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Passive offseason leaves lineup short as injuries continue to mount

April 23, 2013 by Mike 158 Comments

(Presswire)
(Presswire)

For pretty much the entirety of this past offseason, the Yankees were dormant. They re-signed all of their pitchers before the end of the November, but otherwise their only notable move was signing Kevin Youkilis in the wake of Alex Rodriguez’s hip surgery. Had A-Rod been healthy and able to start the season on-time, there’s a pretty good chance Youkilis would be wearing a different uniform right now. They re-signed Ichiro Suzuki a few days later and waiting until February to sign Travis Hafner. That’s pretty much it.

Once the injuries began to mount in Spring Training, the Yankees jumped into action. They acquired three players — Ben Francisco, Brennan Boesch, and Vernon Wells — in March who wound up making the Opening Day roster, and as Brian Cashman told Andy Martino, they made those moves because they were “desperate.” A rash of injuries in camp has a way of doing that, certainly no team plans on building a good chunk of their roster with scrap heap pickups in March. No contending team, anyway.

As the Yankees were being dominated by another left-handed starter last night — they’re now hitting .195/.266/.303 (54 wRC+) against southpaws in the early going — their two biggest offseason failures (for lack of a better word, really) were on full display. They didn’t acquire a capable right-handed outfield platoon bat and they didn’t bring in a solid utility infielder, two things we knew they needed back in October. These needs didn’t sneak up anyone.

That need for a right-handed outfield bat should be mitigated by Vernon Wells once Curtis Granderson returns, though that depends entirely on how Joe Girardi & Co. sort out the playing time. Considering how productive he’s been, it’s hard to think they’ll just relegate Wells to part-time duty once Granderson returns just because that was the original plan. Sure, it’s possible he’ll revert back to the guy he was with the Angels at some point, but right now he’s done more than enough to earn regular outfield playing time.

Still, Francisco (-13 wRC+) is drawing regular at-bats against lefties and he isn’t delivering. Not even close to delivering, really. That said, the more egregious mistake in my opinion was not finding a capable backup infielder. Just consider all of the circumstances…

  1. Derek Jeter, 38, had surgery for a major ankle injury in late-October and was questionable for Opening Day.
  2. The Yankees announced 37-year-old Alex Rodriguez needed surgery for a major hip injury in early-December and was expected to be out until for several months.
  3. Youkilis, 34, was signed to play third base in mid-December, soon after the announcement of A-Rod’s injury. He’s become injury prone over the years and actually played fewer games than A-Rod from 2010-2012 (344 vs. 358).
  4. Eduardo Nunez, 25, had well-documented defensive issues that made him a question mark at the big league level. The team also insisted he was a full-time shortstop and not a utility guy who would move around to different positions.

All that of that should have made adding a good reserve infielder — someone who could play on an everyday basis for a stretch of time if need be — a rather big priority before the season. The Yankees did indicate they wanted to find an upgrade over Jayson Nix back in November, but they never did get around to acquiring one. It really hurts right now because Youkilis is expected to miss a few days with a back issue while neither Nix (35 wRC+) nor Nunez ( also 35 wRC+) are hitting.

The season is barely more than three weeks old, but the Yankees have some very obvious needs at the big league level right now, stuff that goes beyond getting some injured players back in the lineup. The need for a competent infielder isn’t going away anytime soon and Francisco’s lack of production means they still need another righty bat in the lineup. These were items that should have been treated with greater urgency over the winter. Instead, the Yankees took a passive approach and are left without a gaping hole in the lineup against lefties and no suitable replacement for their various injured infielders.

Filed Under: Hot Stove League

Cashman discusses decision to trade for Vernon Wells

April 23, 2013 by Mike 41 Comments

Here’s a pretty interesting read from Andy Martino, who spoke to Brian Cashman about the decision to trade for Vernon Wells (among a number of other topics). “We had thought (Wells) would be a fit here, at the very least, in that role that Andruw Jones had been playing for the past two years,” said the GM. “But no, there was no magic, unearthed data point. The fact that he was having a tremendous spring didn’t really move us … Our needs grew and we were able to come up a little bit more on the what we were willing to take on.”

Cashman acknowledged the two sides were talking all winter — we first heard the they were discussing Wells back during the Winter Meetings — and that allowed them to quickly wrap-up negotiations a few weeks ago. As he seems to indicate, it was basically just a matter of how much money the team was willing to absorb. The injuries and offseason defections created some big holes in the lineup and they had to act. Wells has been a godsend in the early going (163 wRC+) and is a big reason why the Yankees have been able to do a lot more than just tread water so far.

Filed Under: Asides Tagged With: Vernon Wells

Adam Warren and the unnecessity of two long relievers

April 23, 2013 by Mike 46 Comments

(Presswire)
(Presswire)

When the season opened, the Yankees made a point of carrying relievers capable of throwing multiple innings in an outing. That meant Adam Warren and Shawn Kelley got the nod over one-inning guys like David Aardsma and Josh Spence. Phil Hughes started the year on the DL and carrying bullpeners who could provide length for the first few weeks made sense. No team wants to wear out their pitching staff in April.

Now that we’re three weeks into the season, the need for multiple multi-inning relievers — and multiple long relievers, especially — isn’t as great. Ivan Nova remains a drain on the bullpen every five days, but otherwise the trio of CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda and Andy Pettitte have shown the ability to pitch deep into the game each time out while Phil Hughes can do it on occasion. Sure, having a bunch of relievers who can throw multiple innings at a time is a nice luxury, but it’s no longer a necessity. Quality over quantity should be the focal point when it comes bullpen innings now.

Since his 5.1-inning appearance in relief of Kuroda in the second game of the season — 19 days ago now — right-hander Adam Warren has thrown a total of three innings and 42 pitches. Two of those innings came during a blowout win against the Indians, the other yesterday. He hasn’t warmed up on any other occasion during the last ten days, as our Bullpen Workload page shows. It’s a dead roster spot, especially since Joe Girardi seems to prefer David Phelps in long relief situations. The only way Warren gets into a game right now is a super mop-up situation, a blowout or extra innings.

(Presswire)
(Presswire)

Phelps hasn’t pitched well early on (6.23 ERA and 3.87 FIP), and it’s not just these last two appearances. The four shutout innings against Baltimore last week is the only one of his five outings in which he hasn’t allowed a run. He is a better pitcher than what he’s shown so far, but he needs to figure some things out. It happens. He should work on those things in low-leverage situations though, not the situations he’s seen recently. It should happen in the innings currently designated for Warren, basically. It’s the bullpen circle of life, especially for a young reliever: if you stink for two or three weeks you lose some responsibility.

Ideally, I think the Yankees should adjust their bullpen situation by sending Warren down to Triple-A and replacing him with a power reliever who can miss bats in the middle innings between the starter and the Joba Chamberlain/David Robertson setup crew. Cody Eppley doesn’t fit the bill — he’s been awful since the start of Spring Training anyway — but Mark Montgomery sure makes a lot of sense for that role. The right-hander has 15 strikeouts and one walk in eight Triple-A innings so far after whiffing 99 in 64.1 innings last summer.

Because Phelps threw 62 pitches on Sunday and will be out of commission for at least one more game (likely two), holding onto Warren for another few days makes sense. Once Phelps is ready to go though, I think he should be put into a more traditional long reliever role while Warren is swapped out in favor of someone who can miss bats. Montgomery is the obvious candidate but not the only option. Maybe Preston Claiborne or Sam Demel is better suited to help the team right now, who knows. Either way, the idea is to optimize the bullpen by replacing the seldom-used second long man with a more useful middle reliever who can miss some bats.

Filed Under: Death by Bullpen Tagged With: Adam Warren, David Phelps

Yanks no match for Moore as Rays take opener

April 22, 2013 by Mike 39 Comments

Believe it or not, the Yankees have won just two of their last 14 games at Tropicana Field. That caught me by surprise, but it’s true They’ve positively sucked in that building dating back to late-2011 now. The latest loss was a 5-1 defeat in a game that felt over after the first inning.

(J. Meric/Getty)
(J. Meric/Getty)

One Bad Inning, Again
Much like his last start, CC Sabathia got hit around in the first inning before settling down and pitching deep into the game. The Rays tagged him for a single, a triple, two homers, and four runs in that first inning before the big left-hander found his command surrendered just two singles and solo homer over the next six innings. Sabathia struck out eight and threw 108 total pitches (68 for strikes), including first pitch strikes to 17 of 29 batters faced. He settled down and that’s great, but he has to stop surrendering those first inning runs in the future.

Since we’re in the middle of the Great Velocity Watch of 2013, it’s worth noting Sabathia averaged 91.1 mph and topped out at 93.2 mph with his fastball according to PitchFX. That was his best velocity on the young season, though I suppose that could have something to do with pitching in the climate-controlled dome rather than a chilly, beautiful, fan-friendly, wholesome, America-loving open-air ballpark. Velocity didn’t matter though, Sabathia got clobbered in that first inning because he caught way, way too much of the plate with breaking balls.

(J. Meric/Getty)
(J. Meric/Getty)

Shut Down By A Lefty, Again
The Yankees came into Monday’s game hitting a pathetic .210/.278/.318 (61 wRC+) against left-handers as a team, and that only went down after young Matt Moore got done carving them up for eight innings. He struck out nine, gave up just two hits (both to Robinson Cano), and threw only 37 of his 117 pitches from the stretch. They are woefully non-competitive right now against southpaws. It’s hard to believe a big league team can be this bad against lefties.

New York’s best chance to make this a game came in the seventh inning, when they had runners at first and third with one out thanks to Yunel Escobar’s throwing error. The rally came to crashing halt when Vernon Wells struck out — his third strikeout against Moore, all against a changeup down and away — and Frankie Cervelli flew out to center. The final eleven Yankees to bat made outs. So yeah, more of the same. With all due respect to Moore, who really was fantastic, this currently lineup couldn’t hit lefties if their lives depended on it.

(J. Meric/Getty)
(J. Meric/Getty)

Leftovers
As I mentioned, the Yankees had a whopping two hits on the night, a solo homer and an infield single by Cano. That’s it. Brett Gardner drew a pair of walks, but otherwise the other seven spots in the lineup went a combined 0-for-23 with one walk (Eduardo Nunez) and eight strikeouts. Like I said, non-competitive. They could have started every inning with a courtesy runner at second base and they still would have lost.

Adam Warren mopped things up in the bottom of the ninth, just his second pitching appearance in the last 19 days. Two long men kinda defeats the point if Joe Girardi buries one completely.

Minor note about Sabathia: he took over sole possession of 50th place on the all-time strikeout list in this game, passing former Yankee and elbow reconstruction guinea pig Tommy John. Sabathia has 2,246 career strikeouts.

I don’t know if it was a one-time thing or if they’ve rearranged things at Tropicana Field, but the YES camera angle for this game was just awful. Here, look at this mess. I felt like I was watching the game from one of the catwalks.

Box Score, WPA Graph & Standings
MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs some additional stats, and ESPN the updated standings.


Source: FanGraphs

Up Next
The Yankees will look to avoid another pathetic offensive showing against left-hander on Tuesday, when reigning AL Cy Young Award winner David Price gets the ball for the Rays. I wouldn’t hold my breath. Phil Hughes will be on the bump for the Bombers.

Filed Under: Game Stories

Flores continues to rake in Trenton win

April 22, 2013 by Mike 23 Comments

Got some news, including a few tidbits courtesy of Chad Jennings:

  • RHP Nick Goody had Tommy John surgery and will obviously miss the rest of the this season, probably the start of next season as well. He also missed some time in camp after hurting his ankle in a car accident. I ranked Goody as the team’s 21st best prospect before the season because he had the potential to be a quick-moving power reliever. So much for that idea.
  • UTIL Ronnie Mustelier is back playing in games after suffering what was apparently a nasty bruise at the very end of Spring Training. He played three innings in an Extended Spring Training game and probably needs another week or so before rejoining Triple-A Scranton.
  • LHP Vidal Nuno and 1B Kyle Roller were named the Triple-A International League Pitcher of the Week and the Double-A Eastern League Offensive Player of the Week, respectively. At some point this summer the Yankees are going to have to give Nuno a shot in the big leagues just to see what he can do. It’s not like they don’t need the pitching this year or going forward.

Triple-A Scranton (8-1 win over Syracuse)

  • 2B Corban Joseph: 0-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K
  • RF Thomas Neal: 2-3, 3 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 1 HBP — threw a runner out at third … would he be worse than Ben Francisco?
  • LF Zoilo Almonte: 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI
  • C Austin Romine: 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 K — very quietly has ten hits in his last 24 at-bats (.417)
  • CF Melky Mesa: 2-4, 1 R, 1 K, 1 SB
  • RHP Chris Bootcheck: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 4/6 GB/FB — 60 of 91 pitches were strikes (66%) … first run he’s allowed all year

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Down on the Farm

Youkilis could be out a few more days with back issue

April 22, 2013 by Mike 3 Comments

Following tonight’s loss to the Rays, Joe Girardi said Kevin Youkilis could be out “a couple more days” with the back tightness that forced him from Saturday’s game and has kept him on the bench ever since. Obviously they should play it safe so it doesn’t turn into something more serious, but the Yankees are in a real bat spot without his bat in the lineup.

Filed Under: Asides, Injuries Tagged With: Kevin Youkilis

Pineda throws one inning in simulated game

April 22, 2013 by Mike 19 Comments

Via Bryan Hoch: Michael Pineda threw one inning in a simulated game today, his first since having shoulder surgery last May. “He threw strikes he threw some really good strikes,” said Joe Girardi, who was in attendance. “I was happy with what I saw. I know it’s a long ways away, but for the first time in a simulated game, it was pretty good … His command was much better (than last spring). The ball was coming out of his hand. He wasn’t forcing it today.”

Pineda, 24, threw all three of his pitchers — fastball, slider, changeup — but Chad Jennings says the Yankees don’t even have a radar gun on him yet. That’s not terribly surprising since he’s still in rehab mode and not “getting stretched out for the season” mode. Either way, good news. Every day Pineda is able to do something like this without suffering a setback represents major progress. The simulated game does not start his 30-day rehab window, by the way.

Filed Under: Asides, Injuries Tagged With: Michael Pineda

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