Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Greene Struggles Mightily as Yankees Drop Third Straight to Red Sox

Shane Greene gave up 6 earned runs in 2 2/3 innings and Brett Gardner got ejected in the fifth for arguing the strikezone tonight as the Yankees continue to labor with a 9-4 loss to the Red Sox.

For the Yanks, dissapointingly, the defeat was their third consecutive, dropping them to just 70-66 on the season despite the fact they won seven of their previous nine before Saturday.

And yes, this evening's contest was as bad as its score suggests. 

After the Yoenis Cespedes-led Sox put up a pair in their half of the first, Daniel Nava drove a three-run shot into the right-field seats in the third, making it 5-0 before Xander Boegarts tacked on another blast of his own.

At that point, down 6-0 early, it was clear things weren't going New York's way, a fact that seemed to force Joe Girardi to take Greene out.

No, the excitement didn't necessarily end there, but since a duo of homers by Martin Prado and Brian McCann as well as a walk by Francisco Cervelli and a single by Derek Jeter were all New York's offense could muster against Joe Kelly (6 2/3 IP, 3 ER) on the night the Yankees did obviously fall in the end, an annoyance that has unfortunately become common lately. 

Young Not Making Excuses For Earlier Struggles, But Ready to Move On

New Yankees Outfielder Chris Young is coming to terms with his bad first half. 

According to an article published earlier today by The New York Post's Fred Kerber, Young is beginning to accept that what he produced during his recent tenure with the Mets wasn't acceptable, something pretty obvious considering his batting average during the 4 1/2 months was just .205.

“I hold myself fully accountable,” Young said before the Yankees/Red Sox game tonight. “But at the same time you have to let it go."

Why, exactly? Because forgetting the past is essential to Young's future.

"This is a new team. They’re on a path to try to make a playoff push right now and there’s no real reason to hold onto the past. What’s done is done. All I can try to do is make the most of this opportunity."

Yep, that really is all he can do. Sitting at just 70-65 entering play this evening, the Yankees aren't looking too good in their race for a Wild Card Spot, an unfortunate fact that likely won't be affected by what Young does on the field.

Nonetheless, Young needs to play well in this last month. No, doing so won't guarantee him another job in 2015, but yes, it'd give him confidence, a feeling that can't hurt anything when it comes to aging veterans. 

Jaron Long Named Thunder's Pitcher of the Year

Jaron Long has been named the Trenton Thunder's Pitcher of the Year as voted by the fans. The real question is though, can he hit? On a serious note though congratulations to Jaron, his teammates, and his family. What an honor and definitely one that was deserved and earned through hard work.

Nick's Pick's 2.0: Red Sox VS Yankees 9/2/14

It feels so good to be back and writing again. I unfortunately had to be away and luckily for most of that time we were on a great winning streak. Things have not gone as well since then but nonetheless I am back to finish up September and this final playoff push. We need to get there, it is plain and simple. Playing some good ball down the stretch might catapult us into the 2nd Wild Card which is all we need. Tonight we start a huge series against the hated Red Sox. Sadly, we have struggled against sub-par pitchers, irony at its finest, as we played well against the best. The Red Sox send Joe Kelley to the mound to square off against Shane Greene. Greene has pitched so well for us this year, and a win a day is all we need. Greene needs to step up and show that he can carry us, because we need him more than he knows. I am hoping my picks tonight bring hope to our team and Yankee Universe needs to band together as we look to wish our team right into October.

Breakout hitter: Brett Gardner is batting third tonight, who'd a thunk right? Let's go Gardy! I have faith that Gardner will lead us into a win tonight and the reason is because for some reason that guy can always find a way to do things. Gardner will hit a homerun tonight and carry a hot bat from Toronto into this month. I predict Gardner going 3-4 tonight and hit a double on top of the homerun and maybe bring in a few runs. He will rise to the occasion and show he can hit anywhere in that lineup. If you call it a lineup anymore.



Simply Clutch: Look out people because Shane Greene is going to be the clutch player tonight. I think Greene is going to do something spectacular tonight. I am calling a no-hit effort against the Red Sox tonight with nine strikeouts and a few walks. Greene is going to take clutch to a whole new level tonight. Hey, gotta have some fun with it. Let's go Greeney!



The Yankees need this game today and they need this month. As much as everyone is very upset with the way things are going, I have already cried myself to sleep more than usual,. we can turn this around. Tonight is going to be where we make moves in the standings and heading forward it will just get closer and closer. I predict a 6-1 win tonight. Yeah, you can score without getting a hit. Above all us we need to keep believing in this team! Let's go Yankees, and remember YCPB!

9/2 Yankees Open Thread vs. Boston Red Sox


Welcome to the first open thread of September as the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox play in the first of three games this week at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees will send Shane Greene to the mound to face off with the Red Sox Joe Kelly. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with WFAN.

Get your Yankees tickets for tonight's game or any game during this home stand as the chances to see the home team live this season and Derek Jeter as a player are coming to a close. Also be sure to follow the blog on Twitter by following @GreedyStripes and like our page on Facebook by searching for The Greedy Pinstripes.

It's an open thread so use the comments section of the site to talk about whatever, preferably the Yankees. Enjoy the game Yankees family and enjoy the rest of your evening. Go Yankees!!

Jacoby Ellsbury Wins Player of the Week Award

For the second time in his career Yankees center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury has won the American League Player of the Week Award. Ellsbury had 12 hits, four of them the home run variety, and knocked in nine RBI since being moved back into the lead off spot.

Yankees To Wear Derek Jeter Patch Starting Sunday

The New York Yankees are set to begin wearing a Derek Jeter commemorative patch on their jerseys starting this Sunday, Derek Jeter Day. This is kind of cool but it has been overshadowed by the sound bites of Joe Girardi saying to "stop picking on" Derek Jeter and showing an unwillingness to move him in the lineup.

New York Yankees Flurry of Roster Moves For September Call Ups


It's September so the rosters have expanded from 25 players to 40 players and the Yankees, as expected, had a flurry of roster moves today before their game with the Boston Red Sox. New York called up RHP's Chaz Roe, Chase Whitley, Bryan Mitchell, and Preston Claiborne, LHP Rich Hill, catcher John Ryan Murphy, and outfielders Antoan Richardson and Chris Young.

To make room on the 40 man roster the Yankees transferred Masahiro Tanaka and Slade Heathcott to the 60 day DL and designated Zoilo Almonte for assignment. Matt Daley was also released. What?

This roster will definitely put the Yankees over the top while evaluating the future of the farm system all at once. /endsarcasm.

9/2 Yankees Game Preview vs. Boston Red Sox


Welcome to September baseball Yankees family as New York finishes off the final month of the 2014 season by hosting a three game series with the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees will send Shane Greene to the mound to face off with the Red Sox Joe Kelly. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN.

Greene is coming off a start in which he pitched seven masterful innings allowing just two runs against the Detroit Tigers. Greene has definitely made himself a household name in Yankees fans homes and has made a strong case for the 2015 starting rotation.

Kelly has only pitched 15 innings and has an 0-1 record with a 5.40 ERA and 12 K's in his last three starts. Kelly has pitched a total of 63 innings this season and has a 2-3 record with a 4.14 ERA on the season as Boston continues their youth movement in 2014.

Get your Yankees tickets for tonight's game with the Red Sox right here on the blog without all the annoying fees or shipping costs associated with the purchase. We're also less than a week away from Derek Jeter Day at Yankee Stadium as the Yankee captain's season and career comes to an end. 

Go Yankees!!

Derek Jeter Sucks In The Two Hole But Is Not To Blame For The Struggling Offense


I have seen all over the Yankees blogosphere, social media, etc. how Derek Jeter thinks he is more important than the team and how he should be moved down from the#2 hole. The general consensus seems to be that the Yankees offense would be better with Jeter batting 7th or below and that is something I tend to disagree with. To date Jeter has slashed .261/.308/.312 with three home runs and 36 RBI. Would this play any different farther down in the lineup than in the second hole, probably, but I am not entirely convinced it would help the offense all that much.

Jacoby Ellsbury leads the team in RBI with 64 RBI after hitting in the number three hole behind Jeter for much of the season. To me that kind of kills the "Jeter kills all rallies and grounds into too many double plays and that's why the Yankees offense sucks" argument. I'm not saying that Ellsbury or whoever was in the third hole couldn't have more RBI with someone else in that hole but I am also saying that Ellsbury doesn't have 100 RBI with someone else hitting in front of him either.

The second highest RBI total on the team belongs to Brett Gardner with 55 as he is tied with Mark Teixeira. Gardner has hit in the lead off spot a ton this season or has hit lower in the order, neither spots are really affected by Jeter hitting behind him. The fact that Teixeira leads the team with only 20 home runs heading into September while he has missed a good months worth of games is not Jeter's fault either. The Yankees have been the Bronx Bombless this season and that's no fault of Jeter's either.

I am more than willing to admit that the best Yankees lineup looks a little something like Ellsbury, Gardner, Beltran, Teixeira, McCann, Prado, Headley, Jeter, Ichiro/Drew/Whoever but I am unwilling to think that the Yankees are leading the AL East division with that lineup either. Either way you look at it a 47 point increase from your batting average to your on base is significant and plays wherever you put it. Jeter's RBI totals look the same or worse down in the order and so do his runs scored numbers. It's September, the sample sizes are real and I don't believe Jeter and his "ego" is to blame for this offense.

Jeter didn't make Teixeira's batting average drop every season since 2009, didn't make McCann and Beltran have terrible seasons, didn't cause the Yankees to run with Brian Roberts, Kelly Johnson, Ichiro, and Yangervis Solarte for a huge part of the season, and Jeter didn't raise the Yankees expectations on Jacoby Ellsbury. Jeter simply blends in on a team that has struggled offensively and is only going to get worse without huge acquisitions in 2015.

Yankees September Schedule & Playoff Hopes


The New York Yankees have one more month to go during the 2014 regular season and all eyes are on Derek Jeter and whether he will head to the playoffs for the final time in his career before he retires. The Yankees are on the outside looking in if the season ended today but for the Yankees sake there are 27 games left. Do the Yankees have a shot?

Here is the remaining Yankees schedule:

9/2 - 9/4 vs. Boston Red Sox
9/5 - 9/7 vs. Kansas City Royals
9/9 - 9/11 vs. Tampa Bay Rays

9/12 - 9/14 @ Baltimore Orioles (double header on 9/12)
9/15 - 9/17 @ Tampa Bay Rays

9/18 - 9/21 vs. Toronto Blue Jays
9/22 - 9/25 vs. Baltimore Orioles

9/26 - 9/29 @ Boston Red Sox

The problem here is what the Yankees should do in these games and what the Yankees will do in these games tend to be two different things this season. The Yankees should take two of three from Boston, two of three from Kansas City, sweep the Rays, split with the Orioles, take two of three from the Rays again, sweep Toronto in Yankee Stadium, split with Baltimore again, and sweep the Sox with something to play for. That's a 20-7 record to finish the season. If history is any indicator though New York will go something along the lines of 16-11 and that may not be good enough. 





Yankees Leaders Through August 2014


Games Played:


Jacoby Ellsbury has played in 131 games this season, speed kills. Martin Prado has played in 134 games but obviously the vast majority of those came in Arizona. 

At Bats:

Martin Prado has 506 at bats while Jacoby Ellsbury has had 504 at bats.

Runs Scored:

Brett Gardner has 81 runs scored to lead the team as the table setter. Must be all those home runs. 

Hits:

Jacoby Ellsbury has 145 hits 

Doubles:

Jacoby Ellsbury has 26 doubles

Home Runs:

Mark Teixeira has sent 20 Teix Messages to Yankees fans this season

RBI's:

Jacoby Ellsbury leads the team with 64 RBI's. 

AVG:

Jacoby Ellsbury leads all the Yankees regulars with a .288 batting average followed by Ichiro's .285, although Suzuki does not qualify for the batting title. 






Wins:

Masahiro Tanaka leads the Yankees pitching staff with 12 wins and has five more then his next closest competition in Hiroki Kuroda. Oh and he has been out almost two months with an injury.

Losses:

Hiroki Kuroda has eight losses for the Yankees. Brandon McCarthy has 14 including four with New York. 

ERA:

Dellin Betances has an anemic 1.46 ERA out of the pen and the lowest ERA for a starter is Michael Pineda's 2.09 ERA for two months worth of games. 

K's:

Masahiro Tanaka has a staggering 135 K's but Brandon McCarthy has 153 while reliever Dellin Betances has 120 K's. 

Quick Hit: 40 Man Roster Crunch Will Keep Refsnyder, Lindgren, Others From Majors In 2014


The New York Yankees are facing a serious 40 man roster crunch for this season and next and for that reason alone many Yankees deserving prospects will not be getting the call this month. Even though the Yankees have a ton of roster moves that could be made to accommodate these players the Yankees don't need to protect these players from the Rule 5 Draft and they likely won't unfortunately.

Even if Masahiro Tanaka came back he could be added to the 60 day DL retro active to July 8 and clear a spot for a player at least temporarily. Also players like Jose Campos and Slade Heathcott could be activated and added to the 60 day DL since their seasons are over. The problem is the Yankees would have to carry these players next season as well and leave a few players, Branden Pinder specifically, unprotected on the 40 man roster.

The 40 man roster crunch sucks for prospects fans as we are ready to see Robert Refsnyder, Jacob Lindgren, Kyle Roller, Jose Pirela, and others. I guess we will have to continue to be patient and hope for the best in Spring Training... again.

Thunder Announce 2014 End of Season Award Winners


The Thunder announced today that Starting Pitcher Jaron Long has been named the winner of the Smith's ACE Hardware Pitcher of the Year award, Catcher Tyson Blaser is the recipient of the 2014 Samuel Plumeri, Sr. Community Service Award and outfielder Ben Gamel is the winner of the 2014 Oxi Clean "Dirtiest Uniform of the Season" Award. The awards were presented in an on-field ceremony prior to the season finale against Reading on Monday afternoon at ARM & HAMMER Park.

The Smith's ACE Hardware Pitcher of the Year award was voted on by the fans during the final month of the season. This year's winner, Jaron Long, had a 7-2 record with a 2.35 ERA in 11 games for Trenton this season. Starting Pitchers Nik Turley (2013) Brett Marshall (2012), Schaeffer Hall (2011), and Relief Pitcher Josh Schmidt (2010) are the previous winners of the honor.

Samuel Plumeri, Sr. Community Service Award winner Tyson Blaser has been a frequent participant in activities for Trenton Thunder Charities. He helped coach at Thunder youth clinics and camps and has been a regular volunteer for outreach opportunities around the ballpark and in the community including Trenton Thunder HOPE Week. The Samuel Plumeri Sr. Community Service Award winner is chosen by Thunder Management.
Blaser joins Brad Tweedlie (1999), Marty McLeary (2000), Josh Garrett (2001), Mike Griffin (2002), Brian Myrow (2003), Jason Grove (2004), Ben Julianel (2005), Jason Brown (2006), Jason Jones (2007), Joe Muich (2008), Noah Hall (2009), Ryan Baker (2010), Cory Arbiso (2011), Craig Heyer (2012), and Aaron Dott (2013) as winners of the Sam Plumeri Sr. Community Service Award.

The winner of the Trenton Thunder Oxi Clean "Dirtiest Uniform of the Season" award is Outfielder Ben Gamel. Gamel’s grit, determination and hustle in the field and on the basepaths, saw him coming off the field with the dirtiest uniform night after night. He has won a year's supply of Oxi Clean products. Slade Heathcott (2013) and David Adams (2012) are the previous winners of the "Dirtiest Uniform" award.

This Day In New York Yankees History 9/2: Mike Mussina's Perfect Game Bid Ends In 9th


Sunday Night Baseball, ESPN, New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox, Mike Mussina on the mound, all the makings for a great pitcher's duel and a great game. Mussina takes a perfect game into the ninth inning with two outs and two strikes before Red Sox pinch hitter Carl Everett singled in the bottom on the inning. Mussina would beat the Red Sox 1-0 for his fourth career one hitter.

Interestingly enough this 1-0 Yankees victory was one of four games on the day that ended 1-0, a major league record. New York beat Boston, San Diego beat Arizona, Houston beat Milwaukee, and Toronto beat Detroit all by the score of 1-0.

Finally on this day in 1996 David Cone made his return to the mound from his May operation to remove an aneurysm in his right throwing arm and pitches seven no hit innings. The Yankees would beat the Oakland Athletics 5-0 with Mariano Rivera giving up the first and only hit of the ball game to Jose Herrera in the bottom of the eight inning on an infield single.