Capuano's Struggles Cancelled Out By Offensive Explosion in 8-5 Win Over Rays

Chris Capuano surrendered four earned runs in a 1/3 of an inning and Jacoby Ellsbury went 0-for-4, but since the bullpen was able to back up the veteran with 26 outs of one-run ball and the Brian McCann/Chris Young duo led a rally throughout the Yankees luckily escaped the Stadium tonight with an 8-5 win over the Rays. 

In his outing this evening, contrary to what he usually does, Capuano labored with each guy he faced, overall letting six of the seven reach base. 

Nonetheless, due to the fun-to-watch endeavors of McCann and the recently-signed Young things eventually turned out alright for the Pinstripes, with McCann taking Jake Odorizzi (4 1/3 IP, 6 ER) deep and connecting on a two-run single early to help Preston Claiborne (2 IP, 0 R) get the W.

No, that pair of hits by the Yanks' catcher didn't force a tie, but after Young homered to left, Mark Teixeira collected an RBI Triple, and Chase Headley got him in with a routine knock in the middle frames their effects were definitely noticeable, with Ichiro and Young also doubling in runs in the bottom of the eighth to somewhat make the contest a laugher.

Yankees Confused on How to Deal with Home Plate Rule

The Yankees, in the wake of a controversial out call in last night's bottom of the fifth, are admittedly confused on how this year's plate-blocking rule works.

Yesterday's seemingly-blown decision, which kept the game at 4-3 Rays instead of tying the contest, looked to be a safe bet in New York's favor during its minute-long review, yet ended up going Tampa Bay's way alternatively. 

So, as is expected of a team who's already shown dislike for it, the Yanks remain unhappy with how the new ordinance is judged, with club Manager Joe Girardi going as far as to say yesterday that catchers should be run over when they stand at an angle similar to Ryan Hanigan's.

"If I'm the baserunner, I'm going to run him over there," Girardi said. "I'm going to lower my shoulder, and I'm going to run him over."

First Basemen Mark Teixeira, who went 0-for-4 in the loss, also expressed frustration. 

"We're just not really sure,'' Teixeira said. "Looking back, the only way you can score is to run him over. But that's what they're trying to get away from."

Indeed, the new rule is confusing to many. Nonetheless, since it may be around for awhile the Yankees are going to have to find a way to tolerate it soon, as what they're doing right now (the send-the-runner-first-and-then-get-mad-when-a-call-is-possibly-blown philosophy) clearly isn't working.

(Quotes via ESPN.com and Newsday)

9/10 Yankees Game Thread vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Welcome to tonight’s open thread for the game between the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yanks will send Chris Capuano to the mound to face off with the Rays Jake Odorizzi and the game can be seen on the YES Network, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with WFAN at 7:05 pm ET.

Get your Yankees tickets right here off the blog to see the home team before the 2014 season is over. Also be sure to give us a follow on twitter by following @greedystripes and like our page on Facebook by searching for The Greedy Pinstripes.

It’s an open thread so be sure to use to comments section of the site to chat during the game. Enjoy the game Yankees family and as always, go Yankees!

Tanaka To Pitch Monday In Minor League Game

Masahiro Tanaka has one more hurdle to clear before heading back to the Yankee Stadium mound and that is to pitch in a minor league game. Tanaka is slated to pitch in a minor league game on Monday at the Yankees minor league complex in Tampa, FL.

Tanaka threw 45 pitches yesterday with no complaints of soreness or fatigue and will throw a bullpen session on Friday in preparation for the start on Monday. The Yankees may activate Tanaka before next weekend if this start goes well.

The Yankees absolutely need Tanaka to pitch this season to learn if he needs the Tommy John surgery now or later so this is a big start for Tanaka and the Yankees.

9/10 Yankees Game Preview vs. Tampa Bay Rays

The New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays continue their three game set this week as the Yankees finish out their home stand before heading back out on the road to face off with familiar AL East foes. The Yankees are in desperate need of a victory, and will be for the remainder of the season, and really need to beat up on a lesser team in Tampa Bay. The Yankees will send Chris Capuano to the mound to face off with the Rays Jake Odorizzi. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET 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.

Capuano is coming off a start in which he allowed four earned runs in 4.1 innings as he made his worst start in a Yankees uniform. Capuano allowed three home runs against the Boston Red Sox, two to David Ortiz, in another Yankees loss. 

Odorizzi is coming off two consecutive starts in which he was stellar on the mound. Odorizzi combined for 14.1 innings in the two starts and did not allow a run in either game. Odorizzi has struggled against New York this season allowing six runs in 9.2 innings against the Yankees in 2014. 

Get your Yankees tickets right here on the blog as the 2014season winds down as well as the career of the great Derek Jeter. CLICK here tobuy without fees and shipping costs associated with the sale.

Go Yankees!!

The Lack of Yankee Offense Likely To Continue In 2015

If it were not for the Boston Red Sox the New York Yankees may have the worst offense in all of the American League in 2014. Let that sink in a minute because the Yankees are playing in the same league as the Houston Astros, a struggling Tampa Bay Rays team, the Minnesota Twins, the Chicago White Sox, the Texas Rangers, and your father’s Kansas City Royals. This offense has left many Yankees fans disgusted and waiting for 2015 but I am not entirely convinced that things will be much better next year than they were this year.

Looking at the Yankees roster for 2015 you pretty much have locks at first base with Mark Teixeira, catcher with Brian McCann, third base or DH with Alex Rodriguez, left field with Brett Gardner, center field with Jacoby Ellsbury, and right field with Carlos Beltran. This leaves two full time positions for the Yankees and likely for GM Brian Cashman to fill next season, the shortstop and second base positions. The Yankees may fill a bench spot or two but with the trio of catchers in Francisco Cervelli, John Ryan Murphy, and Austin Romine along with Brendan Ryan and Martin Prado there won’t be many spots left on the bench to fill either. Prado is the true wildcard in the equation as he has the ability to play multiple positions including second base, third base, and the outfield. Prado has played shortstop in the past but I am unsure if I would trust him over a 162 game grind at short, but I was wrong once so who knows. It looks likely that Prado will be the team’s second baseman and backup and insurance policy in right field for Beltran’s surgically repaired elbow. This is likely to keep a hot and potent bat in Robert Refsnyder once again stuck in Triple-A taking away an opportunity for the Yankees to upgrade the offense.

The Yankees cannot upgrade in at least seven positions next year when you will have a year older Prado, McCann, Teixeira, Ellsbury, Gardner, Beltran, and Rodriguez.  With Rodriguez specifically you have no idea what you will get from him after basically two seasons off and now two hip surgeries. If the Yankees bring Chase Headley back and place A Rod at DH full time or in a rotation that gives you another player a year older and another push in terms of production. The Yankees will be forced to upgrade big time at the shortstop position if they want any kind of upgrade offensively and the free agent market is just about as barren as the Yankees farm system at that position. The shortstop free agent class is being headlined by Hanley Ramirez, who has no business being listed as a shortstop anymore, and includes lesser names like J.J. Hardy, Stephen Drew, and Asdrubal Cabrera. Earlier in the day we mentioned the Korean project Jung-Ho Kang as possibly being the only decent alternative for the Yankees in this market to replace the retiring Jeter.

With the offense likely standing pat or decreasing in production in at least seven positions, likely eight positions, and no room for a youth movement or big time free agent acquisition the fans may be in store for yet another frustrating season and yet another missed playoffs.

Should The Yankees Pursue Korean SS Jung-Ho Kang?

In case you haven't heard the New York Yankees will have a huge hole at the shortstop position following the 2014 season and the Derek Jeter replacement options are not encouraging. Currently on the roster the Yankees have Brendan Ryan, Stephen Drew (who will also be a free agent after this season), Martin Prado, and guys like Carmen Angelini in Triple-A. The free agent market doesn't look exactly encouraging either with Hanley Ramirez, Asdrubal Cabrera, and J.J. Hardy showcasing the market. The Yankees may have to look outside the organization and outside the country for Jeter's replacement and their search may extend all the way to Korea and Jung-Ho Kang.

Kang is 27 years old and stands 6' tall and weighs in at 180 pounds. Kang plays above average defense and has the power to absolutely slug the ball at the plate. Here are Kang's Korean Baseball Organization stats:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2006	19	Hyundai	KBO	10	21	20	1	3	1	0	0	1	0	0	8	.150	.150	.200	.350
2007	20	Hyundai	KBO	20	15	15	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	.133	.133	.133	.267
2008	21	Woori	KBO	116	408	362	36	98	18	1	8	47	3	31	65	.271	.334	.392	.726
2009	22	Woori	KBO	133	538	476	73	136	33	2	23	81	3	45	81	.286	.349	.508	.857
2010	23	Nexen	KBO	133	522	449	60	135	30	2	12	58	2	61	87	.301	.391	.457	.848
2011	24	Nexen	KBO	123	504	444	53	125	22	2	9	63	4	43	62	.282	.353	.401	.754
2012	25	Nexen	KBO	124	519	436	77	137	32	0	25	82	21	71	78	.314	.413	.560	.973
2013	26	Nexen	KBO	126	532	450	67	131	21	1	22	96	15	68	109	.291	.387	.489	.876
2014	27	Nexen	KBO	107	458	381	98	137	33	2	38	107	3	62	98	.360	.463	.756	1.219
9 Seasons				892	3517	3033	465	904	190	10	137	535	51	381	593	.298	.382	.503	.885

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

As you can see Kang has been above average in each of his last five to seven seasons, albeit in a lower class of baseball in the KBO. Kang has stayed healthy, hit for power, hit for extra base hits, takes enough walks, and has slugged the heck out of the ball for three seasons now. Kang was also in the 2013 World Baseball Classic where he hit the decisive two run home run off of Taiwan in the eight inning.

No positional player from the KBO has ever had much success in the major leagues so it would be nice if the first were with the New York Yankees because this team is definitely better with Kang in the field and at the plate.

The David Phelps Bullpen Audition Could Mean the End of David Robertson in Pinstripes

With David Phelps on his way back from elbow inflammation and being sent to the Yankees bullpen this could be serving as an audition of sorts for the 2015 season. You guys know me by now, I’m always thinking about next season whether we’re in the thick of things or not, and I believe the Yankees may be as well.

The Yankees current closer David Robertson is set to hit free agency after this season in his age 30 season and if Phelps can show he is capable of pitching out of the bullpen it may spell the end of Robertson in pinstripes. Much like after the 1996 season when the Yankees let 30 year old John Wetteland walk away via free agency and immediately plugged Mariano Rivera in as the closer after he burst onto the scene as a failed starter turned reliever. Dellin Betances would be Mariano in this situation and could slide into the ninth inning role for New York to replace Robertson.

If Robertson leaves and Betances moves up from the eighth inning then the Yankees would have to fill the void with either Shawn Kelley or Adam Warren. Phelps could conceivably earn his way into the 8^th inning but knowing Joe Girardi and his tendencies like I think I do then Phelps would likely replace Warren in the pen and everyone else would take a step up leaving a glaring hole in the back end of the pen. Obviously New York could once again catch lightning in a bottle and throw Jose Ramirez into the bullpen and actually use him this time and you also have to remember that Jacob Lindgren is also expected to get a real look at spring training next season and could also help fill the gaps in.

For Phelps sake and the Yankees sake I hope he either gets bombed in the bullpen or shines, nothing in between. I don’t want the Yankees to have any excuse to keep moving the guy back and forth between the rotation and the pen a la Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes. I would like to see Phelps either become a mainstay in the starting rotation or a mainstay in the bullpen, not both. 

POLL: The Yankees Will Make The Playoffs in 2014

Thanks to our new friends over at Knoda.com we will be conducting more polls here on the blog. The first one I wanted to run as a test today so he how well the software is working so I will ask a simple question that I think will get more than a few answers.

Will the New York Yankees make the playoffs in 2014? Yes or no? Try out our new software and vote!

This Day In New York Yankees History 9/10: Griffith Stadium & Home Runs

There has not been much in the way of good history on this day in New York Yankees history unfortunately so this was a tough post to type out. I considered talking about the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim clinching the AL West earlier than any other team in the history of the division with a 4-2 victory over the Yankees in 2008 but decided against it later. I also considered talking about Pedro Martinez of the Boston Red Sox pitching a one hit complete game victory against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium while striking out 18 batters. In the contest on this day in 1999 Pedro extended his own record to 40 consecutive innings with at least one strikeout per inning. Finally I remembered this day in 1919 the Cleveland Indians Ray Caldwell no hit the Yankees after being released by the Boston Red Sox a mere two months previously.

Instead I decided to keep my Wednesday morning positive and I instead focused on this day in 1950 when Joe DiMaggio became the first major league hitter to hit three home runs in Washington's Griffith Stadium. The Yankees would beat the Senators 8-1 while DiMaggio hit a trio of home runs for the third time in his career. Whether it be a coincidence or whether the dimensions at Yankee Stadium played into it but DiMaggio had three separate road games with three home runs and never had such a game at Yankee Stadium.