Mark Teixeira has been cleared to start swinging a bat following yesterday’s checkup. He took some swings underwater yesterday and will take dry swings today, and he hopes to take batting practice this coming weekend. That seems a little aggressive, but okay. Teixeira will head to Tampa next week to continue his rehab.
2013 Draft: Aaron Blair
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.
Aaron Blair | RHP
Background
A Las Vegas kid, Blair wound up in West Virginia at Marshall after impressing recruits at a showcase event in Florida as a high school senior. He’s pitched to a 2.40 ERA with 52 strikeouts, 16 walks, and zero homers allowed in 48.2 innings across eight starts this spring after posting a 3.60 ERA during his first two years at school. Blair really made a name for himself in the Cape Cod League last summer, when he led the circuit with a 1.17 ERA.
Scouting Report
Listed at a sturdy 6-foot-5 and 220 lbs., Blair is a true three-pitch pitcher who sits 90-93 with his fastball. An upper-70s curveball was his top secondary pitch coming out of high school — the Astros drafted him in the 21st round in 2010, but he obviously didn’t sign — but he picked up a low-to-mid-80s changeup in college that has since developed into a true swing-and-miss offering. Blair has the confidence to throw the pitch in any count and to both right and left-handed hitters. He throws plenty of strikes thanks to a repeatable delivery and he draws raves for his makeup and work ethic, which helped him develop that out-pitch changeup. There are plenty more videos at YouTube.
Miscellany
Keith Law (subs. req’d) and Baseball America (subs. req’d) ranked Blair as the 39th and 46th best prospect in the draft class in their most recent rankings, respectively, which means he’s firmly in the late first round/sandwich round mix. He’s not a future ace or anything, but he’s a no-doubt starter with a frame built to soak up innings. High(-ish) probability mid-rotation workhorses are always popular targets early in the draft, especially among risk-averse teams. The Yankees have shown they value Cape Cod League success in recent years and we know they love big-bodied pitchers, so Blair seems like someone right up their alley. The latest rankings say he would be a reach with one of their three early picks (26th, 32nd, 33rd), but nothing worth getting upset over.
Poll: When Will Derek Jeter Return?
It has been nearly six months since Derek Jeter had his left ankle surgery and nearly one month since he was setback by inflammation and required a cortisone shot. Yesterday we heard the Cap’n had to scale back his rehab work over the weekend, and that was before Joe Girardi confirmed Jeter isn’t particularly close to appearing in rehab games. From Andrew Marchand:
“[Early May] was a date that was thrown out there,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “The easiest way for me to say it is he will be back when he is back — when he can physically do it on an everyday basis, and I don’t think any of us will know the exact date until we go through some trial and error.
“He is not ready to play in games. I don’t think they necessarily have an exact date where they know he is going to play in games. We’ll just go day by day and see how he feels.”
(snip)
“Sometimes you can take too many ground balls,” Girardi said. “They talked about lessening that load just because he was taking so many. Derek is such a creature of habit. To get him to break a cycle sometimes is difficult. He is going to want to do as much as he can as soon as he can, so we are just trying to make sure we don’t go too fast. But there was no setback.”
Girardi added that the scaled back the workload was not a setback — they’re making sure he doesn’t press too hard and aggravate anything, apparently — but saying Jeter “will be back when he’s back,” doesn’t sound particularly promising.
The Yankees will continue to rely on Eduardo Nunez at shortstop for the time being, assuming pitchers stop hitting him with pitches at some point soon. Jayson Nix is safe as the utility infielder even though he’s been dreadful on both sides of the ball so far. They simply don’t have another option right now. I do think they should start combing the trade market for a better backup infielder though, especially since a 38-year-old shortstop with a bum ankle will be need a capable backup even once healthy.
Anyway, the Yankees will be without Jeter for what will almost certainly be the entire month of April. How much longer will be miss after that? Who knows. Let’s find out what everyone thinks.
Pineda, Cabral, and Rapada continue rehabbing in Tampa
Via Dan Martin, George King & Bryan Hoch: Injured hurlers Michael Pineda, Cesar Cabral, and Clay Rapada all continued their rehab work in Tampa yesterday. Pineda (shoulder) threw 35 pitches (broken down into two “innings”) in his third live batting practice session, which “looked batter than the first two.” Cabral (elbow) threw a scoreless inning in an Extended Spring Training game, and Rapada (shoulder) threw 25 pitches in a simulated game.
The 24-year-old Pineda faced hitters for the first time since surgery last week and still has a ways to go before starting an official minor league rehab assignment. Cabral, 24, is much closer to a return than Pineda and could go out on an rehab assignment relatively soon. He needs to spend at least 90 days on the active 25-man roster this year to satisfy the Rule 5 Draft rules. Rapada, 32, is expected to join Triple-A Scranton soon. He can’t rejoin the big league team until May 3rd at the earliest because of some weird rule.
Thoughts on a random Wednesday
Twelve games down, 150 to go (or, I guess about 93% of the season remaining). I thought I’d take a page out of the Axisa Book of Introspection, and jot down a few thoughts on the season thus far on this random Wednesday. Anyway, you know the routine…
1. Who else has been pleasantly surprised by Vernon Wells? Be honest. He’s batted .300/.391/.600 (good for a 170 wRC+). Obviously it’s very very very early in the season, and I still think two years of Vernon at any amount of dollars is probably two years too long. Still, the guy does deserve a bit of credit for taking advantage of the opportunity. The same has to be said for Kevin Youkilis too. Hopefully, the Yankees can continue turning the league’s various retreads into useful contributors – especially now while the team is working through so many injuries.
2. On the other hand, wow, Ichiro Suzuki has sure looked cooked early on. Anecdotally, it seems as though every single time he makes contact with the ball, it results in a soft grounder to the opposing team’s second basemen. Now, just as Vernon could morph back into the pumpkin we’re all anticipating at any moment (and he probably will), so too could Ichiro regain some of the spark he displayed at the end of last season. Of course, given Ichiro’s age, I’m not overly bullish on that happening. Alas, keeping Nick Swisher would have been a fantastic alternative this past offseason, but as we all know, that ship has long since sailed.
3. Injuries, injuries, injuries. The walking wounded have dominated our attention this season. I keep telling myself that eventually the team will not be able to sustain the next one that happens. I mean, you know times are a bit desperate when a Eduardo Nunez plunking causes us to cringe. Mike discussed his concerns about Andy Pettitte the other day. I think one could probably show justifiable concern about all of the injurious for various reasons honestly – age, severity, etc. We’ve seen teams such as Toronto and Boston basically crash after being decimated by injuries in recent years.
With that being said, I think every team in the AL has obvious warts. There really isn’t that “complete” team (though the Tigers maybe the closest thing to it at the moment now that they’re finally giving Benoit a shot as their closer) — especially in the AL East. So, if New York can stay afloat and weather the storm for the first month or so, you have to like the team’s chances to capitalize down the stretch … at least as much as anyone else’s.
4. Ivan Nova really needs to get himself together and keep himself together. The team seems more than willing to show him patience as he figures things out too. Perhaps this because they still see potential in him. Or, perhaps it’s because they are desperately avoiding apprehensive about their alternatives. Or, perhaps both to some degree.
In any event, Nova needs to be a positive part of the rotation and fast. He and Phil Hughes have been a huge burden on the bullpen. The problem, as I see it, is that Nova may not be a very good pitcher in actuality (his own real sustained success was limited to the second half of 2011), and may never be more than a fifth starter kind of arm at best. I guess time will tell. In any event, last night certainly helped the cause in terms of runs surrendered, though it would have been nice if he could have logged another inning and not given up so many base runners. Let’s hope the trend continues upward.
5. I’m not sure if this final thought is really appropriate for this post, but here goes nevertheless. What happened in Boston a couple days ago was completely horrific. Tragedies such as this impact us all differently. For me, as a 28-year-old newlywed, events such as this tend to discourage me a bit about having children someday. It also makes me fear for the safety of my friends and family. In any event, my heart goes out to all those affected and I hope we, collectively, can find the resolve to move on as gracefully as we can as often as we can, despite the sinister efforts of those who would wish to do us harm.
Cano and Mo lead Yankees to a win on Jackie Robinson Day
On Jackie Robinson Day, the Yankees won in a game 4-2 in which the big hit came from a player named after the Hall of Famer and the save was recorded by the last player who will ever wear #42. Baseball can be pretty cool sometimes.
One Too Many Changeups
When the Yankees offense was in its heyday a few years ago, they wore pitchers down and forced them to throw a ton of pitches early in the game. They used the same approach to the extreme on Tuesday, forcing Diamondbacks right-hander Brandon McCarthy to throw 30 pitches in the first, 57 pitches through two innings, 66 pitches through three innings, and 98 pitches through four innings. They were relentless, the poor guy couldn’t get a quick out to save his life.
Of course, McCarthy allowed zero runs through the first three innings, dancing out of a bases loaded situation in both the first and second innings. Things unraveled in the fourth, when Lyle Overbay and Chris Stewart opened the inning with seeing-eye singles through the left side of the infield. I was worried the Yankees would have Brett Gardner bunt in that spot, but they let him swing away and the result was a strikeout. Considering what happened next, the strikeout was actually a good thing.
Robinson Cano came to the plate next, and McCarthy immediately fell behind in the count 3-0. He ran the count full by feeding Robbie changeup after changeup, but the fourth straight changeup and sixth pitch of the at-bat was a total mistake. It hung in the middle of the zone and Cano did what MVP-caliber players are supposed to do with that pitch: he hit into orbit. Three-run homer in the right field bleachers … no Yankee Stadium cheapie, no help from the wind, nothing. It was gone off the bat and the Yankees went from down two to up one just like that. Had Gardner bunted, Robinson almost certainly would have been intentionally walked to set up the double play. Hooray for not bunting.
Ivan No No Nova
I’ll take two runs in five innings out of my fifth starter every day of the week, but my goodness was Ivan Nova a chore to watch on Tuesday. He threw 94 pitches in five innings, including 72 pitches in the first three innings. Seventeen of the 24 batters he faced saw a first pitch strike, but 12 saw at least four pitches in their at-bats. It was basically the same stuff we saw against the Tigers a week ago, just against a much less potent lineup. Then again, not many teams can match the Detroit offense, so perhaps it’s not a big deal.
I do think the Yankees are starting to run out of patience with Nova, whose track record of success in the big leagues is basically the second half of 2011. I also don’t think he’s in imminent danger of losing his rotation spot, not with Andy Pettitte’s back acting up and Phil Hughes looking like a pitcher who missed basically all of Spring Training due to injury. Nine base-runners in five innings is pretty darn awful regardless of how many runs scored, and we really didn’t see any improvement from Nova’s first start to his second. He’ll get another chance to raise my blood pressure to dangerously high levels in five days.
The Bullpen Formula
The middle relief crew has been very shaky early this season, but the bullpen picked up Nova with four dynamite innings to close things out. Boone Logan retired all four men he faced (including two lefties) before Joba Chamberlain finished off the seventh by retiring both men he faced. David Robertson allowed a single in the eighth but otherwise threw a stress-free scoreless inning. That put the ball in Mariano Rivera’s hands, and as he’s done a couple hundred times before, he retired the final three batters of the game in order to secure the win.
Four innings of work, one base-runner (the single), three strikeouts. Damn near flawless effort from the bullpen in a close game, can’t really ask for much more. Considering how shaky the non-Robertson and Mo relievers have been so far, this was a very welcome sight. Hopefully it continues, I think we all know these guys are better than what they’ve shown the last two weeks.
Leftovers
The Yankees tacked on a rather big insurance run in the seventh, loading the bases with no outs before Eduardo Nunez lifted a sacrifice fly to left-center. Considering the two blown bases loaded opportunities earlier in the game, it sure was nice to see someone cash in a run there. New York went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position overall, but the one was Cano’s dinger.
Speaking of Robbie, his homer was part of a 2-for-4 with a walk night, meaning he has now gone 9-for-19 (.474) with four homers on Jackie Robinson Day in is career. Pretty great way to honor to man you were named after, no?
Gardner (double), Kevin Youkilis (two singles), Travis Hafner (two doubles), Ichiro Suzuki (single), Nunez (single), and Stewart (two singles) all had hits as well. Vernon Wells drew an unintentional walk while Cano and Ichiro (!) were given true free passes. They were put on intentionally.
Very nice gesture by the Yankees to play Sweet Caroline after the third inning in support of Boston. Sports rivalries mean nothing in real life.
Box Score, WPA Graph & Standings
MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs some other stats, and ESPN the updated standings.
Source: FanGraphs
Up Next
Same two teams on Wednesday night, when CC Sabathia gets the ball against NL Rookie of the Year runner-up Wade Miley. That starts a stretch of five lefty opposing starters in the next seven games. Check out RAB Tickets for any last-minute deals.
DePaula strikes out seven in third start
RHP Chien-Ming Wang will join the Triple-A Scranton rotation on Friday, the team announced. He had been working and getting stretched out in Tampa these last few weeks. I think it’s just a coincidence he’ll be lined up on the same day as Andy Pettitte, who is battling a back issue. Wang last pitched on Saturday and Friday gives him the typical extra day of rest.
C Austin Romine, meanwhile, is day-to-day after taking a foul pitch to the arm last night according to Donnie Collins.
Triple-A Scranton (1-0 win over Rochester)
- 2B Corban Joseph: 1-4, 1 R, 1 K
- CF Melky Mesa: 2-4, 1 3B
- LF Zoilo Almonte: 0-2, 2 BB — got picked off first … 12 walks in ten games after 25 walks in 106 games last year
- RF Thomas Neal: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 K
- RHP Mark Montgomery: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1/1 GB/FB — 19 of 32 pitches were strikes (59%) … 12 strikeouts in seven innings so far
- RHP Cody Eppley: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1/0 GB/FB — 11 of 19 pitches were strikes (58%)