River Avenue Blues

3/5 Camp Notes: Sabathia, Rivera, Hughes, Cuts

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Dan Johnson will be spending a lot more time at first base the next few weeks. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
We’re going to be seeing more of Dan Johnson for at least the next two weeks. (AP)

The Yankees lost to the Braves tonight, but really the game is secondary to all the injury problems that are starting to pile up. Brett Gardner led the way with two more hits — he’s hitting .579 this spring — while Ichiro doubled and both Ronnie Mustelier and Corban Joseph singled. Add in some walks by Travis Hafner (two), Eduardo Nunez (two), and Jayson Nix (one), and that’s the offense right there. David Phelps allowed one run in four innings while Joba Chamberlain and Shawn Kelley threw perfect frames. Mark Montgomery allowed four of the five batters he faced to reach base (single, two walks, hit by pitch) and that’s pretty much it. Here is the box score and here is the rest from Tampa…

  • In addition to the Mark Teixeira (wrist), David Robertson (trouble loosening up), and Adonis Garcia (wrist) injury concerns, Robinson Cano was hit by a ground ball in foul territory while at third base for Team Dominican Republic this afternoon. He’s fine, but my goodness. [Matt Gelb]
  • CC Sabathia threw two innings in a simulated game early in the afternoon (33 total pitches) and everything went fine. He will throw another simulated game on Sunday rather than face the division rival Blue Jays in that day’s Grapefruit League game. Meanwhile, Andy Pettitte and Ivan Nova threw bullpen sessions. [Andy McCullough & Chad Jennings]
  • There’s a chance Mariano Rivera will pitch in tomorrow’s game, but that’s not set in stone. If he doesn’t, he wouldn’t pitch until Saturday because the Yankees are on the road both Thursday and Friday. Mo doesn’t do travel. [Sweeny Murti & Jennings]
  • Phil Hughes has been given the okay to stretch his flat ground sessions out to 90-feet after everything went well yesterday. He said he could get up on a mound right now and be fine, but the team is being cautious for obvious reasons. [Jennings]
  • Manny Banuelos continues to throw off flat ground as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery. He started playing catch last month and based on the typical rehab schedule, he’s still a few weeks from throwing off a mound. [George King]
  • Top prospect and catcher Gary Sanchez headlines the latest round of the roster cuts. IF David Adams, 1B Greg Bird, SS Cito Culver, 3B/OF Rob Segedin, OF Tyler Austin, C Francisco Arcia, and C Kyle Higashioka were also sent to the minor league fields. The Yankees still have 66 (!) players in big league camp.

The Yankees are playing Cano and the rest of the Dominican Republic team tomorrow afternoon at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Hiroki Kuroda gets that start and the game will be available on YES and MLB Network (no local blackout).

Robertson scratched from tonight’s game, had trouble loosening up

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11:02pm: Robertson told Sweeny Murti that he just slept on his arm wrong and was a little achy, nothing more. They’ll see how he feels tomorrow.

9:51pm: Via Dan Barbarisi: David Robertson was scratched from tonight’s scheduled appearance because he had trouble getting loose in the bullpen. Brian Cashman says it’s a low-level thing and he isn’t concerned, they were just being cautious. Still. Ugh. Rain, pours, yadda yadda yadda.

Update: Teixeira removed from Team USA roster due to wrist strain

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9:48pm: Brian Cashman told Dan Barbarisi that Teixeira felt a “pop” in his wrist and he’s concerned because wrists are tricky. Either way, the first baseman will be shutdown for a minimum of two weeks.

6:27pm: The Yankees are officially calling it a right wrist sprain and say Teixeira will be evaluated by two doctors in New York tomorrow.

5:08pm: Danny Knobler says Teixeira has a strained forearm and will miss 7-10 days. The Yankees doctors still need to look at him though.

4:47pm: Jon Morosi confirms that Teixeira will indeed be removed from the Team USA roster. Apparently it’s more of a wrist/hand issue than a forearm issue, which is like ten times worse.

4:16pm: Mark Teixeira was been scratched from Team USA’s exhibition lineup this afternoon due to discomfort in his right forearm. Joe Girardi told reporters he felt it during batting practice and while x-rays are negative, he is headed for more tests with the Yankees doctors. There’s a decent chance he’ll be leaving the World Baseball Classic all together. It goes without saying how bad a serious injury to Teixeira would be. Fingers crossed.

Adonis Garcia to have surgery on broken hamate bone

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We can eliminate one player from outfield competition. Adonis Garcia broke the hamate bone in his left wrist during batting practice on Sunday and will have surgery on Thursday, the Yankees announced. He’ll miss 6-8 weeks according to Chad Jennings. Hamate injuries are notorious for sapping power and that figures to be the case for Garcia since the left hand is his bottom hand as a right-handed hitter. The Yankees still have plenty of outfield candidates, so it’s not a huge loss in that sense.

Spring Training Game Thread: Under the Lights

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(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

For the first time in 2013, the Yankees are playing a night game. The Braves and their ridiculously awesome outfield are in town for the nightcap, though B.J. Upton will be at DH rather than his customary center field. Yankees fans have seen enough of him over the years though, Justin Upton and Jason Heyward are where it’s at. You can make a really strong case they are two of the three best 25-and-under corner outfielders in baseball along with Giancarlo Stanton, and Atlanta has both (and the elder Upton) under control for the next three years. Jealous.

Anyway, the Yankees are coming off their first Spring Training off-day and the name of the game right now is survival. Curtis Granderson is out until May with a fractured forearm and this afternoon Mark Teixeira had to leave Team USA because of a forearm strain. Between that stuff and Phil Hughes’ back, let’s just get through the rest of the week with no more injuries, okay? Okay. Here’s the lineup…

  1. CF Brett Gardner
  2. LF Ichiro Suzuki
  3. 2B Jayson Nix
  4. DH Travis Hafner
  5. SS Eduardo Nunez
  6. C Chris Stewart
  7. 1B Dan Johnson
  8. RF Zoilo Almonte
  9. 3B Corban Joseph

And on the mound is the right-hander from suburban St. Louis, David Phelps. Here are tonight’s second stringers, courtesy of Chad Jennings.

Available Pitchers: RHP David Robertson, RHP Joba Chamberlain, RHP Branden Pinder, LHP Francisco Rondon, RHP Mark Montgomery, and RHP Shawn Kelley are all scheduled to come out of the bullpen.

Available Position Players: C J.R. Murphy, 1B Luke Murton, 2B Jose Pirela, SS Addison Maruszak, LF Ramon Flores, CF Melky Mesa, and RF Thomas Neal will all come off the bench. I guess Hafner and Joseph will play all nine innings.

Tonight’s game is scheduled to start a little after 7pm ET and can be seen on YES and MLB.tv (no local blackouts). Enjoy.

Yankees sign Chris Bootcheck to minor league deal

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Via Chris Cotillo: The Yankees have signed right-hander Chris Bootcheck to a minor league contract. Cotillo says it was a split contract but no way. Bootcheck is listed on the minor league workout groups but not on the 40-man roster. Minor league deal all the way.

Bootcheck, 34, has not pitched in the big leagues since 2009 with the Pirates. He posted a 4.06 ERA (3.00 FIP) with a 10.76 K/9 (25.9 K%) in 44.1 relief innings for the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate last year. His walk rate (5.28 BB/9 and 12.7 BB%) was astronomical though, which has been a career-long problem. Bootcheck has started seven games in the last six years, so he won’t be that veteran starter the Yankees want to stash in Triple-A. He’s just emergency bullpen depth.

2013 Season Preview: The First Basemen

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Starting this week and continuing through the end of the Spring Training, we’re going to preview the Yankees position-by-position and on a couple of different levels.

(Star-Ledger)
(Star-Ledger)

The Yankees have only had four regular first baseman over the last 20 years, so the position has become pretty low-maintenance in the Bronx. That doesn’t make it any less important though, and this summer the club will have to rely on the most recent of those four first baseman to anchor their offense and be a steadying presence in the lineup. Robinson Cano is clearly the team’s best hitter, but he can’t do it all himself.

The Starter
There’s no doubt Mark Teixeira is one of the most important Yankees heading into the 2013 season. The club lost quite a bit of offense this winter and will be without Curtis Granderson for the month of April, meaning they can’t afford another one of Teixeira’s customary slow starts — during his four years in the Bronx, Tex has hit .209/.336/.386 in April and .271/.361/.525 in the other five months of the season. Perhaps playing in the World Baseball Classic this spring will break that trend, but I’m not counting on it.

Teixeira, who will turn 33 a few days into the season, has all but abandoned any hope of getting back to being the all-fields hitter he was prior to the 2010 season. The short porch in right field was too enticing and he completely changed his approach as a left-handed hitter, opting to pull the ball in the air rather than just drive it wherever it was pitched. That approach is great for power but lousy for everything else, as the shift and routine fly balls have sapped his batting average and by extension, his on-base percentage. Teixeira tried to get back to hitting to all-fields last year and the result was a lot of weak fly balls the other way, so the damage to his left-handed swing is been done. He remains an above-average hitter (116 wRC+ in 2012) but is now just a one-dimensional one.

On the other side of the ball, Teixeira has few peers in the field and is one of baseball’s best defensive first baseman. His range actually kinda stinks thanks to his thick lower half and utter lack of foot speed, but he sucks up every ball he can reach and is as good a thrower as you’ll find at the position. The total package is an above-average player but not an elite one despite his salary, and Teixeira is aware of that. The Yankees desperately need him to stay healthy and be productive this summer.

The Backup
With the bench still unsettled, Teixeira’s backup right now is third baseman Kevin Youkilis. Given the team’s lack of hot corner alternatives, I’m guessing the bench will feature a more clearly defined backup first baseman such as 33-year-old Dan Johnson or even 34-year-old Juan Rivera, who played more games at first (54) than in the outfield last year (46). Either way, Teixeira has been a lock for 155+ games played for most of his career and will be counted on for that many in 2013. There will be no platoons or experiments here, Teixeira is the guy. If he gets hurt and misses a few weeks, the drop-off between him and his replacement — or the replacement third baseman with Youkilis sliding over to first — is considerable.

Knocking on the Door
Johnson could either make the team or open the season in Triple-A — I don’t think either would be much of a surprise. If he does open the year on the bench in New York, 26-year-old Luke Murton would get the call as the regular first baseman for Triple-A Scranton. Matt’s little brother hit .249/.327/.464 (117 wRC+) with 25 homers in 526 plate appearances for Double-A Trenton last year, though he isn’t much of a prospect because he struggles against breaking balls and isn’t much of a defender. The righty hitting/righty throwing first baseman is one of baseball’s weakest historical profiles, so Murton is at an even greater disadvantage. He is technically knocking on the door of the big leagues since he’ll be with the Triple-A squad, but I wouldn’t expect to see him wearing pinstripes this year or any other year for that matter.

(Andy Cross, The Denver Post)
Once a catcher, but not any more. (Denver Post)

The Top Prospect
I didn’t rank a single first base prospect in my preseason top 30 list and that’s no accident. It’s a low priority position and very few players are actually drafted and developed as first baseman. Most move there from other more high-profile positions as a last resort. Prince Fielder is the most notable exception.

Anyway, New York’s best first base prospect — 20-year-old Greg Bird — has indeed moved to the position because he couldn’t handle catching full-time due to a back injury. The left-handed hitter owns a .307/.418/.446 (~159 wRC+) career batting line since signing for $1.1M as the team’s fifth round pick in 2011, but unfortunately that performance has come in only 122 plate appearances. Bird offers power and patience and he can really hit, but he’s going to have to keep producing since he’s already relegated to the lowest priority position before his 21st birthday.

The Deep Sleeper
As I said, there aren’t many first base prospects worth knowing throughout the game in general, nevermind in Yankees’ system. Bird is their best prospect at the position by a big margin, but last summer’s tenth round pick Matt Snyder could be a breakout candidate this summer. The 22-year-old hit .299/.397/.428 (147 wRC+) with more walks (26) than strikeouts (19) in 219 plate appearances for Short Season Staten Island last year, but therein lies the rub: his season ended prematurely because of a broke wrist. Wrist injuries tend to linger and impact power output for a year or so, meaning Snyder’s breakout potential is limited.

* * *

The Yankees are setup well at first base with Teixeira, though his production has slipped and he’s no longer the two-way force he was earlier in his career. He’s more of a great complementary player than a cornerstone, which kinda sucks because there is still four years left on his contract. The team lacks first base prospects — specifically at the upper levels of the minor leagues — but that’s not really a big deal at this point. They are going to live and die with Teixeira for the foreseeable future thanks to his contract anyway.

Other Previews: Catchers