Hey, Ivan...

Thanks.

ManBan Shut Down For The Season

Via Andrew Marchand, who is usually reliable on news-type stuff:

"The New York Yankees' top pitching prospect, Manny Banuelos, will not pitch again this year after throwing in six games all season, the team's vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman told ESPN New York on Monday.

'He's not going to be back this season,' Newman said.

The left-handed Banuelos, rated the Yankees' No. 1 prospect by ESPN's Keith Law prior to the season, has been out of action since the middle of May with what Newman described as a bone bruise in his left elbow."



My (admittedly negative) take on this news after the jump.

Why Did Joe Switch Jeter & Granderson In The Batting Order?

(I'M TELLING YOU THAT I WANT TO BAT GRANDERSON FIRST, DAMNIT!!!!)

I mean, I know WHY he did it.  With the lineup a little unbalanced over the weekend with A-Rod out and Chavez nursing an ankle, and the Yankees facing a trio of right-handed pitchers, Joe wanted to maximize the lefty output in the lineup and keep his L/R staggering in play as much as possible.  But How important is that staggering really?  And with what Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson have and haven't been doing lately in small sample sizes and over the course of the season, the timing of the switch just didn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Game 107 Wrap-Up: NYY 6 SEA 2

(Curtis celebrates not having to field a line drive right at him. Courtesy of The AP)

The Yankees return home didn't exactly result in the kind of turnaround they were looking for.  Coming into yesterday afternoon's game, they were already assured of finishing the 9-game homestand with a losing record after getting shut down by King Felix on Saturday.  With a road trip scheduled to start in Detroit on Monday, a win to finish the homestand 4-5 would have been a lot better than losing a home series to Seattle and finishing 3-6, and facing Hisashi Iwakuma for the second time in less than 2 weeks, the Yanks were able to take advantage and score early to get the W, a milestone W for Freddy.

Game Notes:

- New York starter Freddy Garcia had some trouble getting the ball down in the zone in the top of the 1st, and got hit hard for 3 singles and a run.  The damage could have been worse had it not been for Nick Swisher throwing Jesus Montero out at th plate to end the inning.

- The offense got the run right back in the bottom half on a Mark Teixeira RBI single to score Derek Jeter, and then took the lead in the 2nd after a Chris Stewart 2-out double and a costly error by Dustin Ackley allowed him to score.

- Freddy's outing worked in reverse of how you would expect a pitcher to be as he tires. After giving up the 3 hits and 1 run in the 1st, he walked 3 batters over the next 2 innings, then retired the side in order in the 4th to keep Seattle at 1.

- Stewart helped create another run in the bottom of the 4th with a 1-out single and a steal of second, and he came home on Jeter's RBI single to make it 3-1 Yanks.

- Freddy's reverse outing hit a snag in the 5th when he gave up a run on a Michael Saunders double and Montero single, both with 2 outs.  But he coaxed an inning-ending grounder out of Kyle Seager and his day was done.

- Raul Ibanez provided some insurance with a solo HR in the bottom of the 5th to make it 4-2, and then a clutch 2-out, 2-run single in the 6th to make it 6-2.  Naturally, Stewart was in the middle of the action, starting off the 6th with a walk.

- The bullpen made sure that the 4-run lead would stand up, as Boone Logan, David Robertson, and Rafael Soriano pitched 4 scoreless innings of relief.  No matchup games for Joe yesterday, he was going with his big guns.  As a result, Freddy becomes the 12th Latin-born pitcher in MLB history with at least 150 wins.