Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 5/23/14

It's strange to not be traveling somewhere for Memorial Day weekend for once.  No D-1 lacrosse tournament, no Coke 600 in Charlotte.  Just 3 days with nothing to do in the greater Milwaukee area.  Don't even know how I'm going to handle it (probably by day drinking and watching playoff hockey).  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, Chad Jennings of LoHud dissected the pitching staff through the first quarter of the season to pick out who's exceeding expectations and who is not.

- Mike Axisa of RAB profiled Cali prep pitcher Grant Hockin as a potential Yankee draft target.  I've been reading more of these this year to try to be a tiny bit knowledgeable heading into the draft, and this is the first one where I've really liked the guy Mike profiled.

- On Tuesday, Daniel Burch of The Greedy Pinstripes proposed an intriguing bullpen swap option.

- On Wednesday, SJK of NoMaas pointed out the combined underwhelming performance of the 3 big position player offseason signings.  Fair criticism, but too early to make a big deal out of it.

- On Thursday, Rob Abruzzese of Bronx Baseball Daily put together an updated scouting report on Chase Whitley for those who weren't familiar with him during his MiL days.

- Matt Bove of IIATMS/TYA made a case for Kendrys Morales and why he makes sense for the Yankees to pursue now.

Michael Brown of Pinstripe Alley touched on the Yankees' high team K rate and the help that it's provided in overcoming their weak team defense.

- El duque of It Is High... pointed out all the good that a group of the unsung homegrown players has done so far this year to get the Yankees where they are.

- SG of RLYW brought up the topic of next year's shortstop in response to Jeter's struggles and Stephen Drew re-signing with the Red Sox.

- On Friday, Chris Mitchell of Pinstripe Pundits mused on Peter O'Brien's true prospect status and Major League potential in the context of his below-average defense and lack of defined position.

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog compared the Yankees' offensive output so far to their past history to see if we should feel confident or pessimistic about it.

Little Cars action for this Friday.  I'm sure some of that day drinking will take place outdoors this weekend, and The Cars fit pretty nicely in the day drinking mix for me.



Enjoy your long weekend, everybody.  Go Yankees!

Why No Gardner?

(Really shouldn't take that much thought.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

I've written this post before, but if you're not familiar with it, here's the updated version.

Joe decided to give Brian McCann and Brett Gardner a night off last night and Derek Jeter a half-night off by DHing him against lefty Chris Sale.  That left the middle of his lineup pretty thin and the bottom half of his lineup almost non-existent.  A 6-9 of Brian Roberts, John Ryan Murphy, Brendan Ryan, and Zoilo Almonte wouldn't be ideal against Chris Hammond let alone the best left-handed pitcher in the American League, but that's what Joe went with.

Sale predictably shut down that weak lineup over his 6 innings of work.  Made them look terrible.  Took them out back and slapped them around like children.  The only thing that stopped the madness was the pregame pitch count limit Robin Ventura had put on Sale.  Now resting McCann I get.  He was due for a day off, he hasn't hit lefties that well, and he just had to play a day game after a night game in the 2 games against the Cubbies.  But sitting Gardner?  What was that about?  What reason was there for not having the 2nd-best hitter in the lineup right now in a lineup that was already half-gutted and facing an elite pitcher?

Game 46 Wrap-Up: CHW 3 NYY 2

(I'd be bumming too if I had to hit against Sale.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

I really don't understand why Joe played Derek Jeter and Brian McCann on Wednesday.  Day game after a night game, series starting against a better team in the same town on Thursday, why not take advantage against a crummy team like the Cubs?  Joe didn't and his lineup for last night's series opener against the White Sox suffered for it.  Ellsbury leading off again, Jeter DHing #2, Solarte 5th, and a 6-9 of Roberts, Murphy, Ryan, and Zoilo.  No McCann, no Brett Gardner (???), and Chicago ace Chris Sale coming off the DL.  Not a recipe for a lot of runs.  Or no runs, to be more accurate.  Because that's how many the Yankees got off Sale.

Game Notes:

- David Phelps has this Hughes-ian habit of not being able to finish off batters or innings.  He couldn't put away old man Paul Konerko after getting him down 0-2 with 2 outs in the 2nd and the White Sox strung together 3 hits and a walk to put 2 runs on the board.

- Sale absolutely tore through the Yankee lineup.  No hits through 5, 9 strikeouts including the side in the 1st and 3rd innings, and not even a single ball out of the infield through the first 4 innings.

- Phelps settled down after the 2nd and actually worked pretty efficiently into the 7th without giving up any more runs.  Retired 10 in a row at one point and let his defense work for him instead of trying to strike everybody out.

- The Yanks did finally get a hit, a Zoilo Almonte single in the top of the 6th, but they never came close to scoring against Sale.  They only started getting chances because Sale was removed after 6 innings.

- Phelps went 7 and Joe went to Alfredo Aceves for the 8th.  He did Alfredo Aceves things that added up to another White Sox insurance run.

- The only real chance the Yanks got against the Chicago bullpen came in the 9th when Ichiro singled, Jeter walked. and they moved up on a passed ball.  Mark Teixeira knocked them both home with a 2-out, 2-run single to make it interesting, but Alfonso Soriano struck out to end it.

Mark, Your Defense. Woof!

Is it strange to anybody else to know that Mark Teixeira leads the team in errors?  I hadn't noticed that, which is equally strange because I had noticed that Teix had made a few errors and had not been his usual reliable, stabilizing presence over at first base since returning from the DL.  I was counting on his return to help solve some of the infield defense problems.  Instead, he's contributed to them.

Anthony Rizzo, Meet Dellin Betances

Rizzo: "OK.  I know he's going to try to get me to chase his curveball.  But I'm not going to do that."

/swings and misses at 1st-pitch curveball that hits him, swings and misses at 2nd-pitch curveball to go down 0-2

Rizzo: "Damnit!  Alright, now he's ahead so he's definitely going to try to get me to chase another one.  I gotta lay off this one.  I'm not going to swing."

Dellin: "K, see ya!"

/scene

(Screen cap courtesy of MLB.com)

Pineda Update: Threw 30-Pitch 'Pen Session Yesterday, Decision Coming Today On Next Step

Pineda threw a 30 pitch bullpen earlier today. No issues. Will determine wether he throws another pen or face hitters tomorrow #yankees
— Meredith Marakovits (@M_Marakovits) May 21, 2014

 While Shawn Kelley took a big step back in his rehab work yesterday, Michael Pineda took another small step forward.  He threw a 30-pitch bullpen session before the game and did so without any pain or problems in his upper back/shoulder area.  It was the 3rd 'pen he's thrown and the decision on whether he throws another one in the next few days or graduates to facing live hitters will be made when the team sees how he feels this morning.

We're still weeks away from Pineda returning to the rotation, so don't get too excited.  But progress is progress.  Pineda moving up to live batters would bring him another step closer to coming back and helping the depleted rotation.

Game 45 Wrap-Up: NYY 4 CHC 2

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

Interesting day for the Yankee rotation to say the least in the afternoon finale of this quick 2-gamer.  They had latest Triple-A replacement Band-Aid Chase Whitley on the mound and were facing potential trade target to upgrade from said Triple-A replacements Jeff Samardzija, the guy who Matt Garza advised to "pitch your way out of there" before he left via free agency this past offseason.  Nobody knows if Samardzija was pitching as an audition today, but if he was I think he nailed it.  Too bad he plays for the Cubs and they gagged it away for him again.

Game Notes:

- Wasn't much going for the offense through 4.  They went down in order in the 1st and the 3rd and left 2 stranded in the 2nd and 4th.  Brian McCann was one of the stranded both times.

- Whitley was up to the task of matching Samardzija for 0's, albeit in his tightrope-walking way.  He worked around 2 on/1 out in the 1st and a 2-out double in the 2nd, and retired the side 1-2-3 in the 3rd.

- The Cubs got to him in the 4th, and once again the infield defense was a factor.  GB single through the hole at short, infield single off a Teix deflection, sac fly, 1-0 Chicago.

- As he did in Whitley's first start, Joe went quick hook with him and went to his 'pen early.  With 1 out in the 5th and a runner on third, Dellin Betance got the call and neutralized the threat with 1.2 perfect innings and 3 strikeouts.

- Adam Warren took over in the 7th and gave up another big run on a 1-out triple and a squeeze play, and all hope looked lost until the top of the 9th, when a bases loaded throwing error by Darwin Barney turned 1 run into 2 and sent the game into extra innings.

- Both teams slogged through 12 before former Yankee Jose Veras became the first reliever to blink, giving up 2 runs in the top of the 13th.  Joe finally felt safe to bring in D-Rob in a save situation and D-Rob nailed it down to salvage the split.

Kelley Suffers Setback With His Back, Return Schedule On Hold

Shawn Kelley started his week-long rehab schedule on Monday by playing the catch.  If everything went according to plan, there was a chance he would be activated on Sunday.  Things did not go according to plan.  Not even close.

Via Dan Barbarisi, Kelley's rehab work has been shut down after he woke up with stiffness in his back yesterday.  Joe confirmed this to the beat guys before the game and said there is no timetable for when Kelley will try to throw again.  All we know right now is that everything is on hold and he's going to stay on the DL.

Jacoby's Rotten Month Of May

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

It's been the best of times and the worst of times for Jacoby Ellsbury in his first 2 months as a New York Yankee.  In April, he hit .312/.369/.452 in 103 plate appearances divided between the leadoff and #3 lineup spots, played a solid center field, and made a very good first impression on Yankee fans.  He was among the team and American League leaders in hits (29), runs scored (14), and stolen bases (8).

May has been far less kind to Ellsbury.  His production has dropped off dramatically, he's been a negative fWAR player, and the whispers about the Yankees overpaying have started popping up as they usually do when a player signs the kind of contract Jacoby did to come to new York.  After last night's 0-fer, Ellsbury's May slash line is down to .206/.315/.302.  He's scored 1 run in his last 5 games, has 1 hit in his last 7, 1 stolen base in his last 14, and 1 RBI in his last 15.  His season tripleslash is down to .269/.347/.391, good for a .325 wOBA and 102 wRC+.  What the hell happened to cause him to fall off this badly?

What Was Tanaka's Problem Last Night?

(Courtesy of Texas Leaguers)

In a nutshell, that's it right there.  Bad sinker command.  Tanaka couldn't get his sinker down in the zone last night, he gave up 3 leadoff hits on the pitch, and all 3 of those hits came around to score.  It wasn't like the Cubs knocked him all over the park.  The 4 runs they scored against Tanaka came on 2 GB singles and 2 sac flies.  But they did hit him fairly hard and it was what they did against his off sinker that set them up.  That and the flat slider that Tanaka couldn't get down when he needed to either.

The strategy was exactly what I expected it to be.  Tanaka threw more 4-seamers and more sliders than he did the first time he faced the Cubs.  He just didn't execute his pitches as well this time.  It happens.

Game 44 Wrap-Up: CHC 6 NYY 1

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

The Yankees swept the first half of their 4-game "home and home" series against the Cubs last month and they did it all in 1 day without allowing the Cubs to score 1 run.  The second half of the series kicked off last night in Chi-town with Masahiro Tanaka on the mound again for the Yanks.  He's now fully taken over the role of staff ace in title and in production.  If the Yankees are going to stay afloat while Pineda and Sabathia recover, they're going to do it on the back of Tanaka.  He wasn't able to carry them last night, breaking his 42-game regular season streak without a loss.

Game Notes:

- The Yanks put 2 runners on in the top of the 1st and almost knocked Jason Hammel out of the game with Brett Gardner's comebacker.  They didn't score though, and that was the toughest time Hammel would have all day.

- Tanaka, for whatever reason, just wasn't as sharp as he was against the Mets.  His slider command wasn't all that great, he missed with a few splitters, and his sinker didn't have its usual bite on it.  The Cubs turned that into a run apiece in the 3rd on 4th on a pair of RBI singles.

- The Yanks finally got on the board in the 6th when Mark Teixeira singled in Gardner.  He had led off the inning with a double and almost got stranded.  That kind of day from the offense.

- A pair of Chicago singles to start the bottom of the 6th turned into 2 more runs thanks to sac flies by Mike Olt and John Baker and a Teix throwing error.  More missed spots by Tanaka.

- He was out after 6 and Joe went to his second tier of relievers.  That put 2 more runs on the board for the Cubs and the game out of reach for the Yanks.

- Just to hammer the point home of how bad they were, New York left the bases loaded in the top of the 9th.

Report: Beltran Will Try To Play Through Elbow Injury (UPDATED)

Dr. Andrews must be raking it in on the Yankee account this year.  Carlos Beltran had his scheduled visit with the good doctor today to follow up on the bone spur in his right elbow that has him on the DL.  The visit and the revelation that Beltran had already received a 2nd cortisone injection in the elbow were bad signs that surgery, but it looks like Beltran is going to try to play through the injury first.

According to a report by Mark Feinsand, Dr. Andrews confirmed that Beltran has a bone spur in his right elbow (that's why they pay him the big bucks, folks), but apparently did not recommend immediate surgery.  Feinsand's anonymous source also says Beltran is going to try to play through the injury before turning to surgery and could come off the DL as soon as he's eligible if the elbow is feeling better.  If he's unable to play through the pain, surgery would put him out for 2 months.

In a way, this is better than immediate surgery.  The Yankees will get Beltran back in the lineup, for a short team at least, and maybe the cortisone injections will be enough for him to play with the injury and hit better than he has been.  That quick second injection really scares me though, and I think this could be a situation similar to CC's in which Beltran is just delaying the inevitable.

** UPDATE 5:09 PM- Via Bryan Hoch, Joe said Beltran will try swinging a bat on Monday to test the elbow.  If it doesn't feel good, he'll be shut down and undergo surgery. **

Tanaka Faces His First Repeat Opponent Tonight

(Almost none of those were hit hard.  Courtesy of Texas Leaguers)

The last time Masahiro Tanaka faced the Chicago Cubs was the first time he faced the Cubs.  It was his 3rd career Major League start and arguably his best one to date, even after his complete game shutout against the Mets last week.  He went 8 shutout innings on that day last month, allowing only a pair of infield singles with 1 walk and 10 strikeouts.

Tonight Tanaka makes his 9th career start and once again he'll be facing the Cubs.  This start will mark the first time that a team has gotten a second look at him, and with the way Tanaka has altered his approach from team to team and the way he worked against the Cubs on 4/16, it will be worth paying attention to how he changes things up this time.

Gardner Thriving In The Leadoff Spot

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

The Yankees brought Jacoby Ellsbury in to be their leadoff hitter.  They knew that, he knew that, and Brett Gardner knew that.  With Ellsbury hitting first and Derek Jeter holding down the #2 spot based more on reputation and tribute rather than merit, Gardner was left without a clearly defined role or spot in the batting order heading into the season.  Best suited to hit in the 1 or 2 spot, Gardner was relegated to the bottom third of the order as a pseudo-sorta second leadoff hitter.

ManBan Experiencing Arm Fatigue, Scratched From Start Last Night

With the Major League rotation taking such a physical beating lately, the organizational pitching depth has really dried up.  That's made Manny Banuelos a more attractive potential option despite the fact that he's been pitching primarily in High-A ball this year on a strict innings/pitch count limit as he comes back from TJS.  That comeback hit its first real rough patch last night when ManBan was scratched from his scheduled Double-A start with arm problems.

As first reported by Nick Peruffo, Banuelos was scratched for Jairo Heredia after telling coaches about some soreness and fatigue he had been feeling in his left arm.  A possible DL trip was discussed initially, but Banuelos himself told Peruffo the issue was fatigue more than soreness.  This is pretty common with guys who are coming back from surgery and a lot of missed mound time.  It doesn't sound like anything is wrong with ManBan's surgically-repaired elbow, so the plan for now is to rest him for 3 days and have him play catch on Thursday to see how the arm feels.

Maintaining Kuroda's Workload Restriction In The Face Of A Rotation Depletion

(Courtesy of the AP)

It's Pitcher Workload Monday around here today, huh?  That'll happen when 60% of your Opening Day  rotation is on the DL and replaced with 3 guys who struggle to complete 6 innings.  Further complicating matters is the fact that one of the remaining 2 healthy starters, Hiroki Kuroda, entered this season with a workload restriction attached to him.  Similarly to how Joe handled Andy Pettitte last season, the plan for Kuroda was to be a 6-inning/100-pitch pitcher for the most part.  The thought was that by limiting him to those thresholds early, it would help prevent the late-season decline in performance he experienced in 2013.  It's also a smart "better safe than sorry" strategy to take with a pitcher in his late 30s.

The problem with that strategy is that the substitution of Nuno-Phelps-Whitley for Nova-Pineda-Sabathia has put an extra strain on the bullpen.  One way to help alleviate that strain would be to let Kuroda pitch a little deeper in his outings, something Joe had the opportunity to do that in yesterday's opening doubleheader game.  Instead, he chose to stick to script with Kuroda and not push him.

Cash Says CC Will Be Out Until July

Confirming what most of us already suspected was the case, Cash told Joel Sherman earlier today that CC Sabathia is going to be out "until at least July" because of  the degenerative condition in his right knee, saying CC's return date "will be no sooner than 6 weeks from now."  According to Sherman's report, Cash said the 6-week timetable is the result of the stem cell injection CC was given by Dr. James Andrews last week and includes recovery and rehab time.

David Waldstein has confirmed Sherman's story and also that the 6-week timetable is from last Thursday, the date of the stem cell injection.  Sabathia was supposed to get off his crutches today and begin pool therapy work tomorrow, according to Cash, and I suspect today's follow-up with the team doctor is to confirm that CC can stay on that schedule.

Obviously this ramps up the Yankees' search for rotation help, which Cash also confirmed to Sherman, but right now there isn't much out there.  While we wait for that market to materialize, we might as well start waiting for the eventual report that Sabathia is behind schedule and will not be back in 6 weeks.  This whole thing has that kind of feel to it.  Hard to expect that 1 injection will be enough to overcome that many years of wear and tear on that knee.

Are Warren And Betances Being Overworked?

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

The Yankees split yesterday's doubleheader against the Pirates in part because they were working with an undermanned bullpen all day.  Joe declared Dellin Betances unavailable before the first game after pitching him for 2+ innings on Thursday and Saturday and 3 times in the last 7 days, and Adam Warren became unavailable after the first game when Joe went to him in the 8th for the 3rd time in 4 days and watched him give up 3 hits and record only 2 outs.

D-Rob finished up that game with his second straight 4-out save, so he may not have been available for the second game either.  What was certain was that his current top 2 setup men were definitely not available and their shoddy replacements got beat for 2 late runs that sealed the Yankees' fate.  Betances and Warren are still pretty new to the higher-leverage relief gig thing, but it's not a stretch to say they're light years better than the Alfredos Aceves and Prestons Claiborne of the world.  Joe's recognized that pretty quickly and has leaned heavily on Warren and Betances through the first quarter of the season to overcome the injuries to D-Rob and Shawn Kelley.  Perhaps too heavily?

Report: Yanks Among 5 "Finalists" Interested In Cuban OF Daniel Carbonell

We know the Yankees are planning a massive international spending spree when the signing period opens on July 2nd.  According to new reports, they may be able to add a big name international player before then without having him count against the international spending cap.

Via Ken Rosenthal, the Yankees are among 5 MLB teams who are currently considered "finalists" to sign Carbonell.  The only other team named is the Mariners.  For those who don't know, Carbonell is a 23-year-old switch-hitting outfielder who recently defected from Cuba.  In his last pro season there, he hit .278/.388/.405 in 127 PA.  His ceiling as a Major Leaguer is unknown, but from what I've read I don't think he profiles as a big time power hitter like Yoenis Cespedes or Jose Abreu or as quite the all-around hitter that Yasiel Puig has quickly become.

Still, an injection of Major League-ready talent or something close to that would be helpful to the team.  The crop of high-level outfield prospects hasn't done much this season and a more experienced hitter that's Carbonell's age is much more useful to the Yanks than a bunch of 16 and 17-year-olds.  If they have enough good scouting information on him and are truly as interested as Rosenthal is reporting, I'd be all for signing him.

CC To Be Reevaluated Today, Will Miss More Than 15 Days

This was the most likely outcome given last Thursday's diagnosis of "degenerative changes" in CC Sabathia's twice-surgically repaired right knee, but Joe made it official after yesterday's games that CC is going to be out longer than the minimum 15 days.  He will be examined again by the team doctor today in an attempt to come up with a rehab plan, but for now there is nothing planned until Dr. Ahmad gets another look at the knee.

Sabathia has been on crutches since the knee inflammation was first diagnosed and I imagine there's a chance that today's examination determines he needs to stay on them for a while longer.  Joe's statement to the media yesterday conveyed how unsure the team is about his condition and how serious a problem it could become:

"Is it a 15-day DL?  It’s going to be more than that, I can tell you that. When we’ll get him back, I don’t think any of us really know, because this is not something that’s done very often."

For now, I guess we just wait and see what comes out of today's reevaluation.  An official announcement from the team should come later today or sometime before tomorrow's game.  I'm not expecting it to be a positive one.

Game 43 Wrap-Up: PIT 5 NYY 3

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

The win earlier today gave the Yankees a nice little 4-game winning streak.  They could have kept that going and earned a series sweep in the process with another victory in the second, but that task wasn't going to come easy with Vidal Nuno starting, a very shorthanded bullpen supporting him, and a weak, shallow lineup.  All of those things combined to be too much to overcome and the Pirates escaped New York with a Sunday split.

Game Notes:

- A literal calamity of errors led to all the runs in the 2nd.  A pair by Brian Roberts and Yangervis Solarte cost Nuno a run in the top half, and a brutal fielding error by Travis Snider practically gave the Yanks 2 in the bottom half.

- It was relatively smooth sailing for Nuno after that.  He retired the next 9 hitters in a row through 5 innings, with 8 of the 9 outs coming by either groundout or strikeout.  The one other out came on a nice relay play to nail Josh Harrison trying to stretch a double before the go-ahead run could score.

- Nuno looked to be cruising through the 6th and then he made his 1 big mistake.  He hung an 0-1 slider to Starling Marte and Marte hit it for a go-ahead 2-run home run.  It was his 2nd HR of the day and it gave Pittsburgh the lead.

- The undermanned lineup was held in check after the 2nd by Cole, but the slumping and error-prone Yangervis Solarte got to him for a game-tying home run in the bottom of the 6th.  The guy's finding his power.

- Joe had the JV 'pen for this game and it didn't take long for that to bite him.  Alfredo Aceves gave up a 2-out home run to Harrison on a meatball fastball to make it 4-3 Pittsburgh and bring himself 1 day closer to a DFA.

- The Yanks couldn't mount another comeback.  They left runners on second and third in the 7th, had a potentially run-scoring hit robbed by a good defensive play in the 8th, and went down 1-2-3 in the 9th to split the day.

Game 42 Wrap-Up: NYY 4 PIT 3

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

Busy Sunday for the Yankees today, much busier than any of us are probably having.  They'll be playing 2 and the first took place earlier this afternoon.  It featured Hiroki Kuroda, who needs to be much better now that CC is out, against Charlie Morton as the Yanks and Pirates kicked off today's doubleheader.  Neither starting pitcher was great, but Kuroda was a slight bit better when he needed to be to keep his team in front for the W.

Game Notes:

- On Saturday, it was all power for the Yankee lineup.  This afternoon it was patience and stringing hits together.  They scored 3 in the 1st on a walk, a HBP, and 3 singles, and another in the 2nd on a single, stolen base, and an RBI double by Brett Gardner for a 4-0 lead.

- The overall results were good for Hirok early (1 ER in 4 innings), but the methods to get there were a little uneven.  He gave up a solo HR to Neil Walker in the 1st and had to escape a bases loaded situation in the 4th.

- Kuroda's fortune started to change in the 5th when he gave up his second homer of the day to Tony Sanchez to start the inning.  2 more hits led to 1 more run and the lead shrunk to 4-3.  Couldn't keep his sinker down in the zone.

- The Yankee bats went quiet after the 2nd, I mean dead silent.  They didn't put a runner on second in the final 6 innings and the only hit they had was Zoilo Almonte's 4th inning single.  That's not good enough.

- It didn't have to be this time.  Joe stuck to his plan of not overworking Kuroda and pulled him after 6 innings and 93 pitches.  The bullpen combination of Matt Daley, Adam Warren, and David Robertson made the 1-run lead hold up.

Sunday Doubleheader News And Notes

The first game of today's doubleheader doesn't start for another few hours, but it's already been a busy day on the Yankee news circuit.  Here are the early headlines from this morning:

- Hiroki Kuroda will start the first game and Vidal Nuno the second today.  I'm sure it was Hirok's call on when he wanted to pitch.

- Jose Ramirez has been called up as the 26th man for today's game.  I know he has the advantage of being on the 40-man roster, but the fact that he was called up after only being active for a week or so shows how highly the Yanks think of him.

- He may see action today too because Joe has ruled Dellin Betances not available after pitching 2 innings yesterday.  He's been leaning on Betances and Warren a lot lately.

- Via Dan Barbarisi, Carlos Beltran has already received a second cortisone shot in his injured elbow and he's scheduled to visit Dr. Andrews for a second opinion on it on Tuesday.  Neither of those are good signs.

- Game 1 Lineup: 1) Gardner- DH, 2) Jeter- SS, 3) Ellsbury- CF, 4) Teix- 1B, 5) McCann- C, 6) Soriano- RF, 7) Solarte- 2B, 8) Johnson- 3B, 9) Zoilo- LF.

Game 41 Wrap-Up: NYY 7 PIT 1

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

Mother Nature delayed the start of this Yanks-Pirates series on Friday night, so David Phelps and Edinson Volquez got their chance to open it with a win for their respective club this afternoon.  Neither pitched all that poorly, but Phelps was able to limit and prevent damage while Volquez fell victim to the Yankee Stadium short porch in right.  The rest of his pitching teammates did too on a day of home run mollwhopping for the Bronx Bombers.

Game Notes:

- The Yankee power display got off to a quick start in the bottom of the 1st.  Derek Jeter singled and the red hot Mark Teixeira stepped in.  After taking a sinker for strike 1, he smacked a hanging 1-2 sinker for a 2-run home run and an early Yankee lead.

- Zoilo Almonte joined the party in the 3rd with a solo shot of his own to lead off the inning.  The left side is his stronger side and he's going to get a chance to hit from it more often with Beltran out.

- In typical Phelps fashion, there were a lot of runners put on base.  He walked a batter in each of the first 3 innings and gave up 3 hits in the 4th.  But thanks to a few big strikeouts in the 2nd and a nice play at the plate in the 4th, he kept Pittsburgh off the board.

- The Yankee home run barrage kept rolling into the late innings.  Brett Gardner hit one to lead off the 6th, Alfonso Soriano hit one to lead off the 7th, and Brian McCann put the game out of reach with a 2-run shot in the 8th.

- Phelps needed 100 pitches to get through 5 innings so his day didn't last long.  Dellin Betances worked 2 innings and gave up the lone Pirate run on a Starling Marte bomb job, but that was the only run charged to the Yankee 'pen.  Just a long ball kind of day.

Pineda To Throw A Bullpen Session Tomorrow

Pineda will throw a 25 pitch bullpen session tomorrow
— Daniel Barbarisi (@DanBarbarisi) May 17, 2014

Joe gave updates on a few of his injured pitchers earlier today, and this was the most positive of the news.  Michael Pineda, on the DL since 5/6, is slated to throw his first bullpen session since being hurt tomorrow.  He's thrown a few side sessions in the last week and graduating back a mound is the next important step in getting back to full strength.

Pineda is eligible to be activated on Wednesday, but that's definitely not going to happen.  The Yankees have said from the minute he got hurt that they were going to take it slow with him and Joe announced last week that his timetable was going to be longer than the initial 3-4 week estimate.  I'm betting on at least 2 bullpen sessions over the next week and at least 3 MiL rehab starts after that before he returns.  Call it mid-June if there are no setbacks.