New York Yankees notes

The Yankees scratched Jacoby Ellsbury from the lineup and he will be out from a couple of days to

maybe even a week.  It is a sore calf and everyone is downplaying it but the Yankees say they want

to be cautious.  Ellsbury said if it was the regular season he would of played. 

Mashahiro Tanaka started on Sunday against the Atlanta Braves.  It was a good test for him as they had their A lineup in the game.  Freddie Freeman, the Upton Brothers, Dan Uggla and more.  Tanaka was really good only giving up a run and pitching 4 1/3 innings.  He had a couple of long innings that got his pitch count up.  He did strike out six batters and continues to impress.  He seems to have the poise and control which is important.  He needs to build up more and he looks like a guy who isn't going to want to come out of games.  It will be interesting to see how everything translates to the regular season games but so far so good with him. 

Manny Banuelos was optioned to high A today.  It may not be where he ends up but for now he will be in minor league camp and getting regular work.  He actually seemed happy and excited about it.  The Yankees are still talking about where to place him for the season.  He may start in A Tampa because of the warm weather but it still hasn't been determined.  Brian Cashman the GM said they plan on him staying a starter but he didn't rule out the possibility of him being a reliever at some point this season. 

CC Sabathia was dominant in Panama on Sunday.  He pitched five no hit innings and retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced.  The only man to reach base was on an error.  He struck out five batters.  There wasn't much talk about his velocity after this game. 

David Robertson pitched a scoreless inning and Francisco Cervelli and Yangervis Solarte continued their hot hitting in Panama.  Cervelli was 3-3 on Sunday and Solarte was 3-5.  Dellin Betances finally gave up a run this spring.  He still didn't lose it completely though.  He gave up a hit and a walk and a run on an RBI groundout.  He got through the inning though. 

Brendan Ryan went through fielding drills and indoor batting practice as planned.  He should be back in games by the end of the week. 

The Yankees other half will be back to playing by Tuesday/Wednesday.  They are just coming back from Panama on Sunday night and will be off on Monday.  They should be ready to go on Tuesday and then they have a couple more full weeks in Tampa before camp breaks and they head to Houston to start the season.  There are some tough decisions to be made for final roster spots.  The guys competing for spots have all been pretty good, it will be a tough decision but that isn't a bad thing. 

New York Yankees Friday notes

Brian McCann was scheduled to go to Panama and he said he was looking forward to it.  The

Yankees then decided to change it at the last minute and keep him in Florida.  He has never been

there and any other spring a trip like that he said would be good to break up the monotony that is

spring training.  He said though when the Yankees approached him about changing plans he was on

board. 

He said he is catching a lot because he needs to get to know the pitchers.  He is going to start doing back-to-back and by the end of spring probably do three games in a row.  He said you don't usually do that in spring training but he wants to catch everyone and really have a feel for them.  He stayed in Tampa specifically to catch Masahiro Tanaka on Sunday and Hiroki Kuroda on Monday.  He said he will probably get two more starts with each of them and then be ready to go for the season.  He expects to have caught each of the Yankees starters at least twice and some of them three times before camp breaks.  He would have caught CC Sabathia in Panama but the Yankees decided to prioritize him catching the two Japanese starters. 

Manny Banuelos made his second appearance on Friday and got knocked around again.  The results really don't matter at all right now.  The important thing for him is that he is getting in games and feeling good.  He will start the year in AAA Scranton and if he has a good year be knocking on the door to the big leagues.  The Yankees in Panama were scheduled to see the Panama canal on Friday and then have a big dinner Friday night for a charity that Mo is involved in. 

Mark Teixeira played on Friday and spoke about his lack of power.  He basically said he isn't worried about it.  He said it won't bother him if he leaves Florida without a homerun.  He said the important thing is that he feels good and is taking good swings and making good contact.  He said he knows the power will come because it is naturally there.  Eduardo Nunez making the final out of the fifth inning was spiked in the thigh.  Nunez said the slide was unnecessarily  rough and Rob Thomson the acting manager said he thought the runner forgot how many outs there were.  Nunez didn't think he did it on purpose though and wasn't that upset.  Nunez was pulled from the game as a precaution but he is fine. 

Brendan Ryan was able to hit and take ground balls on Friday.  He did them inside and is expected to do the same outside on Saturday.  David Phelps was ok but not great, his pitch count was 75 and he only lasted four innings.  I felt all along that Michael Pineda was the favorite for the fifth spot and so far going by the stats which you don't always do in spring he is winning.  I still say that he is going to be the fifth starter with Phelps as the new age Ramiro Mendoza and Adam Warren as the true long man. 

Dellin Betances threw another 1 2/3 scoreless innings on Friday.  He has been great all spring throwing eight shutout innings.  Fred Lewis is another guy who has pitched well for them this spring.  Betances when he got moved to the pen last year really showed maturity and took to it well.  He maybe has finally grown up and is ready to show the Yankees and their fans what he is capable of. 

The New York Yankees win a wild seesaw battle with the Houston Astros

The New York Yankees defeated the Houston Astros on Saturday afternoon.  The game took place in

Kissimee, Florida and the final score was 9-6 Yankees.  Ivan Nova started for the Yankees and

struggled early.  His overall line wasn't great but he did finish strong.  Manny Banuelos made his first

appearance in a game since undergoing Tommy John surgery and struggled.  He did retire the last

two batters he faced though and left with a smile. 

Ivan Nova pitched four innings and gave up three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts.  Banuelos pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and three runs with a walk and a strikeout, Chase Whitley pitched 1/3 of an inning striking out the only batter that he faced and Cesar Cabral pitched an inning giving up a walk and striking out one.  David Herndon pitched a perfect inning, Fred Lewis pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Chris Leroux picked up the save pitching an inning.  He gave up two hits and struck out one. 

Brett Gardner had a hit, Mark Teixeira had a hit and drew a walk and Kelly Johnson had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk.  Austin Romine had two hits, Dean Anna had two hits and drew a walk and Yangervis Solarte had a hit.  Scott Sizemore drew a walk, Zealous Wheeler had a hit and an RBI and Zoilo Almonte had a hit.  Ramon Flores had an RBI, Mason Williams had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk.

Williams and Teixeira each hit a double, Johnson hit a homerun.  The Yankees were 5-15 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.  Williams was caught stealing in the game.  The Yankees will be at home to face the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday afternoon. 

Here are some notes before the Yankees game on Tuesday night.  Girardi talked a lot about Phil Hughes and now that he did pitch well it makes things easier I suspect for the Yankees.  They would rather have to deal with sending Nova down then an ineffective Hughes and not knowing what to do with him. 
“There’s a lot of things we gotta talk about,” Girardi said. “The best thing that could happen is that he pitches really well, and then we have a tough decision to make in what we’re going to do. There are some different scenarios. (Ivan) Nova really hasn’t pitched out of the bullpen as much, and we’re going to need a starter August 27 when we go to Baltimore, so you want someone built up. There are some things after today and tomorrow we’re going to have to talk about.”

Hughes has been hit-and-miss since he came off the disabled list. He’s had one really good start, one really bad start, and two so-so starts full of ups and downs. Nova was very good in his return from Triple-A, and he’ll get another start on Thursday to further plead his case.

When the Yankees cut their rotation down to five starters, the most obvious changes would involved Hughes to the bullpen or Nova back to Triple-A. Girardi hasn’t said those are his top options, but he does talk a lot about Hughes’ bullpen experience and the Yankees desire to have someone stretched out for that Baltimore double header.

“What I am saying is that you gotta have someone built up,” Girardi said. “Maybe it’s not even someone here to make that start on the 27th. We’re going to do what’s best for everyone involved, what we think is best for people’s futures, what’s best for this team now, and what’s best for this team in the future. I’m not saying one of them would necessarily go down.”  Adam Warren would be another guy the Yankees could give a look at. 

Basically, anything is possible. Both Hughes and Nova seem to know and accept that.

“I thought (Hughes) made some progress his last start,” Girardi said. “But I think his stuff can even get better. He can give us more distance. His curveball wasn’t as sharp in his last start. CC’s slider wasn’t as sharp (last night) as it’s been, but when it’s Phil, we gotta get this guy on a roll, too. He’s had his struggles this year, so more red flags go up. His curveball wasn’t as sharp and we gotta get that going… It’s something that we have to talk about. You watch how he throws tonight, and you just have to talk about it and decide what’s best for everyone involved.”

 Has this rotation situation gotten in Hughes’ head? “I haven’t really noticed it,” Girardi said. “But we pay attention to it if a guy’s trying to do something out there. I haven’t really noticed it.”

 Has it been tough to get Rafael Soriano innings since he came back? “It hasn’t been tough,” Girardi said. “We had him in on Saturday. It would be a good thing if we needed him tonight. It hasn’t really been tough… We still want to continue to develop the arm strength, he’s had five appearances (counting rehab), but I think more would be beneficial for him.”

Alex Rodriguez is still on schedule to begin rehab work on Thursday.  He should be back in about two weeks. 

 It seems clear that Brett Gardner has lost platoon status and is now playing pretty much every day regardless of lefty/righty. “It is hard to take him out,” Girardi said. “Even on those days (when he used to sit), I didn’t necessarly want, to but I wanted to get Andruw going and I thought that was the best way to do it.

 Manny Banuelos makes his Triple-A debut tonight, and obviously the Yankees will be paying attention. “We’re looking at anyone and everyone who we feel can help us down this last 50 games or whatever we have left,” Girardi said.  Banuelos pitched five innings giving up two runs.  He walked three and struck out eight.  He threw too many pitches in five innings and he has to work on the walks but he showed promise.  It was a good first start for him in AAA.