NY Yankees News, Information & Community

DotF: Higashioka homers; Gamel, Frazier, Refsnyder each have two hits in Scranton’s loss

August 17, 2016 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

Both C Gary Sanchez (two homers in MLB) and LHP Justus Sheffield (another strong start in High-A) made an appearance in today’s Prospect Report after their big games yesterday. As always, it’s not behind the Baseball America paywall, so check it out.

Triple-A Scranton (10-6 loss to Norfolk)

LF Ben Gamel: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB — 14-for-32 (.434) during his eight-game hitting streak
RF Clint Frazier: 2-5, 1 R — 11-for-36 (.306) in his last nine games
3B Rob Refsnyder: 2-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 K — fourth game since being sent down … he’s played two at second and two at third
1B Chris Parmelee: 0-3, 1 K — left the game in the sixth inning … Shane Hennigan says Parmelee had back spasms
CF Mason Williams: 1-4
C Kyle Higashioka: 2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI — here’s video of the homer
RHP Brady Lail: 3.2 IP, 10 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HB, 4/2 GB/FB — 49 of 76 pitches were strikes (64%) … managed to allow four homers … ouch
RHP Johnny Barbato: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 3/2 GB/FB — 24 of 40 pitches were strikes (60%) … he’s been working longer outings of late … looks like they’re stretching him out a bit so he can go two or three innings at a time if necessary in September
RHP Nick Goody: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 2/1 GB/FB — 28 of 40 pitches were strikes (70%) … 28/1 K/BB in 18.1 innings in Triple-A this year (32/12 K/BB in 27.2 innings in MLB)

[Read more…]

Thursday Wednesday Night Open Thread

August 17, 2016 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

I missed this the other day: David Laurila interviewed righty Ben Heller when the Yankees were in Boston last week. Heller came over from the Indians in the Andrew Miller trade and was called up for a few days last week, though he did not appear in a game. I’m certain we’ll see him again when rosters expand in September. Maybe even sooner.

Anyway, here is the open thread for the night. ESPN is showing the Red Sox and Orioles, and the Mets are playing out on the West Coast later tonight. The Olympics are on too. Talk about those games, this afternoon’s loss, or anything else here. Have at it.

Sanchez’s homer not enough, Yanks drop finale 7-4 to Jays

August 17, 2016 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

Boy do the Blue Jays know how to humble the Yankees or what? After blowing a 6-0 lead Wednesday night, the Yankees got pushed around by Toronto and dropped Thursday afternoon’s series finale 7-4. The Blue Jays outscored the Yankees 19-4 in the final 13 innings of the series. The Yankees are 7-18 against the Blue Jays since last year’s trade deadline, including 3-10 at Yankee Stadium. They’ve been outscored 119-71 in the 25 games. Men against boys.

An Early Deficit
The Blue Jays bludgeoned New York’s bullpen last night, scoring 12 runs in the final four innings of the game, and they picked up right where they left off Thursday afternoon. Toronto struck quick for three runs in the second inning and the bottom of the order did most of the damage. That’s annoying. The top of their lineup is so good and you expect them to create runs. Letting the bottom of the order do it too is no good. That’s going to lead to a loss more times than not.

The second inning rally started with a Troy Tulowitzki single inside the first base bag, then CC Sabathia walked the baseball player former known as B.J. Upton. The Blue Jays were in business with one out, and Ezequiel Carrera took advantage with a loud double off the left field wall. Brett Gardner played the carom perfectly and prevented the the second run from scoring on the play, but ultimately it did not matter. Darwin Barney, the No. 8 hitter, poked a double just inside third base to score two runs. Just like that, it was 3-0 Toronto.

The Short-Lived Comeback
The Yankees did manage to chip away some in the middle innings. Gary Sanchez hit yet another home run in the second inning, his third in the last 24 hours and fourth in the last fourth games. This one was a bomb to dead center field. Here’s the video:

My favorite thing about Sanchez so far is that all five of his home runs have been moonshots. He hasn’t hit a wall-scraper yet. Sanchez got the Yankees back to within 3-1, then Starlin Castro closed the gap to 3-2 with a fourth inning solo home run. That was his 15th homer of the season, a new career high. Castro still has another 42 games to add to that total. Thanks to the two dingers, the comeback was on!

Extra Outs
The game got away from the Yankees in the fifth inning, when the defense completely screwed over Sabathia. They gave the Blue Jays three extra outs. Three! The inning started with a soft ground ball to short by Devon Travis, but Didi Gregorius got his feet tangled and fell down, and was unable to make the throw to first. The next batter, Josh Donaldson, hit a soft grounder to Chase Headley, who threw to second. Travis beat it out (pretty easily, too) and everyone was safe. The play developed slowly and I thought Headley should have gone to first while watching live. The outcome confirms it.

Those are the first two extra outs. Edwin Encarnacion following Donaldson’s grounder to third with another grounder to third, and this time Headley stepped on third base for the first out (hooray!) before throwing the ball over Tyler Austin‘s head at first base (boo!). It should have been a double play. Instead they only got one out. There’s the third extra out. And of course the Blue Jays made the Yankees pay. Russell Martin singled in a run and Upton whacked a three-run home run into the short porch to make it 7-2 Blue Jays. Sabathia isn’t good enough to escape six-out innings anymore. Brutal job by the defense and Headley especially.

Leftovers
Sabathia finished the afternoon with seven runs allowed in six innings. His ERA has ballooned from 2.20 to 4.49 in his last eleven starts. Sabathia’s resurgence was fun while it lasted. On the bright side, CC struck out 12 batters, his most since striking out a dozen Rays in June 2012. Sabathia is the first pitcher with 7+ earned runs and 12+ strikeouts in a game since rookie Cole Hamels in 2006.

The Yankees did manage to bring the tying run to the plate at one point. Headley hit a solo homer to make it 7-3 in the sixth, then Aaron Judge singled in a run to make it 7-4 in the eighth. Roberto Osuna struck out Gregorius with two on to end that eighth inning. Not a great afternoon for Didi. He went 0-for-4 with a double play, two strikeouts, and four runners left on base, plus got his feet twisted up in that fifth inning.

The 2-3-4-5 hitters led the way offensively: Headley, Castro, Sanchez, and Judge each had two hits and drove in a run. Headley, Castro, and Sanchez homered. Sanchez drew a walk too. The bottom four hitters in the lineup went a combined 0-for-16 with seven strikeouts. Ouch. The Yankees aren’t good enough to win games when a chunk of the lineup does that.

Kirby Yates, Tommy Layne, and Anthony Swarzak each tossed a scoreless inning once Sabathia’s afternoon was over. Swarzak tossed the ninth with the Yankees down 7-4. It’s pretty amazing he’s not only still on the roster, but is also pitching in games that are still reasonably within reach.

And finally, the Blue Jays have now won five straight series in Yankee Stadium. Five! The last visiting team to win five straight series in the Bronx was the Indians, who did it from 1967-69. Yikes!

Box Score, WPA Graph & Standings
Go to ESPN for both the box score and updated standings, and MLB.com for the video highlights. Don’t miss our Bullpen Workload and Announcer Standings pages. Here’s the sad loss probability graph:

Source: FanGraphs

Up Next
The homestand is over and the Yankees are now heading out on a six-game West Coast trip. But first: an off-day. The Yankees don’t play Thursday. The West Coast trip starts Friday night in Anaheim with the first of three against the Angels. Masahiro Tanaka and Jered Weaver are the scheduled starters.

Teixeira says he is “staying put” and won’t accept a trade

August 17, 2016 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

According to Dan Martin and Fred Kerber, Mark Teixeira will not waive his 10-and-5 no-trade protection this month, even if it gives him an opportunity to go to a team with a chance to win the World Series. “You know, (GM Brian Cashman) and I have talked about it, and it’s not something that I think would benefit me or the Yankees. So no, I’m staying put,” he said.

Two weeks ago Teixeira announced he will retire after the season, and with the Yankees on the postseason bubble at best and Tyler Austin now on the roster, I thought maybe he would be open to going elsewhere. Then again, Teixeira and his family live in the New York full-time, and he might not want to leave them, even for a few weeks. I wouldn’t blame him if that’s the case.

Of course, the other side of this is what teams would want Teixeira? The Marlins immediately come to mind. First baseman Justin Bour is out long-term with an ankle injury and Giancarlo Stanton’s season just ended due to a groin injury. Miami has a clear need for a first baseman and power. The Cardinals just lost Matt Adams to a shoulder injury, making them another potential landing spot.

Cashman told Martin and Kerber that while the Yankees didn’t actively shop Teixeira, his willingness to mentor the team’s young players is more valuable than anything they could realistically get in return. I can’t imagine they’d get more than a fringe prospect or cash for Teixeira at this point, so why not keep him to mentor guys like Austin, Aaron Judge, and Gary Sanchez? That sounds good to me. Just maybe don’t bat him cleanup all the time.

For now Teixeira says he doesn’t want to leave the Yankees, but maybe he’ll change his mind if the team really falls out of the race and/or Austin starts hogging all the time at first base. Two weeks from yesterday is the deadline to acquire a player and have him be eligible for the postseason roster, so there’s still some time for this to play out. Right now, my guess is Teixeira retires a Yankee.

Game 120: End of the Homestand

August 17, 2016 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

This homestand felt longer than it really was, didn’t it? This was only a six-game homestand, but before that three-game swing through Boston, the Yankees had a five-game homestand. So eleven of their last 14 games have been in the Bronx. I have no idea where I’m going with this. Moving on …

The Yankees suffered a pretty brutal loss last night and the best thing about baseball is that it gives you a chance to turn the page quickly. They’re back at with the Blue Jays this afternoon, in the series finale. A win means a series win and a loss means a series loss. The Yankees need as many series wins as possible right now. It’s already Game 120. There’s not that much time left. Here is the Blue Jays’ lineup and here is the Yankees’ lineup:

It’s a wonderful day for baseball here in New York. The unbearable heat and humid has finally subsided, so it’s a pleasant 84 degrees this afternoon with a nice breeze. Nice day to spend at the park. This afternoon’s game will begin at 1:05pm ET and you can watch on YES. Enjoy.

Catcher Update: Joe Girardi told reporters Sanchez will be the primary catcher going forward and Brian McCann will be the DH. Just like that, McCann goes from being a good hitting catcher to a subpar DH.

Roster Move: The Yankees sent Chasen Shreve down to Triple-A Scranton and recalled Kirby Yates, the team announced. Anthony Swarzak remains on the roster for reasons I can’t understand at this time.

Thoughts following Nathan Eovaldi’s elbow injury

August 17, 2016 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

Yesterday afternoon the Yankees received bad news about Nathan Eovaldi, who will soon undergo surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon and a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. From what I understand it’s technically two surgeries, though they’re performed at the same time. Eovaldi was able to hit 94.9 mph last Wednesday even though his elbow was ripped to shreds. Pretty crazy. Anyway, I have some thoughts on the injury and what it means for the Yankees in the short and long-term.

1. The injury doesn’t hurt a ton in the short-term for a few reasons. For starters, Eovaldi hasn’t pitched all that well since June. He has a 5.77 ERA (6.31 FIP) in 64 innings since June 1st and that includes his 7.2 scoreless innings of relief. Even his most recent starts weren’t all that great, though I think it is fair to wonder whether the elbow injury contributed to those 64 miserable innings. (Does the elbow explain all the homers?) Secondly, September 1st is two weeks from tomorrow, so pretty soon the Yankees will be able to call up all the extra arms they desire. Even if guys like Chad Green and Luis Cessa prove to be five-and-fly pitchers every fifth day, the Yankees will soon have enough arms to carry the workload. (Eovaldi wasn’t exactly a workhorse himself.) There’s no such thing as too much pitching depth, so the Yankees will miss Eovaldi in that regard, but he’s been a liability more than a weapon for close to three months now. Losing him stinks. It’s not a season-sinker though.

2. There was reportedly interest in Eovaldi prior to the trade deadline — I wonder if the medicals stood in the way of completing a deal? — and the Yankees figured to again put him in the market in the offseason. Why not? They should listen to offers for literally everyone in the organization, even Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge. The injury means Eovaldi is no longer a trade chip and that stinks. I don’t like referring to human beings as assets but that’s what they are in the baseball world, so Eovaldi’s injury means the Yankees are losing an asset. He can’t pitch and they can’t trade him. That bites. The price for pitching is sky high these days — a few weeks ago the Rangers traded an actual prospect for Lucas Harrell (on purpose!) — and the Yankees might have been able to get a decent return for a healthy Eovaldi, especially if he finished the season well. Guys who throw 100 mph as starters are very rare.

3. I have to think the Yankees will non-tender Eovaldi after the season. He’s in line for more than $7M in 2017 as an arbitration-eligible player and there’s no reason to pay him that to sit on the DL all year, not when he’s going to be a free agent after the season. It’s a total waste of money. The Royals non-tendered Greg Holland this past offseason for that exact reason. I do wonder if the Yankees will look to re-sign Eovaldi after that though. They do have a history of signing pitchers coming off major injuries and waiting out the rehab. Jon Lieber back in the day is the most notable example. They’ve done it with David Aardsma and Andrew Bailey in recent years too. (I feel like there’s someone else I’m missing.) The Yankees clearly like Eovaldi and by all accounts he’s a hard-worker and coachable — example: learning the splitter last year, incorporating the cutter this year — and that’s the kind of guy you roll the dice with on a deal like this. How about a two-year contract worth $6M? Say $1M in 2017 as he rehabs and $5M in 2018, plus incentives based on innings? Just spitballing here.

4. The Yankees are going to have to add a starting pitcher this offseason, aren’t they? I mean, they don’t absolutely have to, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea. Keep things status quo and they’re looking at some combination of Green, Cessa, and Luis Severino behind the front three of Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, and CC Sabathia. I guess Bryan Mitchell would be in that back-end mix too. Guys like Jordan Montgomery and Dietrich Enns would be the depth arms in Triple-A, and uh, that doesn’t sound too great. At least not to me. Maybe you’re comfortable with that. The upcoming free agent market really stinks, so maybe the Yankees turn to the trade market for a veteran innings guy to stash in the back of the rotation. Even if they’re rebuilding and not planning to contend next season (lol), adding a starting pitcher makes sense.

5. We can more or less close the book on the trade now and boy did the Yankees come out on the wrong end of this one. David Phelps (3.73 ERA and 3.63 FIP) has out-pitched Eovaldi (4.45 ERA and 4.11 FIP) on a rate basis since the trade, albeit in way fewer innings (279 to 181), plus the Yankees gave up Martin Prado too. He’s hit .305/.356/.417 (109 wRC+) in over 1,000 plate appearances with the Marlins. The Yankees paid part of his salary as well. Garrett Jones was a zero and Domingo German has barely pitched since the trade due to Tommy John surgery. That’s rough. Maybe German will turn into the next Carlos Carrasco or something. That’s pretty much the only way the Yankees can salvage this trade. Now, that said, it doesn’t mean the logic behind the trade was bad. Trading a 31-year-old infielder and a spare swingman for a 24-year-old who throws 100 is the kind of trade the Yankees and every other team should look to make. This one didn’t work out. That doesn’t mean a) it was a bad idea, and b) you pass on making a similar trade in the future.

Bullpen Disaster: Yankees turn a 6-0 lead into a 12-6 loss to Blue Jays

August 16, 2016 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

That was a Very Bad Loss. Worst of the season, I’d say. The Yankees jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead Tuesday night, but the Blue Jays picked apart the bullpen and scored 12 (!) unanswered runs in the sixth through eighth innings. The 6-0 lead turned into a 12-6 loss. Brutal.

During happier times. (Rich Schultz/Getty)

Gary Gives ‘Em The Lead
Another day, another young player doing things to help the Yankees. Things really have changed around here, huh? Tuesday night the Yankees got three early home runs from young players. Didi Gregorius opened the scoring with a first inning solo home run into the second deck in right field. I do love first inning runs. It takes the edge off right away, you know? Early leads are fun.

The Yankees kept tacking on runs after the first inning homer. Gary Sanchez whacked his third big league homer in the second inning, this one an impressive solo shot into the visiting bullpen. It was a full count changeup from Marco Estrada, a certifiable changeup master. Estrada showed him the changeup three or four times earlier in the at-bat, Sanchez read it out of his hand, then unloaded. It was pretty cool. That gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

Two innings later, Sanchez went deep again, this time clocking a three-run home run into the second deck in left field. Estrada left a 79 mph changeup up in the zone, so he basically gave Sanchez a batting practice fastball, and he unloaded on it. It was a very aesthetically pleasing home run. Look:

That is some bat speed right there I’ll tell you what. Sanchez put his A-swing on that hanging changeup and he topped it off with a subtle little bat drop. The gentleman’s bat flip. He must have learned that from Alex Rodriguez. Sanchez’s second blast gave the Yankees a 5-0 lead in the fourth. Thanks in part to Didi and Sanchez, the last 31 home runs hit by the Yankees have been hit by players under the age of 30. That’s pretty cool. The last over-30 guy to go deep was Mark Teixeira on August 3rd.

Five Innings if Big Mike
Mother Nature robbed Michael Pineda of what could have been six or even seven splendid innings. He limited the Blue Jays to four singles in five shutout innings while striking out two. Pineda threw only 68 pitches in those five relatively stress-free innings too. Then it started raining and the tarp was put on the field. It was a relatively short rain delay, only 42 minutes, but that was long enough to force Pineda out of the game. The Yankees didn’t want to push him after sitting that long. The pre-rain delay portion of the game was awesome. Everything after that was a nightmare.

Bullpen Disaster
The Yankees scored their sixth run immediately after the rain delay. Chase Headley doubled and Gregorius singled, both with two outs. That gave the Yankees a 6-0 lead. Everything is great! Go Yankees! They’re going to rally and make the postseason! Things were fun for a while. Then Anthony Swarzak & Co. vomited all over everything.

Swarzak replaced Pineda in the sixth and did what Anthony Swarzak does: give up dingers. He allowed a two-run shot to Troy Tulowitzki and a solo homer to Russell Martin in that sixth inning. A Headley era contributed to a run earlier in the frame. Just like that, Swarzak turned a 6-0 lead into a 6-4 lead in the span of two outs and 25 pitches. He’s now allowed nine homers in 27 innings this season, or 3.12 HR/9. There’s no reason for Swarzak to be on the roster tomorrow. None.

Okay. Alright. A 6-4 lead is still a lead, even if it’s not a 6-0 lead. The Yankees only had to get nine more outs to clinch the win, and their back-end relievers were fresh. Tyler Clippard came out and retired the side in order in the seventh. Good. This is good. Then the eighth inning happened. It was a total disaster. Worst half-inning of the season given the context of the game. Let’s recap the eight-run mess with an annotated play-by-play:

(1) That Josh Donaldson at-bat was one heck of an at-bat. It was a 12-pitch battle and Adam Warren showed him everything he had. Fastballs, sliders, changeups, curves … everything. He emptied the bag of tricks and still couldn’t get him out. That’s what an MVP does. He puts together tough at-bats like that. The Donaldson walk set the tone for the entire inning. The Blue Jays didn’t give away a single at-bat.

(2) Edwin Encarnacion’s game-tying home run was absolutely demolished. Warren missed out over the plate and Encarnacion crushed a no-doubter to left field. I was looked at my laptop at the time, not the television, and it could tell from the sound that it was gone. It was that kind of blast. Encarnacion is known to do that. Make a mistake to him and you’re going to pay big time. The two-run shot tied the game 6-6. The six-run lead was officially gone.

(3) The Martin at-bat was when it was clear Warren didn’t have it. The walk by Donaldson was a hard-fought at-bat by a great player and you tip your cap. The pitch to Encarnacion was a total mistake. It happens. But when Warren jumped ahead in the count 0-2 on Martin and couldn’t put him away, that’s when it was clear there was a problem. Warren made another mistake and Martin hit his second home run in the span of three innings, this one a two-run shot into the short porch. Suddenly that 6-0 lead had become an 8-6 deficit.

(4) Chasen Shreve has been amazingly bad over the last calendar year or so, and when the Blue Jays loaded the bases against him with one out, it was obvious things were about to get messy. Joe Girardi had more or less decided to punt the game at that point because no one was warming in the bullpen. Either Shreve was going to do the miraculous and stop the bleeding by retiring Travis and Donaldson with the bases loaded, or the Blue Jays were going to score more runs. They scored more runs. Many more runs.

(5) Five batters faced, zero outs. Shreve did not retire a single batter after replacing Warren on Tuesday night. Donaldson drew an always annoying bases loaded way to score Toronto’s tenth run and end Shreve’s evening. The tally up to this point: six runs on five hits, three walks, and hit-by-pitch. Ugly.

(6) Blake Parker, the third pitcher of the inning, replaced Shreve and got the potential inning-ending double play ball from Encarnacion. The ball wasn’t hit that hard and Starlin Castro‘s flip to Gregorius at the second base bag was a little too slow (surprise surprise), so the Yankees only got the one out. Another run scored and the inning continued. When it was all said and done, the Blue Jays led 12-6. Twelve unanswered runs in three innings against the bullpen.

I know it’ll never happen, especially not with Girardi and his assigned innings, but the eighth inning was the spot to use Dellin Betances. Two-run lead with Donaldson and Encarnacion due up? That calls for your best reliever. Warren’s been really good since the trade but he’s no Dellin, and he coughed up the game. Losing by one or two runs after blowing a 6-0 lead would have been excruciating. At least the bullpen had the decency to turn it into a laugher. Easier to turn the page this way.

Leftovers
After the Gregorius single that gave New York a 6-0 lead, the final 14 Yankees to bat made outs. Two of the 14 hit the ball out of the infield and eight struck out. Eight! Sometimes you just run into a buzz saw like Scott Feldman and Ryan Tepera and have to tip your cap. This really was like two different games. The stuff before the rain delay was cool. The stuff after was a disaster.

The homer was No. 16 of the season for Gregorius. That’s the most by a non-Derek Jeter shortstop in franchise history. Is that not crazy? That’s crazy. Also, this is only the fourth time in baseball history both catchers hit two home runs in the same game. It last happened in 2009, when Miguel Montero and Bengie Molina did it.

Jacoby Ellsbury went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and is down to .263/.326/.361 (86 wRC+) on the season. Can Girardi at least move him down in the lineup? Pretty please? I’m not holding my breath. Aaron Judge went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts as well. It’s his first hitless game in the bigs.

Sanchez, on the other hand, went 3-for-4 with the two homers and an infield single. He’s hitting .340/.367/.660 (173 wRC+) in his limited MLB time this season. More Gary, less Jacoby.

Box Score, WPA Graph & Standings
Go to ESPN for the box score, MLB.com for the video highlights, then back to ESPN for the updated standings. Don’t miss our Bullpen Workload and Announcer Standings pages either. Here’s the depressing as hell win probability graph:

Source: FanGraphs

Up Next
The Yankees are going to have to shake off this miserable loss rather quickly. They wrap up this three-game set with the Blue Jays with a Wednesday matinee. That’s a 1pm ET start. Crafty lefties CC Sabathia and J.A. Happ will be on the bump. The Yankees leave for a six-game road trip after Wednesday’s game, so if you want to catch the last home game until next weekend in person, check out RAB Tickets.