New York Yankees Pitchers and Catchers

The New York Yankees Pitchers and Catchers reported to Tampa, Florida on Thursday.  There really

wasn't much doing on Thursday.  It was a few pitchers playing catch, physicals and Joe Girardi doing

his annual start of spring training press conference.  Friday was a different story as the first official

workout did take place and there were a total of 16 pitchers who threw bullpens.  Masahiro Tanaka,

Luis Severino and Nathan Eovaldi all threw today.  There were no injury concerns today, all were

coming off of injuries last season.  Ivan Nova also threw a pen, he said it was his second or third of

the month though as he was working out early, he stated his arm felt lighter in his second year back

from Tommy John.  He said last year it never hurt or affected him but it definitely felt heavy.  He

said getting a break this offseason helped him recover and he feels better on the mound. 

Mark Montgomery and Kyle Haynes were officially added to the spring training roster this morning.  The Yankees now have 33 pitchers in camp.  Last year they used 31 in New York so anyone of these guys could have a role at some point this season. 

CC Sabathia had a press conference today and openly discussed his alcohol addiction.  He stated he is in a good place now and feels great, better then he has in years.  He said he was always fine when he was out with people, the problem was when he was alone in his hotel room and he would just drink and not have to worry about anyone being around telling him what to do or looking out for him.  He said that he is looking forward to being back out with teammates on the road and not being alone like he used to be.  He said this will be the last time he addresses it because everything is out there now and he is happy with that because it will help him, he said that if the team notices something off about him they will bring it up and that will only help in the long run. 

James Kaprielian threw today, he was the Yankees top pick from last year.  Girardi said "Thought he had good command today, you know, the focus early on in spring is the command of that fastball, and I thought he had good command.  I thought he was not overwhelmed by his surroundings.  He was comfortable.  That's always a concern of mine for kids their first year in camp.  He was talkative, and it was good to see."

CC to get back to him continued to work with his knee brace through the offseason and he said it was great and he will continue to use it.  It really helped him at the end of last year when he was really good.  This could be the answer and if it is then he can really help the Yankees.  The Yankees are really focused on the pitchers bunting early in camp.  They have minor league instructor Reggie Willits with them now until minor league camp starts and Girardi said he is a great teacher of bunting.  There was perfect attendance today, no delays or problems with anyone reporting to camp.  There are always some position players around early and today Aaron Judge, Jorge Mateo and Tyler Wade were spotted. 

Tommorrow will be a big day as both Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances will throw bullpens, I am assuming that Andrew Miller will as well and if those three are lined up together it will be fun to watch.  I hope someone takes good video of that.  Thanks to Chad Jennings of the Journal News and Lohud Blog for the information. 

Yankees Saturday notes as they get ready for position players to report on Sunday

CC Sabathia threw his first bullpen of the spring along with Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte. Sabathia said he did feel a little nervous because it was the first time doing it since his offseason elbow surgery. He said after the first couple of pitches though he felt good. He threw 29 pitches which were all fastballs and changeups. He said he will start throwing breaking balls in the next couple of days off of flat ground and then carry that into the next bullpens. Joe Girardi said today that he will probably miss the first turn through the rotation with games beginning a week from today. Mariano Rivera will probably also miss the first few games and not pitch until March. That is fine though with the extra time in camp. 
The Yankees have no idea who will start the game a week from today but it could be David Phelps or Adam Warren. Joe Girardi said he expects everyone to be in camp tomorrow and he also said so far no one has gotten injured.

Derek Jeter will address the media tomorrow in his annual start of spring training press conference. Rivera said he felt good again today and he has no doubt he will be able to pitch. He said he put a lot of work in during the year and he trusts god first and then himself. He is on a normal spring routine, he may actually be getting work in earlier then usual and he is wearing a brace but he is fine.

Francisco Cervelli said the Yankees told him he could play in the WBC if he wanted. He said he has a job that he can win and that has been his dream and he wants to make sure he is in camp and gives it his all. He said he talked to the manager of Italy back in December and told them he wasn’t going to play.

Spring training will get more lively tomorrow and there will be much more going on. The full squad reports and then in a week the games will begin. It has been pretty quiet the last couple of days but that is all about to change.

Grapefruit League Game 4-Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees

Here are the lineups and some notes courtesy of the Lohud Yankees Blog. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Granderson(CF) Posada(C) Rodriguez(3B) Winn(RF) Gardner(LF) Cervelli(DH) Miranda(1B) Pena(2B) Toronto Lineup: Bautista(3B) Hill(2B) Lind(DH) Wells(CF) Overbay(1B) Reed(RF) Gonzalez(SS) Snider(LF) Molina(C)Yes it is Jose Molina the former Yankee The game will be broadcast on MY9 in New York and also on the radio WCBS 880. A.J. Burnett will make his first start of the spring against Shaun Marcum. He missed all of last season, and should be one of the guys the Blue Jays look too as he was up and coming before he got hurt. The Yankees PR Dept released this info this morning. Of the 66 players in camp 37 were either originally drafted by the Yankees or signed with the Yankees as non drafted free agents. 23 played in at least one game for the Yankees last season and 27 have appeared in a game for the Yankees at some point in their careers. Andrew Brackman is scheduled to make his spring debut today. The other pitchers who are scheduled for today are: Jonathan Albaladejo, Boone Logan,Mark Melancon, Jason Hirsch,Romulo Sanchez, Amaury Sanit. The position players scheduled to come in the game are Jaime Hoffman getting his first turn in CF, Mike River(C), Jorge Vazquez(1B),Kevin Russ(2B), Eduardo Nunez(SS), Brandon Laird(3B),Colin Curtis(LF), David Winfree(RF) and Austin Romine(DH). Tomorrows scheduled pitchers are Sergio Mitre, Chad Gaudin, Kei Igawa, Wilkens Arias, D.J. Mitchell,Ryan Pope, Amaury Sanit and Kevin Whelan. The game tomorrow is in Fort Myers against the Twins and obviously they aren't sending any of the big guys. Christian Garcia is throwing a bullpen today and scheduled to make his spring debut on Monday. The other guys who are throwing side sessions today are CC Sabathia, Zack Segovia, Zach McAllister and Ivan Nova. Mariano Rivera and Damaso Marte got up to 30 pitches in their bullpens yesterday. They are scheduled to throw tomorrw. Mo said he thinks it is BP tomorrow. Today is Francisco Cervellis 24th birthday so Happy Birthday to him. The Yankees have signed Can Am league player Myron Leslie to a minor league deal. It is on the Can Am website. This is the same league that the New Jersey Jackals play in. Enjoy the game everyone and the nice day. I am hoping you guys will post on these game posts and get some good discussion about the lineups, the battles for roster spots, the game itself even during the games etc. Any other ideas please feel free to let me know, thank you for all the support.

A-rod to meet with Feds and A.J. adapts to Change

There were a couple of pretty big stories coming out of Tampa today. The first one has to do with Alex Rodriguez although this time he is not the focus. The Feds will meet with him regarding Dr. Tony Galea, the association is with Dr. Mark Lindsay who was managing A-rods hip rehab. New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes met with the Feds already as part of this same investigation. Here is what A-rod had to say "This is about someone else, I am going to cooperate as best as I can and focus on baseball." The Yankees issued a press release that said "The New York Yankees have not been contacted with regard to an investigation of Dr. Tony Galea. The Yankees never authorized Dr. Tony Galea to treat Alex Rodriguez, nor do we have any knowledge of such treatment. The Yankees authorized Dr. Marc Philippon to operate on Alex and oversee his rehabilitation. At the request of Dr. Philippon, we also authorized Dr. Marc Lindsay to supervise the daily rehabilitation program established by Dr. Philippon. We will continue to monitor the situation." A.J. Burnett threw live batting practice today, he threw 30 pitches. He didn't throw a curveball and said he thinks he threw 12 changeups. He said he knows what other teams scouting report will be on his changeup "Has one, never threw it but he might." He has spent the winter trying to improve his changeup, which he has only thrown occasionally in his career. He only threw fastballs and changeups today and said he will probably do that through his first 2 or 3 starts of the spring. He said watching CC throw last year and he is a power guy and how much he used the changeup and how good of a pitch it was for him basically inspired A.J. to try and better himself. I love to see this with these pitchers, I really feel the group the Yankees have push each other and they aren't satisfied with winning the World Series, they want to keep winning. Andy Pettitte is the only pitcher throwing batting practice tomorrow, he will do so at about 9:00AM, there will be a few others who will throw a normal bullpen. The players will be out of camp by 10:00AM for there big group outing which we still don't know what it is. I guess we will find out tomorrow but it looks like it may be another pool tournament. Chan Ho Park threw 35 pitches today and Damaso Marte threw 25, they will both throw again on Wednesday. Andrew Brackman threw BP on a backfield and was impressive for his first time out. He is still a guy the Yankees have high hopes for, this is a big year for him to start to show what he has.

News and Notes from Yankees Camp

Chan Ho Park arrived in camp today, he said he has been throwing in Korea. He long tossed today and will throw a bullpen tomorrow. Edwar Ramirez was designated for assignment to make room on the 40 man roster for Park. The official press release from the Yankees can be found here. Chan Ho Park will wear number 61. Brian Cashman said they are treating him like today was his first day of spring training, which it was technically. He was throwing bullpens and training in Korea but the Yankees will start his throwing program the same way they did the other pitchers. He will throw a bullpen tommorrow and Cashman said he won't get into a game the first week of exhibition games. That still will give him enough time to be ready for opening day, the Yankees just don't want to rush him and have him get hurt. Here are the pitchers who threw live batting practice today: Group 1-Joba Chamberlain, CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes,Boone Logan,Zach McAllister,Ivan Nova,Hector Noesi. Group 2: Kei Igawa,Dustin Moseley,D.J. Mitchell, Mark Melancon,Jeremy Bleich,Kevin Whelan. CC Sabathia threw 28 pitches today. He faced Mike Rivera,Marcus Thames,Randy Winn and Nick Johnson. He said this "They didn't take many swings, but it is good to have that hitter judge your pitches. It doesn't matter whether they swing or not." He was asked if he is ready to finally pitch in a game and he said " We will see, I feel good though. My bullpens went real well, I get Monday off then throw another bullpen, so I will be fine. I'm looking forward to it. Today definitely helped, getting back going and getting used to facing guys."

The Day in Tampa

There really wasn't a whole lot of news coming out of Yankees camp today. Brian Cashman did indicate that Marcus Thames have a opt out of his contract if he doesn't make the team so basically him and Jaime Hoffman are in the same position. If Hoffman doesn't make the team he has to be offered back to the Dodgers due to him being a Rule 5 pick. If thames doesn't make it he can become a free agent. Joe Girardi stated that he would have a team bonding exercise on Tuesday but wouldn't say what it was yet. He also said he knows who will start Wednesdays Grapefruit league opener and will announce that tomorrow. Joe Girardi said that he will put both Gardner and Granderson in left and center during the exhibition games. He said he knows they can both handle center but wants to see if they can handle left. Mariano Rivera and Damaso Marte will each throw a bullpen on Monday which will be their first one. Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain both threw batting practice today. Hughes threw 29 pitches getting 6 swings. Joba threw 30 pitches and got 7 swings. Chad Jennings of the Journal News said he probably would say Chamberlain had the better commnad. You really can't find out much from these sessions, during the games is when you find out a lot. Joba and Phil are both taking this competition as fun, they are friends and were joking about it today. If you want to hear some audio of them visit the http://yankees.lhblogs.com/ which is the Lohud Yankees Blog by Chad Jennings and Sam Borden. A.J. Burnett, Javier Vazquez and Wilken De La Rosa all threw bullpens today. The other pitchers who threw live batting practice other then Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes were Boone Logan, Dustin Mosely, Edwar Ramirez and Mark Melancon. The other group consisted of Kei Igawa, Zach McAllister, Ivan Nova, Kevin Whelan, Hector Noesi, Jeremy Bleich and D.J. Mitchell. There was still no sign of Chan Ho Park, maybe he will arrive tomorrow.

Yankees Hold First Full Squad Workout

The New York Yankees held their first full squad workout today. The day started with Derek Jeter addressing the media. It went basically as expected with the majority of the questions being about him being in the last year of his contract. He said that this will be the only time he will talk about it all season, he won't mention it again until after the season is over. He stated this is always where he wanted to be and that is still the same. He said he can't worry about next year because he is worried about this year and what he has to do to help the team win. I know everyone wants to talk about it but it will never be an issue, the Yankees and Jeter will always be synonomous together and this will be taken care of very easily after the season is over. The workouts went pretty much as you would expect. There was 8 groups of players for batting practice, there was fielding practice and there were a few pitches who threw bullpens. Tomorrow live batting practice will begin. Joe Girardi said he expected it to get louder with the position players being around. The problem is Nick Swisher who may be the most rowdy and fun player forgot a plug to his IPOD, he said don't worry he will have it for tomorrow. Tomorrow A-rod will meet with the media in the morning. Curtis Granderson had a few things to say today. He said that he has to prepare for the roll call, " I have got to prepare for that, I got to talk to these guys to understand the full logic and understanding and concept of it all to make sure I don't mess it up." It is still a get to know you time for Granderson and he said " It is kind of like the first day of school all over again. There are a bunch of names that if you quiz me right now, I might forget them." Joe Girardi said he is very pleasant and a hard worker. He just seems like a real quality person. I will have more information later on tonight about the batting practice pairings and bullpens etc. so check back for more later. It is almost time for the games to begin and then we can really start getting into the baseball season.

Weekend Notes from Yankees Camp

Javier Vazquez asked to throw on Sunday and was allowed to do so. I know you may ask why I am saying that well all the Yankees starters have been held back because of their workloads last season. He said though that he was throwing in Puerto Rico and hadn't thrown in about a week and a half and wanted to get back out there. There wasn't much excitement in camp on Sunday, it was expected that Johnny Damon would be a hot topic but there wasn't much said about him signing yesterday for 1 year and 8 million with the Detroit Tigers. The people that did speak about him like Joe Girardi wished him well. I still think that he overplayed his hand and should of come back to the Yankees for 2 years but that is his fault. Almost all of the pitchers have now thrown 2 bullpens and with the exception of Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes are up to 40 pitches. They have only been throwing fastballs and changeups but will now start throwing their breaking pitches. Chad Jennings heard a lot of good things about Andrew Brackman who was one of the Yankees top picks a couple of years ago. Nardi Contreras who is the roving pitching instructor had some good things to say. If you want to check out more on that you can visit http://yankees.lhblogs.com. Brett Gardner was in the clubhouse for a little while today and sat talking with relief pitcher Kevin Whelan. It is not known what they were discussing. The pitchers who threw today were in Group 1 Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Javier Vazquez and Edwar Ramirez. Group 2 was Mark Melancon, Boone Logan, Mosely and Christian Garcia. Group 3 was Kei Igawa, Zach McAllister, Ivan Nova and Kevin Whelan. The last group was Jeremy Bleich, Andrew Brackman, Mitchell and Noesi. The position players are reporting on Tuesday and then Wednesday is the first full squad workout. March 3rd is the first game so things will start heating up after tomorrow and there will be more news coming out of Tampa. It has been very quiet for the Yankees but that should be expected after a World Series Championship and not much else going on.

How do the Yankees and Red Sox stack up

There are only 3 NFL games left in the season, there isn't much going on in the baseball world. Hockey and basketball are in full swing but the Nets may set the all time record for least amount of wins, they are on pace for 6 which I believe is the record. The New York Knicks were showing signs of life but coming into today had lost 4 out of their last 5. The New Jersey Devils are the best team in hockey but the Rangers and Islanders are middle of the pack type teams. I also don't think many people are focused on hockey but if you are I would love to hear from you and get your take. I think with all of this in mind and knowing that it is only 31 days until pitchers and catchers report it is a good time to look at the Yankees/Red Sox rosters and see how they match up. Boston Red Sox: New York Yankees 1B-Kevin Youkilis 1B-Mark Teixeira 2B-Dustin Pedroia 2B-Robinson Cano SS-Marcaro Scutaro SS-Derek Jeter 3B-Adrian Beltre 3B-Alex Rodriguez C-Victor Martinez C-Jorge Posada LF-Jacoby Ellsbury LF-Brett Gardner CF-Mike Cameron CF-Curtis Granderson RF-J.D. Drew RF-Nick Swisher Starting Rotation Starting Rotation Josh Beckett CC Sabathia John Lackey A.J. Burnett Jon Lester Andy Pettitte Daisuke Matsusaka J. Vazquez Clay Bucholz Phil Hughes Bullpen Closer-Jonathan Papelbon Closer-Mariano Rivera Setup-Manny Delcarmen Setup-Joba Chamberlain Setup-Ramon Ramirez Setup-Dave Robertson Lefty-Hideki Okajima Lefty-Damaso Marte Longman-Boof Bonser/Tim Wakefield Lefty-Boone Logan Longman-Sergio Mitre/Chad Gaudin I know the rosters aren't complete but this is pretty much what it will be. There are some spots in the bullpen that could be open or change and same thing with the bench that is why I didn't put the bench on here. I think the Yankees have a better lineup, starting pitching is pretty close, I probably would give the Yankees the slight edge and I think the Yankees have the advantage in the bullpen. It will be a very different Red Sox team, pitching and defense. They don't have a great lineup and it will be interesting to see how that plays out with them, over the last few years they always have a very good lineup. I still think these 2 teams and the Rays are the best teams in the AL, it comes down to injuries and guys executing especially against each other.

A-rod hits 2 run walkoff in Classic game

I have managed to stay up for this great game. I am not going to do the statistics like I usually do. The pitching was the name of the game tonight for both teams, A.J. Burnett and Josh Beckett were just brilliant, A.J. gave up 1 hit in 7 2/3 innings and Beckett gave up 3 hits in 7 innings. The bullpens were equally brilliant as both teams pretty much used everyone. The Yankees have had a few chances but couldn't get the one big hit. Ok as I am writing this A-rod hits a 2 run walkoff homerun. He said it best everyone is exhausted including me so I am going to go to bed while watching the post game and will be back tomorrow with more. This was some game and now the yankees have a 4 1/2 game lead and can really stomp on the Sox, this has to be crushing for them as they used their whole pen that was already tired and they have Clay Bucholz going tomorrow. CC needs to come up big and get the Yanks a win and a chance for a 4 game sweep.