It’s Tuesday morning and the good news is that the Yankees have been relatively healthy for the past few– you know what? I should know better. Every time I do that something catastrophic happens.

Strike that previous statement.

Michael Pineda threw a 35-pitch bullpen session this morning and came out of it alive. Another pitcher coming back from injury is Phil Hughes and he threw a bullpen session yesterday and also came out alive.

CC Sabathia is scheduled to throw a bullpen session today and will throw in his first live game on Friday.

Boone Logan threw a bullpen session this weekend with no issues. He had a balky elbow.

Man, the Yankees really do have a lot of injuries. It’s a little crazy.

Ivan Nova is making the start on the road for the Yankees this afternoon. The weather is a little iffy down in central Florida today but reports are saying that the Yankees and Rays should be able to get the game in.

Here’s today’s lineup:

Eduardo Nunez SS
Jayson Nix 3B
Travis Hafner DH
Juan Rivera 1B
Francisco Cervelli C
Melky Mesa CF
Thomas Neal LF
Zoilo Almonte RF
Corban Joseph 2B

That’s a “the Yankees are playing on the road in the Spring” type of a lineup.

Have a good day, everyone.

(Syndicated from The Yankee Analysts)

Is it just me or does December seem like the slowest month of the year? Maybe it’s because it’s usually cold, dreary and dark. Or maybe it’s because we’re in that limbo period right smack in the middle between the two baseball seasons otherwise known as last season and this season. By the way, now that the calendar has changed and it’s a New Year, you can refer to the 2012 season as last season.

Anyway, whatever the reason is, I’m glad December is over because it means that this season is right around the corner.

Now, I know some people are fearful of what 2013 will bring for us Yankee fans but I, for one, am just excited for baseball to start.

Things will certainly look a lot different on February 12 when pitchers and catchers first report to Tampa. Especially the catchers. Russell Martin is gone and it looks like barring any last minute miracle of some sort, Austin Romine, Francisco Cervelli and Chris Stewart will be battling it out for the starting catcher job.

How exciting! She said sarcastically.

And then, when the position players arrive, things will look even more different without Nick Swisher, Raul Ibanez and Eric Chavez on the team. Plus, you have the new additions reporting to Tampa for the first time like Kevin Youkilis and Matt Diaz who will both be donning the Pinstripes even though we never thought in a million years they ever would.

I still can’t believe Youkilis is a Yankee. She said with lump of bile in her throat. (Kidding!)

At least some things will look the same. The pitching rotation is unchanged with CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda and Andy Pettitte as your top three. Then there’s Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova and David Phelps who will be battling it out for the last two slots in the starting five.

What I’m most interested in seeing is the return of Mariano Rivera to the bullpen.

2012 was such an odd year for the Yankees, wasn’t it? All seemed lost when Rivera was first injured in May but then the Yankees recovered and they still went on to win 95 games thanks to the performance of Rafael Soriano who stepped into the closer role and was fantastic through the summer and into fall.

Right now, Soriano is still a free agent and unsigned. I really wish the Yankees could sign him again but I know that can’t happen. He’ll want too much money and they’re all about austerity! Bring on 189 in 2014!

I think it will also be interesting to see how Derek Jeter comes back from his ankle injury. My fellow, soon to be 39-year-old, says that he expects to be ready by the start of Spring Training. Let’s hope he is and that he’s able to perform.

***

About a week ago, someone on Twitter bet me that the Yankees would finish at .500 this year. After I stopped laughing, I told him I’d wait until the start of Spring Training before I made any sort of wager because I wanted to see if the Yankees would make any more moves.

My brother thinks I’m crazy and that I should take that bet because he feels there is no way the Yankees would do that badly this season.

I tend to agree with my brother.

Yes, the Yankees lost some key players and yes, the Yankees are a year older but everyone is (or will be) a year older. I will be a year older, you will be a year older, the world will be a year older.

And yes, other teams – namely the Blue Jays – revamped nearly their entire squad. But so what? Divisions and World Series aren’t won on paper. Just ask the 2011 Red Sox and Phillies.

Besides, the Blue Jays, like every other team in baseball, have some injury concerns. Josh Johnson isn’t a guarantee to last all season in the starting rotation and it will be some sort of miracle if Jose Reyes can stay off the disabled list all year.

Other AL East teams haven’t improved that much (so far) this offseason. Have the Red Sox made some moves? Sure, but they didn’t really address what they needed to address and that’s their starting pitching.

But Stacey, they signed Ryan Dempster!

Like I said, they didn’t really address their pitching problem – Dempster isn’t that great. Will they be as bad as they were last season? Probably not. Guys will be healthier, new manager John Farrell will miraculously help Jon Lester and they will more respectable than they were in 2012.

The Orioles who had every single thing go right last season – from their record in one-run games to their record in extra inning games and the performance of their bullpen – were able to finish with 93 wins which was good enough for second place in the AL East, haven’t done a damn thing yet this Winter. Sure, they have still time to do something but it seems they’re hoping that 2012′s luck will carry over into 2013 and I don’t think it’s a given.

Will they fall off by a lot? Probably not. In fact, this year, I can see the AL East being a three or four team race right down to the wire.

Now, wouldn’t that be something?

Then there’s the team down in Tampa that plays in that awful dome. They added free agent and power hitter (kidding) James Loney and lost Wade Davis and James Shields to a trade with the Kansas City Royals.

The trade seems to be more of a help to the Rays of the future, not to the 2013 squad but still, you can never count the Rays out of anything because no matter what, they’re always lurking and ready to pounce when one of the upper echelon teams falter.

So after all of that pontificating, the point to this overly wordy, somewhat babbling post is that the 2013 baseball season is almost here and contrary to popular belief – from media and fans alike, I believe that Yankee fans have a lot to look forward to.

(Apologies for the late recap. I was actually at the game and then watched some football when I got home.)

I had a good feeling heading into the Bronx today. I was riding a two-game personal losing streak and I was sure Hiroki Kuroda would put a stop to it.

After he recorded six strike outs for his first six outs of the game, my good feeling remained.

Thanks to timely – and in Russell Martin’s case – explosive hitting, the Yankees jumped out to a 5-0 in the third inning against Rays starter Matt Moore.

When the Rays answered with one run of their own in the top of the fourth, thanks to a solo shot by Ben Zobrist – his 17th of the year, the Yankees came right back and scored another run. This time it was aided by an error by Moore who overthrew the first bag allowed Eduardo Nunez to reach. With Derek Jeter at the plate, Nunez stole both second and third. After Jeter worked a walk and Nick Swisher popped out, Rodriguez hit a ball to the right field wall. Sam Fuld made a nice grab but Nunez was able to score on the sac fly putting the Yankees up 6-1.

And it may have gotten a little dicey in the sixth when the Rays cut the lead to 6-4, thanks to two walks and two singles, I still felt like the Yankees were going to win. Kuroda was able to get out of the inning by striking out BJ Upton who ended up finishing the day with four strikeouts.

Kuroda pitched six full innings, gave up four runs on four hits, walked two and struck out 10. It was his 14th win of the year – a career high. It was also his third career 10+ strikeout game – two have been with the Yankees.

Boone Logan, David Phelps, David Robertson and Rafael Soriano combined for three innings of scoreless ball with Soriano recording his 40th save of the season. Soriano became the fourth Yankee closer to record 40 saves in a season. He joins Dave Righetti (1986), John Wetteland (1996) & Mariano Rivera – who has done it eight times.

The Yankees will enjoy a day off tomorrow before starting a three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday. Andy Pettitte will be returning to the hill. HOORAY!

Some stats (Thanks to @yestoresearch on Twitter):

• Alex Rodriguez is now three RBI from tying Stan Musial for 5th all-time.
• Robinson Cano’s fourth inning double tied Tony Lazzeri for 11th on the franchise doubles list (327).

I apologize in advance for the not-so-clever Ivan Nova cliche but it must be said. Nova was super today. In his first outing since August 21, Nova pitched into the seventh inning surrendering only two earned runs – one was a Luke Scott single given up by Joba Chamberlain – and four hits while striking out eight Rays and only walking two.

Nova was on a pitch limit and when he surrendered a single to Jeff Keppinger to open the seventh inning he was taken out after having thrown 85 – 53 for strikes.

Offensively for the Yankees, Curtis Granderson and Eduardo Nunez went back-to-back in the second inning off Rays starter James Shields. Granderson’s two-run shot was his 39th of the season and Nunez’s solo shot was his first of the year.

In the bottom of the fifth, Derek Jeter hit an RBI single to put the Yankees up 4-0. The Rays got one back in the top of the sixth when Evan Longoria took Nova deep cutting the lead to 4-1.

After Nova was removed in the seventh – following the Keppinger single – Boone Logan replaced Nova and Ben Francisco bunted into a force out, Keppinger was out at second but Francisco made it to first. The next batter, Ryan Roberts, hit a double, advancing Francisco to third. Girardi replaced Logan with Joba Chamberlain, while Joe Maddon countered with Sam Fuld pinch hitting for Chris Gimenez.

That move worked out for the Yankees when Fuld grounded out to Chamberlain. The Yankees weren’t out of the woods yet and Luke Scott made them pay when he singled on a 1-2 pitch from Chamberlain, scoring both Francisco and Roberts, cutting the lead to 4-3.

Chamberlain got the next batter, Desmond Jennings to strike out on three pitches.

In the top of the 8th, David Robertson replaced Chamberlain and retired the Rays 1-2-3. In the bottom half of the inning, the Yankees scored an insurance run, thanks to the heroics of both Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez. Actually, we can add a third person to the equation, B.J. Upton who had trouble tracking down Cano’s ball and it turned into a double. Rodriguez followed with an RBI single, putting the Yankees up 5-3.

Rafael Soriano made things slightly interesting in the ninth. It felt like I was watching John Wetteland circa 1996. Things started off fine when he got Keppinger to pop out to Nunez. Francisco followed that up with a single and Ryan Roberts flied out to Granderson for the second out. Just one more out to go.

Maddon pinch hit Stephen Vogt for Jose Lobaton and he walked. So with two on, two outs and the go-ahead run at the plate, Soriano settled down and got Elliot Johnson swinging the end the game.

The crowd, both at the Stadium and watching on TV exhaled, Soriano untucked and the Yankees high fived, celebrating their 82nd victory of the year.

(Syndicated from The Yankee Analysts)

Let’s play a game of good news/bad news, shall we?

Good news: Derek Jeter is still hitting well.

Bad news: He struck out to end the game.

Good news: The Yankees scored four runs – look, it’s better than the two they mustered last night.

Bad news: CC Sabathia also gave up four. His line tonight was 6.2 IP, six hits, four runs, two walks and three strike outs. From Jack Curry of YES: Sabathia’s 0-3 with a 4.67 ERA in last four starts.

Good news: Alex Rodriguez hit a home run to pull the Yankees within a run late in the game.

Bad news: Eduardo Nunez negated the run – and any good feelings people had about him – with his big error in the ninth.

Good news: The Yankees got a hit with a runner in scoring position

Bad news: That was the only one they got (they were 1-6).

Good news: Curtis Granderson hit his 38th home run of the season.

Bad news: B.J. Upton hit his 23rd home run of the season which put Tampa up 5-2 in the top of the eighth.

Good news: … I think I may be done with the good news

Bad news: The Yankees are now out of first place by a half a game and if the Orioles beat Oakland tonight, they’ll be back a full game.

Some facts about tonight’s game:

• With his fifth inning single, Jeter passed Willie Mays and is now in sole possession of 10th on the All-Time hit list. He now has 3,285.
• From @YankeeSource: Yankees have just 3 hits with RISP in the last 4 games. 3 for 40 (0.075 BA).
• From @yestoresearch: The Yankees are now 1-7 in Price/Sabathia match ups.

(Syndicated from The Yankee Analysts)

I think we all knew when looking at the schedule back in April that this was going to be an important series. A 3-game set in the Bronx with 20 to go against the team that never seems to fully go away – those pesky Rays. The two teams come into the series seemingly moving in opposite directions. The Yankees just took two games in a row for the first time in about a month, whereas the Rays were just swept for the first time in the second half. The Rays are wounded, but come in 9-6 against the Yanks on the year and looking to make up some of those 4 games in the standings. Let’s take a look at the matchups.

Game 1: David Price (17-5, 2.54 ERA) vs. CC Sabathia (13-5, 3.56 ERA)

On paper, this is the type of marquee pitching matchup that can cause a swoon. Two power lefties with big game experience taking the hill in the first game of a crucial September series in Yankee Stadium? Sign me up! Some selective stat poaching would also tell us to expect a pitchers’ duel, mainly due to offensive ineptitude: Tampa hitters are 4 for their last 37 with runners in scoring position, and Yankees hitters are 2 for their last 34. The RISPFAIL Machine is cranking at maximum velocity for both of these teams, so we’re looking at a low scoring affair here, right?

Maybe not.

We all know the story with CC. The big guy is going to go out there and leave it all on the field every time. I love that he only takes the mound if he knows he can pump out 100+ pitches over 7+ innings, I do. But lately, CC’s inability to hold a lead over those 7+ innings has hurt the Yankees. Most recently, Sabathia was lumped up by the Orioles to the tune of 3HR and 5ER in Saturday’s 5-4 loss. Blown call in the 9^th inning or not, the Yankees need a sharper CC this time around. Since coming off the DL, CC has struggled with command of the fastball, and has a 4.43 ERA over his last three starts.

David Price was effective in his last start, tossing 6.2 innings of 2 run ball against the Blue Jays on September 2, but was skipped his next start due to shoulder soreness. Price has struggled a bit in the Bronx (career 4.53 ERA at NYS) but there if he is healthy, I’m bracing myself for some electricity.

Annoying Rays Player to Watch: Jeff Keppinger (10-for-24 career against CC)

Yankee to Watch: Nick Swisher (12-for-32 career against Price w/ 1.043 OPS)

 

Game 2: James Shields (14-8, 3.71 ERA) vs. Ivan Nova (11-7, 4.92 ERA)

James Shields must not think the Yankees are deserving of his “big game” mettle, because he has pitched against them to the rather pedestrian tune of 7-13 with a 4.52 ERA over 25GS/161.1IP in his career. Shields, however, is coming off his best start of the season with a 2 hit, 8K performance against Texas on Sunday, and has been throwing the ball well over the last month and a half, winning 6 of his last 7 decisions and lowering his ERA from 4.28 to 3.71. Similar to CC Sabathia, Shields will grind through 100+ pitches even if he doesn’t bring his A-game. With the Yankees offense sputtering, we know this one probably won’t be a cakewalk.

Ivan Nova makes his return to the Yankees rotation following a stint on the DL, replacing Freddy Garcia who may have finally stuck the landing on his last dead cat bounce (failed to make it through the 5th in his last 3 starts). Nova is coming off some shoulder inflammation so his velocity (or lack thereof) will be an indication of full health in the early going. An old salt pitching coach once told me after I went down with a shoulder injury: “The shoulder is attached to the legs.” Anatomically, this is a horrifying thought, but I knew what he meant: poor lower body mechanics will put a strain on the shoulder. I know I’m not alone in holding my breath for this one, waiting to see if Nova cleaned up his mechanics and control while nursing the bum wing. If Nova can get himself right over his next three starts, it would be a boon for the pitching staff to have his (irrational?) confidence for the home stretch.

Annoying Rays Player to Watch: Desmond Jennings (3-for-10 with 1B, 2B, 3B career against Nova)

Yankee to Watch: Robinson Cano (30-for-72 w/ 4HR and 1.190 OPS career against Shields)

 

Game 3: Matt Moore (10-10, 3.68 ERA) vs. Hiroki Kuroda (13-10, 3.17 ERA)

Matt Moore’s season has followed an interesting arc. He was so over-hyped heading in, that when he was mediocre in the first half whispers of “bust” were blowing in the wind. When such heavy words start to get thrown around, it’s easy for a guy to fly under the radar for a while, and Matt Moore took advantage of his relative anonymity in the second half. He was limited to 4 innings of 2 run ball in his last start against the Orioles on Tuesday, but prior to that he was 9-4 with a 3.07 ERA since June 1. He hasn’t flashed the same electricity as he did against the Yankees last September (5IP, 0ER, 11K) with any consistency, but, um, let’s keep it that way for now, cool? Cool.

Oh Hiroki. Be still my beating heart. You’ve done nothing but win me over with solid start after solid start. You can do no wrong in my eyes. Hiroki was unable to hold onto two leads in his last start in Boston, (apologist alert) but he still gave the Yanks a chance to pull it out. Unofficial stat: Hiroki Kuroda has suffered the effects of the RISPFAIL Machine more than any other pitcher on the Yankees staff (a huge project for another day). Score him some runs, guys. Hiroki has been uncharacteristically bad against the Rays this year (6.17 ERA) but I’ll temper that by pointing out that Sunday is a 1:05pm start. During day games this year, Hiroki is 4-1 with a 0.84 ERA.

Annoying Rays Player to Watch: Luke Scott (4-for-6 with 1HR, 4RBI career against Kuroda)

Yankee to Watch: Derek Jeter (4-for-9 with 2 2B career against Moore)

I’m going to try to get through this series without experiencing any extreme highs or dark lows. I’ll take my cues from Sir Thomas Sean Connery on how to keep an even keel in the midst of sporting madness. Maybe you should too. Enjoy folks.

The Yankees are probably very happy to be out of the Tampa-St. Petersburg area. After dropping the first two games to the Rays, they finally were able to escape with a win yesterday and end a nine-game skid in Tropicana Field which dated back to last season. What’s also good is that they’re not scheduled to play in that place again until September.

So what’s next for the Yankees? Oh nothing much, just a four-game series in Fenway Park. I’d really like to smack the person who scheduled this particular week for my team. Also, why haven’t the Red Sox visited New York yet? It’s July 5 and there’s been one series between the teams and it occurred in April.

» Continue reading “Off-Day Ruminating About The Yankees And Red Sox”

I’m so glad we don’t have to see the Slop again until September. Yes, I call it the Slop because it’s a terrible baseball stadium.

David Phelps only lasted four and a third innings but he had eight strikeouts and held the Rays to one run. The bullpen (sans Boone Logan) shut down the Rays and struck them out eight more times. Logan actually picked up the win even though he gave up a two-run home run to Carlos Pena that gave the Rays a 3-1 lead. Luckily for Logan, his offense came back in the next half inning and scored three to take a lead they’d never relinquish.

The star of the game was Robinson Cano who finished 2-5 with two RBI. In his last 11 games Cano is 20-45 with five home runs and 15 RBI. He also has an eight-game RBI streak which is a career high.

So the Yankees have a much needed off day before their series with Boston at Fenway Park.

Frankly, we all need one…

What? You didn’t really think I was going to write about the crapfest down in Tampa, did you?

Tonight, I attended a game between the Rockland Boulders and the New Jersey Jackals at Provident Bank Park in Ramapo, NY.

The Boulders are the team John Flaherty partly owns and they play in the Can Am League. I’ve been to three games now and all three have been victories.

Going into the bottom of the eighth it looked like my mini-streak was in jeopardy with the Boulders down a run and with time running out. Well, wouldn’t you know it, in the bottom of the eighth Orlando Mercado hit a game-tying home run into the left field bleachers.

They had life!

The game went into extras but only lasted one additional frame. After Phillip Cuadrado tripled to open the bottom of the tenth, Matt Nandin hit the game-winning hit – a safety squeeze – that scored Cuadrado and the Boulders won 2-1.

Apparently this isn’t the first time Nandin has been the hero this season and it’s not the first time I’ve seen the Boulders walk-off. In fact, they walked-off the first game I attended, last season. Earlier this season, I saw them defeat the Worcester Tornadoes and Jose Canseco. So I’m now 3-0 at Provident Bank Park and I think the Boulders should reward me with either a job or free tickets.

Oh I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Angel Berroa plays the Jackals. Yes, that Angel Berroa.

Okay, fine. I’ll briefly talk about the “game” in “Tropicana Field.” I used quotes for both because the game wasn’t really game it was a shitshow and Tropicana Field isn’t a real ballpark.

From what I was seeing on Twitter, it was ugly. Oh and Sean Rodriguez needs to be taken care of Nancy Kerrigan style. What a pain in the ass.*

All I have to say is these guys better get their act tomorrow. They don’t need to be shipping up to Boston on a three-game losing streak.

*That was sarcasm, I don’t really think someone should bash him in the knee with a tire iron…or do I?

Not that Tropicana Field really had anything to do with tonight’s loss but I really loathe that “ballpark.” It’s awful and a Major League Baseball team shouldn’t play in it. As a matter of fact no teams at any level should ever play in it again.

What a piece of…

Oh right, the game. It started it off well and then ended badly. Hmm sounds familiar, kind of like last Thursday against the White Sox. Yep. It was like that.

Freddy Garcia did a pretty good job in his spot start and held the Rays to two runs. Mark Teixeira made his first error of 2012 at the worst possible time and the Yankees lost because of it.

The Yankees have now lost eight straight games at that “stadium” for their longest streak since 1989-91 when they lost eight straight at Texas. Thanks to Elias for that stat. And what a wonderful stat it is.

I think the thing that annoys me most about tonight’s game is that Freddy Garcia did what he needed to do, he kept the Yankees in the game and they have nothing to show for it.

Hopefully Ivan Nova will help the Yanks bounce back tomorrow and stop that streak.