Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Game Thread: Yankees vs. Mariners 6/11


The New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners are playing the middle game of their three game set this week tonight at Safeco Field. The Yankees will send Masahiro Tanaka to the mound to face off with undefeated in Seattle Chris Young for the Mariners. The game will be played at 10:10 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with WFAN.

Don't forget to get your Yankees tickets for this series and every Bronx Bombers game this season right here on the blog. It's Derek Jeter's final season so any ticket stub will be worth something, even if it's just memories, and our friends at Ticket Monster sends you actual tickets, not printer tickets. Follow us on Twitter to talk during the game by following @GreedyStripes and also leave us a comments on the site to talk Yankees baseball 24/7.

Enjoy the game Yankees family and enjoy your Thursday morning because this game won't be over before then.

Mariners Suck Without Ichiro Suzuki... Meme


Well it looks like Squidward was right this time Sponge Bob... just saying. 

Yankees Acquire David Huff, Designate Wade LeBlanc


The New York Yankees have acquired left handed pitcher David Huff off waivers from the San Francisco Giants. To make room for Huff on the 40 man and 25 man rosters the Yankees have designated Wade LeBlanc for assignment. The revolving door keeps on moving...

The Yankees traded Huff to the Giants this offseason after clearing a spot for Masahiro Tanaka and now have Huff back in uniform for tonight's game.

Shawn Kelley Activated, Matt Daley Optioned To AAA


The New York Yankees and their bullpen just got a shot in the arm as Shawn Kelley has finally been activated off the 15 day DL with a back injury. The Yankees will option Matt Daley to Triple-A Scranton to make room on the 25 man roster for Kelley. The Yankees bullpen just got a fresh arm, their 8th inning man, and a huge upgrade at the end of the game. Great news.

Preview: New York Yankees vs. Seattle Mariners 6/11


The New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners will play in the middle game of a three game set this week at Safeco Field tonight in Seattle. The Yankees will send Masahiro Tanaka to the mound to face off with Seattle's Chris Young. The game will be played at 10:10 pm ET, raise your hand if you hate West Coast games, and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN.

Tanaka continues to dominate the league and lead the league in ERA with a 2.02 ERA this season. Only Toronto's Mark Buehrle has more wins than Tanaka's nine this season as Tanaka looks to win his seventh straight decision tonight in Seattle.

Young has never lost at Safeco Field in his career in nine starts with a career 6-0 record and 2.84 ERA including a 3-0 and 1.89 ERA this season in Seattle. Young is coming off a start in Tampa where he gave up three runs in five innings taking a loss for the Mariners.

Get your tickets for this game and every Yankees game home and away right here on the blog with our friends at Ticket Monster. Ticket Monster is like the Yankees ticket exchange, Stubhub, etc but without the fees and they actually ship you actual tickets and not a cheap print off. 

Go Yankees!!

Zach Nuding & Francisco Cervelli Added To Trenton


The Trenton Thunder, Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, have announced multiple moves prior to Wednesday’s game against the Richmond Flying Squirrels.

C Francisco Cervelli has his MLB rehab assignment transferred from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Cervelli has appeared in five rehab games with Tampa (A+) and Scranton (AAA) and is 2-for-18 at the plate with a walk.

LHP Jeremy Bleich has been transferred to Scranton and RHP Zach Nuding has been transferred from Scranton. The 26-year old Bleich, who is in his fourth season with the Thunder, has not yet made his Triple-A debut. This season with the Thunder, the Stanford University product was 4-5 with a 3.51 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 66.2 innings.

Nuding began the season with the Thunder and was transferred to Triple-A May 3rd. In five starts with the Thunder to begin the season, Nuding was 2-0 with a 2.43 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 29.2 innings. He made eight starts with the RailRiders, and posted a 2-4 record with a 6.25 ERA over 40.1 innings.

The Thunder active roster stands at an Eastern League maximum 25 players.

Yankees Sign Montgomery & Five Other 2014 Draftees


The New York Yankees have until July 18 to sign all their draft picks from the 2014 MLB First Year Players Draft but are wasting no time as they signed six more draft picks today. This after signing Austin DeCarr and a few others and having Jacob Lindgren head down to Tampa to take a physical before signing. 

The Yankees signed fourth round pick Jordan Montgomery to a deal and will send him to Staten Island. The exact figures have not been releases but the slot for the 122nd pick is $424,000 so hopefully it's that or less. 

10th rounder Ty McFarland, 19th pick Joe Harvey ($60K), 26th pick Clay Slaybaugh, 27th pick Griffin Gordon, and 38th pick Andre Del Bosque have all signed as well. Every slot after the 10th pick are $100,000 and the slot for McFarland is $137,600. 

Beltran Begins Throwing Program To Return To OF


Carlos Beltran has been struggling with an old bone spur for a few weeks now and has been limited to DH duties only but will start a throwing program in hopes of him returning to the outfield. Beltran began the throwing program today and will wear a brace on the elbow to keep from overextending it in a game. Beltran says he still feels pain in the elbow but obviously not enough to keep him out of the lineup.

Beltran missed basically a month already with the bone spur and has so far avoided an in season surgery on the throwing elbow. Beltran has gone 3-18 since coming off the DL for a staggering .167 batting average,

Cano Thankful He Got to Play With Jeter

From 2005-2013, Mariners Second Basemen Robinson Cano grew up alongside Derek Jeter.

The $240 million infielder, currently in his first season outside of the Bronx, started off as a prospect with the Yankees, slowly becoming a star before his nine year stint (2009 World Series win included) was up.

Prior to last's night game, Cano revealed to the New York Post's Kevin Kernan how much Jeter's leadership meant to him during that time, stating that the future HOF always answered his questions and was a big help to the team's youngsters.

“Every time I had a question, he was the guy I would ask," Cano said. "I really appreciated that. He was a superstar and he helped all the young players."

Before the contest, which the Yanks won 3-2 over M's ace Hisashi Iwakuma in thrilling fashion, Cano actually gave Jeter a $34,000 watch, inscribed with the phrase "Thanks for showing me how to be a leader."

That gift, along with a seat from the old KingDome (where Jeter made his MLB Debut back in 1995) and a charitable donation, made up the night of thanks to #2, who will play his last regular season game in Seattle tomorrow.

2014 Yankees Draftees & Their Twitter Accounts


As you know we are big time Twitter freaks on this blog as well as self proclaimed prospect humpers so I get excited around this time every year. Not only do we get new prospects to love but we also get new people to add to the family and the Twitter list we keep on the site. Below is an incomplete and always changing list of Twitter accounts for the players the Yankees drafted in 2014:

(2)Jacob Lindgren - @JLindgren19
(3)Austin DeCarr - @RiDeCarr7
(4)Jordan Montgomery - @Gumbynation34
(5)Jordan Foley - @JFol12
(6)Jonathan Holder - @JHolder14
(7)Mark Payton - @MarkPayton2
(9)Vince Conde - @vince_VU3
(11) Matt Borens - @matteiu28
(12) Chris Gittens - @cgittensome
(13) Bo Thompson - @bobothompson
(14) Sean Carley - @SeanCarley23
(15) Andrew Chin - @Andrewchin8
(16) Derek Callahan - @Derek_Callahan
(17) Garrett Cave - @G_Cave19
(19) Joe Harvey - @44panther
(20) Corey Holmed - @fastball_14
(22) Jake Kelzer - @waken_Jake
(23) Will Toffey - @willtoffey
(27) Griff Gordon - @GGordon11
(29) Mariano Rivera - @marianojr4
(32) Jordan Ramsey - @Jramsey_11
(33) David Graybill - @DavidGraybill24
(34) Matt Wotherspoon - @mspoon11
(35) Christopher Hudgins - @huggie619
(36) Will Gaddis - @w_gad25
(37) Ryan Lindemuth - @rlindy05
(38) Andre Del Bosque - @adelb811
(39) Cameron Warren - @Cam_Warren24
(40) Madison Stokes - @madisonstokes1

Meet A Prospect: Austin DeCarr


The New York Yankees technically drafted 32 college players and seven High School players out of the 39 they drafted in this year's MLB First Year Players Draft but I say technically because of third round pick Austin DeCarr. DeCarr is technically a High School graduate but went undrafted because of being fresh off an elbow surgery, bone spurs so nothing serious, and decided to go to Salisbury Prep School rather than attending a two year or four year college. So technically he was drafted out of High School but has one more year on his arm and more experience than any other High School draftee.

DeCarr is another one of those big framed pitchers the Yankees love to draft standing at 6'2" and weighing in at 220 lbs. DeCarr uses that big body to throw in the 92-94 MPH range and can touch 96 when he has to. DeCarr also has a power curveball and a changeup, albeit raw at this point. You have to expect some control and command issues, especially with secondary pitches, with "high school" pitchers though.


Can't Predict Baseball: Astros No-Hit The Yankees


On this day in 1988 the Yankees were short on right handed hitters against the Orioles left hander Jeff Ballard and former manager Billy Martin decided to use starting pitcher Rick Rhoden at the DH spot. Rhoden became the first ever pitcher to ever start at the designated hitter position in the short history of the position. Rhoden got just one at bat and hit a sacrifice fly before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the fifth inning. The Yankees would beat the Orioles 8-6 on this day.

On this day in 2003 the Houston Astros no-hit the New York Yankees for the first time since 1958. In 1958 the Orioles knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm beat the Yankees 1-0 in Baltimore. On this day a record setting six pitchers combine to no-hit the Yankees and end the streak of 6,980 games with at least one hit for the Bronx Bombers. The six pitchers who made history on that day were Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel, and Billy Wagner.


Quick Hit: Yankees Sign Two Undrafted Free Agents


The New York Yankees have announced the signings of two undrafted free agents, both players seem likely to be headed to Staten Island to start their professional careers.

USC's catcher Jake Hernandez signed with the Yankees after posting a .327/.363/.374 triple slash in 50 games in his age 22 season. It is worth mentioning that Hernandez spent just about all of his college career as a back up for the Trojans. USC is a big time school so this can't be a bad signing.

Dayton's right handed pitcher Travis Hissong also signed with the Yankees yesterday after not being drafted this weekend. Hissong is intriguing not only because of his 6' and 195 lb frame but because he was Dayton's ace pitcher before going down with a hamstring injury.

Expensive RBIs; Trio of Offseason Signees Lead Yankees to 3-2 Win over Mariners

So far this season, you could make the argument that Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, and Jacoby Ellsbury have underachieved.

The offseason signees, whose contracts total $283 million, have hit just .226, .225, and .286, a big reason why the Yankees have struggled the way they have.

Fortunately, that unwanted trend didn't continue tonight, with the expensive trio each collecting RBIs in a 3-2 win over the Mariners.

They, along with the rest of the offense, weren't exactly consistent, although they did do enough.

To start things off, Beltran doubled a man home with two outs in the top of the first, followed immediately by an RBI infield single from McCann.

That early 2-0 lead wasn't anything huge, but it did hold up thanks to the heroics of Vidal Nuno, who escaped multiple jams during his 5.2-inning, one-run start.

Upon leaving, Nuno (4 Hits, Walk, 2 Strikeouts) was up for the win, something he definitely deserved.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't end up getting it, as the struggling Dellin Betances gave up that slim 2-1 advantage in the bottom of the seventh. 

Facing Dustin Ackley with a man on second and two outs, Betances allowed a single to right, scoring Mike Zunino.

At that point, #68 was in line for the W, despite having blown the lead.

Shortly afterwards in the top of the eighth, the Yanks would retake the advantage off of Hisashi Iwakuma (7.1 IP, 3 ER), rallying with one out when Derek Jeter ground-rule doubled and Ellsbury singled him in.

On that double, Jeter actually missed first base, although he did later go back to touch it, possibly saving the rally.

After a pair of scorless frames from Adam Warren and David Robertson (16th save in 18 opportunities), the Bombers would officially collect the victory, improving their record to 32-31 and bringing them to just 1.5 games out of the wild card. They're still not quite where they need to be, although they're definitely improving. I guess that's good enough for now. 

This Day In New York Yankees History 6/11


On this day in 1915 the Yankees pitcher Ray Caldwell becomes the first major leaguer to hit a home run in consecutive pinch hitting appearances. The Yankees would beat the Chicago White Sox on this day and the 19 game winner Caldwell would hit his second home run against the Chi Sox. Caldwell also hit a home run as a pinch hitter yesterday as well against Chicago.


On this day in 2010 Andy Pettitte joined Yankees Whitey Ford and Red Ruffing as the only Yankees pitchers to win 200 games while in pinstripes. Andy was 37 years old and also reached the 3,000 career innings pitched mark in the first inning of the game. The Yankees would beat the Houston Astros, his former team, 4-3 in Yankee Stadium.