(You can see a bunch more Old Timers’ Day videos right here, by the way.)
Game 73: Old Timers’ Day
The Yankees are bad now, maybe forever but probably only temporarily, and this afternoon we’ll get to forget all about the 2017 Yankees for a few hours. Today is the 71st annual Old Timers’ Day, the franchise’s annual celebration of their unmatched history. Pretty much no other team can do something like this. The Dodgers tried it a year or two ago and it was kinda sad.
Based on experience, Old Timers’ Day is best enjoyed in person at Yankee Stadium, not through television. It also makes for a really, really long day in the ballpark, but that’s okay. No matter your age, many of the great Yankees of your youth will be in the ballpark today. Hall of Famers, All-Stars, fan favorites, role players … there’s something for everyone on a day like this.
Here is the roster of 2017 Old Timers. For the first time ever, a member of the Core Four Five will be in attendance. Jorge Posada is making his Old Timers’ Day debut this afternoon after inexcusably falling off the Hall of Fame ballot in his first year of eligibility over the winter. I’m not saying Posada was a no-doubt Hall of Famer, but man, he deserved more than one year on the ballot.
The Old Timers’ Day festivities will begin at approximately 11:30am ET. There will be the baseline introductions and then the Old Timers’ Game, as usual. I haven’t seen the Old Timers’ Game lineups posted anywhere, but if I find them, I’ll pass ’em along. The weather in New York today is pretty much perfect. A little on the humid side, but the sky is blue with just the right amount of clouds. The weather always seems to be great on Old Timers’ Day, doesn’t it?
Like I said, the Old Timers’ Day ceremonies begin at 11:30am ET. YES will show it of course and I believe the FOX Sports Go app will have it as well, though I can’t make any promises. MLB.tv never covers Old Timers’ Day. Sorry. Once the festivities are over, the Yankees and Rangers will wrap up their series at 2pm ET. Here is the Rangers’ lineup and here is the Yankees’ lineup:
- LF Brett Gardner
- CF Aaron Hicks
- DH Aaron Judge
- C Gary Sanchez
- SS Didi Gregorius
- 3B Chase Headley
- 1B Tyler Austin
- RF Mason Williams
- 2B Ronald Torreyes
RHP Michael Pineda
Enjoy the day.
Injury Update: CC Sabathia (hamstring) threw a 35-pitch bullpen session today and everything went well. He hopes to return as soon as possible (duh). I wonder if he could skip a minor league rehab start at this pace. We’ll see … Greg Bird (ankle) ran on the field today for the first time since receiving a cortisone shot the other day.
DotF: Ellsbury doubles in first game of rehab assignment
Some quick notes:
- RHP Ronald Herrera and RHP Domingo Acevedo are trading spots. D.J. Eberle says Herrera is going from Double-A Trenton to Triple-A Scranton while Acevedo goes the other way. This might only be a paper move to buy a temporary roster spot. The Yankees did the same thing with Acevedo last week. We’ll see.
- The Yankees have released RHP Mike Schaub and OF Joe Burton, according to Matt Eddy. Schaub signed out of an independent league two years ago and spent the last two summers in Staten Island. Burton was the team’s 24th round pick last year. I do believe he is the first 2016 draftee the Yankees have released.
- Mark Sanchez has a neat piece on 2B Nick Solak, so check that out. “Nick plays the game the way it’s supposed to be played. He’s an exceptional baseball player. Plus runner, great bat-to-ball skills,” said farm system head Gary Denbo.
Triple-A Scranton (8-0 loss to Pawtucket)
- SS Tyler Wade: 0-3, 1 BB, 3 K
- CF Jacoby Ellsbury: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 SB — here’s video of the double … he played five innings in center field, as scheduled … he’ll play the entire game at DH tomorrow, then join Double-A Trenton on Monday (Scranton is on the road next week and Trenton will be home)
- LF-CF Dustin Fowler: 0-4, 3 K
- RF Clint Frazier: 0-2, 2 BB, 1 K — threw a runner out at first … eight walks in his last 13 games
- 3B Miguel Andujar: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 E (throwing)
- LHP Daniel Camarena: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 6/1 GB/FB — 36 of 56 pitches were strikes (64%) … second start back from a shoulder issue … his first start was back with Trenton
- RHP Brady Lail: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 5/4 GB/FB — 53 of 85 pitches were strikes (62%) … not counting RHP Luis Cessa, who is in the big leagues for the time being, the RailRiders currently have seven Triple-A caliber starters for five rotation spots (Lail, Camarena, Herrera, Acevedo, RHP Chance Adams, RHP Bryan Mitchell, LHP Chance Adams) … two guys are going to get squeezed outs, so Lail is in the bullpen for now
Offense no-shows as Yankees fall 8-1 to the Rangers
The recent free fall continues. A lifeless offense and (more) bad bullpening sent the Yankees to an 8-1 loss to the Rangers on Saturday afternoon. The Yankees have lost nine of their last eleven games and are 10-12 in June overall despite outscoring their opponents by 40 (!) runs. The Orioles are good for the ol’ run differential.
The Amazing, Disappearing Offense
The Yankees have now scored three runs in their last 26 offensive innings, dating back to Aaron Judge’s monster three-run home run against the Angels on Thursday night. They scored one run Saturday afternoon. A Judge home run, of course. He cranked a solo home run into the left field seats in the sixth inning. Austin Bibens-Dirkx caught a little too much of the plate with a 91 mph heater.
Three problems. One, the Yankees were already down 3-0 when Judge homered. Two, no one was on base when Judge homered. And three, the Yankees only had two other baserunners make it as far as second base in the game. Mason Williams walked and stole second in the first inning, then singled and stole second in the third inning. No runner made it as far as third base aside from the Judge dinger. Five hits and one walk on the afternoon. That’s all.
Bibens-Dirkx, a 32-year-old rookie who has spent multiple years in independent ball, deserves all the praise he’ll receive for this game and he should enjoy the hell out of his performance (7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) and this day. Good for him. The Yankees have been pretty crummy at the plate though. Have been for a few days now. A sampling of the ongoing slumps:
- Aaron Hicks: 0-for-4 on Saturday and 2-for-18 (.111) since coming back from the Achilles issue.
- Matt Holliday: 0-for-4 on Saturday and 5-for-36 (.139) in his last eleven games.
- Starlin Castro: 1-for-4 on Saturday and 5-for-28 (.179) in his last seven games.
- Didi Gregorius: 1-for-3 on Saturday and 5-for-27 (.185) in his last seven games.
Hmmm. That’s not good. This is baseball and players slump during the long season. It happens. It just bites when half the lineup slumps at the same time.
The Yankees went through an offensive slump a few weeks back — they scored 26 runs in a nine-game span at one point last month — and they snapped out of that. They’ll snap out of this eventually because no, those guys are not true talent .100-something hitters. Hopefully it happens soon. No disrespect to Bibens-Dirkx, but not getting a runner to third base against him is awful.
Five & Fly
On most days, getting five innings and three runs from your sixth starter would be an okay outcome. Just not Saturday given the way the Yankees have been swinging the bats of late. Luis Cessa gave up a first inning run in maybe the most annoying way possible. The first four batters of the game:
- Delino DeShields Jr.: 0-2 to a walk (DeShields then stole second)
- Shin-Soo Choo: Four-pitch strikeout
- Elvis Andrus: 0-2 RBI single on a pitch out of the zone (strike zone plot)
- Adrian Beltre: 0-2 to a 1-2 count to a broken bat single to center
Cessa jumped ahead in the count 0-2 to three of the first four batters, and all three reached base. The leadoff walk was easily the biggest mistake of the inning. Andrus tomahawked a high fastball to right and Cessa broke Beltre’s bat. What can you do? Cessa struck out Rougned Odor on three pitches and Carlos Gomez on six pitches to strand runners on the corners and limit the damage to one run.
After that, Cessa settled into a little groove and retired the side in order in both the second and third innings. Seven of his first eight outs were strikeouts. He ran into trouble again in the fourth, when he issued a leadoff walk to Mike Napoli and the defense couldn’t complete the line drive double play. Starlin Castro caught the ball, double-clutched, and the throw clanked off Tyler Austin’s glove at first.
Naturally, the next batter hit a two-run home run. Cessa left a two-strike slider up enough to Gomez, who pounded it into the left field seats. Sigh. Cessa pitched around a leadoff hit batsman (Pete Kozma!) in the fifth before hitting the showers. Three runs on three hits and two walks in five innings, plus a career high eight strikeouts. Normally a winnable game from the sixth starter. Normally.
The Bullpen Of Our Discontent
The bullpen allowed the Rangers to tack on five runs in the late innings and it was the usual suspects: Jonathan Holder and Tyler Clippard. Holder’s sixth inning went double off the wall, fly out to the right field warning track, strikeout, fly out to the left field warning track. Seems good. The first batter he faced in the seventh, Robinson Chirinos, hit a homer. So four of the first five men he faced hit the ball to at least to the warning track.
A 4-1 deficit is a good time to try to iron out Clippard’s issues, apparently. Three-run lead in the ninth inning? This situation is so important I have to literally save my best reliever in case it arises. Three-run deficit in the ninth inning? Oh well, the chances of a comeback are so small that I might as well give my struggling reliever some work. The wonders of modern bullpen usage. Chess, not checkers, people.
Clippard allowed four runs on three hits and two walks. Loud hits too. They didn’t dink and dunk him that inning. Clippard needed 36 pitches to get three outs and looked just terrible. No life on his fastball and his changeup might as well be a batting practice fastball. He’s allowed eleven runs and 14 baserunners in his last 3.2 innings. Holder has allowed ten runs and 20 baserunners (including five homers!) in his last 14 innings. He’s lucky Clippard is around to deflect attention. Bad bullpen is bad.
Leftovers
Welcome back to the big leagues, Tyler Austin. He went 0-for-3 with a three-pitch strikeout, a six-pitch strikeout, and a first pitch double play. He also couldn’t make the catch on the potential line drive double play in the fifth, though, to be fair, it was not an easy play. Still, Chris Carter would have been raked the coals for that.
Welcome to the big leagues, Tyler Webb. He made his MLB debut between Holder and Clippard and retired the left-handed hitting Choo. He also tossed a perfect eighth inning as well. I’m pretty sure that makes Webb the third best reliever in the bullpen now.
Box Score, WPA Graph & Standings
Head over to ESPN for the box score and updated standings. MLB.com has the video highlights and we have a Bullpen Workload page. Here’s the win probability graph:
Source: FanGraphs
Up Next
Old Timers’ Day! The Yankees will hold their annual celebration of the team’s history Sunday afternoon. The ceremony starts at 11:30am ET. The series finale against the Rangers will then begin at 2pm ET. Michael Pineda and Nick Martinez are the scheduled starting pitchers. RAB Tickets can get you in the door if you want to catch Old Timers’ Day, or boo the offense and bullpen.
2017 Draft: Yankees sign first rounder Clarke Schmidt and second rounder Matt Sauer
The Yankees have signed their top two selections in the 2017 amateur draft. The team announced deals with South Carolina right-hander Clarke Schmidt (first round, 16th overall) and California high school right-hander Matt Sauer (second round, 54th overall) earlier this afternoon. Sauer posted photos of his contract signing on Twitter.
Here is the bonus information:
- Schmidt: $2,184,300 per Jack Curry ($3,458,600 slot)
- Sauer: $2,500,000 per Jim Callis ($1,236,000 slot)
Schmidt, 21, received a below-slot bonus because he is currently rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. He had the procedure in May, so he’s going to be out until midseason 2018. As our Draft Pool tracker shows, the Yankees now have a little less than $460,000 in bonus pool space remaining before hitting the penalties. They’ve maxed out their spending pool the last few years. I imagine that $460,000 is going to a late round pick.
Based on the way things played out, the Yankees planned all along to sign Schmidt below-slot — I’m guessing they had a pre-draft agreement in place — and spend the savings on a highly touted player who slipped into the second round. That happened to be Sauer. I think this was Plan B. Plan A was using the first round selection on a player who was no longer on the board when that pick rolled around, so they called an audible.
Anyway, Baseball America ranked Schmidt as the 32nd best prospect in the draft class. MLB.com ranked him 49th and Keith Law (subs. req’d) ranked him 74th. He was considered a mid-first round talent before blowing out his elbow last month. Here is a piece of MLB.com’s free scouting report:
Schmidt relies heavily on a 92-94 mph fastball that can reach 96 and features power sink. Both his slider and curveball can be plus pitches at times but also lack consistency, and he also mixes in a decent changeup. He generally throws strikes but can be vulnerable if his pitches wander up in the strike zone … He maintained his improved velocity until he got hurt this spring, but scouts don’t love his delivery and now have even more questions about his durability.
Sauer was ranked as the 28th best prospect in the draft class by both MLB.com and Baseball America. Keith Law ranked 67th. Here’s a snippet of MLB.com’s scouting report:
He’s reached 97 mph at times this spring and has sat comfortably in the 91-95 mph range in most starts. He combines that with a nasty slider, up to 87 mph, thrown from a three-quarter slot with good power, bite and deception. The changeup is a distant third pitch … Some scouts are not in love with Sauer’s arm action and see him more as a potential power bullpen type of pitcher. Others see a potential three-pitch mix, two above-average to plus offerings, with the build to be a rotation workhorse.
The draft signing deadline is Friday, July 7th, so two weeks from yesterday. The Yankees have already handled all their major business, however. They’ve signed each of their picks in the top 17 rounds plus several late rounders. I expect them to spend that remaining $460,000 ($457,949 to be exact) on someone. That has been their M.O. in the draft pool era. To spend as much as possible without incurring penalties forcing them to surrender next year’s first round pick.
Saturday Open Thread
Game 72: Mess with Texas
Hey, the Yankees have won two of three! And they could have won the third game too! Things are looking up. They’re still in first place, Masahiro Tanaka pitched well last night, Tyler Austin has arrived … it could be worse. Hopefully Austin rakes right away. Would be nice to add a little more length to the lineup.
Anyway, this afternoon the Yankees have a chance to do something they haven’t done in two weeks: win a series! The last series win was that depantsing of the Orioles. Winning series is the name of the game. Keep winning series and things will work out. Get the series win today, go for the sweep tomorrow. Here is the Rangers’ lineup and here is the Yankees’ lineup:
- CF Mason Williams
- LF Aaron Hicks
- RF Aaron Judge
- DH Matt Holliday
- 2B Starlin Castro
- SS Didi Gregorius
- 1B Tyler Austin
- 3B Ronald Torreyes
- C Austin Romine
RHP Luis Cessa
The rain came and went this morning, and now there’s a bright blue sky above New York. Nice afternoon for a ballgame. Today’s game will start at 1:05pm ET and both YES and MLB Network will have the broadcast. Enjoy the game.
Injury Update: Jacoby Ellsbury (concussion) will begin a minor league rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton tonight … Adam Warren (shoulder) played catch for the first time since being placed on the disabled list and everything went fine.
Roster Update: Chance Adams was in the clubhouse this afternoon … to pick up a passport. He’s not being added to the roster. There are no Canadian teams in the Triple-A International League and the Yankees don’t visit the Blue Jays again until mid-August. Minor leaguers need their passports at all times though. You never know when you’ll get traded and have to show up in Toronto. I’m kinda surprised Adams didn’t have one already.
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