Monday, July 7, 2014

The Daily Dozen - July 7, 2014

Hello Yankees and GreedyPinstripe fans!

Tonight I am starting a new series entitled THE DAILY DOZEN, which is intended to be a humorous take on each night's game the rest of the season.  It may degrade into a rant at times, but as True Yankees Fans, what would you expect?

Anyways, I have been gone for a month or so as we transitioned into a new home outside of Columbus and I hadn't gotten the urge to set up my home office until last week...so expect to hear and read more from me this season as the Yankees push towards the playoffs in Jeter's Last Stand!

THE DAILY DOZEN
(Twelve Takeaways from Tonight's Game - July 7th, 2014 Edition - The Inaugural)

1. I miss the Chief Wahoo logo.  We have become weak, may I say soft, in the current Political Correctness life and times of America.  That big toothy grin was always the most recognizing symbol for the City of Cleveland for me growing up.  Who in the hell is getting offended by that logo?  Now there is a "C"...really? A "C"....come on Cleveland, you can do better than this!

My five year old could have designed a better logo...just sayin!
2. Derek Jeter is a class act.  When Jete came up to the plate in the 1st inning there were a ton of cheers and a few scattered boos.  My oldest son asked "Why are they booing him?" I calmly responded that it was a sign of respect for opposing players to be booed, because it means that you are really good.  The one thing I have always admired about El Capitan is that he responds like a professional in EVERY situation.  The whole crowd could have been booing him and he would have smiled and went on hitting the ball to right field.  I'm sure he'll leave a few gift baskets in the City of Cleveland on his way out of town...
How many little Jeters do you think are actually running around today?
3. Umpires should wear goggles.  Did anyone else catch the homeplate Umpire stopping the game because he had a bug in his eye?  At least an umpire finally admitted he couldn't see clearly...(wocka, wocka, wocka!)

4. Shane Greene was LIGHTS OUT! Only in the game of baseball would a rookie starter in his first Major League game pitch 4-2/3 innings of no-hit ball while the former Yankee killer (as an Indian) Justin Masterson would give up 5 runs in 2+ innings.  Previously, Masterson had a 3-0 record against the Bronx Bombers with a 0.38 ERA at Progressive Field (formerly Jacobs Field).  Tonight he had a 22.50 ERA.  Only in Baseball.
What an awkward smile ROOK! (Source Photos: ESPN.com)
5. The Yankees cannot score later than the 5th inning.  Okay...I'm "probably" being facetious with that sentence, but it seems that every time the Yankees get up early in a game, they can't seem to add any more runs late to put games away.  Mark my words, it is going to kill the bullpen by the end of the year.
Seriously guys...I pitch like every night with the game on the line!
6. Ichiro has still got it.  The dude is going to play until he is 50.  Seriously, sign him to a 5 year contract now at 2 million per season.  The revenue from the interest in the team with Tanaka and Ichiro on board for the long term will more than pay his salary.  I think Ichiro and Kuroda calm Tanaka as those are guys he can look up to and of course actually understand.  Personally, I want to see Ichiro get to 3,000 hits as a Yankee.  Make it happen CASHMAN!
If he gets to 3,000 hits next season he should be exempt to the facial hair clause...#NappyBeard
7. Daniel Burch is a better predictor than me.  Well not in the Mega Prediction Game, but last week he predicted that Brian McCann was getting ready to turn it on.  I predicted Carlos Beltran was about to start lighting it up.  Well, lo and behold, McCann has been hitting much better as of late and got above .230 tonight---yes, I am actually celebrating that fact.  Beltran has been hitting the ball hard, but like Ellsbury tonight is hitting it right at people.  For the Yankees sake, I hope we are both right in the coming days.
He may have had too much wine in the offseason, but the hangover looks to be over!
8. I still like Nick Swisher.  Swisher is a Man's Man.  I don't know exactly what that means but I've heard it bandied about once or twice.  He played ball for Ohio State, he played ball for the Yankees.  That's good enough in my book.  It's strange that the Indians first two hits tonight were by former Yankees players.  I thought Indians fans hated Yankees!

9. Brett Gardner is the Yankees offensive MVP thus far this season.  The guy is just flat out a complete player.  Sure he still gets caught stealing way too much at this point in his career.  I was hoping that Ellsbury would help him a little bit this season, but he is very consistent at the plate.  He never gives away an at-bat.  He is the ballplayer that I always hoped to be someday.  He was 3 for 5 tonight and raised his batting average to .289, best on the team (barring Ichiro's .304 which doesn't meet the MLB minimum for a batting title as of yet).  Out of the everyday players, he leads the team in average, on-base percentage (.363), OPS (.796), WAR (2.4), hits (94), triples (6), total bases (141), walks (34), and is 2nd in slugging percentage (behind only Teixeira's .452--Gardy is at .434) and stolen bases (15, 8 behind Ellsbury).  Last season, we all asked where the Yankees would be without Cano...well, this year where would they be without Gardner?  Oh yeah...and he also has 3 assists, 158 put-outs, and has played in 88 games.
M-V-P! M-V-P! M-V-P!
10. In order for the Yankees to win games and in turn series, they have to see pitches.  Case in point: tonight the Yankees saw 150 Indians' pitches.  Cleveland only saw 116.  The Yankees won...  The day before versus the Twins they saw 138 pitches...and won...really for the last 5 days the Yankees have been more patient at the plate and have been rewarded with a 4-1 record only losing in extra innings to the Twins on Saturday while seeing 180 pitches.  Earlier in the season and during their losing streaks they weren't seeing nearly as many pitches as one would expect from a veteran Yankees team.

11. As of tonight's win, the Yankees have a 17.1% chance of making the playoffs.  That's not good.  But wait! There's more.  They are only 3.5 games back of the 1st place Baltimore Orioles.  After the Yankees sweep the Indians in this current 4 games set, guess who they get to play?  Yep...the Orioles.  I have a feeling the Playoff % will be a bit larger come the Daily Dozen on July 13th.
These aren't your Daddy's Orioles!
12. I learned tonight that Thursday's game at the Jake (err...Progressive Field) is Dollar Dog Night.  I am taking my oldest son, Gabe, to his 2nd MLB game ever that night.  His first game was the Yankees vs. Braves in Atlanta 2 years ago while we still lived in Tennessee.  Now that I am back in my home state of Ohio, I look forward to taking him and the rest of my ever-growing family to many Yankees-Indians, Yankees-Tigers, and Yankees-Reds games in the future.  Burch predicts we'll eat 7 hot dogs that night by the way...his predictions are usually right!

Follow me on Twitter! I promise to make you laugh at least once each Yankees game! 

@dm23HOF

Greene Comes Up Big in 1st Career Start as Yankees Take Opener 5-3

Going into his first career start tonight, what Shane Greene would do was a complete mystery.

The 25-year-old prospect, who threw the ball pretty well back in Spring Training, came into the contest on a 13-inning scoreless streak, something that didn't matter to some due to his struggles in Boston a few months ago.

Luckily for the Yankees, Greene ended up making the better possibility come true, tossing 6 frames of two-run ball as the Yanks beat the Indians 5-3.

Going into the contest's top of the second, the Bombers had reason to be nervous after watching Greene hit the second man he faced, but thanks to a three-run performance highlighted by a Brian Roberts double, a Brett Gardner single, and a Derek Jeter walk in that at-bat the youngster seemed to settle down.

From then until two outs in the fifth, Greene was putting up a no-hitter, a would-be amazing feat broken up by ex-Pinstripe Nick Swisher, who homered on a 3-1 fastball to make it 5-1.

Still, the #61-wearing rookie ended up having a great night, allowing just four hits while walking none and striking out two.

As for his counterpart Justin Masterson (2+ IP, 5 ER), things weren't nearly as pretty, with Cleveland's ace not only allowing the aforementioned runs in the second but also two more in the third, when Ichiro beat out an infield single with men on the corners and Francisco Cervelli hit into a fielder's choice. 

Masterson's struggles, though early, were all the Bombers would end up needing in the contest, thanks largely to Dellin Betances converting a six-out save in the eighth and ninth.

In his outing, Betances wasn't necessarily dominant, although he did throw well enough to seal the W, the main reason he was out there in the first place. 

Game Thread: Yankees vs. Indians 7/7


Welcome to tonight's game thread and open thread to leave comments in and go wild. The New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians will face off tonight in the first of four games in Cleveland this week as we spring towards the All Star Break. The Yankees will send Shane Greene to the mound making his first major league start to face off with the Indians Justin Masterson. The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, ESPN, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with WFAN.

Get your Yankees tickets for this game and every game this series and season right HERE on the blog, we offer cheap tickets with no additional fees or shipping costs. If you can't make it to the game follow @GreedyStripes on Twitter or search for The Greedy Pinstripes on Facebook to chat with us during the game. Take advantage of the open thread and drop us a line in the comments section.

Enjoy the game Yankees family and enjoy the rest of your evening.

Carlos Beltran Out Tonight w/ Sore Knee

Carlos Beltran felt a little discomfort in his last at bat eysterday afternoon against the Minnesota Twins and will be out of the lineup tonight. Beltran has a sore and swollen knee and is listed as day to day with the Yankees. Beltran will see a doctor at some point today and we expect to know more then so stay tuned.

The Yankees Have ONE Job Tonight, Beat Masterson


The New York Yankees have ONE job tonight, beat THIS man Justin Masterson. Seems easy enough, right?

Four Thunder Players Named EL All-Stars


Tracy, Gamel, O'Brien and Sanchez Named
Eastern League All-Stars
Tony Franklin & Staff To Manage The Game
The Trenton Thunder, in conjunction with the Eastern League, announced today that four players, LHP Matt Tracy, LF Ben Gamel, OF/1B/C Peter O’Brien and C Gary Sanchez have been selected to play in the 2014 Eastern League All-Star Game on Wednesday, July 16 at Peoples Natural Gas Field in Altoona, PA.
LHP Matt Tracy is in his second season with the Thunder and has a 8-2 record and a 3.28 ERA. The former-24th round draft pick leads the Thunder with 82.1 IP and has made a team-high 14 starts. His 3.28 ERA ranks 10th best amongst qualified starting pitchers in the Eastern League.

LF Ben Gamel, a former 10th round draft pick in 2010 out of Bishop Kenney HS (FL), has primarily hit second in the Thunder batting order and has compiled a .284 batting average in 85 games during the 2014 season. Gamel leads the Thunder in doubles (23) and hits (102) while those totals rank him second (doubles) and tied for fourth (hits) in the Eastern League. 

OF/1B/C Peter O’Brien currently ranks third in all of Minor League Baseball with 25 home runs. In 53 games with the Thunder this season, O’Brien has hit 15 home runs, which is tied for the fourth most amongst league hitters, and driven in 39 runs; tied for second most on the team. The former 2nd round pick in 2012 played the first 30 games of his season with Single-A Tampa where he hit 10 home runs.

C Gary Sanchez entered the season as the top prospect in the Yankees system according toBaseball America. In the first six games of the season, Sanchez drove in 10 runs. Overall in 60 games, Sanchez leads the Thunder with 44 runs driven in and is tied for the second on the team with nine home runs.

Peter O’Brien and Matt Tracy were chosen via fan voting. At least one position player, and one pitcher, from each team were selected by fans through online and stadium balloting. The remaining selections were made through voting by league media, managers and officials.


Trenton Thunder skipper Tony Franklin and his staff will manage the Eastern Division squad after representing the Eastern Division in last year’s Eastern League Championship (which they won). Host team Altoona Curve will have their manager Carlos Garcia and his staff manage the Western Division squad in the game.

The Eastern Division is comprised of the Binghamton Mets, New Britain Rock Cats, New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Portland Sea Dogs, Reading Fightin’ Phils and Trenton Thunder while the teams in the Western Division include the Akron RubberDucks, Altoona Curve, Bowie Baysox, Erie SeaWolves, Harrisburg Senators and Richmond Flying Squirrels.

For the full roster for each team, please CLICK HERE.

New York Yankees Game Preview vs. Cleveland Indians 7/7


The New York Yankees just spent the last four games in Minnesota and will spend the next four games in Cleveland at Progressive Field to face off with the Cleveland Indians. The Yankees will send Shane Greene to the mound to face off with Justin Masterson for the Indians. The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, ESPN, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN.

Greene will be making his first start of his major league career after the Yankees traded today's original starter Vidal Nuno to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Brandon McCarthy. Greene has been solid in Triple-A in his last few starts and looks to build on that confidence in New York today. Also the Yankees may be showcasing Greene for a trade tonight.

Masterson has had an up and down season in 2014 at the worst possible time since he is a free agent after this season. Masterson allowed eight runs and 14 hits with seven walks in a combined seven innings in his last two starts for the Indians.

Get your Yankees tickets for this game if you're in Cleveland or for Wednesday night's start to see Brandon McCarthy make his pinstripes debut right HERE on the blog. If you're not in Ohio then go see the Yankees next week after the All Star Break live when they return back to Yankee Stadium to host the Reds.

Go Yankees!!

Will Yankee Stadium Help Or Hurt Brandon McCarthy?


I love to look at BIP locations to see if a stadium will possibly help or hurt a player or pitcher so I decided to look at Yankee Stadium and Brandon McCarthy. McCarthy has been pitching in a hitting friendly Chase Field in Arizona so it wouldn't be a huge step for him to go to Yankee Stadium. McCarthy is a sinker ball pitcher that gets nearly 60% of his outs on ground balls but what about the one's that go in the air? See below:

Dark Blue = home runs
Lighter Blue = Triples
Light Blue = Doubles


All his home runs are out in Yankee Stadium which is not all that surprising. One triple gets out in Yankee Stadium but he's only allowed one all season so I don't worry about that one. Enter concern, eight of his doubles allowed get out of Yankee Stadium and another three (almost four) make it to the warning track. I always wonder how much the ball travels in New York as opposed to Arizona so I worry about him keeping the ball down, even at a career best 55% ground ball ratio this season. All his line outs, fly outs, pop outs, etc are easily outs in New York as well so it seems like when McCarthy gets burned he gets burned, but he's still ultimately better than Nuno and that's a start.

Jeter Saddened By Soriano's Release

When Alfonso Soriano was released Sunday, many of his teammates were obviously upset.

Soriano, a 38 year old veteran who was hitting just .221, played with many of them throughout his sixteen year career, making the fact that he was suddenly gone an unpleasant surprise.

For team Captain Derek Jeter, the move was especially upsetting, as he and Soriano worked a total of six seasons together since the latter was a rookie in 1999.

“Soriano is like family to me,” Jeter told the New York Post's George A. King III yesterday after the Yankees beat the Twins 9-7. “I have played with him a long time, when he first came up and when he came back. Sori has had a tremendous career here in New York and it was difficult for him this year. Not playing every day, it’s hard to be productive."

A few weeks ago, when Soriano was really slumping, he was essentially replaced by Ichiro Suzuki in right field, pretty much beginning a countdown until his DFA.

Still, #12 had an overall great career in the Bronx, something that should help us appreciate what kind of player he actually was, as one bad year doesn't dictate anything.

McCarthy Faces Easier Competition In The AL East


For the longest time when a team added a pitcher from the National League, especially the NL West, you added at least a run to their ERA to try and predict his stats in New York. That may no longer be the case with a very top heavy NL West with the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers and a mediocre at best American League East. Could McCarthy and his 2.89 xFIP actually get better in the rest of the statistical departments with a move to New York and Yankee Stadium? In a word, yes!

The most commonly used stat for a team is run differential. The NL West has scored a combined 1,771 runs and allowed 1,846 runs for a -75 run differential. The Giants and the Dodgers have a +56 and +26 run differential respectively to lead the division while McCarthy's old team, the Diamondbacks, have a -74 differential.

The AL East has combined to score 1,799 runs with a designated hitter and allowed 1,859 runs for a run differential of -60. The run differential for the first place Baltimore Orioles is only +22 while the Toronto Blue Jays trail in second place with a +28 differential.

When you consider that there is more parity in the AL East and less dominant teams in the American League other than the Oakland Athletics, who we are done facing this season, McCarthy absolutely can improve in the AL East this season. Even if he sticks with his first half numbers he is still an upgrade over Vidal Nuno and a marginal upgrade is still an upgrade.

A Thank You Letter & Goodbye To Alfonso Soriano


I know a lot of people, including myself, were happy when we heard the news that Alfonso Soriano was designated for assignment but that doesn't mean I've forgotten everything he has done for the New York Yankees. This is my thank you letter:

Sori

You were always my favorite Yankee when you were around, even when you were swinging at sliders off the plate for strike three. I loved it when you received your 1999 and 2000 World Series rings and I felt terrible when you didn't get the one you deserved in 2001. You captivated me when you stole 41 bases and lead the American League in 2002 while also leading the league in hits. You broke my heart when you were traded away before 2004 for Alex Rodriguez and brought me right back last season.

I rooted for you in Texas, I rooted for you in Washington, and I rooted for you in Chicago and I rooted for you in New York. Sometimes the cards don't fall the way you want but we will always have the second half of 2013 where you put up 17 home runs and 50 RBI's in only 67 games and tried to lead us back to the promised land. Thank you Sori, you were and are appreciated even if I didn't always show it.

Good luck in everything you do both on and off the field...

Daniel Burch

Quick Hit: McCarthy Starts Wednesday For New York

Unless you have been living under a rock or unless your a terrible Yankees fan, I kid, New York traded Vidal Nuno to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Brandon McCarthy. McCarthy was heard telling reporters that he would report to New York and start on Wednesday against the Cleveland Indians. The Indians currently have Josh Tomlin scheduled to throw Wednesday night in Cleveland.

The pitching matchups for the week are all jumbled but look something like this (tentatively):

Shane Greene vs. Justin Masterson
Masahiro Tanaka vs. Trevor Bauer
Brandon McCarthy vs. Josh Tomlin
David Phelps vs. TJ House

Chase Whitley gets skipped and honestly, he should be. More to come I'm sure so stay tuned.

This Day In New York Yankees History 7/7: FDR Attends The All Star Game


Franklin D. Roosevelt was a big baseball fan and even threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the 1937 All Star Game becoming the first United States President to attend and All Star Game. The game was held at Washington's Griffith Stadium and FDR and fans were treated to the American League defeating the National League 8-3. The Yankees Lou Gehrig drove in four runs with a home run and a double in the game.