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River Ave. Blues » David Hale » Page 2

DotF: Florial continues rehab, Rosario stays hot in GCL win

July 12, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

Two quick notes to pass along this week:

  • RHP Dillon Tate missed the Eastern League All-Star Game with a minor quad injury, Double-A Trenton manager Jay Bell told Matt Kardos. “It was just a slight strain,” said Bell. It’s possible Tate will avoid the disabled list completely.
  • The Yankees will not re-sign RHP David Hale a fourth time. Sunny says Hale is signing with a team in Korea. We’ll always have those innings you soak up in Toronto last week, David.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (2-1 loss to Rochester)

  • 1B Tyler Austin: 1-3, 1 BB
  • RF Billy McKinney: 1-4, 1 3B
  • DH Mike Ford: 0-4, 2 K — finished rehabbing the oblique with Staten Island and is back here
  • SS Abi Avelino: 1-3, 1 R, 1 K
  • RHP Chance Adams: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HB, 8/5 GB/FB — 69 of 106 pitches were strikes (65%) … a string of good starts before the trade deadline would be appreciated

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Down on the Farm Tagged With: David Hale, Dillon Tate

Game 90: Tanaka Returns

July 10, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

(Adam Hunger/Getty)

For the first time in a little more than four weeks, Masahiro Tanaka will take the mound in a big league game this evening. Tanaka’s been out since June 8th with mild strains of both hamstrings — he suffered a very Mets injury running the bases at Citi Field — but he’s healthy now and has completed his rehab assignment, and is ready to rejoin a rotation in need of reinforcement. Good Tanaka would be quite a boost.

Anyway, the Yankees have won five of their last seven games but dammit I’m still annoying by the first game of yesterday’s doubleheader. Winnable game right there for the taking. Bah. At least the Yankees blew the Orioles out in the second game of the doubleheader. That was fun. Please treat the 25-66 team like a 25-66 team again today. Here are tonight’s lineups:

New York Yankees
1. LF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. CF Aaron Hicks
4. DH Giancarlo Stanton
5. SS Didi Gregorius
6. 3B Miguel Andujar
7. 1B Greg Bird
8. C Austin Romine
9. 2B Neil Walker

RHP Masahiro Tanaka

Baltimore Orioles
1. 3B Tim Beckham
2. CF Adam Jones
3. SS Manny Machado
4. DH Mark Trumbo
5. 2B Jonathan Schoop
6. 1B Chris Davis
7. LF Trey Mancini
8. RF Joey Rickard
9. C Caleb Joseph

RHP Andrew Cashner


Hot and sunny in Baltimore but surprisingly not all that humid. Usually it gets so humid you stick to the seats at Camden Yards. Tonight’s game will begin at 7:05pm ET and you can watch on YES locally and MLB Network out of market. Enjoy the ballgame.

Injury Updates: Gary Sanchez (groin) has started running the bases, so he’s doing everything as he works his way back into game shape. Hitting, catching, throwing, running, the whole nine … Gleyber Torres (hip) played catch today. Pretty sure this is the first time he’s done any baseball activity since landing on the disabled list.

Roster Moves: As expected, Luis Cessa was sent down to Triple-A Scranton following last night’s game to clear a roster spot for Tanaka. Gio Gallegos also went back down since he was the 26th man … So long, David Hale. He cleared waivers and elected free agency. I suspect he will re-sign with the Yankees in short order. It would be the third time this year Hale has elected free agency and re-signed with the Yankees. No idea why he doesn’t just accept the outright assignment.

All-Star Game voting: Giancarlo Stanton is currently third in the Final Vote race behind Jean Segura and Andrew Benintendi. Stanton’s hitting .310/.377/.599 (163 wRC+) with eleven homers since June 1st, you know. Here’s the ballot. Voting ends Thursday.

Filed Under: All Star Game, Game Threads, Transactions Tagged With: David Hale, Gary Sanchez, Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, Luis Cessa, Masahiro Tanaka

Game 86: Trade Target

July 7, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

(Bob Levey/Getty)

So the Yankees need another starting pitcher. That has been true since the offseason and it is extra true now with Sonny Gray among the least effective starters in baseball. Masahiro Tanaka is coming back next week, so that’s good, but Jordan Montgomery is done for the year. The Yankees need at least one starter. Two would be cool.

One starter they’re said to be considering: J.A. Happ, who they’ll face this afternoon. Happ has a 4.03 ERA (3.64 FIP) on the season — it was a 3.62 ERA (3.58 FIP) before getting rocked last time out — and he’s faced the Yankees once this season. He couldn’t complete five innings against them on Opening Day, you may remember. Beat up on Happ, win the game, and drive down the trade price. Sounds good to me. Here are today’s lineups:

New York Yankees
1. LF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. DH Giancarlo Stanton
4. CF Aaron Hicks
5. 3B Miguel Andujar
6. SS Didi Gregorius
7. 2B Brandon Drury
8. C Kyle Higashioka
9. 1B Greg Bird

RHP Luis Severino

Toronto Blue Jays
1. LF Curtis Granderson
2. 2B Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
3. 3B Yangervis Solarte
4. 1B Justin Smoak
5. DH Kendrys Morales
6. CF Kevin Pillar
7. RF Randal Grichuk
8. C Luke Maile
9. SS Aledmys Diaz

LHP J.A. Happ


It is another spectacular day in Toronto, so the Rogers Centre roof will be open. This afternoon’s game will begin at 4:07pm ET and YES will have the broadcast. Enjoy the game.

Roster Move: Welcome back, Clint Frazier. He was called up today and David Hale was designated for assignment. Figured that was coming. Hale pitched too much last night. I suspect he’ll once again clear waivers and sign a new minor league contract with the Yankees. It would be the fourth time they’ve signed him this year.

Injury Updates: Gary Sanchez (groin) caught a bullpen session today and has done everything (catch, hit, throw, etc.) except run the bases, which he should be cleared to do soon. He could begin a minor league rehab assignment next week and it’s possible he’ll come off the disabled list before the All-Star break. That’d be sweet … Jonathan Loaisiga was placed on the Triple-A disabled list with shoulder inflammation, the team announced. That bites. He’s going for more tests. That rules Loaisiga out for a start in Monday’s doubleheader. Luis Cessa will start the second game instead.

Filed Under: Game Threads Tagged With: Clint Frazier, David Hale, Gary Sanchez, Jonathan Loaisiga

Game 81: Halfway Point

July 1, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

So damn hot. (Presswire)

Already the halfway point of the season, eh? The season seems to fly by a little quicker with each passing season. I don’t know about you, but before the season I would’ve signed up for 53-27 with a plus-101 run differential through 80 games pretty quickly. The Yankees will be, at worst, on pace for 106 wins following today’s game, the true halfway point of the season.

Of course, it is rather annoying that the Red Sox are so good. The Yankees would have at least a three-game lead in every other division, and they’d have at least a five-game lead in four of the other five divisions. Gonna be a tight race all season, me thinks. Win today, win the series, move on to the next one. Here are tonight’s lineups:

New York Yankees
1. CF Aaron Hicks
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. DH Giancarlo Stanton
4. SS Didi Gregorius
5. 2B Gleyber Torres
6. 3B Miguel Andujar
7. 1B Greg Bird
8. C Kyle Higashioka
9. LF Brett Gardner

RHP Luis Severino

Boston Red Sox
1. RF Mookie Betts
2. LF Andrew Benintendi
3. DH J.D. Martinez
4. 1B Mitch Moreland
5. SS Xander Bogaerts
6. 3B Rafael Devers
7. 2B Brock Holt
8. C Christian Vazquez
9. CF Jackie Bradley Jr.

LHP David Price


Another insanely hot day here in New York. Going to be hot tonight too. Tonight’s game will begin at 8:05pm ET and ESPN will have the broadcast. Enjoy the game. Stay cool.

Injury Updates: Austin Romine (hamstring) is available tonight, if necessary. Aaron Boone wants to stay away from him though … Gary Sanchez (groin) has started throwing and doing strength exercises. He hasn’t been cleared to start running yet though. Boone said the hope is Gary will be back around the All-Star break.

Roster Move: Welcome back, David Hale. For the third time this season, the Yankees have called him up from Triple-A. And I imagine he will soon be designated for assignment for the third time as well. Anyway, the Yankees brought Hale back to be the long man following Sonny Gray’s short start yesterday. Hale was scheduled to start for Triple-A Scranton today, so he is available for super long relief today, which better not be necessary. Gio Gallegos was sent down in a corresponding move.

Filed Under: Game Threads Tagged With: Austin Romine, David Hale, Gary Sanchez, Gio Gallegos

Poll: Replacing Masahiro Tanaka

June 11, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

(Rich Schultz/Getty)

The Subway Series series win over the Mets this weekend came at a price. Masahiro Tanaka went down with “mild” strains of both hamstrings Friday night. He said he first felt tightness in his hamstrings in the third inning, and when he ran the bases in the sixth, things got worse. Strained both hamstrings in one game? A very Mets injury, that is. Fitting it happened at Citi Field.

Tanaka has since been placed on the disabled list and, over the weekend, Brian Cashman said it would be “weeks” until Tanaka returns. That’s not good. The Yankees are already without Jordan Montgomery. Losing another starter is bad news. Injuries are part of baseball though. Every team deals with them and the teams that deal with them the best are often the ones left standing at the end of the year.

“It’s certainly unfortunate, but it creates an opportunity for others,” said Cashman to Dan Martin. “We’re forced to find some things out in other areas with some other personnel. That’s always healthy, too. We’re always open to outside help, no matter what time of year it happens to be. But we also have internal options we can rely on … It’s always important to have depth, no doubt about that.”

Today’s off-day gives the Yankees the flexibility to start Tanaka’s replacement pretty much whenever they want. They’ve indicated the replacement will start Friday — that gives Luis Severino an extra day before his next start — but, if they want, they could push Tanaka’s rotation spot back to Saturday. Who will they call up? Who should they call up? I see five potential call-up candidates.

The Case for Chance Adams

Adams! Cut that hair! (Joe Vasile/SWB RailRiders)

Truth be told, it’s difficult to argue Adams should be first in line to replace Tanaka. Among actual prospects, Adams was the Yankees’ most MLB ready minor league pitcher coming into the season, but he’s struggled so far this year, pitching to a 5.43 ERA (4.70 FIP) with 27.7% strikeouts and 11.1% walks in 12 starts and 54.2 innings for Triple-A Scranton. Yuck.

Adams had surgery to remove a bone spur from his elbow in the offseason, and it’s entirely possible — if not likely — the surgery is to blame for his poor performance. He did not have a normal offseason and he was still working to rebuild arm strength in Spring Training and early during the regular season. We’re in June now though, and you’d think Adams would be back to normal by now, but apparently not.

Despite the lack of 2018 success, Adams could be the best Tanaka replacement option given his track record and his Triple-A experience. He pitched at the level pretty much all last season and had success, and that’s not nothing. Adams will be Rule 5 Draft eligible after the season, so he has to be added to the 40-man roster anyway. The Yankees could get a little head start on things and call him up now.

The Case for A.J. Cole

Cole’s done nice work since joining the Yankees, hasn’t he? He hasn’t pitched much, but when he has, he’s been effective. Cole has embraced the team’s anti-fastball philosophy and pitched to a 0.82 ERA (3.74 FIP) with 27.9% strikeouts and 14.0% walks in pinstripes. The walks are high, otherwise that’s pretty great. Might be worth giving him a shot in the rotation to see whether that anti-fastball success carries over into a starting role.

Two problems here. One, Cole has thrown a whopping eleven innings in pinstripes, so that success comes in a small sample. And two, Cole has thrown a whopping eleven innings in pinstripes! He’s not really stretched out. Cole hasn’t thrown more than 2.1 innings or 40 pitches in an outing in close to two months now. Asking him to throw even a modest five innings or 75 pitches might be unrealistic. That said, Cole’s on the roster, he’s pitched well, and he’s been a starter pretty much his entire career. It would be silly to rule him out as a rotation option.

The Case for David Hale

Calling up Hale would be the easy move. He’s already had two big league stints with the Yankees this season and they keep bringing him back, so they like something about him. Hale’s back with Triple-A Scranton now and he’s stretched out — he threw 5.1 innings and 88 pitches last Tuesday — so it’s an easy move. Call him up, slot him into the rotation, and let him run with it. No need to rush a prospect. Hale represents the path of least resistance and when no option stands out from the rest, the easiest move is often best.

The Case for Jonathan Loaisiga

Loaisiga. (David Monseur/MiLB.com)

It sure appears the Yankees are preparing Loaisiga for a call-up. Or, at the very least, they’re preparing him as a backup plan in case Plan A falls though. Loaisiga made a 49-pitch tune-up start yesterday, one week after Double-A Trenton manager Jay Bell insinuated Loaisiga was being prepped for a call-up during the doubleheader in Detroit. The rainouts in Baltimore meant a spot starter wasn’t needed, however, so he didn’t get the call.

There are several reasons the Yankees could turn to Loaisiga as Tanaka’s replacement. First of all, he’s already on the 40-man roster, which makes a call-up easy. Cole is the only other pitcher in this post on the 40-man roster. Secondly, Loaisiga is a rising star in the farm system, and prior to yesterday, he had a 2.30 ERA (2.39 FIP) with 31.6% strikeouts and 2.3% walks in 43 innings this season.

Third, Loaisiga’s stuff matches the numbers. He’s mid-90s with his fastball and he backs it up with a quality curveball and a quality changeup, and he throws lots of strikes. Lots and lots of strikes. This isn’t a dude with shiny minor league numbers and iffy stuff. And fourth, Loaisiga has an ugly injury history. The Yankees may want to get whatever they can out of him now before he breaks down again. Sounds harsh, but these types of moves happen all the time.

“He’s had some good games this year. He was impressive in Spring Training. He’s a young guy and hasn’t pitched a whole lot,” said pitching coach Larry Rothschild to Coley Harvey yesterday when asked about a potential Loaisiga call-up. The Yankees are playing coy right now like they always seem to do in these situations, but everything seems to be pointing to Loaisiga getting the call. Is he the right choice though? That’s up for debate!

The Case for Justus Sheffield

The best pitching prospect in the farm system — and not by a small margin either — is southpaw Justus Sheffield, who came over in the Andrew Miller trade. He’s one of the best pitching prospects in the minors overall, and this season he owns a 2.60 ERA (2.97 FIP) with 29.3% strikeouts and 12.9% walks in 55.1 innings around a minor shoulder injury. Sheffield has made four starts back from the injury, so it’s not too recent.

As luck would have it, Sheffield and Tanaka are on the same schedule. Sheffield started in Triple-A on Friday, the same night Tanaka hurt his hamstrings. It’s be an easy one-for-one swap. No schedules have to be altered or anything like that. And Sheffield is thinking about a call-up too. He’s not oblivious to what’s happening in the Bronx.

“Do I want to be the sixth starter? Do I want to be in the big leagues? For sure,” said Sheffield to Conor Foley over the weekend. “Am I shooting for that? Is that my goal? Yes, but thinking about it is not going to help me put my work in every four days and getting out there my fifth day.”

Simply put, the case for calling up Sheffield is that he offers the most upside among the available in-house options. A southpaw with mid-90s gas and this slider …

… has a chance to be really freaking good. Sheffield is having success in Triple-A now — he’s thrown more innings at Triple-A (27.1) than Loaisiga’s thrown at Double-A (25), if you care about such things — and he’s going to have to be added to the 40-man roster after the season anyway, so there’s not much harm in starting the clock now. Sheffield has a chance to be an impact pitcher, and countless top prospects got their first chance because someone got hurt.

* * *

The Yankees have ruled out Luis Cessa — he’s making his first minor league rehab start tonight — replacing Tanaka, though I suppose they could do something wonky and replace Tanaka with a bullpen game a la the Rays, but nah. Good teams don’t do that. I think we can safely eliminate that possibility. “We pretty much, I think, have an idea of what we’re going to do. We’re not going to deal with it now because we don’t have to, because things can change injury-wise,” said Cashman to Bryan Hoch.

Over the last few years the Yankees have done a really good job evaluating their own prospects. With the exception of Tyler Wade, the kids they’ve called up have all been ready to step right into the lineup and produce. If the Yankees call up Adams, Loaisiga, or Sheffield, I trust that they’re ready. And, if the Yankees go with Cole or Hale, I trust them that the kids aren’t ready.

Also, keep in mind that whoever replaces Tanaka isn’t automatically guaranteed to stay in the rotation. If that pitcher doesn’t perform, the Yankees have other options and can make a change. Anyway, this is all ripe for a poll, so let’s get to it.

Who *should* replace Masahiro Tanaka in the rotation?
View Results

Filed Under: Pitching, Polls Tagged With: A.J. Cole, Chance Adams, David Hale, Jonathan Loaisiga, Justus Sheffield, Masahiro Tanaka

Game 43: Looking For Another Series Win

May 20, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

(Presswire)

The Yankees picked up their first win in almost a week two games last night, and this afternoon they’re looking to clinch their eighth consecutive series win, ignoring whatever the hell that Nationals series was. They are 20-4 in their last 24 games and 29-13 on the season overall. That is baseball’s very best record. The Yankees have won 29 of their first 42 games for the first time since the 1998 team went 32-10 in their first 42 games. Pretty great.

Today the Yankees are sending their weakest link to the mound. Sonny Gray owns a 6.39 ERA (5.15 FIP) through eight starts and 38 innings, and after two pretty good starts, he took a step back last time out. A quality outing against a pretty bad Royals team today would be appreciated. The Yankees have to get Sonny on track. He is their single biggest problem, in my opinion. Here are the lineups:

New York Yankees
1. LF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. DH Giancarlo Stanton
4. CF Aaron Hicks
5. 1B Tyler Austin
6. 3B Miguel Andujar
7. C Austin Romine
8. SS Ronald Torreyes
9. 2B Gleyber Torres

RHP Sonny Gray

Kansas City Royals
1. CF Jon Jay
2. RF Jorge Soler
3. 3B Mike Moustakas
4. DH Salvador Perez
5. 2B Whit Merrifield
6. 1B Hunter Dozier
7. LF Alex Gordon
8. SS Alcides Escobar
9. C Drew Butera

LHP Eric Skoglund


You’re not gonna believe this, but it’s raining in Kansas City. There are on-and-off showers in the forecast all afternoon. It was supposed to rain last night and it never did, so hopefully the Yankees are able to avoid another delay. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting real sick of this lousy weather. Today’s game is scheduled to begin at 2:15pm ET and you can watch on YES locally and MLB Network out of market. Enjoy the game.

Injury Update: Greg Bird (ankle) could return “sometime within the next week,” according to Aaron Boone, so that’s cool … Tommy Kahnle (shoulder, biceps) has been pitching in Extended Spring Training games and is “getting real close,” Boone said. Depending how the next day or two go, Kahnle could rejoin the Yankees at some point during the upcoming series in Texas.

Roster Move: Welcome back, David Hale. Yet again. Third time this year the Yankees have signed Hale to a minor league contract. I’m not sure why he elected free agency and re-signed rather than simply accept the outright assignment. Maybe Hale was able to squeeze a few more bucks and/or an opt-out date from the Yankees? Whatever. Anyway, Hale is back. He’s going to Triple-A Scranton.

Filed Under: Game Threads Tagged With: David Hale, Greg Bird, Tommy Kahnle

Game 42: Rain, Rain, Stay Away

May 19, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

(Presswire)

After four days of off-days and rainouts, the Yankees returned to action last night, and promptly lost the series opener to the Royals. Sucks. And because those four days off earlier this week weren’t enough, there is more rain in the forecast tonight, and it’s possible this game will be delayed or even postponed. Getting real sick of the rain, you guys.

If the Yankees do play tonight, it sure would be nice to see them beat up on a bad Royals team after last night’s loss. Danny Duffy has been a good pitcher throughout his career, but he currently owns a 6.51 ERA (6.19 FIP) with ugly peripherals (18.7 K%, 10.1 BB%, 2.30 HR/9), and righties are hitting .306/.385/.597 (.417 wOBA) against him. The number of righties in Aaron Boone’s lineup: Nine. Well, eight plus one switch-hitter. Here are the lineups:

New York Yankees
1. CF Aaron Hicks
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. LF Giancarlo Stanton
4. C Gary Sanchez
5. 1B Tyler Austin
6. 3B Miguel Andujar
7. DH Clint Frazier
8. SS Ronald Torreyes
9. 2B Gleyber Torres

RHP Luis Severino

Kansas City Royals
1. CF Jon Jay
2. RF Jorge Soler
3. DH Mike Moustakas
4. C Salvador Perez
5. 2B Whit Merrifield
6. LF Alex Gordon
7. 1B Hunter Dozier
8. SS Alcides Escobar
9. 3B Ryan Goins

LHP Danny Duffy


Like I said, there is rain the forecast tonight, enough to put the game in jeopardy. Tomorrow’s forecast isn’t looking so hot either, but one day at a time. Tonight’s game is scheduled to begin at 7:15pm ET and you can watch on YES locally and MLB Network out of market. Enjoy the game.

Injury Updates: Greg Bird’s return from ankle surgery is “around the corner,” according to Boone. What does that mean, exactly? I’m not sure. Bird has played seven rehab games so far. Maybe he rejoins the Yankees for the start of the homestand Friday? We’ll see … Jacoby Ellsbury is dealing with a back issue now. So he’s gone from an oblique injury to a hip injury to plantar fasciitis to an illness to a back injury since Spring Training.

Roster Update: So long, David Hale. Again. He cleared waivers and elected free agency yesterday, the Yankees announced. He was designated for assignment a few days ago, when the Yankees called up Frazier. Maybe Hale will come back on another minor league deal if he can’t find a team willing to put him on their MLB roster.

Filed Under: Game Threads Tagged With: David Hale, Greg Bird, Jacoby Ellsbury

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