River Avenue Blues

Duran stays hot in SI Yanks win

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The Yankees and Double-A Trenton will make a “major announcement” this Thursday, and John Nalbone has confirmed that it’ll involve a six-year extension for their player development contract. The current deal doesn’t expire until 2014, so this will lock the the two teams together until 2020. Trenton has been home to the organization’s Double-A affiliate since 2003.

In other news, OF Cole Garner was activated off the Triple-A disabled list. He takes the place of IF Brandon Laird, who was designated for assignment to make room on the roster for OF Steve Pearce. The way too convenient timing leads me to believe Garner was on the phantom DL.

Triple-A Empire State (5-4 win over Lehigh Valley in 13 innings)
3B Kevin Russo: 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 1 K — doubled in the go-ahead run in the 13th
1B Kosuke Fukudome: 1-2, 5 BB, 1 K — only one of those walks was intentional
SS Eduardo Nunez: 0-7, 1 K, 1 SB
LF Ronnie Mustelier: 2-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB
C Austin Romine: 3-7, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 PB — the homer was an opposite field job to right
DH Cole Garner: 2-6, 1 RBI, 1 K
CF Melky Mesa: 1-6, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K — fourth homer in his last ten games
RF Darnell McDonald: 1-6, 1 R, 2 K
2B Ramiro Pena: 1-4, 2 K, 1 HBP
RHP Adam Warren: 6.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 8/0 GB/FB — 75 of 115 pitches were strikes (65%) … don’t see a prospect throw that many pitches all that often
LHP Juan Cedeno: 1.2 IP, zeroes, 2 K, 3/0 GB/FB — 12 of 15 pitches were strikes
RHP Ryota Igarashi: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 0/1 GB/FB — 21 of 31 pitches were strikes (68%)
RHP Preston Claiborne: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 2/0 GB/FB — 14 of 24 pitches were strikes (58%)
RHP Chase Whitley: 1 IP, zeroes, 1 K, 2/0 GB/FB — six pitches, all strikes

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Feliciano throws scoreless inning in latest rehab appearance

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Left-hander Pedro Feliciano struck out two and allowed a walk in a scoreless inning for Double-A Trenton this evening. He also uncorked a wild pitch and threw nine of 17 pitches for strikes, sitting in his usual mid-80s. After three appearances in Rookie ball and one with High-A Tampa, this was Feliciano’s first minor league rehab outing with the Thunder. Here’s video.

Mike Ashmore spoke to the veteran southpaw prior to the game, and Feliciano indicated that the plan is throw another inning tomorrow — his first back-to-back appearances during this rehab stint — and then again on Thursday. If all that goes well, he could rejoin the team when roster expand on Saturday.

Game 128: Home Sweet Home

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(AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

Although the Yankees wrapped up the six-game road trip with a win yesterday, I’m glad that run through middle America is over with. It was an ugly trip and I hope getting back to the Bronx will help get some of the bats going. Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher can’t do it all. Here’s the starting lineup…

SS Derek Jeter
DH Nick Swisher
2B Robinson Cano
1B Mark Teixeira
CF Curtis Granderson
3B Eric Chavez — starting four straight games in the field for the first time in a long, long time
C Russell Martin
LF Raul Ibanez
RF Ichiro Suzuki

RHP David Phelps

It was raining quite heavily earlier this morning in New York, but things have cleared up and they shouldn’t have any trouble getting tonight’s game in. First pitch is scheduled for a little after 7pm ET and can be seen on YES. Enjoy.

Steve Pearce Update: The recently-acquired Pearce won’t report to the team until tomorrow, so that’s when the 25-man roster move will be made. I full expect Phelps to be optioned to Triple-A after tonight’s game since they won’t need a fifth starter for a while thanks to Thursday’s off-day.

Robertson will be uniform tonight following birth of his son

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Via Mark Feinsand, setup man David Robertson and his wife became the parents of a baby boy earlier today. Believe it or not, David will actually be in uniform for tonight’s game, which is kinda nuts. Take a day, man. You just became a dad. No idea if he’s actually available to pitch, but he’ll be with the team anyway. Congrats to the Robertsons.

Jeter & Swisher carrying Yankees offensively

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Two-man army. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)

The Yankees plated just 18 runs during their six-game road trip through Chicago and Cleveland, and a third of those runs came in the very first game against the White Sox last Monday. They were held to three runs or fewer for four straight games before mustering four runs yesterday. Tough to win games when you’re scoring that little, which is why New York comes home today on the heels of a 2-4 trip.

The club’s two best hitters of late have been the one-two hitters in the lineup — Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher. That’s great not only because those two are coming to the plate more often than anyone else, and also because they’re giving the rest of the lineup opportunities to drive them in. Unfortunately, the other guys in the lineup haven’t held up their end of the bargain. Of those 18 runs scored on the road trip, 13 were either scored by or drive in by Jeter and Swisher. They did it all last week. Here’s a real quick breakdown of the offense during the last six games…

PA H 2B HR BB K AVG OBP SLG
Jeter 29 10 2 3 0 5 0.357 0.379 0.720
Swisher 26 9 2 1 5 4 0.429 0.538 0.667
Everyone Else 171 31 5 2 14 43 0.201 0.269 0.273

Jeter and Swisher were a two-man wrecking crew with the bats last week while everyone else contributed little. Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson have started to break out of their slumps, but it’s been a slow process. Eric Chavez has cooled off in a big way (three hits in his last 22 at-bats dating back to the Rangers series) and Raul Ibanez is in a similar major rut (one hit in his last 22 at-bats). Ichiro Suzuki reached base four times in the six-game trip, Mark Teixeira is still working his way back from left wrist soreness, and the catching tandem has done much of anything all season. That’s a recipe for not scoring runs.

There’s nothing worse than half the lineup running into a cold stretch all at the same time, but the Yankees have managed to keep their heads above water — they lost just one game in the standings last week despite the 2-4 record — because Jeter and Swisher have been so great. Six games in seven days at home will hopefully wake some of these guys up, as will some dates with below-average pitchers. The Yankees need a little kick-start offensively, and this coming week will afford them every opportunity to get things going.

Yankees re-acquire Pearce, designate Laird

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(Bob Levey/Getty Images)

The Yankees have re-acquired Steve Pearce from the Astros for cash, the team announced. Brandon Laird was designated for assignment to clear room on the 40-man roster. No word on how they’ll get Pearce onto the 25-man roster just yet, but I wonder if they’ll be able to wait until tomorrow so they could just option David Phelps to the minors (following tonight’s start) before recalling him when the rosters expand in September. He wouldn’t miss a start thanks to Thursday’s off-day.

Joel Sherman first reported that they were close to bringing Pearce back to serve as a right-handed bat off the bench during the stretch drive. The outfielder/first baseman spent the first half of the season playing for Triple-A Empire State before exercising an opt-out clause in his contract in early-June. The Yankees traded him to the Orioles for cash rather than let him walk as a free agent, then Houston eventually claimed him off waivers from Baltimore.

Pearce, 29, has hit .254/.333/.396 (93 wRC+) in 158 big league plate appearances this season after destroying the Triple-A level (173 wRC+). He’s done a much better job against lefties than righties both this year (120 vs. 80 wRC+) and throughout his career (120 vs. 60 wRC+). Small sample size warnings apply through, the guy only has 679 career plate appearances in the show. Most of his time with the Astros and O’s was spent in the two corner outfield spots, though he has a ton of first base experience as well. Pearce has even played a little third base from time to time.

The 24-year-old Laird really didn’t have anywhere to go with the Yankees. He’s having a decent season repeating Triple-A (98 wRC+), but otherwise is a .256/.295/.409 career hitter in nearly 1,200 plate appearances at the level. Laird had a nice July but the Yankees opted to temporarily recall Ramiro Pena before acquiring Casey McGehee when Alex Rodriguez got hurt. That was a pretty clear indication that Laird had no future in the organization. I suspect he’ll either be traded away in a minor deal or claimed off waivers.

The Yankees have posted a solid 106 wRC+ against southpaws this year, down considerably from last season’s MLB-best 123 mark. Part of that decline has been Andruw Jones’ inability to repeat last year’s success against lefties (92 vs. 151 wRC+) and Robinson Cano’s suddenly drastic platoon split (71 wRC+ vs. LHP and 189 vs. RHP). The September schedule loaded with intra-division games (as usual), so the Yankees will see an awful lot of David Price, Matt Moore, Jon Lester, Wei-Yin Chen, Joe Saunders, Ricky Romero, and J.A. Happ down the stretch. Having a spare right-handed bat will definitely come in handy.

8/27-8/29 Series Preview: Toronto Blue Jays

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(REUTERS/Patrick Smith)

The Yankees have 35 total games left to play this season and whopping ten of them will be against the Blue Jays. They’ve won five of eight against Toronto already this season, and the first three of those final ten will be played in the Bronx this week.

What Have They Done Lately?

The Jays were rained out yesterday, sparing them a potential eighth consecutive loss. Toronto has won just five of 23 games this month, dropping them to 56-70 (-37 run differential) on the season. They’re 17 back of the Yankees in the loss column and have the third worst record in the league.

Offense

(REUTERS/Mike Cassese)

The Blue Jays average a bit more than 4.5 runs per game with a team 96 wRC+, so they’re pretty much right in the middle of the pack offensively. Jose Bautista (138 wRC+) recently came off the DL after missing more than a month with a wrist problem originally suffered on a swing taken against David Robertson, but he felt more discomfort in the wrist in his second game back and has since been placed back on the DL. The Yankees are catching a break and won’t have to see the game’s greatest homerun hitter this week.

Injuries have decimated Toronto, but they still have the very dangerous Edwin Encarnacion (160 wRC+) anchoring the heart of the order. Regulars Yunel Escobar (69), Kelly Johnson (86), Adam Lind (87), and Colby Rasmus (91) have avoided the injury bug for the time being but are still underperforming. Moises Sierra (98 wRC+) have done well with his opportunity and Rajai Davis (97 wRC+) has been fine, but Mike McCoy (66 wRC+) and Adeiny Hechavarria (16 wRC+) have not. The catching tandem of Jeff Mathis (76 wRC+) and Yorvit Torrealba (72 wRC+) doesn’t scare anyone, and neither does Omar Vizquel (35 wRC+). The Jays are rolling with a three-man bench these days because of all the injuries to the pitching staff.

Pitching Matchups

Monday: RHP David Phelps vs. RHP Henderson Alvarez
When these two clubs met last month, Alvarez struck out a career-high six batters while allowing two runs in six innings. The 22-year-old has managed to stay healthy and make 24 starts this season, pitching to a 4.84 ERA (5.18 FIP). His 3.43 K/9 (8.8 K%) is the second lowest among all qualified pitchers this year, better than only current Yankee Derek Lowe. Alvarez’s walk (2.51 BB/9 and 6.4 BB%) and ground ball (56.5%) rates are pretty excellent, however. He’s a three-pitch pitcher, with a fastball that sits in the low-to-mid-90s and two mid-80s offspeed pitches (slider and changeup). Hopefully the Yankees make some adjustments from their last look at the young right-hander.

(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)

Tuesday: RHP Phil Hughes vs. LHP Ricky Romero
It’s been a disaster season for Romero, who in his last start became the first pitcher in four years and second pitcher in 21 years to walk eight while striking out zero. He owns a 5.63 ERA (5.17 FIP) with career worst strikeout (6.04 K/9 and 15.0 K%), walk (5.05 BB/9 and 12.9 BB%), and homer (1.05 HR/9) rates. His 54.1% ground ball rate is in line with career norms. Romero, 27, remains the same guy in terms of stuff — low-90s two- and four-seamer, low-80s changeup, upper-70s curveball — but his command has been awful and he’s making too many mistakes. The Yankees roughed him earlier this year and have seen enough of the southpaw in recent years to know what to expect.

Wednesday: LHP CC Sabathia vs. LHP J.A. Happ
The Jays acquired Happ as part of a ten-player swap last month to help cover for some of those injuries, and he’s allowed just two earned runs total in his last two starts (6 IP vs. Rangers and 7.1 IP vs. Tigers). You might remember that he stifled the Yankees for about five innings a few weeks ago before things fell apart late. The 29-year-old Happ owns a 4.68 ERA (4.13 FIP) overall this year with strong strikeout (8.62 K/9 and 22.3 K%) and walk (3.27 BB/9 and 8.5 BB%) numbers. The ground ball rate (44.3%) is decent enough, but the homer rate (1.27 HR/9) is pretty terrible. Happ is a four-pitch guy, using two fastballs (two- and four-seamer) right at 90 and two breaking balls (low-80s slider and upper-70s curve). His low-80s change is a distant fifth offering, so maybe call him a 4.5-pitch guy.

Drop and drive. (Getty Images)

Bullpen Status
The rain out yesterday means manager John Farrell has a very fresh bullpen. They’re carrying eight relievers, highlighted by closer Casey Janssen (3.06 FIP) and the left/right setup duo of Darren Oliver (3.03 FIP) and Brandon Lyon (2.75 FIP). Second lefty Aaron Loup (1.87 FIP) has done well in his limited time, and the rest of the relief corps features right-handers Carlos Villanueva (4.96 FIP), Steve Delabar (4.64 FIP), and Brad Lincoln (3.79 FIP). The middle innings can be a little sketchy, but that late-game trio is sneaky good.

Joe Girardi went all-out for yesterday’s win, using Boone Logan, David Robertson, and Rafael Soriano for more than one inning apiece. Everyone else in the bullpen is well-rested, plus Robertson could be placed on the paternity list at any moment. Who the Yankees would call-up to replace him is anyone’s guess (Cory Wade just pitched yesterday). Check out our Bullpen Workload page for exact recent reliever usage, and then check out Drunk Jays Fans and Tao of Stieb for the latest and greatest on the Blue Jays.

Ticket Info

You can save 25-50% off tickets for the homestand with this link. Just sign up if, find the section they’d like to sit in and make an offer based on the savings shown here. There won’t be any shipping fees or any other nonsense like that either.