Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Joba Chamberlain Begins Rehab Assignment


Joba Chamberlain began his 30 day rehab assignment today after suffering an oblique injury a couple weeks back. Joba pitched for the AAA Scranton Railriders team tonight and allowed two singles, induced a ground out, and two fly outs in a scoreless inning. The plan could see Joba activated as early as Thursday as long as he comes through these games healthy which leaves the Yankees with some tough decisions to make regarding Preston Claiborne and Shawn Kelley. Personally I would like to see both stay and we send Adam Warren down and actually get some regular work but I know the importance of a long man and that it will not go that way. I expect Claiborne to go down unfortunately even though he has pitched, albeit in a small sample size, well enough to stay up.

Cesar Cabral Begins 30 Day Rehab Assignment


Cesar Cabral has officially begin his 30 day rehab window down with the High A Tampa Yankees team. We lost Cabral last spring training after he got a stress fracture in his left pitching elbow and is finally all the way back. Cabral pitched a scoreless inning tonight including a ground out and two fly outs to go with a walk. Cabral's rehab window ends June 13th so he has exactly 29 more days to make an impression and make the big league team, get given back to the Red Sox since he was a Rule 5 draft pick of theirs last season, or elect free agency since he is a two time Rule 5 draft guy.

Seattle Mariners @ New York Yankees 5/14


This one should be a fun one to watch as the Yankees and the Mariners begin a three game series at Yankees Stadium. The Yankees are coming off of a split of a double header with the Indians having won six of their last seven games. The Yankees will send CC Sabathia to the mound to face off against King Yankees Killer Felix Hernandez. The game will be televised at 7:05 pm ET on YES and MLB TV.

Buy your Yankees tickets for this game and every Yankees home game right here on The Greedy Pinstripes.

With The Good Comes The Bad... Travis Hafner To Get MRI On Shoulder

You just knew Yankee fans couldn't enjoy a bit of good news for long.

It turns out that Travis Hafner, who has been dealing with a sore shoulder, is going for an MRI and will likely miss a few days. The MRI has been deemed "precautionary", but with Hafner's injury history (which includes shoulder surgery in 2008, and missed time due to that shoulder in 2009 and 2010) I don't feel too confident that he'll avoid missing more than that "few days".

Curtis Granderson Returns!

As evidenced by the starting lineup, posted at the LoHud Yankees Blog, Curtis Granderson has indeed returned to the team. In a corresponding move, Vidal Nuno has been sent to AAA. The outfield was pretty well set with Wells, Gardner, and Ichiro, but Granderson's power will be a welcomed with open arms.

I highly doubt Nuno stays there very long, as he threw a great game yesterday, going 5 innings while giving up 3 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 3.

One other note... Curtis is actually playing LF, while Brett Gardner continues to play CF.

Game 38 Lineup: Mariners vs. Yankees

Guess who's back...?

Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells DH
Curtis Granderson LF
Lyle Overbay 1B
Jayson Nix SS
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Chris Nelson 3B
Austin Romine C

CC Sabathia LHP

Notes:

-- As you can tell by the lineup, the Grandy Man has been activated and Vidal Nuno has been sent to Triple-AAA. This move caused outcry to Yankees fans as they wondered...why is Ben Francisco still here?

Lyle Overbay Doing A Great Mark Teixeira Impression


Lyle Overbay was signed late in the spring after not making the Boston Red Sox team to much dismay of the Yankees fans. The Yankees had watched Juan Rivera fight for a roster spot and do really well only to be pushed aside when Overbay was available. Lyle has proved a ton of Yankees doubters and fans wrong alike and has done quite the Mark Teixeira impression through May 13th. Let's take a statistical look at Mark Teixeira's 2012 season through May 13th and what Lyle Overbay has done thus far to date.


Mark Teixeira

.223/.275/.369/.644

33 GP- 142 AB - 29 H's - 7 2B's - 4 HR's - 17 RBI's - 16 K's - 9 BB's

Yankees record 18-15


Lyle Overbay


.254/.295/.484/.775

35 GP- 129 AB - 31 H's - 8 2B's - 1 3B -  6 HR's - 22 RBI's - 21 K's - 7 BB's

Yankees record 24-14


The Yankees now face an interesting dilemma when Mark Teixeira comes back, or attempts to come back anyway, from this wrist injury. Unless the Yankees trade versatility for insurance Overbay is all but gone via trade or a DFA when Mark comes back and that should scare the hell out of all Yankees fans. We all saw Jose Bautista have the same injury last season and we all saw him rest it, rehab it, play in the minors, and play in two major league games before being lost for the season with wrist surgery. What do the Yankees do if this happens to Mark Teixeira and we have already let go of Lyle Overbay? With no suitable first base options down in the minors and no obvious choices via trade this early in the season I think the Yankees and their fans should be holding their collective breathes that either the Yankees will hold on to Overbay and/or Mark Teixeira will be fully healthy all season long. I am not taking that bet but I am hoping that is just the pessimist in me speaking and everything will be fine.

This Day In Yankees History 5/14


On this day in 1967 Mickey Mantle hit his 500th home run of his career on mothers day after he promised his wife Merlyn that he would do so. Mantle would become the sixth player in major league history to do so.


On this day in 1996 Dwight Gooden becomes the eighth Yankee in their storied history to throw a no hitter when he beat the Seattle Mariners 2-0.


On this day in 2011 Jorge Posada threw a baby fit and took himself out of the lineup after manager Joe Girardi slotted him in to hit 9th. I love Jorge, I want to get that out there, but it is what it is and it was a baby fit. This would be Jorge's final season in baseball and in pinstripes.