Preston Claiborne Also Onboard The Train To Regression Town

(Courtesy of the AP)

Bullpen issues seem to be a hot topic in Yankeeland these days, much hotter than they were earlier in the season.  From Boone Logan not getting lefties out as often as a lefty specialist should to Mariano Rivera blowing 3 straight saves to Joba Chamberlain ceasing to exist as a viable medium-leverage-and-up relief option, the Yankee 'pen hasn't been the strong, deep unit it was months back.  This is partly because the rotation hasn't been very good either and the bullpen has had to take on more innings, but it's also because some guys, mostly the young guys, have regressed from their pre-summer levels of performance.  Last week we took a look at Adam Warren's rough trip down the ladder, this week it's former walk-less wonder Preston Claiborne who's under the microscope.

Heathcott Back To The DL, Could Miss The Rest Of The Season

He had already set new career highs for games played (103) and plate appearances (444) this season, so I guess it's not a huge surprise that the injury bug finally caught up to Slade Heathcott.  As first reported by Nick Peruffo yesterday, Heathcott has been put on the DL with "right knee tendonopathy."  Coming on the heels of Tyler Austin's disappointing and injury-shortened season and a relatively "meh" season from Ramon Flores, this adds to the overall tough campaign for the top crop of Yankee OF prospects.

As someone with a very checkered injury history, this latest one comes as more cause for concern about Heathcott's future.  Per Peruffo, manager Tony Franklin said Heathcott's knee has been bothering him all season, not a good thing for somebody with hi.  Franklin also said that he thought it would only take rest for this injury to heal, but acknowledged Heathcott could miss the remainder of the season.  It's a shame too, since Heathcott had started hitting better recently and had his season batting line up to .261/.327/.411.  Hopefully there are no lingering effects of this injury and the season-long knee problems heading into 2014.

Mike Francesa Boomsauces Bill Madden

Normally I'm not a Francesa guy.  Most times I find him smug, rude to too many callers who don't deserve it, and not nearly as knowledgeable about baseball or sports in general as he thinks he is.  But one thing Mike does better than anybody is on-air interviews, especially when he's trying to use that interview to steer the conversation somewhere else, and he killed it yesterday with Bill Madden on the A-Rod steroid story.

If you haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, you can check out the whole thing here.  It's pretty lengthy and the first 15 minutes or so are just recapping what's already happened.  It starts getting good in the middle and it was pretty obvious that Mike had an axe to grind with Madden and the NY MSM in general for how they've singled out A-Rod and outlandishly run him through the mud.  The continued questioning about Madden's comparison of A-Rod to Whitey Bulger without any real justification for that from Madden and the heated nature of their exchange about the other names on that unreleased list of 100 players were great.

There hasn't been nearly enough of this in the New York media, so kudos to Francesa for taking Madden and really the rest of the MSM A-Rod haters with him to task yesterday.  Sorry, Bill.  You got roasted, bro.

Game 118 Wrap-Up: NYY 14 LAA 7

(Courtesy of the AP)

A winning streak.  A real actual winning streak.  It seems like so long ago since the Yankees had one of those.  They stood on the precipice of one last night, and once again Joe decided to throw out a questionable lineup to get it done.  I get playing the L/R matchups, but Gardner and Ichiro both out of the lineup and Eduardo Nunez in the leadoff spot?  I feel like this isn't the first or even second time this has happened this season.  I get ready to bash Joe for it every time, but damnit if it doesn't always work out in his favor.  Last night's win was fun, a nice stress-free blowout to send everybody to sleep happy.  For one game at least, we got a look at what the improved offense can actually do.

Game Notes:

- Not a fun start to CC Sabathia's night.  He struck out the first 2 batters he faced, walked Mike Trout with 2 strikes after Vernon Wells failed to get to a foul ball, and gave up a 2-run HR to Mark Trumbo to put the lineup in an immediate hole.

- Wells made up for it in the bottom of the 2nd by leading off the inning with his 11th home run of the season, and (FINALLY!!!!!) his first since May 15th.  Obviously in direct response to my post on his weak H/R splits.  I see you, Vernon.

- Wells helped push another run across in the 4th with a 1-out single, and the Yanks grabbed the lead in the 5th on a 2-run homer by Alfonso Soriano.  They weren't fooled at all by a returning Jason Vargas.  Not at all.

- Some bad defense and a few walks cost CC another run in the 3rd, and those walks almost came around to bite him again when he walked the bases loaded in the top of the 6th.  Wells (in on everything) bailed him out by starting an inning-ending double play.  Sure it was aided by a bad call, but the Yankees have been on the other end of that stick enough times to have one go their way.

- The Yanks got to the bullpen early, and in the bottom of the 6th they struck against the soft underbelly of the middle relief.  The key at-bat was probably the Lyle Overbay walk to put 2 on and nobody out.  The loudest at-bat was Alex Rodriguez's 2-run double to finish off what ended up being a 4-run inning.

- It went from comfortable to lead to full-fledged blowout after a 3-run Soriano HR in the 7th and an Eduardo Nunez 2-run single in the 8th.  Little rain delay, little Dellin Betances meltdown, and that was that.

On Derek Jeter's 2014 And The Future At Shortstop

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Derek Jeter's battle to return to the playing field for more than a few days raged on yesterday.  The Captain resumed baseball activities - a little "tee and toss" hitting according to Joe - after playing catch over the weekend.  The activities are obviously a little light.  With no real hitting or running involved, it's not like Jeter is close to returning.  The plan is to send him to Tampa to continue his rehab work when the team hits the road on Friday, and as of right now there are no plans to activate Jeter when the team returns, even though he's eligible to come off the DL this Sunday.

At this point, Jeter has spent more time this year doing baseball activities than he has playing actual baseball.  The rushed rehabs and resulting leg issues have reduced Jeter to just 5 games in 2013.  5 games, 21 measly plate appearances, a season's worth of frustration for both Jeter and the Yankee fans, and a whole lot of questions about what next season could be like.  This season is already a wash, whether Jeter makes it back and stays healthy to the end or not.  For Jeter and the Yanks, it's next season that's now the concern.

No Home Cooking For Vern

Since troublesome H/R splits are a topic of conversation this week, let's take a look at one that could actually have an impact on the 2014 season.  I don't know how I missed it, but I didn't realize until Sunday's TBS broadcast that Vernon Wells was hitting so horribly at home this season.  Entering tonight's game, Wells has a .190/.238/.291 batting line at Yankee Stadium, good for a .233 wOBA and a 37 wRC+.  By comparison, his OPS is .748 on the road (.328 wOBA, 106 wRC+) in a little north of 30 more plate appearances.  What the hell is that?

Wells underperforming offensively is hardly front page news anymore.  The guy has been worth negative offensive value in his 0.0-WAR season to date, and thinking about how he STILL hasn't hit a home run since May 15th makes my brain hurt.  But to post numbers like that at The Stadium?  Sure it doesn't cater to right-handed power nearly as much as it does left-handed power, that we know.  It's still a very hitter-friendly stadium no matter what side of the plate you're on.  If there's somewhere where Wells' noodle bat should produce a little more power it's YS3.

Notice that I used the word "could" have an impact on the 2014 season and not "would."  The Yankees have Wells under contract next season, as part of the growing collection of old guys who will combine to patch up the outfield corners around Brett Gardner.  Through some fancy accounting work at the time of the trade, however, the Yankees will not be on the hook for any of Wells' salary next season, making it much easier to cut bait on him if his production continues to wallow below the line of respectability.  There's nothing Wells has done since mid-May that warrants a guaranteed roster spot next year.  If a low-.500s OPS is all he can muster in 81 home games again, he shouldn't even make it to mid-May next year.

Don't Sweat D-Rob As The Closer

(Courtesy of the AP)

Almost as if it was scripted, an opportunity presented itself for David Robertson to prove his mettle as the next Yankee closer last night.  With Mo experiencing his yearly bout of command problems and unavailable due to workload and some bad BABIP luck bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of Mike Trout, Joe summoned D-Rob to work out of the jam and save the team's 3rd win in 4 games.

At face value, D-Rob's work last night was in agreement with the growing cry from the MSM (looking at you, Michael Kay) that D-Rob "doesn't have what it takes" to be Mo's successor.  He walked Trout to bring the winning run to the plate, gave up an RBI double that put the tying run on third with 1 out, and loaded the bases before wriggling off the hook.  As the crowd chanted "we want Mo!" Robertson made them sweat a bit before managing to escape trouble and avoid a 4th straight blown save.

Game 117 Wrap-Up: NYY 2 LAA 1

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

If you were going to make a list of the most disappointing teams in the AL this year, it would the Angels, the Blue Jays, and the Yankees.  That pretty much sets the excitement level for this week's 4-gamer against the Angels, who are even further out of playoff contention than New York and looking possibly in even worse shape for the future despite having the best all-around player in the game on their team.  The 2 teams got things started last night at The Stadium as Hiroki Kuroda looked to continue to be the guiding force of the rotation and strengthen his slowly-growing Cy Young candidacy.  He won't win in the end, but he'll get a few more votes after last night.

Game Notes:

- Kuroda worked the sinker a lot the first time through the order, and got the first 9 outs on the infield through 3 while allowing just 1 hit.  When he needed to, he snapped off some nasty sliders for strikeouts.

- Anaheim starter Garrett Richards breezed his way through the first 2 frames, then got manufactured to death in the bottom of the 3rd.  Eduardo Nunez got a 1-out hit, moved to second to stay out of the DP on an aggressive call by Joe, and scored on Brett Gardner's bloop single to center.

- Kuroda continued to overpower the Angels through 5 innings.  He gave up a leadoff walk to Erick Aybar then expertly worked around it with a groundout, strikeout, strikeout finish.  He was working his sinker inside to both righties and lefties and the Anaheim lineup had no answer.

- After singling in his first AB in the 2nd, Richards decided to smarten up and get those fastballs in on A-Rod's hands.  It led to inning-ending double plays off Alex's bat to end the 4th and 6th innings and kept the game at 1-0.

- Kuroda continued his brilliance through 8 shutout innings, and even got an insurance run in the 7th on a Curtis Granderson solo HR before dialing it up to 94 on his last pitch of the night and turning it over to the 'pen.

- It was Boone Logan who emerged from the bullpen to begin the 9th and not Mo.  A bad luck bounce off the first base bag ruined Joe's plan and D-Rob got an impromptu high-leverage save opportunity audition out of it.

- It got a tad interesting after a walk and a blooped double, but D-Rob K'd Mark Trumbo and former Yankee great Chris Nelson with the bases loaded to preserve Hirok's well-deserved win.

Prospect Stock Watch: August 2013

(Jagielo in action.  Courtesy of Ashley Marshall/MiLB.com)

I'm a little late for this next "Prospect Watch" post from when it was last month, which was much later than the post before that, so as far as meeting deadlines for these monthly prospect posts go I'm spitting the bit and I know that.  But, with another month plus passing since the last edition, we've now built up enough of a sample size in the short season leagues to start commenting on the guys down there.  It's been a rough go for some names expected to be big contributors this year, but a couple of international standouts in the GCL have helped balance things out.  After the jump, an in-depth look at the guys making noise in Staten Island and the GCL.

Mo's Recent Home Struggles

(Say it ain't Mo.  Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

In a scene that seemed unfathomable even as it was happening, Mariano Rivera blew a 9th inning lead again yesterday, giving up 2 solo home runs to Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez to tie the game the Yankees won soon after.  The blown save was Mo's third in a row, the first time he's ever done that in his career and the first time it's happened in Yankee history since Kyle Farnsworth did it in 2006.  A pitcher of Farnsworth's caliber blowing 3 saves in a row is hardly news, but to watch Mo do it, even in short highlight form, was unnerving and unfamiliar.  He's allowed his 1 or 2 bad weeks a year and it just so happens that this past week was one of those weeks.  For as long as he's been around, intelligent Yankee fans know that it's no cause for concern  Still, it's always weird watching Mo when he doesn't have it and yesterday was one of those days.  It continued a strange trend of Mo having his worst moments at home this season.

2013 Draft Already Looking Shaky

You may have noticed that the only 2013 1st round pick to start his pro career is Eric Jagielo.  He's hit .248/.358/.336 in 134 plate appearances with SS Staten Island, this underwhelming production coming after he had the start of his season delayed by a hamstring injury.  Lefty Ian Clarkin has been out with an ankle issue since signing, and last week it was reported that OF Aaron Judge, the last of the 3 to sign, will be put on the MiL DL with a quad injury.

3 1st round picks, 3 injuries, 3 delayed starts to the season, 2 of which could end up shutting guys down for the remainder of the year since we haven't heard anything about rehab schedules for Clarkin and Judge.  Add in 3rd rounder Michael O'Neill's .299 wOBA and 33.0% K rate in 200 SS league PAs and the shine has already come off the 2013 draft class.  Gosuke Katoh is hitting well in the GCL, but that level of competition is barely above what he was playing against in HS.  As Austin Aune's 2013 has shown us, it's a bit of a stretch to get excited about 1 good GCL season.

It's far too early to declare this season's class a bust.  There's no way to account for injuries that happen after a player is drafted, but with how little the Yankees have gotten from their top picks the last 2 years (Aune, Hensley, DBJ, Culver) it is disheartening to see another group of top picks get off to rough starts.  They've taken a lot of heat for their 1st round picks recently, and the injuries to this year's crop don't help to turn down that heat.

Game 116 Wrap-Up: NYY 5 DET 4

(Brett Gardner, clutch hitter.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

Well how about them apples, eh?  After dipping into the "blown save/walk-off win" well on Friday night to start this series, the Yankees decided to take a dive in it again on Sunday to close out the series.  In a game that was an exercise in head scratching - Andy Pettitte only making it through 4.1 innings despite allowing only a run, A-Rod actually hitting RHP, Austin Jackson forgetting how to run the bases, Mo blowing more saves - the Yankees somehow managed to come out on the winning side and get their first series win since early July.  If you missed it, you picked the wrong Sunday to make other plans.

Game Notes:

- So yeah, Andy.  He was magician out there yesterday, the kind of one who has no real stage show to impress you but pulls off some neat tricks.  He gave up his lone run on 3 hits and a walk in the top of the 1st, and stranded 5 runners through the next 3 innings to keep it at 1.

- He didn't have to wait long to get some run support and it came in a big way from Alex Rodriguez, who yanked a Justin Verlander fastball on the inner half over the left field fence to tie it at 1.  An Eduardo Nunezx sac fly a few batters later gave New York the lead.

- A-Rod extended that lead with a ribbie single in the 3rd, and Alfonso Soriano added to it in the 4th with another lead off home run, reaching the 2,000 career hits milestone in the process.  Definitely worth saving that ball.

- Andy loaded the bases with 1 out in the top of the 5th and Joe went to his bullpen to preserve the lead.  It was the right move given how hard Andy had to work (102 pitches) and it worked out perfectly as Shawn Kelley and Boone Logan each tossed scoreless 1.1-inning appearances to get to the 8th.

- David Robertson came on for the 8th and immediately gave up a solo HR to make it 4-2.  With 1 on and 1 out, he looked like he was going to give up another on a Torii Hunter deep drive until Brett Gardner made a great catch and turned an inning-ending double play thanks to Jackson's brain fart on the basepaths.

- Handed that bit of good luck, Mo couldn't do the job in the 9th, giving up 2 solo HR to Miguel Cabrera (again) and Victor Martinez to tie the game.  3 straight blown saves.

- Didn't need extras to fix that mistake this time.  With 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, Gardner was looking to swing big in a 1-0 fastball count.  He got one right down the middle from Jose Veras and crushed it into the second deck in right for his second walk-off hit in 3 days.

Mo Had 'Em Right Where He Wanted 'Em

You really have to just stand back and marvel at what Mariano Rivera did out there today.  After legitimately blowing the save on Friday night even though he reduced Miguel Cabrera to basically hitting on one leg, Mo had another chance to lock down a game win and a series win in the process this afternoon.  Instead of being the typical closer and just getting the job done, Mo graciously decided to pass the torch to his teammate Brett Gardner in the bottom of the 9th.

Gardner came through with the game-winning hit Friday night to bail Mo out and get him the W to replace the save.  In the selfless, giving fashion that has become so typical for him, Rivera decided that repaying the favor was more important than adding another save to his record-setting total.  He also gave Gardner the chance to prove that Friday night was no fluke instance of BABIP luck.  Mo grooved a couple pitches to Miggy and Victor Martinez that he knew they would hit for homers to tie the game, then shut down the rest of the inning to set things up for Gardner in the 9th.  Gardy made the most of the opportunity, yard jobbing one for another walk-off win.  Mo sets 'em up, Brett knocks 'em down.

Mo ended up with another win today, so I guess we'll have to see how he plans on repaying Gardner the next time he comes in to close a game, but once again you just tip your cap and shake your head at how painfully professional Mariano Rivera is.  Hard to find a teammate this great.

Boomtown

(Courtesy of MLB.com)

Problems hitting righties?  What problems hitting righties?  What kind of an asshat would suggest that Alex Rodriguez was going to have problems hitting righties based on a 1-game sample size??  Dude still looked like he could get it done out there against northpaws today, and against 1 of the best in the game no less.  First homer of the season, and on a ball that didn't sound like he got anything close to all of it.  Maybe those hips are feeling OK.

P.S.- Certainly sounded like a lot more cheers than boos when that ball went over the fence.  Maybe there aren't as many Yankee fans out there drinking the MSM anti-A-Rod Kool-Aid as I thought.

Game 115 Wrap-Up: DET 9 NYY 3

(Courtesy of the AP)

The Yankees managed to halt their growing losing streak, end the Tigers' winning streak, and keep their heads above .500 water all in the same game on Friday night.  What's more, they managed to do it despite another sluggish offensive game and a second consecutive Mariano Rivera blown save.  If there were any thoughts of building a new winning streak and securing a series win against the AL Central leaders, they were put to bed early on Saturday afternoon with Phil Hughes on the mound.  He was his usual self, the Detroit hitters were on their game, and the Yanks went down in a one-sided loss.

Game Notes:

- Hughes was in trouble right off the bat with an Austin Jackson leadoff triple.  He scored on a Torii Hunter sac fly and Detroit quickly had a lead they would never give back.

- Hughes managed to strike out the second in the 2nd around a pair of singles, then gave up a solo home run to Miguel Cabrera in the 3rd to make it 2-0.  Cabrera was locked into Hughes' fastball from the start and in typical Hughes fashion, Phil stubbornly continued to throw them.

- Things got out of hand in the top of the 5th, when Hughes gave up another solo bomb to Jackson, a single to Hunter, and got the hook after just 4.1 innings.  Preston Claiborne relieved him and gave up 3 more runs on 2 more hits to make it a 6-0 game.

- The lone source of legitimate Yankee offense came in the bottom half of the 5th thanks to Lyle Overbay.  He drove in Eduardo Nunez with a home run on a hanging 2-strike slider to get New York on the board.

- They would get no closer than 6-2, however, as Claiborne put 2 more runners on in the 6th before giving way to Joba Chamberlain, who proceeded to bring everybody home on a 3-run HR by Hunter.

- Overbay tacked on a meaningless RBI single in the bottom of the 9th, a perfectly insignificant end to a pretty thorough beatdown.  The 3-6 spots ahead of him in the lineup went just 2-15 with 0 RBI and 5 K.

Righties Still A Problem For A-Rod

(Courtesy of the AP)

It was nothing earth shattering, but some might say they were a little surprised at the results of Alex Rodriguez's first few games back from the DL.  He had a hit in each of his first 3 games against the White Sox, drew a few walks, put some good swings on balls, played the field well, and still looked like he had enough power at the plate to be an offensive threat once he gets his timing back.  But those 3 starts were against left-handed pitchers, the type of pitcher against whom A-Rod is most effective.  In his first game against a righty starter last night, things didn't look so good.

A-Rod went 0-3 with 2 strikeouts last night against Tigers starter Rick Porcello.  The same Rick Porcello who's the 5th starter in that rotation and not exactly a "blow you away" type of right hander.  A-Rod struck out swinging in his first 2 at-bats at nothing but low-90s fastballs and looked overmatched doing it.  His getting frozen by a nasty slider in his final at-bat in the 8th happens to the best of hitters, but the lack of bat speed against Porcello's fastballs was a flashback to last year's ALCS and a reminder that Alex has declined tremendously against right-handed pitching.

Joe has him out of the lineup today after batting him 5th yesterday.  It'll definitely be worth watching what he does with A-Rod against righties if Alex really struggles against them.

Game 114 Wrap-Up: NYY 4 DET 3

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

Whew!  Thank goodness for Brett Gardner's BABIP luck, because I don't think I could have taken 2 straight losses like that with blown Mo saves.  It's part of every season, we know this by now, but to have Mo blow 2 saves the way he did and lose those 2 games during a time when the Yankees have basically shoveled dirt on their own playoff hopes would have been crushing.  As it is, all he did was prevent Ivan Nova from getting another much deserved win.  Nova was on again and did all he could to pitch his team to victory.  He didn't come away with the win, but as long as the team did that's all that matters in the end.

Game Notes:

- The lineup staked Nova to an early lead against Detroit starter Rick Porcello on an Alfonso Soriano RBI groundout in the bottom of the 1st and a Robinson Cano 2-run double in the 3rd.

- Nova made that stand up through 7 strong innings.  He worked around some trouble, but didn't surrender a run until the 7th, when he gave up a leadoff double and a ribbie single to Miguel Cabrera.

- It was Cabrera that blew up Mo's spot in the bottom of the 9th.  Down 3-1 and already in a 1-2 count, Miggy fouled 2 straight pitches off himself and looked like he was going to swing and miss just to get the at-bat over with.  Mo tried to throw a 4-seamer by him 2-2 and left it over the heart of the plate.  Cabrera, on 1 leg basically, hit it out to dead center to tie the game.  Just gotta tip your cap.

- Jayson Nix walked to start the bottom of the 10th, moved to second on a C-Grand hit, third on a wild pitch, and with 2 outs came in to score the winning run on Gardner's seeing eye single through the left side.  Like I said, whew.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 8/9/13

Let's get right to it.  Onto the links!

- On Monday, SJK of NoMaas pointed out another glaring flaw in the front office's plan that Derek Jeter's continued injury problems this year have exposed.

- On Tuesday, Derek Albin of Pinstripe Pundits attacked the 2014 payroll plans from all angles with a hypothetically reduced A-Rod suspension factored in.

- Chad Jennings of LoHud had a collection of league-wide reactions to the Biogenesis suspensions.

- On Wednesday, Matt Imbrogno of IIATMS/TYA quickly and easily disproved Michael Kay's theory that David Robertson throws too many pitches to be a successful closer.

- SG of RLYW calculated the latest postseason probabilities to show just how bleak the Yankees' chances looked.  And that was before Wednesday night's game.

- Joe Pawlikowski of RAB, inspired by a cool exercise by Donnie Collins, analyzed the collection of Yankee homegrown Major Leaguers to show how little impact talent they've developed.

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog looked back at another historic moment in MLB history involving the Yankees, one of their big stars, the MLB commissioner, and a bunch of shady business.

- On Thursday, Matthew B of Yankees Fans Unite looked back at just how good the last 12 years have been, in case this season has you so far down in the dumps that you're becoming a spoiled Yankee fan.

- El duque of It Is High... summed up this season in one perfectly eye roll-inducing photo.

- Mason Stark of Pinstriped Bible looked back at the history of the Yankees turning picks into prospects in Part 3 of his series investigating their development of young pitching.

- On Friday, Alex Pugliese of Yanks Go Yard mused on the idea of fan reaction for A-Rod tonight and discussed how her reaction towards A-Rod will change based on this new steroid accusation.

- Daniel Burch of The Greedy Pinstripes looked for a trade partner for Lyle Overbay as part of his series in selling off useful pieces now to build for the future.

In lieu of picking just 1 song from the QOTSA Lollapalooza set I missed last week, I'm going to throw the whole set up here for everyone to enjoy.  IMO, the highlight is "I Sat by the Ocean" and "I Think I Lost My Headache" back-to-back towards the end.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

Adam Warren's Descent Back To The Mean

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Like David Phelps and Ivan Nova before him, Adam Warren stepped up to grab an opportunity that injuries presented in Spring Training.  He pitched well, got noticed by the coaches, and stepped into Phelps' vacated long man bullpen role when Phelps got bumped to the rotation.  Warren, always regarded as a consistently good but never great prospect in the Minors, projected to be a 4th-5th starter at best at the Major League level and his best chance to work his way onto the roster was probably through the bullpen.  Warren continued his impressive spring through the first couple months of the season, coming up with a couple big outings and displaying solid stuff.  Since the calendar flipped to summer, however, the going has gotten tough for Warren and the regression has brought him back down to just average.

When's Betances Coming Up?

This is a topic that's been covered extensively in the last month or so by the rest of the Yankosphere, so I'm really just piling on at this point.  But with the focus now transitioning from 2013 to 2014, it's a topic that still warrants mentioning here.  Dellin Betances was finally moved to a relief role permanently earlier this season in Triple-A after allowing 16 ER and 16 BB over 24.0 IP in his first 6 starts of the season.  The organization had seen enough of his command and delivery repetition issues and decided that a full-time relief role was the best way to get value out of Betances moving forward.

Shut The F*ck Up, Randy

(Courtesy of the NY Post)

Via AB4AR favorite Wally Matthews, who went to get Randy Levine's thoughts on the season:

""We've got great players, but it's up to the guys on the team to play better baseball. That's the answer...

The guys we brought in over-performed for a long time there, and now they're in a rough stretch, but I have a lot of confidence in the talent we have on our roster...

I hope they can still make the playoffs, but I don't know if they can."

Translation- "Don't blame me for this.  Look at all the players we brought in to cover for the injuries.  Front office did its job.  They just aren't playing well enough."

What a scumbag.  I'd give up a month's pay for one free shot to that face.  So punchable.

Friday Morning Small Sample Size Food For Thought

- Alfonso Soriano since the trade: .244/.279/.415, .303 wOBA in 43 PA

- Curtis Granderson since his return: .167/.348/.333, .318 wOBA in 23 PA

- Alex Rodriguez since his return: .273/.429/.273, .340 wOBA  in 14 PA

The Yankees are 3-8 since the Soriano trade, 1-5 since C-Grand returned to the lineup, and 0-3 since A-Rod came back.  So much for upgrading the lineup.

Done

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Monday night was supposed to be the night that turned the 2013 Yankee season around.  At least that was the narrative we were expected to believe after Dan Barbarisi posted his story on Monday night's postgame closed-door meeting.  There were words like "fun," "energy," and "intensity," and the obligatory "our postseason starts now" message was thrown out there.  The team didn't want to fall into a pattern of accepting the losing culture that has defined them since about mid-May.  They had to come together, they had to stay positive, and they had to start turning things around towards a playoff push Tuesday night.

The reality is that this team was dead where it stood and has been for some time.  The fact that a team meeting was called to rally the troops and get some positive vibes going served only to confirm that previous sentence.  I can't remember who said it, but I remember hearing a player once sum up team meetings like this perfectly: "Winners win.  Losers meet."  When it's reached the point where everybody in the clubhouse is unspokenly aware that they've become losers and a meeting has to be called to address it, it's already too late.  Hell, an unnamed player in Barbarisi's story practically admitted that when he spoke to him.

Sabathia's Fastball Struggles Continue

That's CC Sabathia's 4-seam fastball plot from his start last night.  It's noteworthy mainly because it shows almost no pattern whatsoever.  He's scattered throughout the strike zone, missing badly both up and down, and still leaving too many pitches in the meaty part of the hitting zone.  The fastball, be it due to velocity or location, has been at the forefront of any analysis of CC since Opening Day and he's been at his best when he's been able to locate it down in the zone.

Strangely enough, last night's ambiguous, inconsistent location plot was actually a step up from what CC's fastball has been doing for him lately.  3 earned runs allowed in 7.1 innings is much better than the atrocious results he put up in his previous 4 starts, and the collection of 4-seamers he threw in those starts looks like this:

Game 113 Wrap: CHW 6 NYY 5

("You know I hate your guts, right?"  "Yeah, I know."  Courtesy of Getty Images)

Not to talk like it's an overly arduous task or some kind of back-breaking work, because I fully recognize that it's not, but writing game recaps this season has been absolute torture.  This is such an unentertaining, uninspiring baseball team that it gets my morning off to a bad start more times than not reading about what they did the night before.  Last night was the coup de grace of bad losses this season, the rare game where you're treated to 2 losses in 1 game and the even more rare game where you see Mariano Rivera fail to close out a win.  If the Yankees' season wasn't already over before last night's game, it damn sure is now.

Game Notes:

- Alfonso Soriano got things off to a good start with a 2-run HR in the top of the 1st to give New York a quick lead.  They added to that lead with a Vernon Wells ribbie single in the 3rd and an Eduardo Nunez solo homer to lead off the 4th.

- Somewhat surprisingly, CC Sabathia made that lead stand up through 4 innings.  He actually retired the lineup in order the first time through and worked around a single in the 4th with a double play ball.

- The White Sox started to chip away in the 5th on a Gordon Beckham HR, the 25th of the year off CC.  The Yanks left the door open for them by leaving the bases loaded in the 6th and 2 men on in the 7th.

- Chicago struck in the bottom of the 7th, stringing 3 straight hits together and plating 2 runs on a double and a force out to pull within 1.  Those runs put a damper on what was starting to look like a really good turnaroud start for CC.

- It's always a surprise when Mo blows a save.  It's an especially big kick in the dick when it happens with 2 outs and strikeout machine Adam Dunn at the plate.  But Dunn found a hole in the left side on an 0-2 cutter and the game was tied.

- After failing to score with Brett Gardner on third in the 11th, the Yanks regained the lead on a Robinson Cano bomb of a HR to lead off the 12th.  Good to see he's still alive.

- Once again they couldn't hold the lead and once again they couldn't finish an inning with 2 outs.  Adam Warren, in his second inning of work, gave up 2 straight 2-out singles before catching too much of the plate with 1-0 fastball to Alejandro De Aza.  De Aza squared it up for a base-clearing triple and a walk-off win.