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Rehab Updates: A-Rod, Pettitte, Nova, Aardsma

September 2, 2012 by Mike 10 Comments

A-Rod and Luis Sojo. Peas in a pod. (UPI/Mike Theiler )

The Yankees have an awful lot of players due to come back from injury this month, so here’s the latest on their rehab work courtesy of Marc Carig and Meredith Marakovits…

  • Alex Rodriguez (hand) will not play for High-A Tampa today after playing in two straight games, and will instead do a lot of work on the side. Joe Girardi indicated that it is very possible A-Rod will rejoin the team when they arrive in town to play the Rays tomorrow.
  • Andy Pettitte (leg) threw 35 pitches in the bullpen and felt good. The next step for him would be facing hitters in live batting practice, which I suppose could happen within a day or two. A simulated game and then a minor league rehab stint wouldn’t be too far behind if all goes well.
  • Ivan Nova (shoulder) threw a bullpen session as well, his first time since going on the DL about a week ago. Right now they’re just going to wait and see how his arm responds before determining the next step.
  • David Aardsma (elbow) will continue his rehab stint with Short Season Staten Island based on his Twitter feed. The High-A Tampa season ends today, but the SI Yanks play until Wednesday. After that, he could play in postseason games for the Triple-A or Double-A squads.

No update on Pedro Feliciano (shoulder), but he threw an inning for Staten Island on Friday and I suppose could do so again in the coming days. His 30-day rehab window expires on September 9th, so they have a week to determine if he’s big league ready.

Filed Under: Injuries Tagged With: Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, David Aardsma, Ivan Nova

Game 133: Make It Four

September 2, 2012 by Mike 744 Comments

(Jeff Zelevansky/Getty)

The Yankees and Orioles have split the first two games of this three-game set, and that’s good for the Yankees. Well, it’s more like the bare minimum than actually good. Baltimore hasn’t gained any ground in the standings despite two more days coming off the calendar, and the Bombers have a chance to push them to four games back in the division before going to Tampa. Here’s the lineup…

DH Derek Jeter
1B Nick Swisher
2B Robinson Cano
3B Eric Chavez
RF Raul Ibanez
C  Russell Martin
LF Ichiro Suzuki
CF Chris Dickerson
SS Jayson Nix

RHP Phil Hughes

This afternoon’s game is scheduled to start a little after 1pm ET and can be seen on YES locally and TBS nationally. Enjoy.

Filed Under: Game Threads

Girardi called team meeting following Friday’s loss

September 2, 2012 by Mike 13 Comments

Via Marc Carig, manager Joe Girardi called a team meeting following Friday night’s loss to the Orioles. Girardi was the only one to speak and he took a “reassuring tone,” just telling his club to relax. The meeting only lasted for a few minutes.

The Yankees have been playing what amounts to .500 ball since the All-Star break and have been especially crappy of late, yesterday’s win notwithstanding. A little talking to was certainly in order. Both Girardi and Brian Cashman held a team meeting back in May and the message was more of the same, but the Yankees went on to win five straight and 20 of their next 24. Let’s hope this meeting is just as effective as that one.

Filed Under: Asides Tagged With: Joe Girardi

Late rally helps Yankees to much-needed win

September 1, 2012 by Mike 45 Comments


Source: FanGraphs

Saturday afternoon’s game had all the makings of another lackluster loss, including poor pitching and a nonexistent offense. Instead, the bullpen picked up the struggling starter and the Yankees managed to mount a late-rally for an important win over the Orioles. Let’s recap…

  • Late-Rally: The Yankees didn’t get their first baserunner against Wei-Yin Chen until Robinson Cano hit a solo homer with two outs in the fourth, and they didn’t get two runners on-base at the same time until there were two outs in the seventh. Jayson Nix’s walk (after an 0-2 count) allowed September call-up Eduardo Nunez to single in Steve Pearce from second, then the trademark Yankees patience took over. Ichiro Suzuki drew a walk to load the bases, then Derek Jeter battled back from an 0-2 count to draw a bases loaded walk to tie the game. Nick Swisher worked the count full before lining the ball to short, where J.J. Hardy bobbled it and allowed the go-ahead run to score. The Yankees needed some breaks but five straight batters reached base with two outs to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead.
  • Unsung Hero: David Phelps absolutely didn’t have it (more on him in a bit), but the bullpen picked up the starter with 4.1 innings of one-hit ball. Cody Eppley entered the game with men on first and second with two outs in the fifth, and he escaped the jam with a fly ball. Boone Logan chipped in two scoreless innings, pitching around a bunt double (bah) and an intentional walk in the seventh. Once the Yankees took the lead, David Robertson and Rafael Soriano fired off perfect innings in the eighth and ninth, respectively. I’ve been trashing the bullpen — in my defense, just the middle relief — quite a bit recently, but those guys deserve some serious props for their work on Saturday.
  • Struggling Phelps: How he only allowed three runs in five innings, I’ll never know. Phelps was brutally ineffective in his 4.2 innings, walking six (!) against just three strikeouts. He allowed just three hits, one of which was a Matt Wieters solo homer. It was easily his worst start of the season and the first time Phelps walked more than four batters in his entire pro career (Majors or minors). That’s kinda crazy. He also plunked a batter for ten baserunners out of 21 batters faced. Yikes. Shake it off, David.
  • Leftovers: The Yankees only had four hits — the homer by Cano and singles by Pearce, Nunez, and Swisher — but both Jeter and Swisher had hits taken away by diving outfielders in the first … three of their four walks came with two outs in that seventh inning, the other earlier in the game by Nix … Curtis Granderson left the game after two innings with “mild tendinitis” in his calf … Phelps picked a runner off first but also threw a ball away on another pickoff attempt … Nix was charged an error for a poor throw on a barehand play, but I thought it was a harsh error and should have gone to Pearce for failing to make the scoop.

MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, ESPN the updated standings. The lead over the Orioles jumps back up to three in the loss column while the Rays are five back. The magic number is down to 28, so maybe I should get the counter up soon. Let’s see how things go on Sunday afternoon first. Phil Hughes gets the ball against Chris Tillman in the matinee. Check out RAB Tickets for some last-minute details if you want to catch the game.

Filed Under: Game Stories

Trenton clinches division with Garcia’s big night

September 1, 2012 by Mike 23 Comments

Notes!…

  • With their roster depleted due to September call-ups, Triple-A Empire State received LHP Matt Tracy and IF Yadil Mujica from High-A Tampa today. IF Doug Bernier and C R.J. Baker were also activated off the DL. I wouldn’t ready anything into the Tracy promotion, just typical end of season roster-filling stuff.
  • In other promotion news, all of the following have been promoted to Double-A Trenton: OF Tyler Austin, OF Ramon Flores, LHP Nik Turley, RHP Zach Nuding, RHP Tommy Kahnle, and RHP Branden Pinder. Expect to see a few of the current Thunder players (coughMarkMontgomerycough) bumped up to Triple-A as the top two levels get reinforcements for the postseason.
  • Austin earned some love in the In The Team Photo section of this week’s Prospect Hot Sheet. He hit a go-ahead grand slam with two outs in the ninth two days ago to help keep High-A Tampa’s playoff hopes alive. Not quite Hot Sheet worthy, but still ridiculous.
  • The Yankees have signed SS Dan Fiorito as an undrafted free agent out of Manhattanville College, reports Chad Jennings. No word on the bonus, but it’s unlikely to be anything significant. This isn’t another Daniel Aldrich situation.

Triple-A Empire State (2-0 loss to Pawtucket) their season ends Monday, though they’ve already clinched the division title
3B Kevin Russo: 0-4
2B Corban Joseph & LF Ronnie Mustelier: both 1-4 — CoJo doubled … Mustelier struck out
1B Kosuke Fukudome, CF Melky Mesa, C Gus Molina & SS Doug Bernier: all 0-3 — Fukudome walked … Mesa struck out twice, Bernier thrice
RF Cole Garner & DH Darnell McDonald: both 1-3 — McDonald struck out and got picked off first
RHP Chase Whitley: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HB, 4/3 GB/FB — 30 of 47 pitches were strikes (64%) … spot started with Adam Warren now in the big leagues
RHP Kelvin Perez: 2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 2/1 GB/FB — 25 of 43 pitches were strikes (58%)
LHP Juan Cedeno: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 4/1 GB/FB — 17 of 23 pitches were strikes (74%)

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Down on the Farm

A-Rod hitless in second minor league rehab game

September 1, 2012 by Mike 10 Comments

In his second minor league rehab game with High-A Tampa, Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. He flew out to right and grounded out to third as well. A-Rod only had to make one play in the field at third base after serving as the DH on Friday.

Apparently there has been some chatter that Alex could rejoin the Yankees when they arrive in Tampa to play the Rays next week, though that does strike me as a little optimistic after just three or four minor league rehab games. We’ll see. Right now the important thing is that his fractured hand is doing well and he’s getting some reps against live pitching.

Filed Under: Asides, Injuries Tagged With: Alex Rodriguez

Saturday Night Open Thread

September 1, 2012 by Mike 75 Comments

(Jeff Zelevansky/Getty)

I don’t want to make too much of one game, but that was a really big win this afternoon. The Yankees were staring a one-game division lead in the face as late as the seventh inning, but they rallied late to hand the Orioles their first one-run loss since June 20th. June 20th! That’s insane. Three of Baltimore’s seven one-run losses on the season have come courtesy of New York. Now the Yankees are guaranteed to go into Tampa with at least a two-game lead on Monday, but I would much rather it be four. Let’s worry about that tomorrow and just enjoy the win.

It’s gorgeous outside (in New York, anyway), so I hope you’re out enjoying the evening and the long holiday weekend. If you have some time to kill, use this as your open thread. The Mets are playing the Marlins (Hefner vs. Johnson) and MLB Network will air a game as well. Who you see depends on where you live. I’m sure there’s a bunch of college football on as well. Talk about whatever you like here.

Filed Under: Other Teams

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