In their second minor league rehab game with Double-A Trenton, Mark Teixeira (wrist) and Kevin Youkilis (back) both went for 1-for-3 in seven innings of work. Teixeira grounded into a double play while Youkilis plated a run. Brian Cashman confirmed yesterday both players will rejoin the big league team on Friday if this game went well, and it appears it has. Obviously nothing will be official until tomorrow either way.
Game 53: Try Not To Embarrass Yourselves
The Yankees have lost four straight — including the last three to the Mets — and six of their last eight games, easily their worst stretch of the season. They aren’t hitting, and of late they aren’t pitching either. When one goes bad, it’s manageable. When both go bad, you can’t win. The Yankees need Vidal Nuno (Vidal Nuno!) to step up and be a stopper today heading into the important weekend series against the Red Sox. Here’s the lineup the Bombers will send out there against righty Dillon Gee…
- CF Brett Gardner
- 2B Robinson Cano
- LF Vernon Wells
- DH Travis Hafner
- 1B Lyle Overbay
- RF Brennan Boesch
- 3B David Adams
- SS Reid Brignac
- C Austin Romine
And on the mound is Mr. Nuno, a left-hander. A southpaw. A scoundrel.
It’s straight up hot in New York, plenty warm enough for baseball. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:05pm ET and can be seen on both YES and WPIX locally as well as MLB Network nationally. Try to enjoy.
Mark Teixeira & Kevin Youkilis Update: Teixeira (wrist) and Youkilis (back) are playing in their second (and final, if all goes according to plan) rehab game for Double-A Trenton tonight, and both YES and MLBN will have live look-ins at their at-bats. That seems excessive for a rehab assignment, but whatever.
2013 Draft: Ryan Eades
The 2013 amateur draft will be held from June 6-8 this year, and between now and then I’m going to highlight some prospects individually rather than lump them together into larger posts.
Ryan Eades | RHP
Background
A Louisiana kid from the New Orleans suburb of Slidell, Eades’ late father Ned spend two years as a catcher in the Reds organization during the late-1960s. Ryan missed his junior year at Northshore High School and was limited to first base duties as a senior after having surgery to repair a partially torn labrum, leading him to pass on signing with the Rockies — they took him as a pitcher in the 19th round of the 2010 draft — and instead follow through on his commitment to LSU. He has a 3.55 ERA in three years on campus, but did put up a 2.69 ERA with a 75/27 K/BB in 93.2 innings this spring.
Scouting Report
Listed at 6-foot-3 and 198 lbs., Eades earns much higher grades for his skills than his college performance. He runs his four-seam fastball anywhere from 91-95 mph and will sit a touch below that with the two-seamer. On any given day his upper-70s downer curveball or low-80s changeup will look like his top secondary offering. The changeup is more refined and Eades seems to trust it more, throwing it in any count and to both righties and lefties. His delivery features a high leg kick and very good extension, meaning he releases the ball well out in front of his body like a taller pitcher. Eades throws strikes and draws rave reviews for his work ethic, which helped him come back from the labrum surgery. He’s been perfectly healthy since then, but did get fatigued and fade down the stretch in each of the last two seasons. There are some more videos on YouTube.
Miscellany
Keith Law (subs. req’d) and Baseball America ranked Eades as the 30th and 37th best prospect in the draft class, respectively. For what it’s worth, Law recently said said he gets the sense the Yankees are hoping a top college arm falls into their laps with one of their three first round picks (26th, 32nd, 33rd). Damon Oppenheimer & Co. love players who have had success in the Cape Cod League — Eades won the circuit’s Pitcher of the Year award in the summer of 2011 — and have preferred polish over raw stuff when it comes to college pitchers in recently years, basically since Andrew Brackman busted. Eades could be on their radar as a “safer” play if they shoot for the moon with the other two first rounders.
Andy Pettitte scheduled to start Monday
Joe Girardi announced this afternoon that Andy Pettitte will rejoin the rotation on Monday against the Indians. He’s been on the DL with a trap strain for about two weeks now, and he threw a 75-pitch simulated game earlier this week. I’m guessing Vidal Nuno, tonight’s starter, will be sent down tomorrow to clear one spot for Mark Teixeira/Kevin Youkilis, with Pettitte then stepping into the rotation spot next time around.
Update: Yankees to honor Hideki Matsui on July 28th
May 30th: The Yankees will indeed honor Matsui on July 28th, his bobblehead day. It’s also the 55th home game of the season. Godzilla will sign the one-day contract that day, then they’ll have an on-field ceremony before the game.
April 29th: … to a one-day contract so he can retire in pinstripes, reports George King. Matsui officially announced the end of his career over the winter, but King says “plans are in the works” for the one-day contract so he can have a ceremonious retirement. The Yankees are giving away Matsui bobbleheads on July 28th, so that seems like as good a day as any for all of this go down. I have no doubt it will awesome.
RAB Live Chat
2013 Draft: Keith Law’s Mock Draft v2.0
In his latest mock draft (subs. req’d), Keith Law has the Astros taking UNC 3B Colin Moran with the first overall pick in next Thursday’s draft. The idea is Houston would save some draft pool money and then spread it around on later picks. Stanford RHP Mark Appel falls to the Cubs with the second pick while former Yankees draft pick/Oklahoma RHP Jonathan Gray slides to the Indians at five in the projection.
Law has the Yankees selecting Texas HS OF Billy McKinney (26th), Notre Dame 3B Eric Jagielo (32nd), and Tennessee HS RHP Kyle Serrano (33rd) with their three first round picks. Click the links for my write-ups on McKinney and Jagielo. Serrano really blew up this spring, going from afterthought to likely first rounder thanks to mid-90s velocity and two strong offspeed pitches (curveball and changeup). Law hears the Yankees are also in on Stanford OF Austin Wilson, New Jersey HS Rob Kaminsky, JuCo LHP Cody Reed, California HS RHP Phil Bickford, and Kentucky HS LHP Hunter Green. As a long-time supporter of prep prospects, I’m glad to hear them connected to this lot of players.
Other Mock Drafts: Baseball America (v1.0, v2.0) Keith Law (v1.0), and MLB.com (v1.0).