Severino And O'Brien Do What They Do In The Futures Game

The MLB Futures Game kicked off All-Star Week yesterday, and the Yankees were represented by a pair of prospects.  Luis Severino from High-A Tampa and Peter O'Brien from Double-A Trenton were the reps, playing for the World and USA teams respectively.  In their first performances on a big national stage, each displayed in a small sample size their calling cards as prospects.

Severino was the 4th World pitcher to enter the game and he worked a scoreless inning in the 4th, allowing 1 base hit and striking a batter out.  The strikeout victim was Joey Gallo, baseball HR leader and eventual game MVP, and Keith Law had Severino sitting 93-95 with his fastball.  O'Brien went 0-2 with 2 strikeouts, a somewhat expected result given his free-swinging tendencies.  Against the best pitchers the Minors have to offer, it's understandable that those skills overshadowed his high power potential.

All in all, not a bad night for the Yankee system in the Futures Game.  Just the fact that they got 2 reps for the first time in a few years is a step in the right direction for the organization.

Game 94 Wrap-Up: BAL 3 NYY 1

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

Saturday's win guaranteed the Yankees at least a .500 record at the All Star break this year.  I have to imagine they were hoping for and expecting much better than that when they dropped their half billion dollars this past offseason, but underperformance and another rash of serious injuries to major contributors have combined to keep that from happening.  The truth of the matter is that the Yankees are lucky to be where they are right now, and a road win against the Orioles to give the them the series and send them into the ASB with consecutive would have been a nice morale boost.  Instead, they got treated to a rain-shortened loss to send them into the break bumming.

Game Notes:

- Kevin Gausman is one of the best pitching prospects in baseball for a reason, but he made a classic rookie mistake throwing Brett Gardner 4 straight fastballs to open the game last night.  Gardner smacked the 4th one for a leadoff home run to right to get the Yanks on the board quickly.

- Chase Whitley looked pretty good making that stand up through 3 innings.  He was making pitches and getting outs when he needed to and getting swings and misses on his offspeed stuff.

- When the heart of the order got their second look at him in the 4th, things changed.  Nelson Cruz drew a 5-pitch walk to lead it off, Chris David crushed a 2-run home run the opposite way to give Baltimore the lead (on a pretty good pitch down and in), and JJ Hardy doubled off the wall to left.  Whitley got the next 2 outs, but couldn't keep the 3rd run from scoring and saw his night end before the 4th was over.

- Not much happened in the top of the 5th and then the rains came to delay the game.  The initial estimate was only a 30-minute storm, but that extended into 2+ hours and the teams agreed to call it a day.  Pretty fitting ending to the Yankees' first half.

Shane Greene's Stock Rising As His Sinker Sinks

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

In Spring Training, Shane Greene drew some attention for how well he pitched.  While the overall SSS numbers weren't sparkling (4 ER, 8 H in 7.2 IP), Greene did strike out 10 batters and show the kind of stuff capable of getting Major League hitters out.  Working exclusively in a relief role and then getting shuttled between Triple-A and the Majors early in the regular season in that same role got him off kilter, as did an early injury, and his results once he returned to his regular starting role weren't that impressive.  He was consistently inconsistent at best and mildly disappointing at worst.

Since the middle of June, however, it's been a different story.  Greene allowed only 6 ER over 28 IP in his last 5 Triple-A starts with 23 strikeouts and 10 walks, and after Masahiro Tanaka went on the DL with his UCL tear it was Greene who got the call as his replacement in the Major League rotation.  All he did this past week in his first 2 Major League starts was throw 13.1 innings of 2-run ball with an 11/2 K/BB split and pick up the win in both starts.  Not bad for a guy who wasn't much of a thought as a legitimate organizational prospect before the start of last season.

Sunday Morning Food For Thought: Does Rob Thomson Need To Go?

Yup, Yankees still lead AL in outs made at home plate (15). Had 13 all of last year.
— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) July 12, 2014

Fellow IIATMS teammate Katie Sharp tweeted that stat out last night and it absolutely blew me away.  I knew the Yankees had lost a few runs this year by getting thrown out at the plate. It's going to happen more than a few times over the course of the season, but that many?  In a little more than 90 games??  That's incredibly problematic, and suggestive of something more than just bad luck or great defensive plays.

Take the second gun down at the plate last night.  Jacoby Ellsbury had barely reached third base when Adam Jones picked up the single hit to him in the outfield.  Jones has a cannon for an arm, something that's no longer a surprise to anybody in baseball, and yet Rob Thomson chose to send Ellsbury anyway.  Ellsbury was predictably thrown out and the inning was over.

When you struggle to score runs as much as the Yankees do, every run is important.  They can't afford to be giving away runs with careless baserunning and the high number of runs they've given up by getting thrown out at the plate has to fall on Thomson's shoulders.  Firing him now will do little to change the team's overall offensive problems, but after this season maybe it's time for Joe to shake up his coaching staff and bring somebody new in to handle third, somebody who can make better decisions and not run his team out of potential runs by being unnecessarily aggressive.

Game 93 Wrap-Up: NYY 3 BAL 0

(Courtesy of the AP)

These interdivisional games are going to be crucial if the Yankees are going to have even the slightest hope of hanging around in the playoff races while Tanaka is on the shelf.  They blew a golden opportunity to take the opener against the Orioles on Friday when the offense couldn't come through again and wasted a great start by David Phelps.  Rookie Shane Greene was back on the hill yesterday for his second start of the week and he turned in another stellar performance of his own.  The offense didn't do much to help him either, but the bullpen was up to the task of securing the victory and sending the Yanks to a critical rubber match today.

Game Notes:

- The Yanks left 2 men on base in the top of the 2nd, and looked primed to do the same in the 3rd after Jacoby Ellsbury struck out looking.  Mark Teixeira lined a double to right to score 1 run and not totally waste the scoring chance, although Derek Jeter was gunned down at the plate to end the inning.

- Greene retired the first 10 Orioles he faced, using his hard sinker to generate lots of GB outs and set up his slider and curveball.  His first baserunner allowed came on a 1-out walk in the 4th and the Orioles didn't get their first hit until the 5th.

- That hit turned into 2, and Greene had to strike out Nick Hundley to halt that threat.  The O's put 2 more men on in the bottom of the 6th with no outs and once again Greene escaped with a GB double play and another K.

- With the lead intact, the offense came around to give him a little insurance in the top of the 7th.  Kelly Johnson singled, took second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Jeter single, and Ellsbury doubled to right to score Jeter and extend the lead to 3-0.

- Greene pitched into the 8th before giving way to the bullpen.  Shawn Kelley cleaned up David Huff's mess to end the 8th and David Robertson pitched a perfect 9th with 2 more strikeouts to save the win.  Impressive start, impressive finish.

A Week Gone By And Not Much Has Changed

Greetings from the Hannover airport, gang.  I got here way too early for my flight to Paris and had to pay for wifi, but whatever.  The important thing is my week of work training is over, the time gap between me and the baseball world is starting to shrink as I head back home today, and the blogging can resume as normal.

At first glance, it looks like I missed a lot in the last week.  Masahiro Tanaka has gone on the DL with a torn UCL that is going to eventually require TJS and the resulting lost year  no matter how good the Yankees think their rehab strategy is (spoiler alert- it's not).  There are 3 new starting pitchers in the rotation in the form of the called up Shane Greene and the traded for Brandon McCarthy and Jeff Francis.  None of that inspires confidence, but those are pretty big changes, right?

Not really.  The reality of the situation is that nothing has changed in Yankeeland.  For better or worse really.  They went 3-3 in the past week with a -4 run differential, putting them at 46-46 on the season with a -38 run differential.  They still can't hit (looking at you, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran), their bullpen is still drastically overworked and not deep enough to account for that, and they're still just close enough to the playoff races - 5 out in the division and 2.5 out of the wild card - to not really be out of them while at the same time not really qualifying as "contenders".  The All-Star break is coming at the perfect time for them, but there's little reason to expect the second half to be any better or different than the first.  This year's team has officially become more mediocre and more boring than last year's.  Gotta love Yankee baseball!

P.S.- Sorry about your broken face and concussion, Carlos.  Gotta keep that head on a swivel, chief.

Quick Hit: Tanaka To The DL With Elbow Problems; Heading For An MRI

My reaction:



That's an overseas HOT TAKE for you right there, people.  Here's another one.  If this is anything even remotely serious, and it sounds like it more than likely is, then you can get a shovel, dig a hole, and bury this season 6 feet under because it's over and dead.

Sunday Roster Moves: McCarthy In, Nuno And Soriano Out

Germany or no Germany, I couldn't very well let the Yankees make a slew of early roster moves today without my 2 cents.  It started when they called up Bruce Billings as a fresh arm for tonight's game, it continued when they announced that they had traded Vidal Nuno to the Arizona Diamondbacks for right-hander Brandon McCarthy a few hours ago, and it got real a few minutes ago when they announced that Alfonso Soriano had been designated for assignment to open a 25-man spot for Billings.

On the McCarthy move, it's a good one.  He's an upgrade over Nuno and will help give a little more length from the back end of the makeshift rotation, although not the type of upgrade the front office was hoping to get from somebody like Jeff Samardzija or Jason Hammels.  Personally I think the value of adding McCarthy gets limited a bit by having to give up Nuno for him.  I think Nuno was a better fit as a multi-use lefty reliever and not being able to move him into that role to help the 'pen is a bummer.

As for Soriano, it was a long time coming and last night's 0-4 game with 2 more strikeouts and a dropped foul pop up was the last straw.  He was a great half-season pickup last year and looked genuinely re-energized playing back in New York, but the Father Time clock struck midnight this year and he never found his game at the plate, whether he was getting regular ABs or not.  Hopefully that roster spot gets used for somebody better than Billings down the road.  Like an actual right-handed power bat.

Site News: Gone For A Week

So as you may or may not have noticed, I made a few references to traveling to Germany earlier this week.  I'm actually flying out this afternoon and I'll be out there all next week participating in a work training program.  Because of this, I won't be able to cover any of what happens next week so for all intents and purposes AB4AR will be on a short break while I'm away.

There is a chance that I'll have some time in the mornings in Germany to write some stuff, but not much of one.  If anything really important happens, I'll throw up a quick blurb on it when I have time.  If nothing does, it'll almost certainly be all quiet on the AB4AR front.  I fly back a week from today, so next Saturday evening into Sunday you should see posts going up again and things will be back to normal on Monday the 14th.

Keep the faith while I'm gone, Yankee fans.  See ya in a week.

Report: Microfracture Surgery Possible For CC

Remember that thing I said a month ago about the comparisons between CC Sabathia and Amar'e Stoudemire when it came to their knee injuries?  It sounds like those comparisons could get even stronger after CC's latest setback with his swollen, degenerative right knee.  The knee didn't hold up to 55 pitches (on early rest) earlier this week, and now the plan is for CC to see Dr. Andrews again on Monday for a follow-up evaluation.  The possibility of microfracture surgery is on the table, which would end CC's season for sure and possibly even his career.

Joe alluded to both of those possibilities when he spoke to the media before yesterday's game, saying "I think that's fair to say, yeah" when asked if CC was done for this season, and "whenever you have degenerative issues that cause surgery or things like that, there's always a little question, yeah" when asked if this latest setback was career-threatening.  He clearly doesn't know what to expect except to expect nothing more from CC this season.  As bad as CC was before he hit the DL, I think Joe was looking at him as a slight upgrade over Nuno and Whitley.  Not anymore.

With CC gone, Pineda still setting back, and Billy Beane taking his nuts out and slapping the rest of MLB with them by trading for Jeff Samardzija AND Jason Hammel yesterday, the Yankee rotation situation has grown even more grim.  Next year ain't looking so hot either if this microfracture surgery happens.

Game 85 Wrap-Up: NYY 6 MIN 5

(Courtesy of the AP)

Wow, consecutive wins!  I wasn't sure if we'd ever see these again.  As has been tradition for the better part of the last 15 seasons, when the Yankees need to get right there's no team better for them to face than the Minnesota Twins.  They jumped out to an early lead against them yesterday and then held on for dear life to preserve their second victory of this series and get back over .500.

Game Notes:

- It was all Brian Roberts in the first 2 innings.  Hitting from the 2-hole, he doubled home Brett Gardner in the 1st inning and scored on a Teix double in a 3-run frame.  In the 2nd he hit a 2-out double to set up Jacoby Ellsbury's 2-run single in another 3-run inning.

- The Twins would stay close against Chase Whitley.  Brian Dozier homered in the 1st, Chris Collabello in the 2nd, and a single-triple-single trio of at-bats netted them 2 more runs to make it 6-4 after 3.

- Whitley was done after 3 and Joe went to David Huff first.  As he did often when he came in for Phil Hughes last year, Huff threw a very effective (perfect actually) 3 innings to keep the lead at 2 and get the game to the top bullpen guys.

- The Dellin Betances regression continued when he allowed a leadoff single to Kendrys Morales in the 8th, hit a batter, and surrendered a run to pinch runner Eduardo Nunez on an RBI groundout.

- That was as close as the Twins would get.  D-Rob came on in the 9th, struck out the side for what seems like the 10th time this season, and that was all she wrote.  All 6 runs in the first 2 innings and 6 strong innings of relief work.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 7/4/14

Happy 4th of July, everybody!  Hope you're already well into whatever activities you've got planned for this glorious holiday and not stuck inside somewhere with nothing to do but read this.  I've got a double-dip of family cookout during the day and a concert later tonight, but since I'll be traveling to Germany for week on Saturday I won't be able to do my normal Independence Day partying routine.  It's a little bit of a bummer, but what are you gonna do?  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, SJK of NoMaas begged and pleaded for a Rob Refsnyder call up.  He must have been really disappointed to get Wheeler instead.

- On Tuesday, Katie Sharp of IIATMS/TYA explained how David Price has been able to pitch so underratedly well this year, and how he's done against the Yankees as food for thought.

- Chris Mitchell of Pinstripe Pundits reviewed the progress of his top 10 Yankee prospects.

- El duque of It Is High... riffed on the "great arm" talk about Jose Ramirez and how meaningless a term it really was.

- SG of RLYW looked back at the projection numbers to see how much better or worse the Yankee offense should have been and could be in the second half.

- On Wednesday, William Juliano of The Captain's Blog pointed out a historically-significant display of age from the Yankees in one of their recent lineups.  Definitely not a good thing.

- Mike Axisa of RAB shone a light on the dwindling Yankee bullpen depth and how that may push them into the market for relief help at the deadline.

- John Beck of Pinstripe Alley made a case for the Yankees targeting Adrian Beltre at the trade deadline.  That would be pretty awesome actually.

- On Thursday, Brian Heyman of LoHud discussed Derek Jeter's playing time and had The Captain's thoughts on how the team has been playing.

- Daniel Burch of The Greedy Pinstripes called for Kevin Long's firing and made a suggestion for who should be hired to replace him.

We're going with all the American classics for today.  Wouldn't have it any other way.







Enjoy your long weekends, everybody.

Game 84 Wrap-Up: NYY 7 MIN 4

(Courtesy of the AP)

The games that Masahiro Tanaka pitches have really been the only ones in which the Yankees have had a good chance to win lately.  Even with the confidence he brings, the pitiful offense has been unable to support him enough to get wins his last 2 times out, and Tanaka entered last night's start on unfamiliar ground, saddled with a 2-game losing streak.  He was out there again, opening up a long weekend series in Minnesota against former Yankee reclamation project and probable All Star Phil Hughes, and despite pitching his worst game as a Yankee, he got enough support from newest lineup member Zelous Wheeler and the offense to end the Yanks' 5-game losing streak.

Game Notes:

- The Twins picked up runs in the 1st and 3rd innings thanks to some strong run manufacturing by the top of the Twins lineup.  Brian Dozier singled to start rallies in both innings and came around to score on a double and a groundout.

- The Yanks broke out against Hughes in the 5th with a quick single-single-3-run homer-groundout-solo homer stretch of at-bats that put them ahead 4-2.  Carlos Beltran hit the 3-run shot while Wheeler recorded his first MLB home run on the solo job.

- A pair of doubles in the 6th and 7th led to 2 more Minnesota runs.  Tanaka just didn't have much in the way of stuff or command.  Maybe the transition to regular rest hasn't been as smooth as it first looked.

- Those runs didn't hurt too bad thanks to a big 3-run top of the 7th by the lineup.  Brendan Ryan of all people doubled home a run, Brett Gardner singled 1 in, and Derek Jeter brought Ryan in with a groundout for the 7th and final run.

- Joe didn't play around late, removing Tanaka after 7 and going with Dellin Betances and David Robertson for the save.  Betances fanned 2 in the 8th and D-Rob struck out the side in the 9th.  Filth personified.

BREAKING: Sabathia Has Fluid On His Knee, Going For An MRI (UPDATED)

Girardi just said on WFAN that Sabathia woke up today with fluid in knee and prob headed for MRI. Unsure what's next for him. #yankees
— David Lennon (@DPLennon) July 3, 2014

That's the whole story as far as we know right now and it isn't good.  After pitching on short rest and throwing 55 pitches in his second MiL rehab start last night, CC Sabathia woke up this morning with fluid in his surgically-repaired and recently stem cell/cortisone-injected degenerative right knee.  He's going for an MRI to assess the level of damage and severity and as of right now his comeback plans are on hold.

More on this story as it comes out...

** 4:49 PM- Via multiple beat guys and gals, Girardi said there was "swelling" in CC's right knee as well.  This doesn't sound at all like it's going to have a happy ending. **

A Refresher Course On Zelous Wheeler, Newest Yankee Call-Up (UPDATED)

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

It took 5 straight losses, 9 of 11, and dropping below .500, but the Yankees finally decided to make a move to attempt to help their floundering offense.  As first reported by Donnie Collins and later confirmed and elaborated on by Chad Jennings, last night Zelous Wheeler was called up from Triple-A to join the team in Minnesota.  He will be available for, and possibly playing in, tonight's game.  No corresponding move has been announced yet, so we still don't know who's gone.  That may be something the team is still figuring out.  Because Wheeler needs a 25 and 40-man roster spot, there could be a couple of moving pieces here.

International Free Agency Day 1 Recap

We've been hearing for months about how the Yankees were going to "spend like crazy" and "make a big splash" in international free agency this year.  We heard 3 weeks ago that they already had multi-million dollar deals in place with 3 of the top players available.  The international free agency period officially opened yesterday and the Yankees definitely walked the walk after talking the talk.  Here's the breakdown of all the major signings they made:

• Diego Castillo, 16-year-old shortstop, Venezuela- $750,000
• Dermis Garcia, 16-year-old shortstop, DR- $3.2 million
• Nelson Gomez, 16-year-old third baseman, DR- $2.25 million
• Wilkerman Garcia, 16-year-old shortstop, Venezuela- $1.35 million
• Juan De Leon, 16-year-old outfielder, DR- $2 million
• Miguel Flames, 16-year-old catcher, Venezuela- $1 million
• Hyo-Jun Park, 18-year-old shortstop, S. Korea- $1.1 million
• Jonathan Amundaray, 16-year-old outfielder, Venezuela- $1.5 million
• Antonio Arias, 16-year-old outfielder, DR- $800,000

That's 9 of Baseball America's top 28 rated prospects, 4 of the top 10 (both Garcias, Gomez, De Leon), and with all the other smaller dollar signings about $14.5 million in bonuses given out by the Yankees. Add in the $12.3 mil in penalties for going well over their slotted amount and we're looking at $26.8 mil total spent in the first day, and that's not including Christopher Torres and his expected $2.5 mil bonus.  Quite the splash indeed.  Hopefully it pays off in a few years.

Sabathia Watch: Getting Roughed Up In His Second Rehab Start

Originally scheduled for today, CC Sabathia had his second MiL rehab start moved up to last night.  Pitching for Double-A Trenton, he went 3.2 innings, throwing 55 pitches and allowing 5 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 2.  Like in his first start, his fastball was sitting high 80s-90 and touching the low 90s on occasion.

I haven't seen any reports on the outing or quotes from Sabathia on how he felt, but if something had gone wrong with his knee I'm sure that would have made its way out.  I did find it somewhat surprising that the Yankees elected to move this start up and pitch CC on 3 days' rest.  For as slowly as they took the rest and early workout portions of his rehab, pitching him on short rest in his second game back seems unnecessarily aggressive.  Whatever, I'm sure they had their reasons.  With July 27th set as his activation date and Joe saying he will work on regular rest from here on out, there's time for him to make 4 more starts.  We'll see if the Yankees use all of them.

Game 83 Wrap-Up: TB 6 NYY 3

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

The Yankees can't hit, the Yankees can't pitch, the Yankees can't field.  They stink and today made it official.  5th straight loss, the first time this season a losing streak has made it that high, that dropped them below .500 this late into a season for the first time since 2007.  They've lost 9 out of their last 11 and there's no end to this nosedive in sight with Teix's knee giving him problems and Jacoby Ellsbury having to take games off because he's so "beat up" or something.  Welcome to The Suck.

Game Notes:

- Brett Gardner was the best player in a Yankee uniform in June and he kept that momentum going with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the 1st.  Jake Odorizzi threw him a ton of fastballs and Gardner squared one up in a 3-2 count.

- Vidal Nuno looked pretty good in the first 2 innings and then he went walk-passed ball-HBP with 2 outs in the 3rd to let the tying run come home and he was never the same pitcher.  Every time the Yanks got him a lead, he'd give it right back.

- Like in the 3rd, when Brian McCann yanked a cheapie home run down the right field line to make it 2-1 New York and Nuno gave it back on a double and ribbie single the next inning.  Or when Gardner drove home a run in the bottom of the 4th and Nuno gave it back on a single-double-single to 3 straight batters.

- The death blow came in the top of the 6th, when Logan Forsythe singled to lead off the frame and Joe pulled Nuno for Shawn Kelley.  Kelley gave up a 2-run home run to #2 Yankee killer (behind Napoli) Sean Rodriguez on the third pitch he threw to put Tampa up for good 5-3.

- The Yanks would strand a runner in every inning after except the bottom of the 9th.  They went down in order then with a strikeout by Gardner, strikeout by Derek Jeter, and a lineout by McCann.

AB4AR "Best Of The Month" Awards: June 2014

Yankees, your June.  Woof!  That was a stinker, eh?  Coming off a May that wasn't quite as good as April, the Yankees doubled down on regression and really started to play some bad baseball in June.  Overall they went 12-15 with a - 23 run differential, dropping them to 1 game above .500, a game they lost to get July started where June left off.  There was no consistency to the team's play either.  The entire month was a series of short steaks.  Started off losing the first 4 games of the month, then won 2 straight, lost 2 straight, won 4 straight, lost 2 straight, won 4 straight, lost 4 straight, won 2 straight, lost 3 straight.

It's not time to start manning the life boats, not before the trade deadline, but it might be a good idea for all women and children to put on their life jackets.  After the jump, the few spots of brightness from a gloomy month of June.

Reviewing The Yankees' Fake Options To Improve The Offense

(If you had a ghost runner, you could try again.  Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

I tried to be level-headed and calm about dissecting the real options the Yankees have in front of them to get something going offensively and look where that got us.  With 4 hits in the next 9 innings and only 1 run scored, that run scoring not because somebody came up with a big hit with runners in scoring position, but because the defender who caught a pop up accidentally hit the baserunner trying to advance to second with his throw.  The Yankees had 1 run scored and 0 runs batted in last night, and if I'm being honest, I'm afraid they won't have the stones to do any of the 3 options I covered yesterday.  So screw it, let's investigate some "other" ways they can try to jump start the offense.

Report: Yanks Scouting Chase Headley

Yankees are scouting Padres 3B Chase Headley regularly, sources tell @Ken_Rosenthal and me.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 1, 2014

If this were 2012, I'd be ecstatic about that report from Jon Morosi yesterday.  In 2014, it's not nearly as exciting.  The Yankees could use help in the infield and bringing in a proven, regular third baseman like Headley would allow Joe to focus his platoon attention to second base.  But Headley has been in a steady decline since his banner year of 2012.  He battled injuries last season while batting .250/.347/.400 and he's been further hampered by a herniated disc in his back this year that has limited him to a .201/.287/.320 slash line in 247 PA.

Headley is set to become a free agent after this season and is now 30 years old.  Between that, the injury problems, and the decline in production, the Padres' asking price for him has to have come way down.  There's a chance that a move out of Petco Park could help boost his production, but with the back problems I'd be hesitant to give up anything of real value for him.  The Yanks don't need a Youkilis repeat.

Game 82 Wrap-Up: TB 2 NYY 1

(Wasn't his fault.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

I want David Price.  I need David Price.  With CC Sabathia turning into an age-related regression pumpkin and Andy Pettitte retired once and for all, I'm really missing having the big reliable lefty in the rotation and I want that back.  I'm sure Joe feels the same way and he had a front row seat, along with the rest of MLB, for Price's latest start last night in the second game of this Yanks-Rays series.  He was spectacular, as most good pitchers are against the pathetic Yankee lineup, and the Rays took another as the Yanks continued to plunge.

Game Notes:

- Hiroki Kuroda was up to the task of matching Price and they traded zeros through 3.  Price allowed only a leadoff walk to Brett Gardner while Hirok surrendered a couple of singles.

- In the top of the 4th, those couple of singles turned into 3 singles in 4 batters, the last of which by Logan Forsythe pushed a run across and got the Rays on the board.

- The Yanks matched in the bottom half on a throwing error by Ben Zobrist, who hit Jacoby Ellsbury with a throw trying to finish a double play after catching a Mark Teixeira pop up.  Derek Jeter was on third base after leading off the inning with a double and he came home to score on the error.

- The only other mistake Hirok made on the night was hanging a first-pitch curveball to James Loney in the 6th.  It was a back-breaking mistake, however, as Loney crushed it for the go-ahead and eventual game-winning home run.

- Price worked around a baserunner in every inning from the 5th to the 7th, and handed the 1-run lead over to his bullpen.  Jake McGee retired the side in order in the 8th and Grant Balfour avoided trouble with 2 walks by getting a groundout from Yangervis Solarte to end the game.

Reviewing The Yankees' Options To Improve The Offense

(This guy sucks.  Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

The Yankees lost for the 7th time in their last 9 game last night, and they lost again primarily because their lineup simply can't score.  They're the Beavis and Butthead of offensive production, and at the halfway point of the regular season it's no longer a matter of waiting for guys to get healthy, get comfortable, or "come around".  It's a huge problem, one that's been the biggest reason why this team is floundering around the .500 mark with one of the worst run differentials in MLB and one that needs to be addressed immediately.

Up to now, Joe has been hesitant to do too much with the lineup.  The last move of significance he made was demoting Alfonso Soriano to the bench and that happened weeks ago.  The front office has also been hesitant to make any moves, be they of the "shakeup" variety or the variety that actually helps improve the team.  There have been plenty of suggestions over the past few weeks as to what can be done to help get the offense going and both Joe and Cash have plenty of options in front of them should they decide to stop doing nothing.  With the trade deadline drawing closer every day and the postseason race about to really begin, here's a quick recap of the paths that can be taken to try to generate more offense.

Tuesday Morning Food For Thought: Heavy Workload Starting To Take Its Toll?

Tough go for Adam Warren and Dellin Betances last night.  They combined for 2 IP, 1 H, 4 BB, and only 1 strikeout from the top of the 6th to the top of the 8th.  Each of them failed to finish off the innings they started cleanly after getting 2 outs, and overall they allowed 5 of the 11 batters they faced to reach base.  Workload has been a big concern for these 2 for a while now, and in late June the signs of that heavy workload catching up to them started to show:

Warren May- 16.2 IP, 1.62 ERA, 1.78 FIP, 4 BB, 17 K
Warren June- 12.2 IP, 4.97 ERA, 3.41 FIP, 5 BB, 12 K

Betances May- 17.1 IP, 1.04 ERA, 0.96 FIP, 2 BB, 28 K
Betances June- 17.1 IP, 1.56 ERA, 1.60 FIP, 7 BB, 25 K

The splits aren't as drastic with Betances, but both he and Warren took a statistical step back in June from the complete and utter dominance they displayed in May.  There is the normalization factor to consider here as a grain of salt.  There was no way they were going to keep up May's level of performance for the rest of the season no matter what their workload was.  Joe's decision to be more judicious with how he uses them coupled with the change in eye test, however, suggests this is more than just a natural statistical regression.  Both guys have had to labor more in their recent appearances and their command has not been as spot on as it was earlier.  Their performance for the first few weeks of July is definitely something to keep an eye on.

Game 81 Wrap-Up: TB 4 NYY 3

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

81 games.  The halfway point of the regular season.  It sounds cliche, but I really can't believe we're here already.  It doesn't seem like it was all that long ago that we were salivating over Pineda and Tanaka's early starts, and in reality it's been almost 3 months since then.  The Yankees came into last night's series opener against Tampa 2 games over .500, so there was no way they could finish the first half of the season with a losing record.  But when Brian Cashman described them as "fortunate" to be where they are, he hit the nail on the head.  This was not a .500 team let alone a team 2 games over .500, and if the Yanks were going to hang around in the playoff race in the 2nd half, they needed to start playing better and soon.

Game Notes:

- For whatever reason, David Phelps appears to be incapable of not grooving fastballs over the heart of the plate.  The first one he threw last night turned into a Matt Joyce solo HR in the 1st and the second was another dinger off the bat of Kevin Kiermaier in the 3rd.

- Chris Archer made a mistake hitting Ichiro to lead off the bottom of the 3rd and it bit him when Brett Gardner laced a triple down the right field line to score 1 run and came in on Derek Jeter's groundout to tie the game.

- Phelps put up a couple zeros after the early long ball problems, but in typical Phelps fashion he was hardly a model of efficiency.  He had to battle to finish off hitters, he threw a lot of pitches (101), and he was done with 2 outs in the 6th.

- Joe went to Adam Warren to finish off that inning, which he did in short order.  The 7th was a different story, when he lost his command and loaded the bases on a hit and 2 walks.  2 more walks by Dellin Betances in the 8th came back to haunt on a 2-out go-ahead single by Ryan Hanigan.

- Wasn't much doing for the Yanks post-3rd inning.  They stranded 2 runners in the 6th and in the 8th when Brandon Guyer botched a Brian McCann bloop to put runners on the corners.

- They saved the breakout for the bottom of the 9th, when Brian Roberts won a long 1-out battle with Joel Peralta and golfed a 3-2 pitch into right-center for a game-tying home run.  They stranded a leadoff single in the 10th, however, and that was the last chance they'd get.

- Joe was down to his bullpen B-team by the time the 12th inning rolled around.  Jose Ramirez got the call then and gave up a walk, stolen base, and RBI single to Logan Forsythe to seal the win for Tampa.