Sunday, March 9, 2014

Phelps dominant as Yankees, Rays tie

Fifth starter candidate David Phelps threw five scoreless innings and Brian Roberts collected the team's only RBI with Sac Fly today as the Yankees and Rays tied at Steinbrenner Field, 3-3. Throughout those five frames, Phelps gave up just 3 hits (2 singles and a double), while also forcing an impressive 9 ground outs, 4 fly outs, 1 pop out, and 1 strikeout.

So yeah, he pitched pretty well in this one. The Yankees, unfortunately, still weren't able to score an extra run in this ones tenth inning, but really, do we care about that? I mean, what actually mattered still went well. 

Yankees Announce First Cuts Of The Spring


The New York Yankees have announced their first cuts from spring training camp. The players that are heading across the street to the minor league complex are Jose Ramirez and Francisco Rondon. Both players are probably headed to AAA to start the season and both were derailed by injuries, no surprise here.

New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays 3/9


The New York Yankees will take on the Tampa Bay Rays this afternoon at George M. Steinbrenner Field down in Tampa. The Yankees are doing well this spring training and are doing well in the Grapefruit League standings and look to keep the strong play going against their American League East foes today. David Phelps makes the start for the Yankees looking to improve on his shaky "bend but don't break" start last Tuesday against the Orioles. The game will be televised at 1:05 pm ET on the YES Network and on MLB TV.

Here is the Yankees lineup for today:

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Derek Jeter SS
Carlos Beltran RF
Brian McCann C
Alfonso Soriano LF
Kelly Johnson 1B
Brian Roberts 2B
Ichiro Suzuki DH
Yangervis Solarte 3B

The Greedy Pinstripes League 1 Fantasy Baseball Draft


The Greedy Pinstripes League One Fantasy Baseball League drafted last night at 9:00 pm ET and League Two drafts tonight at 8:30, just as a reminder to everyone. I am in both of these leagues so I have a lot of drafting to do this weekend as I also did my mock draft last night as a primer. My team is below.

C- Evan Gattis
1B- Albert Pujols
2B- Jason Kipnis
SS- Elvis Andrus
3B- Ryan Zimmerman
OF- Mike Trout
OF- Shin Soo Choo
OF- Austin Jackson
UTIL - Martin Prado
UTIL - Kelly Johnson

BN- Andrelton Simmons
BN- Wilson Ramos
BN- Nick Swisher
BN- Chris Johnson
BN- Marlon Byrd

SP- Felix Hernandez
SP- Matt Moore
RP- Joe Nathan
RP- Rafael Soriano

P- Chris Archer
P- AJ Burnett
P- R.A. Dickey
P- Brian Wilson


My problem is always having too much on my plate and forgetting to pay much attention to this, this year I hope to be a little better at that. I have a new iPhone this time around and the app so maybe that will help. Thoughts on my team?

New York Yankees Spring Training News & Notes 3/9


Kelly Johnson has a total of 18 innings in his career at first base but will get the start their this afternoon when the Yankees host the Tampa Bay Rays in their latest spring training game. Manager Joe Girardi has officially named Johnson the backup first basemen for Mark Teixeira and his surgically repaired wrist.

Adam Warren is throwing a simulated game today getting ready for his start next Saturday down in Panama. Shawn Kelley threw a simulated game to Corban Joseph and Austin Romine.

Tomorrow is a true off day, no workouts or simulated games or anything like that.

Chad Jennings with the assignments as usual:

Today’s bullpen sessions:
Bryan Mitchell (to Roman Rodriguez)
Shane Greene (to Francisco Cervelli)
Jose Campos (to Gary Sanchez)
Vidal Nuno (to Jose Gil)
Jim Miller (to Austin Romine)
Dave Robertson (to Austin Romine)
Matt Thornton (to Francisco Arcia)
Hiroki Kuroda (to Roman Rodriguez)
· Batting practice groups:
Group 1: Derek Jeter, Brian Roberts, Alfonso Soriano, Ichiro Suzuki, Brian McCann
Group 2: Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner, Kelly Johnson, Mark Teixiera
Group 3: Dean Anna, Russ Canzler, Yangervis Solarte, Zelous Wheeler, John Ryan Murphy
Group 4: Adonis Garcia, Ramon Flores, Jose Pirela, Mason Williams, Jose Gil
Group 5: Zoilo Almonte, Corban Joseph, Eduardo Nunez, Antoan Richardson, Scott Sizemore
Group 6: Francisco Arcia, Francisco Cervelli, Pete O’Brien, Austin Romine, Gary Sanchez
· Today’s second string: C John Ryan Murphy, 1B Russ Canzler, 2B Zelous Wheeler, SS Dean Anna, 3B Jose Pirela, LF Ramon Flores, CF Mason Williams, RF Adonis Garcia, DH Jose Gil
· Today’s scheduled relievers: Dellin Betances, Mark Montgomery, Bruce Billings, Danny Burawa, Matt Daley (with Preston Claiborne, Branden Pinder, Jeremy Bleich and Pat Venditte available if necessary)
· Travel squad for Vierra on Tuesday:
Pitchers: Dellin Betances, Danny Burawa, Cesar Cabral, Matt Daley, Brian Gordon, David Herndon, Fred Lewis, Jim Miller, Mark Montgomery, CC Sabathia, Chase Whitley
Catchers: Francisco Arcia, Francisco Cervelli, Jose Gil, Brian McCann, Austin Romine, Gary Sanchez
Infielders: Dean Anna, Corban Joseph, Eduardo Nunez, Jose Pirela, Scott Sizemore, Yangervis Solarte, Mark Teixeira, Zelous Wheeler
Outfielders: Zoilo Almonte, Jacoby Ellsbury, Ramon Flores, Adonis Garcia, Brett Gardner, Antoan Richardson, Mason Williams


Pettitte Teaching Sabathia To Throw A Cutter



The CC Sabathia that could eat two boxes of Captain Crunch in a sitting, and won a ton of games, made his name throwing a slider and a ton of innings. The CC Sabathia that looks like he would eat two heads of lettuce in one sitting is learning how to throw a cutter, and Andy Pettitte is teaching it to him. Sabathia told Newsday that Pettitte was teaching him the pitch after a recent bullpen session with Andy.

“He was showing me a grip with the cutter,” Sabathia told Newsday after a bullpen session with Pettitte. “I used it today and it worked pretty good, so I’m anxious to take it into a game.”

Maybe this is why CC is not as worried about having his fastball velocity, maybe he finally learning how to pitch and not blow everyone away. Or maybe he just wants to add something to his repertoire to stay ahead of the competition like Mariano Rivera did with a changeup and a two seam fastball later in his career. Either way I hope this helps CC get back to the top because the Yankees are on his shoulders.

Yankee Stadium Legacy: #22 Joe DiMaggio


Joe DiMaggio not only reached 125 RBI's for six straight seasons, the first six of his career by the way, in 1941 but also had the greatest hitting streak in the history of the major leagues that season. 56 straight games with a hit is a record that probably will never be broken. The previous record was 44 games by Wee Willie Keller way back in 1897. DiMaggio will always be a Yankees legend.

22 days until Yankees Opening Day


This Day In New York Yankees History 3/9


On this day in 1961 the New York Yankees announced that they would be leaving their spring training home in St. Petersburg, Florida to move to Fort Lauderdale by 1963. The Yankees owners also encouraged the new yet to be named New York National League franchise, now known as the Mets, to play its home games at the Polo Grounds and to not consider Yankee Stadium.


On this day in 2009 Alex Rodriguez had an 80 minute arthroscopic surgical procedure to repair torn cartilage in his right hip. The Yankees third basemen expects to return to the lineup in May and will need a more extensive operation in the offseason and would have another surgery, this time on his left hip, before the 2013 season.