NY Yankees News, Information & Community

Betances unable to escape the first on Sunday

April 14, 2013 by Mike 22 Comments

RHP Jose Ramirez threw four innings and 60 pitches in a simulated game the other day according to Josh Norris. I’m not exactly sure why he started the year on the DL, but it can’t be anything serious if he’s pitching in games. Ramirez should join Double-A Trenton relatively soon.

Triple-A Scranton Game One (6-1 loss to Buffalo in seven innings) makeup of one of this week’s rainouts

2B Corban Joseph: 1-3, 1 R — bit of a slow start to the year, still waiting for his first extra-base hit
3B David Adams: 1-3
LF Zoilo Almonte: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 K
C Austin Romine & CF Melky Mesa: both 0-3 — Romine struck out
RHP Dellin Betances: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 WP — 22 of 41 pitches were strikes (54%) … I’m sure it was just the long layoff due to all the rainouts, right?
RHP Ryan Pope: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 3/1 GB/FB — 30 of 48 pitches were strikes (63%) … he also picked a runner off first

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Game 11: Rubber Game

April 14, 2013 by Mike 577 Comments

Early-season games against the Orioles haven’t meant much in recent years, but Baltimore’s surprising success in 2012 and what we expect will be a tight AL East race this summer means every game against a division rival is very important. The Yankees and O’s have split the first two games of the series and you know both teams are hoping to walk away with a series win. If the Bombers are going to have any shot at contention this year, these are the games they need to win. Here’s the lineup that will face left-hander Wei-Yin Chen…

CF Brett Gardner
LF Vernon Wells
2B Robinson Cano
3B Kevin Youkilis
DH Ben Francisco
RF Brennan Boesch
C Frankie Cervelli
1B Lyle Overbay
SS Jayson Nix

And on the mound is the 2006 Nippon Pro Baseball ERA champion, Hiroki Kuroda.

Tonight’s game is scheduled to start a little after 8pm ET and can be seen on ESPN. The weather in New York is fine, just a little chilly, in case you are still weather paranoid after all the rain issues earlier this week. Enjoy the game.

Pettitte’s next start pushed back to Friday

April 14, 2013 by Mike 9 Comments

The Yankees have pushed Andy Pettitte’s next start back to Friday, Joe Girardi confirmed this afternoon. Ivan Nova, CC Sabathia, and Phil Hughes will start against the Diamondbacks next week (in that order) following Monday’s off-day.

Pettitte, 40, had his last start pushed back after his back stiffened up on him last week. He was scheduled to throw a bullpen session today, and Girardi confirmed the decision to push Andy back again was just an extra precaution. The Yankees could push Pettitte back one more day to Saturday if needed (Hiroki Kuroda could start Friday on normal rest), but if he can’t go on Saturday they’ll need to come up with another starter for that game.

Keith Law scouts Low-A Charleston

April 14, 2013 by Mike 113 Comments

Campos. (Photo via Charleston River Dogs)

As I mentioned last night, Keith Law was in attendance for Low-A Charleston’s loss to Augusta on Saturday. He posted his scouting notes today (subs. req’d), so here’s a quick recap…

RHP Jose Campos showed “reduced stuff and an arm action that seems destined for further injuries or a role in the bullpen.” He settled at 89-92 with below-average command, pretty much the opposite of what made his such an exciting prospect a year ago. His breaking ball and changeup are still works in progress. “This was far from an ideal look,” said Law, acknowledging Campos missed basically all of last year due to injury, “but what I saw didn’t give me a ton of hope.”
3B Dante Bichette Jr. is “a mess on both sides of the ball,” and Law said SS Cito Culver was “running worse than I’ve ever seen from him.” 1B Greg Bird “didn’t seem to be able to pick up anything” at the plate.
OF Yeicok Calderon has “bat speed and a strong arm, but his hands are all over the place at the plate and the Augusta pitchers blew him up with velocity.”
LHP Evan Rutckyj sat in the 89-91 range with a “fringy changeup and a slider at 80-82 that might give him a chance in middle relief.”

A-Rod cleared to begin running on a treadmill

April 14, 2013 by Mike 29 Comments

Via Bryan Hoch & Ben Walker: Alex Rodriguez was recently cleared to begin running slowly on a treadmill. Obviously full speed is still a ways off. “I was not aware he was coming (to Yankee Stadium yesterday) but he was in the dugout. I talked to him, I hadn’t seen him since last homestand. He said that he’s doing more and more each day. And although it was slow he actually got on a treadmill the other day and he was pretty fired up about that,” said Joe Girardi.

Rodriguez, 37, had his left hip surgery in January and is expected to be out until at least the All-Star break, so he’s still three or so months away from returning to the lineup. Of course no one knows what to expect from A-Rod following his second hip procedure, and who knows what will come from MLB’s investigation into Biogenesis and Anthony Bosch, which has certainly taken a turn for the weird recently. Anyway, the rehab process continues.

Sanchez homers twice in Tampa win

April 13, 2013 by Mike 22 Comments

According to his Twitter feed, LHP Clay Rapada threw a simulated game today. He’s still working his way back from shoulder bursitis, but he’ll join Triple-A Scranton at some point. The Yankees can’t bring him up to the big leagues until May 3rd at the earliest because the release and re-sign rules are dumb.

Meanwhile, Chien-Ming Wang threw 5.2 scoreless innings in an Extended Spring Training start today according to Ben Walker. It was his second ExST outing. I imagine he’ll join Triple-A Scranton relatively soon, maybe within two weeks.

Triple-A Scranton was rained out for the fourth consecutive game. I’ve lost track of when they’re going to make all these games up. It’ll happen eventually.

Double-A Trenton (3-0 win over Richmond)

CF Ramon Flores: 0-3 — Slade Heathcott is going to be out for a bit with his neck issue, but it doesn’t sound like a DL thing
RF Tyler Austin: 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB
1B Kyle Roller: 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI — quietly has a hit in every game so far this season
DH Rob Segedin, LF Neil Medchill & C Kyle Higashioka: all 2-4 — Medchill struck out once, Higashioka twice
LHP Matt Tracy: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 6/2 GB/FB — 48 of 87 pitches were strikes (55%), plus he picked a runner off first … much better than his nightmare first start of the season, when he didn’t make it out of the first
RHP Danny Burawa: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1/0 GB/FB — 24 of 36 pitches were strikes (67%)
RHP Tommy Kahnle: 1 IP, zeroes, 2 K, 1/0 GB/FB — nine of 14 pitches were strikes

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Hughes rocked as four-game winning streak comes to an end

April 13, 2013 by Mike 39 Comments

The first winning streak of the new season has come to an end, as the Orioles beat the Yankees in a mostly forgettable Saturday matinee. Unlike Friday night, there were no catastrophic dropped fly balls by Adam Jones or triple plays turned by all four infielders, it was a rather generic 5-3 loss.

Phooling No One
The Orioles pounded Phil Hughes and there was no silver lining at all. He faced 19 hitters and allowed three doubles, three homers, three singles (one off the wall), and two walks (both on four pitches). Fourteen of the 19 hitters did see a first pitch strike, but only one of his 60 pitches generated a swing and a miss (1.7%). That’s awful. Hughes had nothing working and the Baltimore hitters did a good job of making sure everyone knew. He was throwing batting practice.

At this time last year I was practically begging the Yankees to pull Phil from the rotation and stick him back in the bullpen, but they didn’t listen and were rewarded with the strong final 20-something starts to end the season. I’ve learned my lesson and won’t demand Hughes to be taken out of the rotation, but the team is in a more dire situation and can’t really wait around forever for him to figure it out. The division race figures to be very tight and every game is too important. I know he had the back trouble in camp and everything, but Phil is going to have to show some improvement and soon. These first two starts won’t cut it.

Bailed Out
David Phelps did an excellent job of cleaning up Hughes’ mess in the fourth — inherited a runner on second with no outs, then escaped the inning with a grounder and two strikeouts — before throwing three more scoreless innings of his own to keep the Yankees in the game. He allowed two base runners (hit-by-pitch and a single, and the runner was thrown out at second trying to stretch it into a double) and struck out six in the four innings of work. Thirty-seven of his 55 pitches were strikes, including six swings and misses (10.9%). Couldn’t ask for much more from your long reliever.

Joba Chamberlain (one single) and David Robertson (retired all three men he faced) each tossed a scoreless inning to further give the Yankees a chance to mount a comeback. All told, the bullpen allowed just three base runners (hit batsman and two singles) with no walks and seven strikeouts in six innings of work. Rock solid and exactly what the team needed.

Not Enough Offense
The Yankees actually had more opportunities to score than I realized. A Travis Hafner solo homer and a Lyle Overbay bloop single — scoring Frankie Cervelli, who was on second base following an Orioles error — led to two runs in the second before Vernon Wells hit a solo homer in the sixth. That was New York’s three runs right there.

In their other seven innings, the Yankees put seven men on-base and stranded runners in scoring position in the third (runner on second, one out), fourth (first and second, one out), seventh (runner on second, two outs), and eighth (first and second, two outs). Their best opportunity came in the eighth, when pinch-hitter Brennan Boesch struck out against Darren O’Day while representing the go-ahead run with two outs. They had some chances but couldn’t capitalize. So it goes.

Leftovers
It wasn’t nearly as fun as Jorge Posada playing second base a few years ago, but Robinson Cano spent the ninth inning at shortstop after Jayson Nix was lifted for the pinch-hitter one inning earlier. It was the first time he played any position other than second base as a big leaguer and his first time playing short since 2003, when he was in Double-A. Robbie didn’t have to make any defensive plays, nor did Cervelli, who moved from catcher to second base for that one inning. That would have been fun.

Hughes allowed one run in the second inning and escaped further damage thanks to a great relay play from Ichiro Suzuki and Cano, who made a pair of quick throws to get Nate McLouth at the plate by a good ten feet for the third out. I don’t know if the third base coach sent him home of if McLouth blew through the stop sign, but it was an awful decision given how terrible Hughes was pitching.

Cano stayed hot with a single and double, and he’s now 11-for-19 (.579) with four doubles and three homers since the start of the Indians series. He’s en fuego. Wells (homer and single), Cervelli (two singles), and Overbay (two singles) all had multiple hits as well. Brett Gardner had a drag bunt single and for the first time as a Yankee, Kevin Youkilis was held hitless. Took ten games for that to happen.

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

Source: FanGraphs

Up Next
Rubber game on Sunday night, the ESPN game, when Hiroki Kuroda gets the ball against Wei-Yin Chen. Kuroda had an abbreviated first start due to the line drive off his fingertips and he had the really battle through 5+ innings in his second start, so hopefully he’ll shake off any lingering effects and get back to being the guy we saw for most of last season. Check out RAB Tickets for last-minute ticket deals.