Brian McCann Sucks

I mean really sucks.  It's startling how bad he's been at the plate.  He's been awful, no other way to describe it.  Here's where McCann's key offensive numbers rank among his fellow catchers:

• .218 BA- Last among 12 qualified/26th out of 29 w/ at least 100 plate appearances
• .275 OBP- Last qualified/27th out of 29
• .370 SLG- Last/25th
• .286 wOBA- Last/26th
• 75 wRC+- Last/26th
• 0.5 fWAR- Last/24th
• 5.6% BB rate- 11th/22nd

The only thing keeping his offensive ship afloat is the 7 HR he's popped (tied for 2nd best among all catchers) and the 22 RBI that puts him comfortably in the top 10.  The only thing he's truly done well this season has been catch.  McCann is generating almost all his value from what he's doing behind the plate.  What he's doing at the plate only seems to be getting worse.

Solate Is So-lumping Again

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

It was a tough night for Yangervis Solarte at the dish last night.  Hitting in the 5-spot behind Brian McCann, he went 0-4 (0-3 with RISP), banged into a rally-killing double play, and left 5 men on base.  He only saw 9 pitches in his 4 plate appearances, extending a little mini-slump he's stuck in to 6 games.  In his last 6 games, Solarte is just 2-23 with 1 R, RBI, and BB apiece.  His batting average has slipped to .285, and combined with the nagging injuries to Beltran's elbow and Teix's wrist, Solarte has helped expose the paper thin middle of the batting order.  Needless to say, he's no longer the ideal option for the #2 spot.

Wednesday Morning Injury News Roundup

It's really sweet that these are becoming a regular feature on the site, right?  No?  Oh, well then that's awkward.  Aaaaaaaanyway...

- Carlos Beltran took more dry swings yesterday, both right and left-handed with a regular bat, and felt no discomfort in his elbow.  He'll take a day off today and resume swinging tomorrow.

- Shawn Kelley's back felt good after his long toss sesh on Monday, so he threw another one yesterday.  If his back feels good again, he'll throw some more today.

- More from Teix on his stiff right wrist: “The doctor is 99 percent sure that this is inflammation from overuse and just completely expected.  He was surprised I haven’t had more flare ups. It’s been pretty good all season.”  I guess that makes me feel better about it.

(Quote and updates via Chad Jennings)

Game 51 Wrap-Up: STL 6 NYY 0

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

There was a lot of pressure on David Phelps last night.  Guys always say there's not, that every game is just another game, but when you're coming back to your hometown to make your first career start there since high school and you know you're pitching in front of tons of family and friends, that's a lot of pressure.  That's what Phelps was dealing with when he took the hill and he pitched like it.  After a 7-inning exhibition of efficiency and pitching smarts in his last start,  Phelps reverted back to some bad habits and got touched up by the Cardinals in a painful-to-watch loss.

Game Notes:

- It was effectiveness without efficiency as usual for Phelps through 2 innings.  He put men on (2 hits, 1 walk) and threw a lot of pitches (41), but kept the Cardinals off the scoreboard.

- A pair of hanging sliders by Phelps gave the Cards 1 run and back-to-back errors by Derek Jeter Kelly Johnson and Brian Roberts after an intentional walk gave them 3 more in the bottom of the 3rd.  Truly ugly stuff.

- Lance Lynn was very good when the game was tied.  After he got his 4 runs he made the cardinal (pun intended) sin of walking the leadoff batter the next half-inning.  Yangervis Solarte bailed him out with a rally-killing GIDP to end the inning and kept the Yanks scoreless through 4.

- Phelps gave up another run on an Allen Craig home run in the 5th, but did manage to work 6 innings before giving way to Alfredo Aceves.  He did Alfredo Aceves things, like giving up a home run to the first batter he faced, and the route was on.

- It was a route because the offense never got anything going against Lynn.  He put 2 runners on in the 6th and 8th and escaped both times.  Matheny even let him come out and finish the game in the 9th.  Not much more to say about this one.  Yanks didn't pitch, hit, or field.

Tuesday Evening News And Notes

- Michael Pineda did throw his 2-inning ExST start today as planned.  He threw 28 pitches, 20 for strikes.  No report on his velocity, not that it matters, but he did strike out 4 and walk 1.

- No Teix in the lineup again tonight.  He told reporters he wanted to play tomorrow in the series finale against St. Louis but was going to wait until he saw how his wrist felt.  He'll have the team doctors take a precautionary look at it when the team gets back to New York on Thursday.

- The latest All Star Game voting numbers came in today.  To no one's surprise, Derek Jeter is the leader for the AL at shortstop.  He's 3rd overall behind Mike Trout and Jose Bautista.

- Via Jack Curry, Elias has confirmed that Dellin Betances is the first rookie reliever in history to have 50+ strikeouts in his team's first 50 games of the season.  I guess that's pretty good.

Joe Needs To Keep Lengthening The Leash On His Young Starters

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally posted at IIATMS/TYA)

A funny thing happened this last turn through the rotation.  Joe showed a little more faith in his trio of young replacement starters, allowing all of them to work deeper into the game than they have since taking spots in the rotation, and the world didn't collapse in on itself.  In fact, the Yankees won 2 of the 3 games pitched by David Phelps, Vidal Nuno, and Chase Whitley, and may have snuck out a win in the other game if Joe had put a competitive lineup on the field.

The Yankees have had a ton of problems in their rotation already this year, almost all of them due to injury.  The latest issue has been not getting enough length from the starters and it was an issue partially perpetuated by Joe and his quick hook with these 3.  He knows who his bullpen aces are and he's leaned heavily on them to carry the burden of holding leads rather than leave it in the hands of pitchers in which he doesn't have as much confidence.  This apparent change in philosophy over the last 5 days is something that needs to continue if the Yanks are going to stay afloat into the summer.

Bottom Of The Order Coming Up Big Lately

(I'm actually going to say something positive about Ichiro.  Believe it.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

Consistent offensive production continues to be a big problem for the Yankees as May winds down.  Carlos Beltran is on the DL, Teix may or may not have to join him because of his wrist stiffness, and Brian McCann and Alfonso Soriano have been unable to find their footing to carry the middle of the order.  Despite all of this, the Yankees have won 4 of their last 6 games and 8 of their last 12 over the last 2 weeks.  It's been the bottom of the order and the rotating cast of characters inhabiting it that have had a lot to do with that.

Teix Wrist Update: Might Need More Than A Day

I wouldn't say it was necessarily pessimistic, but Mark Teixeira's self-evaluation of his stiff right wrist yesterday wasn't nearly as optimistic as Joe's was earlier in the day.  Teix spoke about it after the game, and via Chad Jennings' report, he said he thought it was best to use more than just yesterday to rest it:

“It’s just inflammation, we think.  It’s probably time to take a day or two off to let it calm down anyway.”

Teix said this current stiffness is the worst he's felt all year and it's been bothering him whether he swings righty or lefty.  He didn't swing at all yesterday and he probably won't today.  There are no further tests scheduled, but it does come off a bit odd that everybody keeps talking about the stiffness in terms of what they "think" it is.  If there's uncertainty, why not get a follow-up MRI to verify?

Obviously this isn't good news for the Yankee lineup.  Teix has been the most consistent power presence in it since coming off the DL.  But the first year after surgery is always a bumpy road like this and given the history of guys who've had the same surgery, it's much better to take the safe route here.  Give Teix a few days of no swinging and see how it responds.  They've got a new backup first baseman in Brendan Ryan anyway.  I'm sure he can replicate Teix's production for a few games.

Game 50 Wrap-Up: NYY 6 STL 4

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

Well that was a fun one, huh?  Today's series opener in St. Louis, the classiest baseball town in the US (wank), featured a little bit of everything.  There was some timely hitting, some good pitching, some great defense, and a ton of managerial moves and decisions that factored into the game.  It was no short matinee by any means, but a really entertaining and great game to watch.  In the end, the Yankees were able to come out on the winning side.

Game Notes:

- The Yanks needed 9 pitches to get a run off Michael Wacha in the top of the 1st on a Brett Gardner walk and back-to-back singles by Jeter and Ellsbury.  The Cards needed just 8 in the bottom half to tie the game up on a Matt Carpenter triple and a Kolten Wong ribbie double.

- Wacha retired 11 straight after the rough start, then got burned by an exact repeat of the 1st.  Ichiro walked to start the 5th and the Yanks put 2 more singles together after him to regain the lead.  A sac fly from Gardner extended it to 3-1.

- Chase Whitley matched Wacha's 0s through 4, and once again he came to the 70-80 pitch mark that has signaled the end of his day.  Joe let him work past that and Whitley made it through the 5th before gassing out and loading the bases in the 6th.  The Cards converted that into 2 runs to tie the game again.

- Gardner's 1-out single gave the Yankees a chance to go ahead in the 8th.  But Derek Jeter decided to not swing and protect him on a 3-1 base stealing attempt and Gardner was gunned down by Yadier Molina to end the threat before The Captain K'd to end the inning.

- Carlos Martinez and Dellin Betances each showed off their top notch relief stuff for 2 innings to pitch the game into extras.  Alfredo Aceves did the job and got them to the 12th, when the offense finally pieced together another rally.

-  Jacoby Ellsbury walked and stole second, Brian McCann was plunked, Yangervis Solarte sac bunted them over, and Mike Matheny intentionally walked Ichiro so lefty Randy Choate could pitch to Brian Roberts hitting right-handed.  Roberts singled to start a 3-run inning that also featured a clutch ribbie single by new backup first baseman Brendan Ryan.

- D-Rob was summoned for the save and he worked around a Derek Jeter throwing error to get it done, fanning 2 Cardinal hitters with a series of nasty curveballs.

Memorial Day Injury News Roundup

Hope everybody is enjoying their Memorial Day.  Here's the latest on the batch of injured/rehabbing Yankees if you're near a computer:

- Michael Pineda is slated to pitch 2 innings in an ExST game in Tampa tomorrow.  No word on how many of these games he's expected to pitch or what his pitch count will be.

- Carlos Beltran took 15 dry swings with a fungo bat today and felt good, and the plan is for him to take more tomorrow.  According to Jorge Castillo, tomorrow's session will include 30 swings with a real bat.

- Via Dan Barbarisi, Shawn Kelley threw on flat ground from 75 feet today "with no issues".  I imagine the team will see how he feels tomorrow before making a decision on the next step.

- If you missed it earlier, Mark Teixeira was scratched from the lineup with stiffness in his surgically-repaired right wrist.  Sounds minor, some normal post-surgery effects.  Details can be found in the post below.

Mark Teixeira Scratched From Today's Lineup (UPDATED)

Mark Teixeira was penciled in as the starting first baseman today when the Yankee lineup was first released.  A few minutes ago, he was scratched and replaced by Kelly Johnson.

Multiple beat reporters had the story, but so far there has been no explanation from the team on why Teix was scratched.  Thinking back to the tired legs he talked about having during and after the Milwaukee series, maybe it has something to do with that.  Better to play it safe with him with how shorthanded the middle of the batting order is right now.  More on this story as it becomes available...

** UPDATE 12:55 PM- Via Mark Feinsand, Teix's right wrist was feeling stiff.  Joe decided to give him a day off today to rest it and said he was "hopeful" he could have Teix back in the lineup tomorrow. **

** UPDATE 12:57 PM- A few more details on the wrist, via Dan Barbarisi and Andrew Marchand.  According to Joe, Teix has been dealing with the stiffness for a few days, but it's not considered a big deal and no tests are scheduled.  That's good news. **

Game 49 Wrap-Up: NYY 7 CHW 1

(Courtesy of the AP)

Masahiro Tanaka had his winning streak dating back to 2012 ended earlier this week in Chicago.  It was the first time a team got to face him for the second time, which was naturally a big talking point after the results of the start, but Tanaka chalked it up to poor command on all his pitches and an off-day.  He got a chance to face the other Chicago team for the first time yesterday.  With no command issues, no Jose Abreu, and no history for the White Sox to go on, Tanaka could get started on another winning streak.  He did just that.

Game Notes:

- Tanaka got a nice, fat 4-run cushion to work with in the top of the 2nd thanks to 4 hits, a walk to load the bases, and a sac fly.  Brett Gardner's 2-run single was the biggest hit.

- He made that lead stand up by holding Chicago hitless over the first 3 innings.  They made him work for it (50 pitches in those 3 innings), but Tanaka was better at finishing with 2 strikes than he was against the Cubs.

- That high early pitch count did come back to nab Tanaka in the 6th, when he gave up a leadoff double and 2-out single to give Chicago their first run of the day.  A pair of walks in the 7th signaled the end of Tanaka's day.

- He got plenty more run support from his team.  Derek Jeter tripled and scored in the 4th, singled home Alfonso Soriano in the 6th, and Brian Roberts hit a solo HR in the 8th.

- Adam Warren picked up Tanaka in the 7th and worked a scoreless 8th.  Matt Daley did the same in mop-up 9th inning duty and the Yankees got themselves a split.

Which One Is It, Joe?

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

On April 12th, after choosing to sit Derek Jeter and being asked about it by the media in terms of how he would respond to fans who were unhappy about coming out the ballpark and not being able to see Jeter, Joe had this to say:

“I have to manage him with a focus of winning games and keeping him healthy, not being a farewell tour.  I wasn't hired to put on a farewell tour.”

Perfectly reasonable and the exact response you'd expect from a manager.  Since then, however, Joe's actions in handling Jeter and managing his playing time have been more in line with the farewell tour than with winning ballgames.

Game 48 Wrap-Up: NYY 4 CHW 3

The Yankees got 7 innings of good work from David Phelps on Thursday night in the series opener against the White Sox.  It was the first step in an effort that Joe is going to have to undertake to get more out of his replacement level 3-5 spots in the rotation if he's going to avoid burning out his bullpen before the end of summer.  He had a chance to take another step in that direction this afternoon with Vidal Nuno's latest start, and like Phelps before him, Nuno gave his team distance and quality in his start.  A late comeback and a bullpen bounce back from D-Rob and the Yanks had their first win of the series.

Game Notes:

- It didn't look like Nuno was going to make it out of the 1st inning.  He gave up hits to the first 3 White Sock batters and they put 3 runs on the board thanks to a ribbie double, sac fly, and RBI groundout.

- Chicago singled to lead off the 2nd and the 3rd innings as well, but were never able to put enough hits together to lengthen the lead.  Nuno got big outs when he needed to and kept the game close for his offense.

- The offense flat out didn't show up to support Nuno at all.  They got their first baserunner on an error in the 3rd, their first hit on a Mark Teixeira double in the 4th, and never mounted much of a threat against John Danks through 7.

- They did finally put 2 runners on in the 8th (#smallvictories) but had 0 runs to show for it.  The bullpen picked up where Nuno left off and kept it a 3-0 game going into the 9th, and that's when the offense finally decided to show up.  With 2 outs, they put together 3 hits and 1 walk to generate 3 runs and send the game to extras.  Brian McCann had the big game-tying RBI single.

- In the 10th, Jacoby Ellsbury got the big hit to hopefully break him out of his month-long slump.  He smacked a 1-0 splitter for his second home run of the season to give his team a 4-3 lead, and D-Rob made amends for last night's blown save by holding down this win with 3 strikeouts in the bottom of the 10th.

Saturday Morning News And Notes: 5/24/13

A few things from yesterday and last night:

- Michael Pineda was feeling good after his latest bullpen session, so via George King, the decision has been made to move him up to facing live hitters this weekend.  He'll most likely throw some live BP today at the Tampa complex.

- On the international FA front, the Yanks are reportedly "close" to signing 17-year-old Korean shortstop Hyo-Jun Park to a $1.1 million deal.  Scouts say he's a very good fielder with a line drive/contact-driven approach at the plate, and he will count against this year's spending cap if the deal becomes official.

- Brian Roberts fouled a ball off his right knee last night and was removed early after limping around on it for a few innings.  X-rays were taken and came back negative, but I imagine he'll get today off.

- Via Jack Curry, last night's loss was the first for the Yanks when leading after 8 innings this year.  They were 21-0.

Game 47 Wrap-Up: CHW 6 NYY 5

(Courtesy of the AP)

On Thursday night, the Yankees faced Chris Sale making his first start coming off the DL.  He abused them.  Last night, they were facing former prospect Hector Noesi and hoping for much better results with the bats.  Noesi's basically done nothing but get knocked around by MLB hitters since being traded to Seattle a few years ago.  They hit him up for a few runs early, but not enough to gain a truly comfortable lead.  They'd eventually cough up the one they had and lose in a walk-off.

Game Notes:

- Eventful 1st inning.  Brian McCann smacked a 3-run home run in the top half, Hiroki Kuroda battled his command and Kelly Johnson botched a play at first base to give the White Sox an unearned run.  3-1 Yanks.

- Chicago got another run in the 4th on 3 singles and took the lead in the 5th on a 2-run home run by Alexei Ramirez.  Kuroda didn't have his sinker or his splitter working and he didn't make it out of the 5th inning.

- Noesi settled down after the 3-run 1st and made it through 6 without further damage.  The Yanks let him off the hook by grounding into 2 double plays and leaving 2 runners on in the 3rd and 4th innings.

- They regained the lead in the 7th when Chicago went to its bullpen.  With the bases loaded and 1 out, Jake Petricka threw a wild pitch that allowed Brian Roberts to score.  On the next pitch, Jacoby Ellsbury hit a sac fly to make it 5-4 Yanks.

- The bullpen core (Betances, Warren, D-Rob) worked into the 9th after Kuroda left and did so without giving up another run.  It took just 6 pitches to undo that work in the bottom of the 9th.  Leadoff single by Dayan Viciedo, walk-off HR by Adam Dunn on a misplaced cutter, White Sox win.

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?