Tuesday, May 19, 2015
BREAKING: Jacoby Ellsbury Leaves Game w/ Leg Injury
Jacoby Ellsbury has left the game between the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals with a potential lower leg injury. Ellsbury was seen noticeably wincing after a swing in the 4th inning although he did stay in the game to take a walk and later run the bases to score a run. Ellsbury did not look healthy running the bases and was taken out of the gate in the next half inning. Great.
Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Washington Nationals 5/19
The New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals start a
mini two-game interleague play series tonight at RFK Stadium with the Yankees
pitchers hitting for the first time in 2015. On the mound and in the batter’s
box for the Yankees will be Nathan Eovaldi who will be facing off with Gio
Gonzalez for the Nationals. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be
seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.
The Yankees have two games in Washington followed by an off
day and travel day before the team finally returns home to the Bronx to play
host to the Texas Rangers inside Yankee Stadium. Get your Yankees tickets here
on the blog by clicking the Yankees Tickets link in the header to get your
tickets now and guarantee your spot for the weekend series. If you can’t make
it out to Yankee Stadium then that’s no problem just be sure to join us in the
comments section or on Twitter (@GreedyStripes) to keep the conversation going
almost every single night.
I can’t tell if that’s Eovaldi with the bat in his hand or
if that’s Jacoby Ellsbury stepping up to the plate but either way it is game
time so I will let Nathan take it from here. Go Yankees!
Masahiro Tanaka Scheduled For Rehab Start On Thursday
It's been confirmed that Masahiro Tanaka will indeed have his first rehab start this Thursday night. He will throw around 45 pitches for the Scranton RailRiders, who will face the Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay Rays).
While Tanaka may only need one rehab start before returning to the Yankees, I have a feeling he'll start one more time in the minors. If the Yankees are going to be careful with anybody, it's Masahiro.
While Tanaka may only need one rehab start before returning to the Yankees, I have a feeling he'll start one more time in the minors. If the Yankees are going to be careful with anybody, it's Masahiro.
USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings
It’s that time again as we take a look at the power rankings
for Major League Baseball that USA Today releases weekly on their site. Last
week the Yankees were riding high off another great weeks’ worth of games and
came in at a season high #6 position. That position, like many this week, are
expected to change so let’s stop speculating and jump right into it.
First and foremost we always start with the biggest rise of
the week and that honor this week goes to the Chicago White Sox who rose nine
spots all the way to the #15 position on the list. The biggest fall this week
goes to a fellow American League East team the Toronto Blue Jays who fell 10
spots all the way to the #21 spot after a terrible week. Speaking of terrible
weeks the Yankees week was far from ideal as the team fell to the #7 spot this
week one position down from their ranking last week.
Finishing out the AL East division is the Tampa Bay Rays who
came in 10th, the Boston Red Sox who came in 17th and the
Baltimore Orioles who finished the week off in the 19th position.
The Top five positions in the rankings went to none other than the St. Louis
Cardinals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Detroit Tigers, the Kansas City Royals
and the Houston Astros in that order. The bottom five positions went to the
Cleveland Indians, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Oakland Athletics, the
Colorado Rockies and the Milwaukee Brewers in order.
We are starting to see some of the early season pretenders
start to fall and the slow starters start to rise as teams can no longer hide
behind the small sample size. If New York can stay in the top 10 all season
long that would be ideal if you ask me.
The 2013 Yankees, the 2014 Team in New York, the 2015 Edition and Déjà vu
When the Yankees woke up this morning they were in a
familiar place this early in the season, first place. The Yankees have reached
first place in each of the last two seasons before the injury bug, the Father
Time bug and the general sample size bug struck the team and left them out of
the playoffs. If you asked me this a week ago my answer would be 100% different
but if you’re asking me today I may have to admit that I see more than a few
differences between the 2013 Yankees, the 2014 Yankees and this year’s edition
of the New York Yankees.
Each of the team started rather slow before making early run
before the calendar turned to June including a stop in first place. Each team
also reached first place right around the time the injury bug began to hit the
team. Already the team has lost Masahiro Tanaka, Chris Capuano, Ivan Nova,
Chase Whitley, Brendan Ryan, Gregorio Petit, Jose Pirela and others for various
lengths of time due to various injuries and we’re barely halfway through May.
Whether Tanaka’s elbow holds up or Michael Pineda’s shoulder is healthy or CC
Sabathia’s rubber band that is holding his knee together will hold up all
season long remains to be seen but if these players cannot stay healthy all
season long the Yankees will not go far, bottom line.
Father time also began to creep up to the Yankees aging
players as the likes of Carlos Beltran continue to struggle like Alfonso
Soriano in 2014 and Vernon Wells before him. Players like Brian McCann continue
to hit far less then what their baseball cards show while the shift continues
to eat up Mark Teixeira for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Instead of Robinson
Cano in 2013 the team dealt with Brian Roberts struggling in 2014 and Stephen
Drew from July 31st, 2014 to present who is starting a campaign to
change the Mendoza Line of .200 to the Drew Line at .165.
The common denominator here, besides the fact that the team
is aging, struggling to hit with runners in scoring position and susceptible to
injury is the fact that the team almost exclusively refuses to rely on
prospects in any major position or situation. The team could have had nine
young options at second base this offseason and still would have signed Drew
while Capuano continues to block the ways of Bryan Mitchell, Luis Severino and
others. If the team does not learn from their past they are doomed to repeat it
in their future and their future may include another missed postseason in 2015.
Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Washington Nationals 5/19
The New York Yankees are fresh off their first off day in
nearly three weeks and a series loss at the hands of the Kansas City Royals as
the team limps into Washington for this contest. This contest marks the first
time that the Yankees will send their starting pitchers to the plate in an
Interleague game this season but the good news for the Yankees is that pitcher
will be Nathan Eovaldi. Opposing Eovaldi for the hometown Nationals is Gio
Gonzalez. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES
Network and MLB TV.
- Eovaldi is a former Miami Marlins pitcher and NL East competitor so taking at bats and facing the Washington Nationals offense should be no problem for the big right hander tonight. Eovaldi is coming off a start in which he allowed four runs in 7.1 IP against the Tampa Bay Rays in a loss that seemed to be in the bag for New York.
- Gonzalez is coming off a start in which he allowed five runs on nine hits in five innings and will face off against the Yankees for the seventh time in his career. Gonzalez owns a career 1-5 record with a 6.75 ERA against them in his career, a great sign for the Bronx Bombers.
The Yankees only play two games in Washington before another
off day on Thursday night so I may be a little cranky on Thursday. When I get
Yankee deprived for too long I tend to get a bit ill, can you blame me though?
Anyway let’s at least get a series split here and let’s go home, shall we? Go
Yankees!
New York Yankees Leaders Through 39 Games
The New York Yankees are fresh off an off day that followed
by 17 games in 17 straight days before facing off with the Washington
Nationals tonight in the Nation’s Capital. The Yankees season has been one that
can be described as one of ups and downs thus far with a few bright spots and
as many disappointments. Let’s take a look at the Yankees leaders in key
categories through the team’s first 39 games of the season.
Offense
Games Played:
Chase Headley - 38
At Bats:
At Bats:
Jacoby Ellsbury - 147
Runs Scored:
Jacoby Ellsbury - 28
Hits:
Runs Scored:
Jacoby Ellsbury - 28
Hits:
Jacoby Ellsbury - 48
Doubles:
Doubles:
Carlos Beltran - 11
Home Runs:
Home Runs:
Mark Teixeira - 11
RBI:
RBI:
Mark Teixeira - 28
AVG:
AVG:
Jacoby Ellsbury - .327
Pitching:
GS:
CC Sabathia - 8
AP:
Dellin Betances - 19
Wins:
Michael Pineda - 5
Losses:
Losses:
CC Sabathia - 5
ERA:
ERA:
Bullpen:
Andrew Miller & Dellin Betances – 0.00
Rotation:
Masahiro Tanaka – 3.22
K's:
K's:
Rotation:
Michael Pineda – 55
Bullpen:
Dellin Betances - 32
TGP Daily Poll: Nathan Eovaldi the Batter
Nathan Eovaldi has seen the Washington Nationals plenty of time in his career with the Miami Marlins in the NL East and has seen his fair share of at bats. Eovaldi knows how to handle an at bat and will reach base at least one time on Tuesday.
Vote in our prediction poll on Knoda.com
Weekly Check In: Aaron Judge
The New York Yankees still have one of the most prominent
hitters in all the minor leagues hitting bombs with their Double-A affiliate
the Trenton Thunder. The Yankees lack a true power bat that truly scares away
the opposing pitchers and teams in the Bronx leaving many to wonder why the
team won’t call up Aaron Judge. Whether the team truly believes that Carlos
Beltran can turn things around or not remains to be seen but either way the
longer Beltran is expected to not only play right field but hit in the middle
of the lineup the longer this season is going to be for fans of the Yankees.
When Judge steps up to the plate for his next game he will
be looking to improve on this stat line:
Year | Lev | G | PA | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | AA | 34 | 154 | 21 | 44 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 21 | 11 | 33 | .314 | .370 | .521 | .892 |
This Day in New York Yankees History 5/19: Orioles and Yankees Brawl over Crack Jack’s?
On this day in 2004 the Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo
announced that Cracker Jack, baseball's most famous snack for over 100 years,
will not be sold at Yankee Stadium anymore. Instead the Yankees will sell
Crunch 'n Munch, a change that the Yankee Stadium fans rejected, because it
"tastes better." Long story short that didn't last long and you
shouldn't mess with baseball history, especially Cracker Jacks.
Also on this day in 1998 the Orioles Armando Benitez nails
the Yankees Tino Martinez between the shoulder blades with a pitch and starts a
brawl between the two clubs. This came after Benitez gave up a three run home
run to Bernie Williams in that eight inning. Graeme Lloyd raced onto the field
from the Yankees bullpen and punched Benitez in the face and Alan Mills
bloodied Darryl Strawberry's face after he ended up in the Baltimore dugout
going after Benitez.
Finally on this day in 1929 a 17 year old college sophomore
and a 60 year old truck driver are trampled to death with another 75 fans
injured when a violent storm causes the overcapacity bleacher crowd to run for
cover at Yankee Stadium. The stampede happened in "Ruthville" and the
game would be called with the Yankees ahead of the Red Sox 3-0 at the end of
four and a half innings, an official game.
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