Early Thoughts from New York Yankees Spring Training

Spring Training started about two weeks ago, just about three weeks ago.  The games are being played now and the season is just around the corner.  I have some thoughts from the early days of spring training.  I used to do all the box scores from spring training as I do in the regular season but that got to be too much as there are so many minor leaguers and players being used.  You can always follow me on twitter at gmarchesej for some game recaps etc.

Miguel Andujar has been playing a lot of left field and he looks really good out there.  I am a bit surprised but this is great news for the Yankees as we all know he can hit.  I can also see him playing some third and DH, they say first as well but I just don't see that.

The injury bug has hit again and hit pretty hard.  I think Luis Severino injury hurts but they can withstand it.  I am more sad for him as a player and person since he will be out for so long.  The rotation with Cole, Tanaka, Happ, Montgomery and whoever wins the fifth spot can withstand it especially if Paxton comes back in May and stays healthy the rest of the way.  Remember also that in early June German will be eligible to come back.

The Yankees bullpen still is loaded every with Dellin Betances going to the Mets.  The guys like Ottavino, Britton, Kahnle have all looked good so far this spring.

It looks like Judge and Stanton will start the year on the IL and if that is the case watch for Andujar, Frazier etc,  I believe they can step up and contribute mightily.

Cole, I can't believe I have gone this far without mentioning him.  He is as impressive as they come.  We all know the hype and have heard how great he is.  Now seeing him up close and personal, he really is impressive and not just on the mound.  He is going to be great for a long time.

An interesting thing to watch for is now this year you can have a 26 man roster, who will that extra bench player be.  We know the backup catcher, utility infielder and extra outfielder but will a guy like Tyler Wade make it.  Will Mike Ford as a lefty bat, pinch hitter and extra first baseman make it.  It should be interesting to watch.

I will be back soon with more thoughts and eventually some predictions for the season.  I will also do a Mets blog soon.

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. 

New York Yankees Spring Training Preview

The New York Yankees begin spring training on Friday February 20, 2015.  It is the official report day for pitchers and catchers and they will hold their first official workout the next day Saturday February 21, 2015.  The Yankees roster is pretty much set with maybe a couple position battles for backup catcher and last spot in the bullpen.  There are definitely some interesting storylines though. 

The biggest story will be of course the return of Alex Rodriguez from a year long suspension for his role in the biogenesis PED scandal.  He has had his meeting with the new commissioner and the Yankees and in the coming days before spring training will meet with the media probably at Yankee Stadium at the request of the Yankees.  The Yankees don't want him to do it in Tampa and be a distraction for spring training.  After all the talking and the questions it will be back to baseball.  Does Alex have anything left?  Can he perform at a high level or any level at all?  If he does make it through spring training and looks pretty good will he be the starting DH, will he bat in the middle of the order?  Will he play any 3B, 1B??  Will he be just a part time player?  As you see there are plenty of on the field questions to be answered. 

Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda and CC Sabathia.  The questions with these guys are will they be healthy?  Tanaka has a tear in his elbow we know that, the questions is will it hold up with the rehab he has had and the rest like three doctors recommended or will it blow out and he will need to get Tommy John surgery after all??  Pineda is a question because he hasn't been fully healthy in a few years.  When they were healthy last year they were dominant so if they can stay healthy that will be a big plus for the Yankees.  CC Sabathia is getting older and he has a degenerative knee condition.  He has been saying that he feels good and is ready to go but can his body really hold up and pitch a full year and then if it can, how effective will he be?? 

Is Stephen Drew really the second baseman?  Can Rob Refsnyder or Jose Pirela have a good enough spring and change their minds and make Drew a bench player??  If Drew is the starter was last year just a bad year because of not signing until the summer and not having spring training etc?  This could be the most interesting part of spring or the season.  If Drew struggles how quick will they pull the trigger on him and bring up one of the kids to take over, Pirela may make the team as a utility guy also. 

Can Carlos Beltran, Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann get back to being very good middle of the order hitters and run producers.  McCann showed some life in September and the Yankees hope that will carry over.  They will give him the first year grace period and expect him to be better this year but are Beltran and Teixeira just shells of themselves or can they bounce back from injury and ineffectiveness.  They were both pretty good early last year until Beltran fell over a wall in Tampa Bay and his elbow bothered him the rest of the season and now Teixeira is another full year away from that wrist surgery.  He was pretty good the first half of last year and then just terrible in the second half last year.  It figures to be a very busy as usual camp but different in the fact that there are no Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera etc and there is Alex Rodriguez and a bunch of new faces to go with the aging veterans.  There will be a lot of focus in camp also of the young kids that appear to be the future and are getting their first tastes of big league camp.  It figures to be a fun and hectic six weeks before the season opens. 

New York Yankees notes as they head home finally

The New York Yankees opening road trip was pretty good.  It didn't start out too well with two

losses to open the season in Houston.  The Yankees then finished with three wins in four games

including winning two out of three in Toronto.  Mark Teixeira was hurt over this weekend which

wasn't a good thing but he will be on the 15 day DL and then they will see.  He doesn't seem to have

a bad hamstring strain.  The Yankees pitching overall has been great and their offense has struggled

especially with power.  I would expect the offense to pick it up especially at home. 

Jeter said he likes how they have been playing and that they have pitched well.  He said it is always good to go home especially after a win.  Sabathia was much better in his second start on Sunday.  His final line isn't real impressive but he mostly had good innings.  His only bad inning was his last in the sixth inning and he didn't get killed that inning.  Toronto found some holes otherwise it would of been a really good start.  CC said "It felt pretty good, I'd take two pitches back in the sixth inning.  the cutter that Navarro  hit four a double and the ball Kratz hit down the line but other than that , I felt I pitched pretty good." 

The Yankees hit their first homerun on Sunday.  It came from an unlikely source in Brett Gardner.  I would expect that number to go way up after a nine game home stand.  The Yankees will play three against the Baltimore Orioles, four against the Boston Red Sox and then two against the Chicago Cubs.  In the American League right now only the Kansas City Royals have a lower slugging percentage than the Yankees.  They also have one of the lowest scoring teams in the league which you would expect right now.  I don't think that will be the case at the end of the year though.  The Yankees are a lot different than last year.  They have some big time players and power in their lineup this season. 

Alfonso Soriano snapped a 17 game hitless streak on Sunday.  He has always been a streaky hitter and I would expect him to get it going at home over the next nine games.  It looks like Adam Warren may be emerging as the early seventh inning guy.  He has been pitching really well also after having a good spring. 

Jeter passed Paul Molitor on the all-time hits list Sunday.  He is now eighth all-time and has 99 hits to go to get to Carl Yastrzemski.  Sabathia made his 400th career start and is now 7-1 career at Rogers Centre and 15-4 all-time against the Blue Jays.  August 7th of last year was the last time he didn't walk anyone.  Sabathia said "This is the key to our team, pitching, and trying to give the bullpen as much rest as we can.  So try to go deep into games and keep those guys fresh.  We have a really good staff, and we just want to try to keep it up."

New York Yankees notes after a disappointing 2-4 road trip

The New York Yankees just completed a 2-4 road trip through Tampa Bay and Toronto. Here are some notes from Wednesday night; the Yankees were off on Thursday. The Yankees will begin a long homestand on Friday night against the Orioles followed by the White Sox and the Red Sox.

Hiroki Kuroda has been the Yankees ace really for the past two years now. He has become very hittable over his last couple of starts though. Joe Girardi said his command hasn’t been as sharp and he doesn’t know why. Kuroda is 38 years old and maybe it is catching up to him a little or maybe it is just a bad stretch that every baseball player goes through.

Eduardo Nunez tweaked his knee on Tuesday night and was scratched late on Wednesday. He will have an MRI on Thursday; he told Bryan Hoch he is worried he could miss two weeks or more. Mark Reynolds started at second and looked pretty good, he was a middle infielder in college and the minor leagues.

Alex Rodriguez tried to score from first in the fourth inning and was thrown out. Girardi said he didn’t have a problem with the decision but it did kind of halt the Yankees rally. Stewart had a passed ball in the first that led to two runs. He said he called a slider and a fastball was thrown but he tried to force the issue and should of just eaten the ball instead of throwing it wild and allowing the two runs to score. It was 4-0 instead of 2-0 and maybe the game would have been different without that play.

The Yankees have 29 games to play and a lot of teams in front of them. They really can’t afford to lose many more games. It looks like they will have to go somewhere around 20-9 to make it. I don’t think it is going to happen but it is possible. The Yankees will have to go 8-2 on this homestand to have any chance.

Yankees notes as they head to Chicago

s as they head to Chicago


The New York Yankees lost to the San Diego Padres on Sunday evening. They lost two out of three in the series and have not won a series in about a month. They can’t even win two games in a row and they are falling further behind in the wildcard race. It has been a very difficult year, lots of injuries, not so good baseball and now the Alex Rodriguez situation.

Alex Rodriguez played rehab games with the Trenton Thunder on Friday and Saturday, came through them fine and is ready to join the team. Arod of course though is involved with the biogenesis case and is going to be suspended on Monday. The latest on that is that he will be suspended for the rest of this year and all of 2014. He will be able to play though as he appeals. Bud Selig the commissioner of baseball had been threatening to ban him for life and not let him appeal but now sources are saying that he won’t do that. This has been a crazy back and forth between Arod, MLB and the Yankees over the last couple of weeks. It should all come to a head on Monday.

Ivan Nova was sent down to the minor leagues earlier in the year. He had been struggling since the middle of last year. It has seemed to work, as Nova has been great since coming back. In his past 56 1/3 innings he has a 2.08 ERA. He has pitched at least seven innings in his last five starts. Nova says he has been feeling really good and doesn’t remember the last time that he felt this way.

Curtis Granderson is back and it looks like he can help their really struggling offense. Granderson hit a homerun and scored the game winning run on Saturday. Granderson has played in 10 games this season and three of them have been multi-hit games. Jayson Nix had an RBI off the bench, his first this season. The last time he had an RBI in a game he didn’t start was July 25th of last year against Seattle. Derek Jeter was available to pinch hit but Girardi was happy he didn’t have to do that. The plan is for the same on Sunday and then back in the lineup on Monday. Jeter has been diagnosed with a grade one-calf strain. He wasn’t too happy on Sunday. “It’s been terrible” Jeter said. “It’s been like a nightmare. The whole season has been a nightmare. I really don’t know what to tell you. I wish that wasn’t the case and we were sitting here talking about something besides another injury. We’ll see what happens, I have no idea.”

He wants to play through it; of course he doesn’t want to end up on the DL for the third time this season. He has been battling through it for the past week but the Yankees say it is a possibility he goes back on the DL although they don’t really want to do that either. The Yankees will reevaluate him on Monday in Chicago.

Phil Hughes had another bad start on Sunday. He has had a bad year and has lost eight of his past 10 decisions. He has a 5.11 ERA in those starts and has allowed five or more runs in five of them. He said it has been frustrating but he will keep on battling and he has no control over what the Yankees do.

Granderson tied a career high with three walks on Sunday. Austin Romine hit his first major league homerun on Sunday. He was also the only Yankee with a multi-hit game. He is hitting 353 and showing some power since June 21st. His overall season batting average is now up to 213. That is more then twice what it was at the end of May. He has earned more playing time and it will be interesting to see if he gets it.

Yankees notes as the second half begins

The New York Yankees are still playing shorthanded. They are hoping to have some guys back but they can’t count on it. Derek Jeter came back for one game and is back on the disabled list. It shouldn’t be much more then the 15 days though; he expects to be ready by Friday or Saturday. Alex Rodriguez is expected to come off the disabled list on Monday but stay tuned for that.

The Yankees were playing short handed on Friday night as Brett Gardner got ejected and Zoilo Almonte got hurt. They had Alberto Gonzalez and Brent Lillibridge playing the outfield corners. Gonzalez was making his first career appearance in left field. He had previously played right field and also pitched this season.

Melky Mesa and Thomas Neal were being summoned from AAA Scranton and Almonte is headed to the disabled list. The other move was to DFA Gonzalez, which happened on Saturday.

Andy Pettitte hasn’t been bad this season but he hasn’t been great. He has now allowed at least four runs in seven straight starts. It is tied for the longest such streak of his career. He is 4-7 with a 5.14 ERA in his last 14 starts.

Girardi said he wasn’t mad at Gardner for the ejection. He was mad at the umpire. He said he threw him out for throwing equipment, Girardi said it is an emotional game. Gardner said he never said anything to the umpire. Gardner kept apologizing though saying he should of controlled his emotions better and he let the team down putting them in a bad spot.

The Yankees on Saturday night had some good defense and pitching of course. They were able to even the series and now have a chance to win it on Sunday night with CC Sabathia on the mound. Chris Stewart dove into the stands in the 8th inning caught the ball and then fired to second to get the runner and complete a very unusual double play. There was a lot of talk and excitement about that play. Stewart said he was surprised that he was able to jump in there without the fans being there and then be able to get out of the stands so quick pick up the runner and make a good throw to second.

The Yankees are now six games behind the Red Sox; they had lost their previous three games to them so this was an important win for the Yankees. Alex Rodriguez had a tight quad and was switched to DH and went 0-4 with three strikeouts. It doesn’t seem to be much of anything though since he still played just not in the field. Girardi didn’t know much after the game or wasn’t saying anything at least.

A very rare moment at Fenway as Mariano Rivera got a standing ovation from the crowd. This was a sincere thing and showing appreciation to the greatest closer and an all around good guy. The last time they cheered him was in jest in 2005 after he blew saves in the 2004 ALCS that led to them winning the series and breaking the curse.

David Robertson made his 311th career appearance. He tied with Steve Hamilton on the Yankees all-time games pitched list. Hiroki Kuroda has been amazing for the Yankees. In his last 10 starts he has a 2.63 ERA with 49 strikeouts and 11 walks. Robinson Cano extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Eduardo Nunez had his second three hit game of the season. Lyle Overbay also had three hits and is hitting 331 with 17 doubles and 32 RBI in 45 career games at Fenway Park

New York Yankees notes from the Bay area

The New York Yankees haven’t won in Oakland in quite a while; they were swept there these past three games. Last year they were swept in a four game series there. The Yankees pitching is still for the most part doing well but the offense is a different story. The offense is having a very hard time scoring runs; they have a lot of guys who are slumping. The early success of guys like Vernon Wells and Kevin Youkilis has faded away. They look like washed up veterans now. The question now is what do the Yankees do or what can they do??

The Yankees 4-7 hitters on Thursday afternoon/night were 0-28, which are one worse then a no-hitter. They had 12 strikeout with nine of them coming in extra innings. That is as bad as it gets, it sure felt like rock bottom. The Yankees could put David Adams back at third, Youkilis doesn’t appear to be a starter at this point and bench Vernon Wells as well but there are other guys too like Travis Hafner, Cano just started hitting, Teixeira isn’t hitting at all.

The Yankees did have some positive news yesterday believe it or not. Derek Jeter was cleared for full baseball activities. If there are no setbacks you can say he will be back in about six weeks, which is what spring training, is and what he will need to get ready. The Yankees used Adam Warren a lot yesterday and he did a great job. The bad thing about that is he will probably be demoted for it so the Yankees can have a fresh arm in the bullpen for the weekend.

Austin Romine will be playing on Friday night considering that Stewart caught all 18 innings and did take a pretty good pop in the 15th inning on the collision at home plate. Kuroda who everyone forgets about in this game was really good. He became the third Japanese born pitcher to log at least 1000 innings in his career. Girardi used Rivera because he said that Claiborne was throwing too many pitches and had thrown in the previous two games and he didn’t want to overuse him.

It looks like the Yankees will call up Thomas Neal from AAA Scranton and option down David Adams. Neal has been playing very well in AAA. He is hitting very well and this gives them another option for the outfield as Vernon Wells continues to struggle.

New York Yankees notes from Baltimore

The New York Yankees lost two out of three in Baltimore. Here are some notes from the last couple of days. Phil Hughes had a dreadful start his last time out, he couldn’t even get out of the first inning. He pitched on Tuesday night though and was a lot better. He gave them a quality start even though he or they didn’t win. Vidal Nuno has pitched well in the limited time he has pitched. He came in though in the game and gave up a walkoff homerun to the only batter that he faced. 
Nuno though to his credit isn’t rattled. He has been a starter and isn’t used to coming into a game in the tenth inning. He hasn’t pitched in a while though since his start was skipped with the rainout and he was available for multiple innings, unfortunately he gave up a homerun and that ended the game.

Hughes did give up a couple of more homeruns, they were both to Chris Dickerson a former teammate. That is Hughes big knock against him, he does give up a lot of homeruns, at least these two were solo homeruns. Preston Claiborne has been a find for the Yankees. He was one of the last guys to be cut in spring training, continued to pitch well in AAA and got his chance in the majors. He has been great and pitched in a tie game in the ninth inning on Tuesday night. He has impressed everyone.

Travis Hafner has returned from injury and gone 4-9 in the past couple of games. He had two RBI last night. The game on Tuesday night was the first time this season the Yankees lost after scoring first in a game. It was the longest such stretch all-time for an American League team according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Joba Chamberlain was supposed to make an appearance today in a rehab game in Tampa. Joe Girardi said he wants him to have a couple of those before he is activated. He will most likely rejoin the team next week. Kevin Youkilis and Mark Teixeira are playing in simulated games now which is a good sign. Ivan Nova is feeling good but no one is saying right now what is next for him. Andy Pettitte may just pitch in a simulated game, no rehab game.

Hiroki Kuroda left the game on Wednesday after getting hit in the foot due to not being able to push off of it. He is scheduled to make his next start though and said he could of pushed through the start but they took him out as a precaution. Kuroda had allowed two homeruns three homeruns this season and then allowed two in the first inning in this game. He had a very rare off night even before being injured. He allowed a season high in hits and runs in this game. Eight and five were the numbers and he pitched in just two plus innings.

Claiborne hadn’t allowed a run this year until rushing into the game to replace Kuroda and giving up a three run homerun. Claiborne to his credit said he was fine, just didn’t execute the pitch. Adam Warren was impressive pitching four shutout innings, he allowed five singles and no walks. He induced two double plays and has a 1.14 ERA this season. Curtis Granderson had his best night since coming off the dl. He was 3-3 with a double and a homerun. He appears to be getting his timing back and he should be a big help to the team and offense.

David Adams has been impressive in the field at third and with the bat. He hit his second homerun in three days on Wednesday night. The Yankees are off on Thursday and then will play a three game weekend series in Tampa Bay. They will see some of their teammates down there who are rehabbing. They will then come back to New York to play the Mets two games at Citi Field and then two home games against them before playing the Red Sox at home.

The New York Yankees suffer more injuries and keep fighting, defeat the Toronto Blue Jays

The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 6-4 on Friday night. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. The Yankees starting battery left the game due to injuries. They lost what had become their starting catcher Francisco Cervelli to a broken hand after taking a ball off of it. Ivan Nova left just a little while later after experiencing pain in his elbow. Nova is set to undergo an MRI and the Yankees should know in the next day or two what is going to happen with him. 
Ivan Nova pitched two innings giving up giving up four hits and two runs. He walked none and struck out two. David Phelps pitched four strong innings in relief. Phelps is on the same day as Nova so he could slide right into the rotation if Nova has to go on the disabled list. Phelps got the win giving up two hits and a run with two walks and nine strikeouts. Joba Chamberlain pitched a scoreless inning, David Robertson pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run and Mariano Rivera earned his eighth save of the season. Rivera pitched an inning giving up three hits and striking out two.

Brett Gardner had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Jayson Nix drew two walks and Robinson Cano had a hit and drew a walk. Vernon Wells had two hits and an RBI, Chris Stewart drew two walks and Ichiro Suzuki had a hit and drew a walk. Eduardo Nunez had an RBI and made a couple of defensive gems, Lyle Overbay had a hit and an RBI and Ben Francisco drew a walk. Travis Hafner drew two walks, Cano hit a double and Overbay hit a triple. Gardner hit a homerun and the Yankees were 1-8 with runners in scoring position and they left nine men on base. Stewart had a passed ball.

In the second the Blue Jays took a 1-0 lead on a Encarnacion solo homerun. The Yankees tied the game at one in the second on a Nunez RBI groundout. Rasmus hit an RBI single in the third to give the Jays a 2-1 lead. In the third Wells hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at two. Overbay hit an RBI triple in the fourth to make it 3-2 and a wild pitch would make it 4-2 Yankees. Encarnacion hit his second homerun of the game in the sixth to make it 4-3 and the Yankees would get a run to make it 5-3 in the seventh. The Jays would get a homerun from Bautista in the eighth to make it 5-4 and then Gardner would hit a homerun in the eighth to make it 6-4 which would be the final score.

The Yankees have won the first two of this four game series. The Yankees record improved to 13-9 and the Jays record fell to 9-14. The two teams will play game three of the four game series on Saturday afternoon.

New York Yankees notes after the first series which they lost 2 out of 3

Hiroki Kuroda came out of the game on Wednesday night with an injury. It doesn’t appear to be serious though and no one thinks he will miss a start. He reached up on a hard liner up the middle and it glanced his hand. The Yankees have enough injuries and they just have to find a way to survive the first month until they get some of their guys back, they don’t need any more injuries. 
Cody Eppley didn’t pitch well but Adam Warren did and really saved the bullpen. Warren pitched one game last year and got knocked around, it is nice to see him get another chance and do well. He is a young guy who has had success in the minor leagues.

I didn’t think the Yankees offense was that bad, they had some good at bats and were unlucky in some situations. They did hit a couple of homeruns after not hitting any on Opening Day.

Vernon Wells had three hits including a homerun, he is a new guy who is older so it is nice for the Yankees to see that. He wasn’t having a good time in Los Angeles with the Angels but maybe a change of scenery will really help him like it did with Ichiro last season.

The Yankees said you never want to lose but the bottom line is they haven’t played well enough to win. I am not really worried because it was only two games. The offense isn’t going to be as good but if the pitching does what it is supposed to do they don’t need as much offense.

Eduardo Nunez and Francisco Cervelli have looked good early in the season. They both had good nights on Thursday night. Cervelli hit a homerun and made a very good defensive play in the first inning to save a run.

Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera added to their record for a combination of starting pitcher and closer with wins/saves. Pettitte also became the only pitcher in major league history with decisions in 18 different seasons and he doesn’t have a losing season.

New York Yankees Opening Day 2013

The New York Yankees will open their season on Monday afternoon against the archrival Boston Red Sox. The game is scheduled to begin at 1:05PM. The teams will be honoring the victims of the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. The first pitch will be thrown out by Lou Piniella who will be receiving an award at the welcome home dinner Monday night following the game. Constantine Mauroulis will be signing the National Anthem. 75 West Point Cadets will unfurl a giant American flag. 
The pitching matchup will be CC Sabathia vs. Jon Lester. The teams will have an off day on Tuesday and then Wednesday and Thursday night will be the last two games of the series. The other pitching matchups in order are Hiroki Kuroda vs. Clay Buchholz and Andy Pettitte vs. Ryan Dempster.

The Yankees will be going with Kevin Youkilis at first on Opening day because it is a lefty starter. Jayson Nix will be at third base. Vernon Wells will be the regular left fielder for now. Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira are expected to be back in May, Teixeira believes he could be back May 1^st, he will see a doctor on Monday and hopes to get his splint off. If he does indeed do that, it will be a sign that things are going in the right direction and maybe he is right that he will be back sooner then later. Ben Francisco could start at DH on opening day, Travis Hafner will be the DH against righties. He was scratched from the game on Saturday with some general stiffness. The Yankees said it is nothing to be concerned about. Brennan Boesch will also be on the bench for the Yankees. Eduardo Nunez will be the starting shortstop. It is the first time in a very long time that someone other then Derek Jeter will be at shortstop on Opening Day. I would expect him to be back towards the end of April.

Adam Warren and Cody Eppley got the final two spots in the Yankees bullpen. Phil Hughes is on the disabled list and may only miss the first time through the rotation. David Phelps and Ivan Nova are both in the rotation for now. Vidal Nuno will be in AAA but he is a guy to keep your eye on. He won the James P. Dawson award for best rookie in Yankees camp and has really opened some eyes. The Yankees designated Clay Rapada for assignment on Sunday. It was just a numbers game and they feel that they have other lefties such as Nuno that could step into that role. Boone Logan is their lone lefty right now. He isn’t just a situational lefty though.

The Yankees and Red Sox will be sporting very different teams on Opening Day. there is a huge loss of the usual firepower. The Yankees lost some guys to free agency such as Nick Swisher and Russell Martin and then they have Curtis Granderson, Teixeira, Jeter, Alex Rodriguez all hurt. The Red Sox are without David Ortiz and Jacoby Ellsbury got hurt late in spring. Youkilis is now a Yankee, Adrian Gonzalez is out west. Dustin Pedroia is the one big star left for the Red Sox while the Yankees have Robinson Cano.

It could be a very tight race this year, I don’t necessarily by the hype of the Blue Jays although I do think they are good. I think the Yankees are worse right now due to the injuries, Tampa Bay is always good because of their pitching. I think the Red Sox will be better but not that much better and the Orioles will be a little worse. I think the Yankees could still win the division and they could at the very least make the playoffs. I think they need to survive April and then start getting their guys back and they will be ok.

New York Yankees notes as they head to final day in Tampa

The New York Yankees are giving Lyle Overbay a three day tryout. It isn’t a lot of time to see if he can be the first baseman but either he will be or they will waive him. They aren’t going to have him go to the minor leagues. He started out well with a two hit night last night and he has always had a good glove. My guess is that he will make the team and that Juan Rivera probably will also but won’t be playing as much as he may have thought. 
The Yankees will head to Washington D.C. to take on the Nationals tomorrow and then West Point on Saturday, they have an off day Sunday and then Monday is the season opener against the Red Sox. Ronnier Mustelier was scratched last night due to soreness in his knee, I really didn’t think he was going to make the team anyway but who knows if the injury will affect that.

The Yankees have said that Vernon Wells will be there everyday left fielder until Curtis Granderson comes back. It will be interesting to see if both Brennan Boesch and Juan Rivera make the team, Ben Francisco is also there but they can’t all make it and it is possible for them to go to the minors. Wells can not so that is why he is on the team.

Eduardo Nunez who is the starting shortstop until Derek Jeter gets back which is anyone’s guess had a good night. He played error free ball again and went 2-3 and now his average is up to 293. There is no doubt from me or the Yankees that he will hit and can create some things on the base paths but his defense is the question. He has worked hard this spring though and has shown some real improvement. If he can play solid defense then he could be a huge player for them going forward.

David Phelps finished up his spring, it was a good one for him and it looks like he will be making a start the first time through the rotation. He will most likely become the long man when Phil Hughes comes back. He will be valuable to the team no matter what though. If Nova struggles again he can be plugged right into the rotation and there are always injuries so I think everyone will be able to pitch enough.

The Yankees also have Chien-Ming Wang stashed in AAA as depth, he has looked good this spring mostly pitching in the WBC. The Yankees have a lot of guys in the minors too that have looked good this spring and could possibly make an impact. They aren’t hurting on the pitching front and that is the most important thing.

Jeter won’t play in a game until Monday at the earliest, he will stay back in Tampa when the team leaves. They are just trying to rest the ankle and get the pain to go away. I don’t think this will be a long term thing but something he has to deal with as he comes back from major ankle surgery. I would expect to see him by the middle of April but you really just don’t know. If Nunez is playing well they can take their time with him and have him come back slower and be ready to go for the rest of the season.

New York Yankees notes on a Monday-searching for guys to fill voids

The New York Yankees have an opening at first base right now and also in left field. They lost both Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson to injury so far this spring. They are both expected to be back in May but until then they would like to find alternatives. The Yankees have reached out to Derrek Lee who hasn’t played since 2011. He is reportedly interested but he hasn’t signed anything yet so who knows about that. Chipper Jones was another name that was brought up today but he said he is happy being retired and Scott Rolen is another name. 
The Yankees did sign Ben Francisco today to a minors deal. They were interested in him in the winter and he chose to sign with Cleveland who cut him and then he was picked right up by the Yankees. He is a right handed outfielder who could be a bench guy for the Yankees.

Michael Pineda will throw a 35 pitch bullpen on Tuesday with sliders being part of it. Gil Velazquez and Walter Ibarra are both back with the Yankees after participating in the World Baseball Classic. Phil Hughes threw a 26 pitch bullpen session today, it was a big step as he felt good. He is scheduled to face hitters on Thursday and should pitch in a sim game shortly after that. Larry Rothschild has a plan for him but isn’t revealing it, it is possible he could be on schedule to make a start on April 7^th since that will be the first time they need the fifth starter. Hughes isn’t the fifth starter but it is just how it works out.

Austin Romine was sent to minor league camp so the Yankees weren’t joking about that. Francisco Cervelli and Chris Stewart will be the catchers, who will be the starter is what is up for grabs. I honestly don’t think there is a number one and two though, I think they both will play and if Romine is doing very well at AAA you could see him back if those guys struggle.

Derek Jeter was talking about Chipper Jones today and thought it was a media joke so he said why don’t you call Mike Schmidt also. He actually said that after told it was his GM who talked about Jones, he thought the media was just making stuff up. Jeter will take off tomorrow and plans on playing shortstop for the first time this spring on Wednesday.

Brett Gardner had his team leading 10^th hit of the spring today and he also leads the team with five walks. That is what they want to see and maybe he will be the leadoff hitter this season with Jeter two and Cano third. If that happens I wonder if Ichiro could hit ninth as a double leadoff guy or maybe a little further up.

The Yankees face a lefty starter on Wednesday who will be Cliff Lee. Ben Francisco will be in the lineup. Joe Girardi confirmed that today.

Saturday Yankes Notes-It was MO's day

The New York Yankees did play a game on Saturday afternoon and lost 2-1, there were some notes but the day belonged to Mariano Rivera. Mariano Rivera announced his retirement following the 2013 season on Saturday morning. He was as always very humble, appreciative and classy. There will never be another Mariano Rivera, he simply is one of a kind both as a player and a person. 
Phil Hughes back has been a big deal and he threw today but today it was really no big deal. Jose Ramirez is a 23 year old pitcher who is making noise in camp. He pitched well again today and has now has started two games totaled nine innings and given up four hits. He has walked one and struck out five, his fastball can run into the mid 90’s and he can locate a changeup. He should be in AA Trenton to start the season and I think the Yankees will really be paying attention. He is a guy who if does well this season can end up in AAA and maybe be in the big leagues next season at some point.

Derek Jeter saw his first action today and was 1-2, he will sit out tomorrow and DH again on Monday. Jeter will get the green light after that and be back at SS sometime next week. Rivera had a 1-2-3 inning in his first appearance with two strikeouts. He is truly amazing, this is a man who hasn’t pitched in a game in 10 months and he didn’t look rusty at all. He said he felt great, that he wanted to cover first base or something like that but it didn’t happen. He said it will happen next time, he should see his next action on Wednesday.

There was good news today as all Hughes, David Aardsma and Dave Robertson all threw off a mound today and reported no problems. There were two more cuts from big league camp today which were Kelvin Perez and Tom Kahnle. Slade Heathcott returned from his minor thumb injury today and was 1-2. Ronnier Mustelier is a guy to watch, he could be an interesting option for third base, we will see what happens.

Chris Stewart threw out a runner today, Joba Chamberlain threw a scoreless, hitless and walkless inning. Ichiro Suzuki had the only two hit game for the Yankees and he even stole a base, he has looked very good this spring.

Yankees Sunday evening postgame notes

Here are the postgame Yankees notes from Sunday evening.  The Yankees won a game to split the series and jump back into sole possession of first place.  The Yankees had a bad day on Saturday, a bad call to end the game, Teixeira reinjuring himself and the manager having a fight with a reporter after the game.  Today was a good day for them though and they will try and carry that over into Boston on Tuesday night.  The Lohud Yankees blog has all the info and I add my own info. 

When it was a two-run game and Freddy Garcia was letting it slip away. At that point, Joe Girardi was planning backwards, starting with the end of the game. He thought he could get nine outs from Rafael Soriano and Dave Robertson, and he thought Boone Logan could get the Yankees through the sixth inning. What he needed was a bridge, someone to get the Yankees from Garcia’s rapidly disentigrating start to the most reliable arms in the bullpen.

“I like the way (Joba Chamberlain) had thrown the ball the last two times,” Girardi said. “We don’t have a lot of time, so if you’re going to move up the food chain, you move up pretty quick this time of year.”  I agree he has looked a lot better and maybe he is ready to be a real contributor now.  I think most people forget how long he was out and that he had to work the rust off, he was basically in spring training mode when the rest of the players were in end of season mode. 

Girardi has wanted to use Chamberlain in low-leverage situations, but things finally seem to be coming together for him, and today Chamberlain delivered easily his best outing of the season. He struck out four — tying his career-high for strikeouts in a relief appearance — and gave the Yankees an inning and two-thirds of hitless relief when things could have gone the other way.

“There’s no low-leverage from this point out,” Chamberlain said. “You play this game to be in tight situations. You play this game to be the best, and understand what you have to do. Especially with this lineup, the way they’re swinging the bat, they can change the game with one swing. That’s good for me to know that they’ve seen me a lot, and to be able to make the adjustments that I’ve made thus far.”  I would agree with him and now it is just time to go out and pitch and help the team. 

The most recent adjustment? Chamberlain moved his hands up a little bit. Nothing big, but one of the small things that sometimes make a big difference for a pitcher that’s been struggling with command and consistency.  There are times where it is something very simple and a good outing like he had today will help him mentally and that is always a big boost. 

“All along, you would see good pitches out of both (his fastball and his slider),” Girardi said. “But the consistency wasn’t there. He would make a mistake. Now I see more consistency.”

Is this an indication that Chamberlain might become more helpful down the stretch? Obviously it could be. This Orioles lineup has proven it can be dangerous, and Chamberlain shut it down in a game that pushed the Yankees back into sole possession of first place.

“I think it all just came together,” Chamberlain said. “Being able to get my delivery down. Getting the mentality of, ‘Get the ball, here it goes, hit it.’ It’s not necessarily that I had been second-guessing myself, but I’d been gone for so long. … You guys put expectations on me, but I put bigger expectations on myself. That was frustrating. I knew the velocity was there, I knew the work I put in, and I wasn’t getting results. But you can’t get frustrated. If I would have rolled over and been done, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing for this team.”

In the previous month, since August 9, Curtis Granderson was hitting .163. No wonder, then, that Girardi kept him out of the lineup today and yesterday. Off the bench, though, Granderson went 3-for-3 this afternoon with a home run, a double and five RBI. “Don’t know exactly what it is (that’s caused the struggles),” Granderson said. “Physically everything felt fine. Mechanically everything looked right, whether it be from video or from Kevin Long’s perspective. It just felt like, for whatever reason, balls that I was going ahead and attacking, which were strikes, (the swings were) just a tick off for whatever reason.”  Granderson and Swisher have been killing the Yankees especially with Teixeira and Rodriguez being hurt.  This is a good sign because eventually they will break out and maybe this will help the Yankees get on a roll. 

After the game, Mark Teixeira said that he’s not sure how badly his calf is injured right now, but it doesn’t feel as bad as it did when he first strained it two weeks ago. He said he’s not particularly worried about missing the rest of the season — “That would be worst, worst-case scenario,” he said — but he obviously has to make sure it’s better than yesterday.  This seems like good news but until they have the MRI tommorrow and get the results there will be some concern.  I think he may miss the next series and then be back when they return home to play Tampa Bay. 

Here’s Teixeira: “I thought I could play on it at 80 percent or whatever it was. I couldn’t, so when I come back next time — whether it’s two days or a week, whatever it’s going to be, I don’t know how long it’s going to be — I’ll just make sure that it’s better than 80 percent. Again, it’s not going to be 100 percent, we know that. We just know that I have to make sure I can do a little more.”

Girardi said that the Yankees are still on rotation for the Boston series, suggesting David Phelps is still the scheduled starter for Wednesday. “That’s something I’ve got plenty of tine to think about over the next 48 hours or so,” Girardi said.  I could see Nova taking his spot but we will see how the next couple of days go, they may use Nova out of the pen but if not I think he will make that start. 

Speaking of starters, Freddy Garcia seemed to be rolling along before things got out of control in that fourth inning. Could the long top of the fourth have anything to do with it? “Could have been,” Girardi said. “He walked the first guy, then he gets ahead of Hardy 0-2 and hit him with a split. That kind of led to their inning. Betemit hits an 0-2 pitch, so the 0-2 pitches got him in trouble today. That’s not usually something that happens with Freddy.”

 It goes overlooked because the game became a blowout and Chamberlain was so good, but Cory Wade was excellent today. Two hitless innings, no walks, three strikeouts. Haven’t seen him like that in a long, long time.

Granderson’s home run was his 100th as a Yankee.

 Here’s Granderson talking about his three at-bats, starting with the homer: “Just trying to hit it. No mindset. Not trying to drive it one way or the other. The second at-bat I actually got beat. That was a fastball in that just got up on me and I was able to fist to the other way. The last at-bat was another fastball in, but I was able to pull that to the other side of the field.”

Alex Rodriguez has a 13-game hitting streak, his longest since 2007. Since coming off the disabled list he’s hitting .308 with seven runs and six RBI in seven games. … Ichiro Suzuki went 8-for-14 with four RBI this series. … Derek Jeter went 9-for-19 with a home run, four RBI and four runs this series.

Nick Swisher is hitless in his past 28 at-bats.  This is crazy to me, he will bust out of it soon I am sure how much longer could this go on??

The Orioles and Yankees split their season series with nine wins apiece. Each team went 3-6 at its home stadium.

Might as well give the final word to Jeter: “You always have to try to find some sort of positives, even when you lose. We lost a couple tough games, but we did battle back, we never gave up. We’ve come to expect that. We’d like to have won them (all), but we didn’t. Today was a big one for us. We have a much-needed day off tomorrow, we go to Boston ready to play. I liked the way we played.”

Yankees Monday evening Postgame Notes after a loss in Tampa

Here are the Yankees postgame notes from Monday evening after another loss and their lead shrunk to one game.  The notes are courtesy of Lohud Yankees Blog and my thoughts mixed in. 

When Alex Rodriguez slid across home plate, popped to his feet and clapped his hands together, the Yankees seemed to have something going. That fourth inning was a show of life from this team, a three-run rally that gave the Yankees a lead and gave them a chance to build some momentum. By the end of the game, that inning was a perfect backdrop for just how poorly they played the rest of the game.

Fourth inning: Three runs on four hits.
Rest of the game: No runs on one hit.
James Shields is very good, we all know this. So is Fernando Rodney. There’s the obligatory tip of the cap. Certainly good pitching had something to do with it, but this offense was lifeless today. There was productive energy in the fourth. Otherwise, there was nothing. The Yankees didn’t get another runner into scoring position until Eduardo Nunez pinch ran and stole second base in the ninth inning.  The offense was all in that one inning and that was it period.  Their offense has been so bad, it would help if they were scoring some runs. 

“We all gotta do what we do,” Alex Rodriguez said. “The way you come out of things like this is by doing the little things and if we focus on doing the little things and become master at those we don’t have to worry about big things. And hopefully we’re on our way.”

“It’s frustrating, especially after the last outing, not being able to hold the lead,” Sabathia said. “Today I’ve just got to be a lot better than I was. … I felt like my stuff was good, I just didn’t make pitches when I needed to. Got into some bad counts and didn’t make the right pitches.”

There was some second guessing of Derek Jeter’s decision to throw to first, not home, on the game-tying ground out in the fifth. “What was there, nobody out?” Jeter said. “That would have been a tough one right there. Upton can run. If you don’t get him, you’re looking at two guys on and still nobody out. In that situation, what was it, the fifth, I think? You’ve got to go for the out.”  I can't disagree with Jeter, if you throw home and don't get him the inning could really blow up. 

Jeter did look home as if he were thinking about trying for the out at the plate. “I’m always looking,” Jeter said. “I looked up, but I didn’t think we had it. We maybe, possibly, could have had a chance, but in that situation, that inning, you don’t take a chance like that. Maybe in the 8th inning, 9th inning, something like that, it might have been a different story.”

Rodriguez said his timing was good and he felt good in his first big league game since late July. “Overall, I felt good,” he said. “Again, it’s a process. Today was another step forward. Saw the ball well, hand felt good, and I liked the intensity the team played with today. And tomorrow’s another day.”  It was good for the Yankees to get him back, hopefully Granderson tommorrow and then Teixeira by the end of the week.  These guys are going to have to carry them through September and into October and they should be able to do it. 

Rodriguez struck out in his final at-bat against Rodney. “I’m thinking about, Rodney’s got great stuff, just get a good pitch to hit, put a good swing on it,” Rodriguez said. “He gave me two good pitches to hit and I fouled them back, and the rest is history.”

Girardi didn’t seem upset at Cano for not running out of the box on that line drive that was dropped at third. “I think he thought he caught it, then he ran,” Girardi said. “That happens. Guys think a line drive is caught and then they kind of freeze.” If the Yankees weren’t in this situation — losing games and seeing their lead dwindle — it probably wouldn’t have been a big deal, but given this situation, it was ugly to see Cano miss out on a possible hit because he wasn’t hustling.  It is frustrating to see for the fans but the ball that got past him he said he felt tightness in his hip and that is why, it didn't look good though it shouldn't of snuck through. 

Sabathia on the home run pitch to Upton: “Two seamer away. It was up and he put a good swing on it. … (Trying to go) down and away. Trying to get a ground ball. He was in a hitter’s count. Just trying to make a pitch and ended up leaving the ball out over the plate.”

Sabathia has won just three of 17 starts against the Rays since coming to the Yankees. He has a 3.57 ERA in those starts, but he’s 3-7. Before coming the Yankees, Sabathia was a 7-1 with a 2.44 ERA in 11 career starts against the Rays (granted, those earlier Rays teams probably weren’t nearly as good).

Robertson on his outing: “I felt like I didn’t have my best stuff but I felt like I had good enough stuff to be able to get three outs. It’s unfortunate today that I wasn’t able to do that. … I fell behind a couple of times. Still, you want to make one good pitch and be able to get the outs you need. It seemed like I just couldn’t make a good enough pitch. Balls were finding holes and they were getting through.”

 Curtis Granderson pinch hit and struck out in the ninth. If he’d reached base, Granderson would have been lifted for a pinch runner.

No concerns about Ichiro Suzuki after his collision with Chris Dickerson. By the way, Dickerson is probably much bigger than most people realize. Dickerson was going to win that collision with no problem.

Final word goes to Jeter: “Yea, right now (things are going bad), but you can change it. We beat some teams early on, right? Baseball’s a funny game, a funny sport. Sometimes you struggle a bit, and then all of a sudden, things seem to change and you roll off a lot of wins. Hopefully we start that tomorrow. … Still got to have confidence. Unfortunately you can’t win every day. You’d like to — he approach is to win every day — but you’re going to go through highs and lows. You still have to have confidence, and we have a lot of confidence.”

Yankees postgame notes following a Wednesday matinee loss

Here are some Yankees notes from Wednesday afternoon/evening after a loss.  The Yankees had their ace on the mound playing a last place team.  They figured that even after the tough loss on Monday they could take the seris with this game.  It didn't work out the way they wanted as Sabathia wasn't great.  The notes are courtesy of the Lohud Yankees blog with my thoughts mixed in.

CC Sabathia tried to take all the blame for today’s debacle. As reporters gathered around his locker, the Yankees ace was blunt.
“It’s definitely disappointing,” he said. “I feel like this game is all my fault, obviously.”  This is why he is an ace.  He should of pitched better but it isn't all of his fault. 

Actually, it wasn’t obvious at all. Sabathia gave up a lead twice, so he deserved some of the blame, but the Yankees were 3-for-17 with runners in scoring position. They made three errors, and that’s not counting the two diving catches that fell out of Andruw Jones’ glove. They lost two out of three against the worst team in the division, and next they have to face the second-place Orioles.

“You show me a manager or player who’s happy to lose a ballgame, and I’ll show you a loser,” Joe Girardi said. “We didn’t play well today. We had plenty of opportunities to win that game and we didn’t get it done. You have to get it done. … We had chances offensively and didn’t get it done. We had chances defensively and didn’t get it done. We didn’t make pitches when we had to. We just didn’t play.”

True, true and true. This was a game the Yankees should have won for all sorts of different reasons, mostly because the Blue Jays are a bad team and the Yankees are supposed to be  a World Series contender. There are plenty of excuses – Sabathia’s defense let him down, the Yankees made some good plays to make up for some of their mistakes, the lineup is missing key pieces – but Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira aren’t coming back any time soon, and the Yankees have to beat teams like the Blue Jays.

Today was a bad game. It was a bad game for Sabathia, it was a bad game for the lineup and it was a bad game for the Yankees.

“Ain’t nobody that likes losing before off days,” Nick Swisher said. “Tough series for us, man. We’ve got to put it behind us. That off day for us couldn’t come at a better time. We’re a little banged up right now. We’ve just got to keep going out there. We’ve got to find a way to win games. That’s it.”

The Yankees actually did have some good luck on their side. They scored two runs when Rajai Davis misplayed Curtis Granderson’s fly ball, and they scored another when Russell Martin’s bouncing ball hit the third-base bag and skipped into the outfield. “There’s a lot of times you say, ‘Hit the bag,’ and it never does,” Girardi said. “Today was one of those days it hit the bag, (but) it seemed like a few times we had runners on second with nobody out and weren’t able to get them home. That’s probably what cost us the game.”  It is true in this game but not for much of the season. 

Andruw Jones nearly made two good catches, but with each diving attempt, the ball rolled out of his glove when he hit the ground. “The first one, I had it,” he said. “I just kind of rolled over my wrist a little bit and wasn’t actually (hurt) that bad. But the second one, I got my fingers caught up into the ground and rolled over a little bit. Those are tough plays, but if you get your glove to them, you’ve got to make them.”

Jones clearly hurt his glove hand on the second diving play, but he said he was fine. “It’s alright,” he said. “It’s just my fingers went back a little bit. But it’s alright I guess.”

Ichiro Suzuki is known for an ability to handle the bat, but he failed to get a bunt down today and it seemed to cost the Yankees. “Obviously in baseball you just have a lot of momentums,” he said. “And I wasn’t able to get that bunt down to create that momentum. Obviously in this important stretch, the run down the stretch, obviously we need to get things done and I need to do better.”  He is such a fundamentally sound ballplayer you are shocked when he doesn't do something like that.  He is a lot like Jeter in that way. 

 The Yankees were held homerless in back-to-back games for the third time this season. It’s the first time they were back-to-back games without a homer at home this season.
  It is a little strange not watching them pound the baseball over the fence.  It is a little harder without Rodriguez and Teixeira though. 

The Yankees reached base in six of nine innings and matched their season-high for at-bats with runners in scoring position in a nine-inning game. Of their eight hits, six were doubles, their most doubles in a game since July 30, 2011.

 Derek Jeter’s first-inning error was his first since July 8, snapping a 38-game errorless streak. According to Elias, it’s his longest error-free streak since a career-high 52 games in 2010.

Sabathia’s day started to go bad when he gave up three runs with two outs in the third. Jayson Nix made a nice play to turn two and put Sabathia on the verge of ending the inning, but things started to unravel with a hit by Edwin Encarnacion. “I just think obviously it was 3-0 just trying to make a pitch,” Sabathia said. “He put a good swing on the pitch. I just think the two-strike pitches killed me today.”

Sabathia on the homer to Escobar, which came on a hanging slider: “I was just trying to make a pitch and not walk him. I should probably be smarter than that.”

 Some of the Blue Jays damage came on broken bat hits, but Sabathia couldn’t care less. “It really doesn’t matter,” he said. “They’re line drives to score runs. It’s up to me to make pitches and get out of the inning, and I didn’t do that tonight.”

 Make no mistake, Sabathia said he was fully healthy and had good stuff. “Just frustrated at actually having my stuff and not making the pitches,” he said. “Obviously you have to give them credit for putting together good at-bats, but I need to make better pitches and I didn’t do that today.”

 Final word goes to Girardi: “At times we haven’t hit during this little streak. We haven’t scored as many runs as we have in the past. Up until today our pitching wasn’t too bad. Today it was a combination of a lot of different things. You have to put it behind you. That’s all you can do. This day is over with, so put it behind you and move on.”  There is no choice, they are in front so the other teams have to catch them.  The Yankees have to start winning some games though and getting some distance between them.  The next three series are against the teams competing against them for the playoffs. 

Yankees pregame notes in Oakland

Here are the Yankees pregame notes on Friday night.  I won't be recapping the game tonight or do any postgame since it is a late game.  I figured I would provide these courtesy of the Lohud Yankees Blog and as always I throw my two cents in there. 

Consistency has become a real buzz word with these Yankees. I suppose that’s the case every year, but it seems especially true with this group. For the past two weeks, it’s been used to talk about the lineup, but the Yankees are still searching for it in the rotation as well.
Ivan Nova is no exception, he was so good last year and has struggled this year.  This should be a good night for him to get it going.

For a while there, Nova looked like the same guy the Yankees remember from last season, and even his last time out, Nova was able to use his big slider to finish with a career-high 12 strikeouts. Those strikeouts, though, came with five runs through six innings, and Nova has allowed at least five runs in four of his past five starts. There was one gem in the middle, but Nova’s been erratic.  He was better last game, he gave up a three run homerun that made it look worse.

“It’s location with him,” Joe Girardi said. “He gets up in the zone, he gets behind in the count, and then his fastball gets hit when it’s up in the zone. He had an awesome slider the other day and used it extremely well, but when he gets behind, he gets hurt.”

Nova hasn’t been in the league long enough to have much of a track record against anyone, but he’s never faced that Athletics, and today’s Oakland lineup has a total of five career at-bats against him (two by Josh Reddick, three by Seth Smith). The Yankees meanwhile, have won their past six games at the Coliseum and 10 of their past 11.

“I just think we’ve played well when we’ve played them,” Girardi said. “We’ve played pretty well out here as well. We’ve got to have that continue because you want to get on a roll, and that’s one thing that’s been hard for us to do this year.”  The Yankees are just a much better team and seem to like playing in Oakland.

Dave Robertson played catch yesterday and felt alright today. The Yankees plan to have him play catch again on Monday. “I think there’s some stiffness there,” Girardi said. “He’s had inactivity and hasn’t used that area in probably about 15 days. We have to be a little bit cautious in the beginning to make sure nothing’s there.”  The Yankees will be extra cautious here, this is where there depth really takes a hit as Joba having the ankle injury as he was coming back from Tommy John.  MO is out and now Robertson so they are down to Soriano, Boone Logan and then a mixture, they can't afford any more injuries to their bullpen.

 The Yankees still plan to have Brett Gardner begin swinging a bat on Monday.

 Girardi said it’s not likely either Robertson or Gardner will be back with the team before they get home a week from Monday. Robertson has said he’d like to be back by next weekend’s series in Detroit, but Girardi said he’s “not sure that’s going to happen.”

 Nova’s hamstring was a little tight after his last start, but Girardi said it didn’t affect any of the work he did between starts. Girardi considers it a complete non-issue. Nova came to the Coliseum yesterday to play catch.

 Good news on Manny Banuelos. Girardi said test on Banuelos’ sore left elbow showed no ligament damage — just like tests on Jose Campos’ elbow — so it doesn’t look like this is a Tommy John issue, just a sore elbow. Hard to know much more than that.  He has had a rough season so far but had a couple of good starts coming back from injury before this injury.

Oakland carries four left-handed relievers, and Girardi said that’s why Mark Teixiera was moved back into the No. 5 spot in the lineup. That leaves the Yankees with a right-handed or switch hitter between each of their left-handed hitters. “Clubs that have four left-handers, you really have to be careful how you construct your lineup,” Girardi said. “Could I change it? Yeah, but right now it’s what we’re going to do.”

 Obviously Girardi could put Nick Swisher fifth instead of Teixeira and have the same split-the-lefties result, but Swisher is hitting just .211/.295/.342 after left-handers this season. Teixeira is hitting .220/.259/.400 against them. Neither one has been a particularly good option this season. Ibanez, by the way, is hitting .200/.250/.267 against lefties.

Yesterday’s off day gave Teixeira yet another day to rest, but he doesn’t seem much different than he was a week ago. “I still hear him cough every once in a while,” Girardi said. “It’s not all the way gone. I wish it was, but it’s not.”

The New York Yankees win in Baltimore as they lose some players

The New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 8-5 on Monday night. The Yankees didn’t totally win though as they lost a few guys. Ivan Nova left the game early with a contusion of the foot and an ankle sprain, Raul Ibanez left the game after getting hit on the elbow and Clay Rapada left the game with an illness. Joe Girardi announced after the game that Dave Robertson hasn’t been available for the last couple of days due to sore ribs. Nova started the game for the Yankees and wasn’t very good and then he got hit on the foot and rolled his ankle later in the game. The Yankees offense got some big hits and they produced enough runs to win the game. 
Nova pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up seven hits and five runs. He walked three and struck out four. Rapada pitched 1/3 of an inning walking a batter, David Phelps picked up his first major league win pitching an inning and giving up three hits and he struck out one. Boone Logan pitched an inning striking out three batters, Cory Wade struck out the only batter that he faced and Rafael Soriano earned his second save pitching an inning and striking out a batter. Jason Hammell pitched five innings for the Orioles. He gave up seven hits and five runs with four of them being earned. Hammels walked and struck out three batters each. Luis Ayala got charged with the loss pitching two innings and giving up two hits and two runs. He walked and struck out a batter. Dana Eveland pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up two hits and a run with two walks and Darren O’Day pitched to one batter and struck him out.

Derek Jeter had a hit and moved past Robin Yount on the all-time hits list for 16^th place. Curtis Granderson had a hit, RBI and drew a walk, Alex Rodriguez had three hits and Robinson Cano had two hits. Mark Teixeira had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk, Nick Swisher had a hit, two RBI and drew two walks and Raul Ibanez had an RBI. Eric Chavez had a hit and an RBI and Russell Martin drew two walks. Swisher, Cano and Teixeira each had a double. Granderson and Teixeira each had a homerun. The Yankees were 1-11 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. Chavez committed an error.

Xavier Avery had two hits and an RBI, J.J. Hardy had two hits and three RBI and Nick Markakis had a hit. Adam Jones had two hits and an RBI, Matt Wieters had a hit and drew a walk and Wilson Betemit had a hit. Nick Johnson drew two walks and Robert Andino had a hit and drew a walk. Avery had a double and a triple. Jones had a double and Hardy had a homerun. The Orioles were 3-10 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Davis committed an error.

Hardy had an RBI single and Jones an RBI double in the first inning to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead. In the fourth the Yankees tied the game at two on a Swisher two run double. Granderson hit a solo homerun in the fifth to make it 3-2 Yankees. In the bottom of the inning the Orioles came right back to take the lead. Avery hit an RBI triple and Hardy hit a two run homerun to make it 5-3 Orioles. In the sixth the Yankees tied the game on an error by Davis from the Orioles. Ibanez got an RBI and another run scored on the error to make it a 5-5 game. Teixeira had a two run homerun to give the Yankees a 7-5 lead in the seventh inning. Chavez had a sacrifice fly in the ninth and that was the end of the scoring. The final score was 8-5 Yankees.

The Yankees are back to five games over 500 and one game behind the Orioles in the loss column. The Yankees improved their record to 20-15 and the Orioles dropped their record to 22-14. The Yankees are 1 ½ games overall behind the Orioles and will try and sweep the brief two game series on Tuesday night. The Yankees are now 4-0 in Baltimore this year. The Yankees will head to Toronto for two games after they finish the series in Baltimore before returning home for a weekend interleague series against the Cincinatti Reds.