Here is your end of the weekend open thread. The ESPN Sunday Night Game is the Cardinals at the Phillies (Westbrook vs. Kendrick), and that’s pretty much it. The Red Sox and Royals are playing the second game of their doubleheader, but I don’t believe that is on national television anywhere. Talk about whatever you like here. Go nuts.
Michael Pineda scheduled for simulated game next week
Via Dan Martin: Right-hander Michael Pineda is scheduled to throw his first simulated game since shoulder surgery this coming week. “He’s continued to look good,” said VP of Baseball Ops Mark Newman. “With shoulder surgeries, there are always things that slow you down, but he’s constantly been getting better and healthier. We’re still counting on him.”
Pineda, 24, has been facing hitters in live batting practice in recent weeks. He’s confident he will return as the same pitcher he was before — “I’m going to be back and I’m going to be 100% … My arm is feeling good and I’m the same pitcher I was before,” he said to Martin — but you never really know with this kind of injury until he gets back on the mound in real game situations. Pineda continues to make good progress though, and that’s all you can ask for at this point.
Game 17: Finish The Sweep
It’s early, but the Yankees have yet to sweep a non-rain-interrupted series this year. They had a chance to sweep the Diamondbacks last week before dropping the finale in extra innings, and they’ll have another chance to sweep a three-game series today. There would be no better time for that first sweep of the year than this afternoon, against a Blue Jays team that fancies itself a contender following a big offseason. They’ve been wholly unimpressive in the early going — only the Marlins (-42) and Astros (-33) have a worse run differential than Toronto (-32) — but I think we all know that could turn around in a hurry.
Here’s the lineup that will face right-hander Josh Johnson, one of the Jays’ biggest offseason addition both figuratively and literally (he’s listed at 6-foot-7 and 250 lbs.)…
- CF Brett Gardner
- 2B Robinson Cano
- LF Vernon Wells
- DH Travis Hafner
- 1B Lyle Overbay
- SS Eduardo Nunez
- RF Ichiro Suzuki
- 3B Jayson Nix
- C Chris Stewart
And on the mound for the Yankees is right-hander Ivan Nova, who is seeking his second straight victory. This afternoon’s game is scheduled to start at 1:07pm ET and can be seen on YES. Enjoy.
Yankees will stick with internal options following Jeter setback
Via Bryan Hoch: Brian Cashman confirmed the Yankees will stick with their internal options on the infield in the wake of Derek Jeter’s setback. “We’re going to stay as we are,” said the GM. “Those guys have done a nice job. They’ve earned the right, and regardless, this time of year is certainly going to be a factor in anything that happens.”
Nunez, 25, is hitting just .184/.267/.211 (34 wRC+) in the early going this year while the 30-year-old Nix is at .172/.219/.276 (30 wRC+). That’s as bad as it gets right there. Nunez’s throwing has been much, much better these first few weeks, but that only goes so far. Teams usually aren’t looking to sell off pieces at this time of year anyway, so the Yankees are stuck with these two for the time being. Hopefully one of ’em starts hitting.
Wang throws 5.1 scoreless innings in first Triple-A start
Dan Martin spoke to RHP Ty Hensley, who will be out another few months following hip surgery. He said the hip problem caused repeated abdominal strains and prevented him from rotating properly during his delivery. Will be interesting to see how things go for him following the procedure. Also make sure you check out this Jonathan Lehman piece on C J.R. Murphy, who spoke about his defensive improvement and learning experience since turning pro.
Triple-A Scranton Game One (5-3 win over Syracuse in seven innings) makeup of yesterday’s rainout
- 2B Corban Joseph: 2-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 SB, 1 E (fielding) — nine hits in his last 24 at-bats (.375) with two doubles and two homers
- CF Melky Mesa & LF Zoilo Almonte: both 0-3 — Mesa struck out thrice but also threw a runner out at second
- 1B Dan Johnson: 0-0, 2 R, 3 BB — 12 strikeouts and ten walks in 12 games for the former International League MVP
- C Bobby Wilson: 2-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI
- RHP Chien-Ming Wang: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 9/2 GB/FB — 51 of 74 pitches were strikes (69%) … first start of the year and that’s pretty darn close to vintage CMW right there
Yanks bounce back for 11th inning win over Jays
Source: FanGraphs
Following Friday’s blowout win, the Yankees and Blue Jays played a rollercoaster game on Saturday. New York led for most of the game, Toronto tied it late, then the Bombers took the lead and finished off the win in extra innings. Don’t look now, but since the ugly 1-4 start, the Yankees have now won nine of their last 11 games. Let’s recap…
- #HIROK ‘n Roll: I’m running out of ways to praise Hiroki Kuroda, who allowed one run on three hits and a walk in seven innings in his latest gem. The run didn’t even score while he was on the mound, but more on that in a bit. Kuroda struck out seven, got nine ground ball outs, generated 14 swings and misses out of 108 total pitches, and was pretty awesome overall. The guy is amazing. I never want him to not be on the Yankees.
- Fear The Lefty: The Yankees have had some well-known trouble against lefties this year, but they were able to score three runs off Mark Buehrle in his seven innings of work. The first came on a Vernon Wells homer, the other two when Brett Lawrie whiffed on Kevin Youkilis’ bases loaded line drive. The ball was hit hard and right at him, but he just came up empty. A big league third baseman has to make that play and it was a deserved error. Other than that, the Yankees blew a pair of bases loaded situations (Eduardo Nunez pop-up, Frankie Cervelli double play) and also stranded a runner at third with one out in the another inning. For a while it sure looked like that would come back to bite them.
- Bad David: David Robertson had his first of what will inevitably be several meltdowns this season, allowing three total runs — one he inherited from Kuroda and two of his own — in two-thirds of an inning. He walked two and allowed two hits in that eighth inning, including the game-tying two-run single by former Yankee Melky Cabrera. That one was especially frustration because Robertson had him in a two-strike count and threw nothing but fastballs in the six-pitch at-bat. The out-pitch curveball is only good if he use it, David.
- And The Yankees Take The Lead: It was not a good game for the Blue Jays defensively, and it really bit them in the 11th. Wells and Cervelli opened the inning with singles, but when Ichiro Suzuki tried to bunted them up a base, reliever Aaron Loup picked up the ball and threw towards a not-ready Lawrie at third. He was still moving back to third when Loup threw the ball, so the ball wound up down the line in left field. Both Wells and Cervelli scored and that was that. The Yankees were back on top by two a few innings after blowing a three-run lead.
- Leftovers: The trio of Boone Logan, Joba Chamberlain, and Shawn Kelley did a fine job navigating the ninth and tenth innings. Joba looked particularly filthy, hitting 98.9 (!) with the fastball and 90.5 (!!) with the slider according to PitchFX … Wells is wearing out his former team this weekend, with three more hits including the homer on Saturday … Ben Francisco and Nunez were the only Yankees to not record hits. Nunez is down to .184/.267/.211 during his audition as Derek Jeter’s heir to the shortstop position … Kevin Youkilis left the game in the sixth inning with a tight lower back, but neither he nor Joe Girardi thought it was serious. He will not play on Sunday, however.
MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs the nerd score, and ESPN the updated standings. Ivan Nova will be on the mound Sunday afternoon as the Yankees look to finish off the sweep against one of Toronto’s other new additions, Josh Johnson.
Saturday Night Open Thread
Not sure if you saw that play last night, but Jean Segura stole first base. As in he was standing on second, then he stole first. The rules allow runners to go backwards around the bases as long as it isn’t intended to make a mockery of the game, so … heads up play by Segura I guess? Definitely not something you see everyday. Or basically ever.
Anyway, here is tonight’s open thread. The Mets, Islanders, and Knicks are all playing as of right now (5pm ET). MLB Network is showing a game (who you see depends on where you live) plus the Nets are playing a little later on, otherwise you’re on your own in terms of entertainment. You folks know how this works, so have at it.