Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 4/25/14

I got nothing this week.  Just looking forward to a Sunday sports day of Rangers, Blackhawks, Lamarcus Aldridge, and Yanks-Halos.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, Caitlin Rogers of Pinstripe Alley pondered what the Yankees could do with Brian Roberts if he continues to not perform offensively.

- Mike Axisa of RAB looked to the early pitch type percentage breakdowns to see what major changes CC Sabathia was making to his pitching approach.

- On Wednesday, Chris Mitchell of Pinstripe Pundits examined the shift in Brett Gardner's BB rate and the resulting shift in his overall offensive performance.

- SJK of NoMaas stressed the importance of Derek Jeter maintaining a strong BB rate if his power is going to stay as low as it is early on.

- On Thursday, William Juliano of The Captain's Blog commented on the problems with MLB's rule book and inconsistencies in the enforcement of those rules that the Michael Pineda situation exposed.

- Matt Bove of IIATMS/TYA pointed out the downtrend in the production of Kelly Johnson and Yangervis Solarte, another sign that the Yankees should look for more infield depth.

- Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily dished a heaping helping of observations from a few MiL games he's taking in early in the season.

- On Friday, John M of It Is High... put today's offensive numbers into historical perspective to give the appropriate amount of context to all the talk about the game becoming too "pitcher dominated" today.

- Chad Jennings of LoHud looked back at the eventful road trip that was.  When you stop and think about it, there really was a lot that happened in the last week.  Damn.

- SG of RLYW summed up the problem with Mark Teixeira's production in one definitive graph.

New Mastodon is out!  It got leaked early last week, formally released late last week, and I finally caught up to it this week.



It's definitely catchy but I'm hoping the rest of the album isn't as linear as this.  I bet it won't be.  You always have to have one song that will be a good fit for radio play.  This is most likely that song.

Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

Nova Elects Surgery For Torn UCL

This was the always the endgame, even after Nova requested a second opinion on his partially torn UCL earlier this week.  Dr. James Andrews was given the second look and he echoed the recommendation of Yankees team doctor Dr. Ahmad that Nova have Tommy John Surgery on the ligament.

Nova will go under the knife for TJS next Tuesday, with Dr. Andrews himself performing the surgery.  It will officially end Nova's 2014 season, and with recovery time still an estimated 12-18 months, Nova will also lose most of his 2015 season.  A tough break for Nova and the Yankees.  Maybe this will help fix some of the minor arm issues he had leading up to the tear, but typically arm injuries mean more arm injuries.

Game 22 Wrap-Up: NYY 14 BOS 5

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

If last night was an example of what baseball is like when nobody's playing with foreign substances on them, I think I'd rather see pitchers slathering their arms up with pine tar before every inning.  Sloppy baseball was an understatement last night.  The Red Sox booted the ball all over the yard, almost every pitcher who got into the game threw a wild pitch, some threw multiple, and their starting pitching was abysmal.  I almost feel bad for you if you watched it, but the Yanks came away with the W and their second series win in 2 tries against the Red Sox this young season.

Game Notes:

- The bats went to sleep against Lackey, but they woke up quickly against Felix Doubront.  Alfonso Soriano doubled in a run with 2 outs in the 1st, Yangervis Solarte sparked a 3-run 2nd with a 2-run double of his own, and Mark Teixeira hit his first home run of the season to lead off a 3-run 3rd.

- CC Sabathia had pretty good stuff against the Boston lineup.  He worked the first 2 innings scoreless, featuring his changeup heavily, and struck out 5 through 5 innings.

- He also battled a few bouts of command inconsistencies.  He walked 2 in the 2nd, hit a few batters, and got into trouble in the 3rd with a leadoff walk and a double.  2 runs scored in the inning, the last on the dreaded 2-out hit by Mike Napoli The Yankee Killer.

- Boston's bullpen held the Yankee lineup at bay for a few innings, but they finally started up again for their insurance runs in the top of the 7th.  Another Sawck error (their 5th of the night!!) helped extend the rally and Solarte and The Captain each knocked in 2 with ribbie singles to make it 12-2 Yanks.

- Sabathia finished 6 strong with only the 2 runs and 8 Ks and handed it over to the 'pen.  Shane Greene was a puddle of nervous adrenaline, but Adam Warren did the job and D-Rob got in his first game action since coming off the DL in a perfect 9th.