as high as the 13th pick.”
The Yankees didn’t make an appearance in Keith Law’s post of the winners and losers from Day One (subs. req’d), though he did give me a “yay” when I asked if he liked the team’s top three selections. Law lists his best available players at the bottom of the post.
In the pick-by-pick analysis (subs. req’d), Jason Churchill and Christopher Crawford say Jagielo could be “in pinstripes sometime in 2014, early 2015 … The Yankees get some upside [with Clarkin], and with both Jagielo and Judge have had themselves a solid first round.”
Scouting director Damon Oppenheimer spoke to Buster Olney about the team’s Day One draft on today’s Baseball Tonight podcast. He doesn’t say anything too exciting as you’d imagine, but he does discuss the Jagielo and Judge picks. Oppenheimer’s segment starts are the 16:00 mark.

The draft continues today at 12:30pm ET with rounds three through ten. This will probably be the most boring of the three draft days since the Yankees are likely to go heavy on cheap and draft pool-saving college seniors this afternoon, which is what they did last year. That will allow them to pay over-slot bonuses to early and late-round picks. Unfortunately, college seniors aren’t exactly exciting prospects.

Here are the links for the DraftTracker and MLB.com broadcast. There will be no liveblog today, so instead follow the draft with this open thread.