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Game 12: Escape from Houston

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(Presswire)

Two games against the Astros, two blown late-inning leads. The lead disappeared in the seventh and Houston took the lead in the eighth in both games. How annoying. Even more annoying is the way the Yankees screw up the most basic stuff each game. Every game there’s an dopey error or a bad baserunning decision. Every single game.

“It’s got to be better, especially when you’re playing a really good team, and you’re up against a really good pitcher. You’ve got to do the little things that allow you to win ballgames,” Aaron Boone said to Coley Harvey following last night’s loss. “The bottom line is, we’re really close to playing a good brand and a complete game.”

WELL ACTUALLY, the Yankees played their sloppiest game of the season last night, and all the mistakes contributed to the loss. If you have to keep saying you’re really close to doing something, you’re not actually close to doing it. The Yankees have to clean up the sloppy mistakes to beat teams like the Astros. It is imperative. Here are tonight’s lineups:

New York Yankees
1. CF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. DH Luke Voit
4. SS Gleyber Torres
5. 1B Greg Bird
6. 3B DJ LeMahieu
7. LF Clint Frazier
8. C Austin Romine
9. 2B Tyler Wade

LHP James Paxton

Houston Astros
1. RF George Springer
2. 2B Jose Altuve
3. LF Michael Brantley
4. SS Carlos Correa
5. 3B Yuli Gurriel
6. DH Tyler White
7. 1B Aledmys Diaz
8. C Max Stassi
9. CF Jake Marisnick

RHP Collin McHugh

Another warm and sunny day in Houston, and the Minute Maid Park roof is open. Tonight’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:40pm ET and you can watch on the YES Network locally and MLB Network nationally. Enjoy the ballgame.

Injury Updates: CC Sabathia (knee, heart) will start Saturday’s game. That is the first day he is eligible to be activated off the injured list … Giancarlo Stanton (biceps) has started taking swings now that his ten-day shutdown period is over … Aaron Hicks (back) has started swinging a bat. He’s doing tee and soft toss work in addition to throwing and running … Miguel Andujar (shoulder) played catch today for the first time since being shut down. Here’s video. As you can see, it was not the most intense throwing session. Twenty-five throws at 60 feet. Andujar said he felt better than expected, and he is tentatively scheduled to throw again Friday. He might even swing a bat that day as well … Gary Sanchez is out of the lineup with calf tightness. He first felt it following Monday’s game and the Yankees put him through some tests, which came back fine. They’re giving him two straight days off (tomorrow’s an off-day) as a precaution. Sanchez is available tonight.

Roster Move: The Yankees optioned Jonathan Loaisiga to Triple-A Scranton following last night’s game and they called up right-hander Joe Harvey today, the team announced. It is Harvey’s first big league call-up. He is a short reliever, not someone who can soak up innings in long relief. I imagine Harvey is going back to Triple-A when Sabathia is activated Saturday.

Game Eight: Beat the Birds

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(Getty)

All the home opener nonsense is over. The Yankees are through the celebratory portion of their schedule and can now, finally, begin the daily grind that is the regular season. They’ve had a bumpy start to the season, to be sure, but they won Thursday and tonight they have a chance to win back-to-game games for the first time this year.

“Had a little bump in the road on our opening homestand and getting hit obviously with injuries here early, but such is the nature of the big league season,” Aaron Boone said to George King on Thursday. “We just happened to get hit with a little bit early. We will be better for having gone through this and we will come storming out of this.”

Tonight J.A. Happ will make his second start of the season and his second start against the Orioles, and gosh, it sure it would be nice to see him keep the ball in the park. He’s allowed eight homers — eight! — in 15.1 innings this year between Spring Training and the regular season. Here are today’s lineups:

New York Yankees
1. CF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. DH Luke Voit
4. 1B Greg Bird
5. C Gary Sanchez
6. SS Gleyber Torres
7. 3B DJ LeMahieu
8. LF Mike Tauchman
9. 2B Tyler Wade

LHP J.A. Happ

Baltimore Orioles
1. 2B Jonathan Villar
2. RF Joey Rickard
3. 1B Trey Mancini
4. DH Renato Nunez
5. LF Dwight Smith Jr.
6. 3B Hanser Alberto
7. C Pedro Severino
8. SS Richie Martin
9. CF Cedric Mullins

RHP Dylan Bundy

After raining all day yesterday, it is partly cloudy and mild in Baltimore today. There’s no more rain in the forecast and that’s the most important thing. Today’s game will begin at 7:05pm ET and the YES Network will have the broadcast. Enjoy the game.

Injury Updates: CC Sabathia (knee, heart) will make a rehab start for High-A Tampa tomorrow, and as long as he makes it through okay, he will join the Yankees next weekend. He’s eligible to be activated off the injured list Saturday … Luis Severino (shoulder) is still long-tossing and is getting closer to throwing off a mound. He’s throwing at distances greater than 120 feet … Dellin Betances (shoulder) will face hitters Monday for the first time since being shut down. I’m assuming it’ll be live batting practice or a simulated game rather than a minor league rehab appearance … Aaron Hicks (back) is progressing with his throwing program and will begin swinging a bat in the coming days … Miguel Andujar (shoulder) is taking grounders. He has not swung a bat or thrown yet, which are the big tests.

Rotation Update: Domingo German starts tomorrow, then it’ll be Masahiro Tanaka, Jonathan Loaisiga, and James Paxton in Houston in that order. The Yankees flipped Tanaka and Loaisiga, though Tanaka will still make that start with one extra day of rest. Thursday’s an off-day, which sets Happ up to start Friday’s series opener against the White Sox and Sabathia to take German’s spot Saturday. Or it could be that German stays in the rotation and Loaisiga goes back to Triple-A. We’ll find out soon enough.

Misc. Notes: In case you missed it earlier, the Yankees called up Gio Urshela and sent down Thairo Estrada. “(Urshela’s) a guy — with our roster situation right now — is going to play. He’ll play a lot of third base for us. Probably in there tomorrow. I would say he’ll be in there quite a bit while he’s here,” Aaron Boone said to Bryan Hoch. That presumably means LeMahieu goes to second base and Wade goes to the bench.

Game Seven: The First Road Trip

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(Rob Carr/Getty)

For the first time this season, the Yankees are out on the road. Three games in four days in Baltimore, then three games in three days in Houston. Maybe leaving Yankee Stadium will help get this team out of its funk. Then again, unless the road trip can heal injuries, probably not. The Yankees are really beat up right now.

“The Major League season is a gauntlet filled with adverse situations all the time. They come in many shapes and sizes throughout the year, even in the best of seasons,” said Aaron Boone to Ken Davidoff yesterday. “I’ll hang my hat on our group and know we’ll fight our way through this and get it rolling.”

While the injuries have taken a bite out of the lineup, the Yankees also aren’t getting much from the healthy players other than Aaron Judge and DJ LeMahieu. The other regulars have to get going, especially with guys like Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Andujar, and Aaron Hicks not around to pick up the slack. Here are today’s lineups:

New York Yankees
1. CF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. DH Luke Voit
4. C Gary Sanchez
5. 1B Greg Bird
6. 3B DJ LeMahieu
7. SS Gleyber Torres
8. LF Clint Frazier
9. 2B Tyler Wade

LHP James Paxton

Baltimore Orioles
1. 2B Jonathan Villar
2. LF Dwight Smith Jr.
3. RF Trey Mancini
4. DH Renato Nunez
5. 3B Rio Ruiz
6. CF Joey Rickard
7. 1B Chris Davis
8. C Jesus Sucre
9. SS Richie Martin

RHP Alex Cobb

It is cool and partly cloudy in Baltimore for the O’s home opener this afternoon. No rain in the forecast, thankfully. Today’s game will begin at 3:05pm ET and you can watch on the YES Network. Try to enjoy.

Roster Move: As expected, Troy Tulowitzki (calf) has been placed on the 10-day injured list. He’ll rest a few days then be reevaluated. “It’s unfortunate, but like I’ve shared with the guys, it’s never easy. Sometimes it makes your team a little bit better because it tests that depth,” Tulowitzki said to Bryan Hoch. Thairo Estrada has been called up to fill the roster spot. He’s wearing No. 30 and this is his first stint in the big leagues.

Injury Updates: Aaron Hicks (back) has started baseball activities. Hooray for that. Specifically, he has started playing catch, and will soon begin taking dry swings and hitting off a tee. Hicks has been shut down more than a month now, so he likely has several weeks of baseball activities and rehab games ahead of him … Jacoby Ellsbury (hip surgery) is still going through light baseball activities. “He’s doing some activity, running on the field, doing some stuff with tee and toss and stuff like that. He’s just had the little pullbacks here and there with the different things he’s dealing with,” Boone said to Hoch.

Game Four: Win it for Giancarlo

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(Sarah Stier/Getty)

Because losing two of three to the crummy Orioles isn’t bad enough, the Yankees lost Giancarlo Stanton to an injury this weekend as well. He was placed on the injured list with a biceps strain earlier today. The lineup is now missing Stanton, Didi Gregorius, and Aaron Hicks. They combined for 92 homers and +12.9 WAR last year. That’s a lot of production gone.

“I don’t like it at all,” Stanton said to Bryan Hoch this afternoon. “I just worked for six weeks to get here, plus the offseason. I’d much rather this would have popped in Spring Training, but it’s where we’re at.”

Clint Frazier is with the Yankees and was told he’ll play a lot, though he’s not in today’s lineup because he’s been traveling — he went from Tampa to Scranton yesterday, then Scranton to New York this morning — and also because tonight’s matchup isn’t good. Tyson Ross chews up righties and is susceptible to lefties, so Mike Tauchman gets his first start in pinstripes. Here are tonight’s lineups:

New York Yankees
1. CF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. DH Luke Voit
4. 1B Greg Bird
5. C Gary Sanchez
6. 2B Gleyber Torres
7. 3B DJ LeMahieu
8. LF Mike Tauchman
9. SS Troy Tulowitzki

RHP Domingo German

Detroit Tigers
1. 2B Josh Harrison
2. RF Nick Castellanos
3. DH Miguel Cabrera
4. 1B Niko Goodrum
5. 3B Jeimer Candelario
6. LF Christin Stewart
7. C Grayson Greiner
8. SS Jordy Mercer
9. CF Mikie Mahtook

RHP Tyson Ross

It has been a deceptively beautiful day in New York. Big blue sky and not a cloud to be found. It’s also freezing. Those last few days with temperatures in the 60s were a tease. It’ll be in the low 40s tonight. Yeesh. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35pm ET tonight and you can watch on the YES Network. Enjoy.

Injury Update: Aaron Hicks (back) has started doing some rotational work. He has not yet resumed baseball activities and Aaron Boone said Hicks “still has got some weeks to go,” which ain’t good.

Game Two: Paxton’s Debut

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(Presswire)

Alright alright. The pomp and circumstance of Opening Day is over and the “off-day after Opening Day in case Opening Day gets rained out” off-day is over, so we can now start to get into the day in, day out grind of regular season baseball. The Yankees are looking to start the season 2-0 for the first time since, well, last year, and prized offseason pickup James Paxton is making his Yankees’ debut today.

“I think he came in and really fit in really well right away. I think he’s very comfortable in that room,” Aaron Boone said this morning. “… We want him to post, and we feel like if we can keep him healthy and taking his regular turn, the results will be there. This is a really talented pitcher that I think is capable of even more. I think he’s in a really good spot health-wise, work-wise right now. Just looking forward to him being a significant part of our rotation.”

Paxton is the 13th Canadian to play for the Yankees and the first since Jeff Francis and Chris Leroux in 2014. Man, those 2013-14 teams were a hell of a thing. DJ LeMahieu is also making his Yankees debut this afternoon. He is the 218th player born in California to suit up for the Yankees, which isn’t as noteworthy as Paxton being the 13th Canadian. Anyway, here are today’s starting lineups:

New York Yankees
1. CF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. LF Giancarlo Stanton
4. 1B Luke Voit
5. DH Miguel Andujar
6. C Gary Sanchez
7. 2B Gleyber Torres
8. SS Troy Tulowitzki
9. 3B DJ LeMahieu

LHP James Paxton

Baltimore Orioles
1. 2B Jonathan Villar
2. LF Dwight Smith Jr.
3. 1B Trey Mancini
4. DH Renato Nunez
5. RF Joey Rickard
6. 3B Rio Ruiz
7. CF Drew Jackson
8. C Jesus Sucre
9. SS Richie Martin

RHP Nate Karns (opener)

It is a bit cloudy in the Bronx at the moment, otherwise it is a fine afternoon for a ballgame. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05pm ET and you can watch on the YES Network. Enjoy the game.

Injury Updates: Luis Severino (shoulder) will long toss again today and is tentatively scheduled for a bullpen session early next week … Dellin Betances (shoulder) with throw a bullpen session today … Aaron Hicks (back) has ramped up his core and conditioning work, but has not yet resumed baseball activities … CC Sabathia (knee) makes his next start in a Extended Spring Training game Monday.

Misc. Notes: Greg Bird is fine. He’s sitting today so LeMahieu can play. Sounds like LeMahieu will be in the lineup the next few days at different positions. My guess is Tulowitzki sits tomorrow with Gleyber at short and LeMahieu at second. We’ll see … Boone said he doesn’t envision Tulowitzki playing three straight days anytime soon. They’re taking it slow with him … Domingo German is pitching Monday in some capacity. Whether the Yankees use an opener depends on their bullpen usage the next few days.

Game One: Opening Day

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The last time the Yankees played a game that meant something, they were sent home for the winter and the Red Sox celebrated an ALDS victory at Yankee Stadium. That was 171 days ago. A busy winter followed, one still more notable for who the Yankees didn’t sign rather than who they acquired, and then came an injury-filled Spring Training. The Yankees are not close to full strength at the moment.

And yet, optimism is abound. The Yankees did upgrade their roster over the winter (at least when healthy), and they remain on the short list of the best teams in baseball. It feels like you can count on one hand the number of teams with a realistic chance to win the World Series in 2019. The Yankees are one of those teams. They hit dingers aplenty and the pitching staff is perpetually underrated.

“They’ve had a couple of really good teams here that have been close, and the disappointment of an ending when you feel like you have a team capable of greatness I think does add a log to the fire,” said second year manager Aaron Boone to Scott Orgera yesterday. “It does add a little extra kick to wanting this to get done, and I think that adds to everyone’s hunger a little bit.”

The Yankees snapped their six-year Opening Day losing streak last season. The next goal? Win back-to-back Opening Days. The Yankees haven’t done that since winning four straight season openers from 2005-08. They are 2-8 in their last ten Opening Days. Some notes about today:

  • Masahiro Tanaka is making his fourth career Opening Day start, breaking a tie with Hideo Nomo for the most ever by a Japanese-born pitcher. That’s pretty cool.
  • Five Yankees are on an Opening Day roster for the first time: Miguel Andujar, Domingo German, Gleyber Torres, Stephen Tarpley, and Luke Voit. That’s also pretty cool.
  • This is the earliest regular season game in Yankees history. The previous record? Last year’s March 29th season opener. For what it’s worth, the Yankees are 5-2 all-time in March.

The various injured Yankees are in Tampa rehabbing and won’t take part in today’s pregame introductions, which is kinda lame. “Opening Day is not that special. I’d rather be there for the World Series,” said CC Sabathia to Mark Didtler. Shows what I know. I thought Sabathia wouldn’t want to miss his final Opening Day. Anyway, here are today’s starting lineups:

New York Yankees
1. CF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. LF Giancarlo Stanton
4. DH Luke Voit
5. 3B Miguel Andujar
6. C Gary Sanchez
7. 1B Greg Bird
8. 2B Gleyber Torres
9. SS Troy Tulowitzki

RHP Masahiro Tanaka

Baltimore Orioles
1. CF Cedric Mullins
2. LF Dwight Smith Jr.
3. 2B Jonathan Villar
4. DH Trey Mancini
5. 3B Rio Ruiz
6. RF Joey Rickard
7. 1B Chris Davis
8. C Jesus Sucre
9. SS Richie Martin

RHP Andrew Cashner

The good news: The home opener will not be rained/snowed out for the third time in the last four years. It is a glorious day in the Bronx. The bad news: It is pretty dang cold. Windy too. I hope you dressed warm if you’re at the ballpark. The baseline introductions will begin at approximately 12:44pm ET and they’ll probably be shown on the YES Network. Mariano Rivera is throwing out the ceremonial first pitch, so that’s cool. Today’s game will begin at 1:05pm ET and you can watch on YES locally and ESPN nationally. Enjoy the first game of the new season, folks.

Injury Updates: Luis Severino (shoulder) and Dellin Betances (shoulder) are both tentatively scheduled to throw a bullpen session this weekend … CC Sabathia (knee) threw three innings in a minor league game Tuesday and everything went well … Aaron Hicks (back) is running and doing core exercises. Still no baseball activities though.

Roster Notes: The Yankees officially announced the Opening Day roster and it is as expected. No surprises. Betances, Hicks, Severino, Didi Gregorius (elbow), Ben Heller (elbow), Jordan Montgomery (elbow) and Jacoby Ellsbury (hip) are all on the injured list. Sabathia is serving his five-game suspension, so the Yankees have a 24-man roster right now.

Uniform Notes: Domingo German has a new number. He was No. 65 last year, then switched to No. 63 in Spring Training in deference to James Paxton, and now he’s No. 55. Congrats to all you Hideki Matsui fans for coming into a free a Domingo German jersey. And last but not least, the Yankees have a black armband on their uniform today to honor Mel Stottlemyre. Stottlemyre passed away in January.

March 24th Spring Training Notes: Severino, Hicks, Wade

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The Yankees closed out their Grapefruit League season with a win this afternoon. The win clinched the best record in Spring Training. The Red Sox had the best record in Spring Training last year and they went on to win the World Series, so start planning the parade. Anyway, Clint Frazier’s bases-clearing double was the big hit today. Greg Bird went hitless in his first game action since taking a pitch to the elbow Wednesday.

James Paxton started and went through the motions for 5.2 innings until reaching his pitch limit. He struck out five and allowed two runs. Next time we see him will be next Saturday, in the second game of the regular season. Luis Cessa was betrayed by his defense and charged with a run in 1.1 innings in his final tune-up outing of the spring. All in all, a good day. Here are the box score and video highlights, and here are the day’s notes from Spring Training:

  • Luis Severino (shoulder) played catch at 90 feet again today. He’ll stretch it out to 120 feet next. “Moving in the right direction. Today was a good day,” said Aaron Boone. Severino played catch two days in a row, rested the third day, then played catch two days in a row again. Based on that, I assume tomorrow’s rest day. [Bryan Hoch]
  • Aaron Hicks (back) still hasn’t resumed baseball activities. The hope is the Yankees can “start ramping him up” with his core work tomorrow. Hicks and the other injured players are staying behind in Tampa to continue their rehab work, which I guess means we won’t see them during the Opening Day baseline introductions. Lame. [Coley Harvey]
  • In case you missed it earlier, the Opening Day roster has been finalized and it will include Stephen Tarpley and newly acquired Mike Tauchman. The official roster announcement will come in a few days. Tauchman will join the Yankees in Washington tomorrow. [Randy Miller]
  • Tyler Wade was optioned out today. “It blindsided me … Just the way I performed this spring, I did everything they asked me to do. I played well. I made the adjustments offensively, and now it’s my defense that’s not good enough,” said the refreshingly candid Wade. This feels like the Francisco Cervelli/Chris Stewart situation back in 2012. [Coley Harvey, Erik Boland]
  • And finally, Orioles righty Alex Cobb left yesterday’s start with a groin issue. He will see how he feels during a bullpen session tomorrow. Andrew Cashner made an abbreviated two-inning tune-up start today in case he’s needed to start Opening Day on short rest. Long story short, the Yankees might see Cashner rather than Cobb on Thursday. [Joe Trezza]

So long, Florida. The Yankees are done with Grapefruit League play and will close out the spring season with an exhibition game at Nationals Park tomorrow, weather permitting. There is rain in the forecast throughout the evening. Nestor Cortes is scheduled to make that start. I assume J.A. Happ will stay behind in Tampa and pitch in a minor league game to avoid having his final spring tune-up start rained out. Anyway, tomorrow’s game will be televised live, assuming they play.