NY Yankees News, Information & Community

Injuries, winning, and the rest of AL East

May 7, 2013 by Matt Warden 29 Comments

(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) — (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

Last week, Mike polled RAB about which player on the disabled list the Yankees miss the most. Specifically, he focused on the players who started the season on the DL, who would have undoubtedly made the team’s Opening Day roster, and would have been expected to be primary contributors – Curtis Granderson, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, and Mark Teixeira.

As I contemplated my response to the poll (I voted Jeter by the way), I considered the cost of those four players. They are worth approximately $85M in annualized salary. Add in Kevin Youkilis (who was the injury-prone back up plan to the injury-prone third baseman) for the sake of argument, and we’ve accounted for approximately 40% of the total cumulative Yankee payroll in 2013 (~$228M).

Now, just out of curiosity, I took a quick jaunt over to Cot’s Baseball Contracts and looked at the other AL East rosters. I imagined what those lineups might look like if one effectively removed approximately 40% of the payroll from those rosters. In terms of players, I began by filtering out some of the more expensive contracts on the payroll, as they presumably would have been the same type of key starters that the teams were counting on the most – kind of like the Yankees. It’s not a scientific comparison by any means, but I think the point stands to reason nevertheless.

Orioles ($92M Total)	Red Sox ($155M Total)	Rays ($62M Total)	Blue Jays ($119M Total)
Nick Markakis ($15.3M)	John Lackey ($15.9M)	David Price ($10.1M)	Jose Bautista ($14M)
Brian Roberts ($10M)	David Ortiz ($11.5M)	Evan Longoria ($6M)	Josh Johnson ($13.7M)
Adam Jones ($8.9M)	Ryan Dempster ($13.2M)	Ben Zobrist ($5.6M)	Mark Buehrle ($12M)
Matt Wieters ($5.5M)	Jon Lester ($11.6M)	Yunel Escobar ($5M)	Jose Reyes ($10M)

Frankly, it’s kind of laughable. For Baltimore, I think they could survive without Roberts (as he’s been pretty injured the last few seasons anyway). Take away Markakis, Jones and Wieters though, and I think they’re in a lot of trouble. I don’t see the Rays surviving without Price or Longoria, let alone both, and I think we’re seeing what the Jays look like when their superstars aren’t overly effective or are absent from the lineup altogether. The Red Sox started the season with Ortiz on the DL and with Lackey being, well, himself. That said, they have relied quite a bit on Dempster, Victorino, and Lester to all help shoulder the burden. Take Lester out of the mix, and that MLB leading record might not be so shiny.

I’m not sure where I’m going with this other than it’s pretty incredible that the Yankees have not only continued to win (fifth best record in the AL, seventh best record in MLB) but have really handled a brutal injury plague about as well as could be expected. After all, many of us (including me) were hoping the team could merely stay afloat. We were hoping come mid-May, the team wasn’t 10+ games back already.

Some of this success can and should certainly be attributed to guys like Vernon Wells and Travis Hafner really stepping up to the plate (see what I did there?), and Robinson Cano performing like the MVP candidate that he is. However, it’s hard to imagine most teams survive in this environment. Now, one could understandably question how much more the team can handle, or even if no one else gets hurt, how long this can last as it is. Still, I for one am absolutely pleased with where the team is all things considering.

5/7-5/9 Series Preview: Colorado Rockies

May 7, 2013 by Mike 24 Comments

For the first time this year, the Yankees are heading to a National League park for interleague play. They’re in Colorado for a three-game set with the Rockies, only their third trip to Coors Field since the place opened. The Yankees are just 2-4 at Coors all-time, and that includes getting swept in three games back in 2007. On the other hand, they scored 41 runs in three games back in 2002, the all-time for a three-game series in that building.

What Have They Done Lately?
The Rockies were picked by many (including me) to finish in last place in the NL West, but they’re currently right behind the Giants for the division lead at 18-13 with a +27 run differential. They did just lose two of three to the Rays this weekend though, and after starting the year with 13 wins in 17 games, they’ve since lost nine of their last 14 games.

Offense
Home/road splits might be one of the most over-analyzed things in baseball, but Coors Field is a different animal. It’s an extreme hitter’s park not only because there are more homers due to the way the ball carries in the thin mile-high air, but also because breaking balls don’t break as much as they do at sea level. Outfielders tend to play deeper as well, which results in more bloop hits. Since the place opened in 1995, games at Coors Field have a .3333 BABIP compared to a .3001 BABIP everywhere else. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of plate appearances here.

Anyway, rather than the usual block text preview, I’m going to present the Rockies’ active position players in a table to make life easier. All of the stats are for this year only.

	Overall wRC+	Home wRC+	Road wRC+
CF Dexter Fowler	158	125	186
2B Josh Rutledge	72	77	70
LF Carlos Gonzalez	157	127	186
SS Troy Tulowitzki	182	197	172
RF Michael Cuddyer	162	226	115
1B Todd Helton	88	0	179
C Wilin Rosario	128	28	231
3B Nolan Arenado	171	270	102

Bench

OF Eric Young Jr.	104	99	106
UTIL Jordan Pacheco	90	67	112
C Yorvit Torrealba	110	143	84
IF Jonathan Herrera	50	123	-73
IF Reid Brignac	57	57	58

Surprisingly, the Rockies are actually hitting better on the road (120 wRC+) than they are at home (105 wRC+) so far this year. I’m guessing that has a lot to do with some brutally cold April weather in Denver, which included a few snow-postponed games. I don’t expect that reverse split to last long, the Rox are going to mash at home once it heats up. Hopefully that process doesn’t start this week.

Starting Pitching Matchups
Just in case you’re wondering, no, Colorado no longer employs that four-man rotation/tandem starter thing they tried for most of last season. It’s a regular starter/bullpen setup.

Tuesday: RHP Hiroki Kuroda vs. LHP Jorge De La Rosa
It’s safe to say the Rockies haven’t gotten their money’s worth out of the 32-year-old De La Rosa, who signed a two-year, $21.5M deal with Colorado prior to 2011 before exercising his $11M player option for 2013. He made just 13 starts from 2011-12 due to Tommy John surgery and subsequent setbacks, and so far this year he owns a 4.18 ERA (4.64 FIP) in six starts. His strikeout rate (5.29 K/9 and 14.3 K%) is way down from his pre-surgery levels, and neither his walk (3.62 BB/9 and 9.8 BB%) nor ground ball (43.9%) rates have improved to compensate. De La Rosa’s two- and four-seamer now sit in the low-90s, down a few ticks from before surgery. A low-to-mid-80s splitter is his top secondary offering, but he’ll also throw low-80s sliders and low-70s curveballs. The Yankees haven’t faced De La Rosa since 2007, and he’s had a massive platoon split in recent years. It’s a good game to sit some lefties and load the lineup with righty hitters … if the Yankees had anyone worthwhile righty bats.

Wednesday: RHP Juan Nicasio vs. RHP David Phelps
Nicasio, 26, is best remembered for having his neck broken by a line drive back in August 2011. He had surgery and missed the rest of the season, but recovered well enough to make the team’s Opening Day rotation last year. That’s pretty remarkable. Nicasio owns a 4.91 ERA (5.83 FIP) in six starts this year, and outside of his ground ball rate (47.9%), his peripherals stink. He doesn’t get a ton of strike threes (6.14 K/9 and 15.0 K%) and issues a lot of ball fours (4.60 BB/9 and 11.3 BB%). Nicasio is very fastball heavy, throwing his 91-95 mph four-seamer more than 70% of the time. A low-80s slider is his offspeed pitch of choice, and he’ll seldom use his mid-80s changeup. The Yankees saw Nicasio when the Rockies came to the Bronx in 2011, and they hung four runs on him in five innings. It was his sixth career start and a little more than one month before the neck injury.

Thursday: LHP CC Sabathia vs. LHP Jeff Francis
The 32-year-old Francis falls into the Mark Buehrle category of soft-tossers, meaning the laws of FIP/DiPS Theory don’t really apply. Unlike Buehrle though, Francis’ career 4.91 ERA is more than half-a-run higher than his career 4.40 FIP. Buehrle has outperformed his FIP, Francis has underperformed it. The left-hander owns a 7.27 ERA (5.27 FIP) in six starts this year even though his strikeout (7.27 K/9 and 16.7 K%) and ground ball (52.8%) numbers are his best as a full-time big leaguer. His walk rate (3.81 BB/9 and 8.7 BB%) is a career-high and more than double what he’s done in recent years. Francis sits in the mid-80s with his four-seamer and sinker, two pitches he uses to setup his upper-70s changeup and upper-60s curveball. Francis has faced the Yankees once in his ten-year career, holding them to one run in seven innings back in 2007.

Bullpen Status
Both teams were off on Monday, so both bullpens are as fresh as can be. The Yankees might get David Robertson back from his hamstring problem tonight, though that depends on how his pre-game workout goes. Check out our Bullpen Workload page to see the team’s reliever usage info.

Rookie Rockies manager Walt Weiss has a pretty awesome bullpen at his disposal, starting with veteran closer RHP Rafael Betancourt (3.16 FIP). RHP Matt Belisle (2.94 ERA) and LHP Rex Brothers (2.09 FIP) do most of the setup work, but former Yankee farmhand RHP Wilton Lopez (2.32 FIP) will draw some high leverage work as well. Brooklyn-raised RHP Adam Ottavino (3.51 FIP) shares middle relief worth with LHP Josh Outman (2.30 FIP). RHP Edgmer Escalona (3.87 FIP) does most of the long relieving. For the latest and greatest on the Rockies, check out Purple Row.

Cervelli still five weeks away from resuming baseball activities

May 7, 2013 by Mike 61 Comments

Via Anthony McCarron: Frankie Cervelli said he is still five weeks away from resuming baseball activities due to his broken right hand. He’ll begin hand strengthening exercises in three weeks and is not eligible to come off the DL until early-July. Basically the All-Star break.

Cervelli, 27, was expected to miss at least six weeks when he suffered the injury 11 days ago, but the Yankees acknowledged that timetable wasn’t going to happen when they placed him on the 60-day DL last week. That whole “at least” part was pretty important. Chris Stewart hasn’t hit a lick since being thrust into a full-time role and it’s clear Joe Girardi has little trust in Austin Romine right now, so losing Cervelli for two months is a pretty big deal. I doubt they look to make a trade for a backstop, but they should.

Nagging injuries could leave Yankees short-handed against Rockies

May 7, 2013 by Mike 57 Comments

Thanks to the magic of interleague play, the Yankees will play their next three games under National League rules. They open a three-game set with the Rockies in Coors Field later tonight, which means pitchers hitting and bunts and double switches and all sorts of other stuff we never see in the so-called Junior Circuit. It gets passed off as “strategy,” but whatever. Most of the moves are no-brainers that require no real thought.

Anyway, because the Yankees will be in an NL park, they’re going to use their non-starting players more than usual these next three games. Someone like Brennan Boesch will go from rarely-used backup outfielder to important lefty pinch-hitter. Vidal Nuno, the last man in the bullpen, could become a matchup lefty or middle innings guy depending on how the ballpark treats the team’s pitchers. Unfortunately, some nagging injuries might leave the Yankees in a bit of a roster bind.

For starters, Eduardo Nunez is day-to-day with what the team called left ribcage irritation. I think that means an oblique problem, and we all know how tricky those can me. Joe Girardi has already acknowledged his starting shortstop is unlikely to be healthy enough in time for the series opener tonight, so the Yankees will be a position player short. That means they don’t have a backup for Jayson Nix and Chris Nelson, will be are short a pinch-hitter, don’t have an obvious pinch-runner … losing a position player in an NL park hurts.

Secondly, David Robertson is still a question mark for tonight due to his left hamstring trouble. He played catch in New York over the weekend and will give it another try this afternoon, and if that goes well he’ll throw a little in the bullpen. If the bullpen goes well, he’ll be available in the game. If not, Girardi will again be short his best non-Mariano Rivera reliever and only have six pitchers in the bullpen. That might not be such a big deal tonight coming off the off-day, but it will be a problem if Robertson still isn’t available come Wednesday or Thursday.

On top of that, Travis Hafner is close to a dead roster spot. He can’t play the field at all, so for these next three games he’ll be a strategic left-handed pinch-hitter and nothing more. That’s an awesome bat to have on the bench for big situations, but it leaves the Yankees short another position player. With Nunez banged up and Hafner unplayable in the field, the Yankees could be heading to Colorado with a three-man bench of Boesch, Ben Francisco, and Austin Romine. It’s a short-term thing, but it still stinks.

Hopefully Nunez’s ribcage and Robertson’s hamstring will feel better tonight and the Yankees can move forward will a full roster. They’re missing a ton of players as it is, but at least players on the DL can be replaced. These guys who are day-to-day with nagging injuries can’t be replaced, so the team has to play shorthanded until they’re ready to go. That’s not a big deal in AL parks thanks to the DH, but in the NL, where pinch-hitters and the like are imperative, it’s a big disadvantage. The Yankees have a bit of a roster mess heading into this series against the Rockies.

CMW gets rocked in fourth Triple-A start

May 6, 2013 by Mike 24 Comments

News and notes, notes and news:

OF Zoilo Almonte was named the Triple-A International League Offensive Player of the Week today, plus he got a little love in Baseball America’s Prospect Notebook. “An improved hitting approach could take Almonte from a longshot prospect to someone who has a chance to have a major league role in the near future,” they wrote while noting his much-improved walk rate (14.5% this year vs. 5.6% last year).
Also, remember when RHP Caleb Cotham was getting promoted to Triple-A? That’s no longer happening according to Josh Norris. I’m guessing he was supposed to take RHP Cody Eppley’s spot, but Eppley cleared waivers and was outrighted back to Triple-A rather quickly, so the roster spot closed up.
3B Rob Segedin is not close to returning and he be done for the season, says Norris. He is currently on the DL with a right hip problem. Segedin was off to a nice start for Double-A Trenton, hitting .338/.390/.606 (165 wRC+) in 24 games.
C Kyle Higashioka had Tommy John surgery and is done for the year according to Norris. At least he’s not a pitcher, I guess.

Triple-A Scranton (5-0 loss to Indianapolis)

2B Corban Joseph: 0-4, 1 BB, 1 K
1B David Adams: 2-4, 2 2B — that’s his first career game at first base, and word is he looked “uncomfortable” … no surprise there, but they’re obviously working to improve his versatility
LF Zoilo Almonte: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 K
3B Ronnie Mustelier: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 E (fielding) — hasn’t exactly torn the cover off the ball yet, he’s 3-for-16 (.188) so far
RHP Chien-Ming Wang: 5 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 8/0 GB/FB — 59 of 84 pitches were strikes (70%) … peripherals were great, but the sinker sat 88-89 and it was getting hit hard
LHP Clay Rapada: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 2/1 GB/FB — half of his 22 pitches were strikes … first official game of the year, and he retired the only lefty he faced

[Read more…]

Monday Night Open Thread

May 6, 2013 by Mike 104 Comments

I have no idea why it took me so long to stumble across the MLB.com Classics YouTube channel, but better late than never. That is Game Six of the 1996 World Series up there, in its entirety. From Jimmy Key throwing the first pitch to John Wetteland throwing the last. That is pretty awesome. Like many of you, 1996 was my first World Championship as a fan and I will it never forget it.

Anyway, here is your open thread for the night. ESPN is showing the Braves and Reds (Maholm vs. Arroyo), plus there’s a bunch of NBA and NHL (Rangers!) playoff action on as well. Talk about any of that stuff and more. Enjoy.

Injury Updates: A-Rod, Teixeira, Granderson

May 6, 2013 by Mike 54 Comments

The Yankees are on their way to Colorado and will start a three-game series against the Rockies tomorrow night. The guys on the DL — you know, basically half the team — made their way to Tampa to continue rehabbing instead. Here are some updates, courtesy of the AP and Anthony McCarron.

Alex Rodriguez (hip) played catch and hit off a tee. It’s his first baseball activity since having surgery in January. “(It felt) like being eight years old again when I first grabbed a bat,” he said. “Pretty exciting … really looking forward to getting back.”
Mark Teixeira (wrist) hit in the batting cage and took some ground balls at first base. He’s expected to start taking batting practice in the field in a few days.
Curtis Granderson (forearm) played in another Extended Spring Training game today. He’s been doing that since last Wednesday, so almost a full week now. I can’t imagine an official minor league rehab assignment is too far away.
Michael Pineda (shoulder), Frankie Cervelli (hand), Kevin Youkilis (back), and Ivan Nova (triceps) were all at the complex as well. Derek Jeter (ankle) was not there for whatever reason. He’s still in a walking boot and can’t do much anyway.