Saturday Night Open Thread

Well the Yankees game is in the books and so is my energy level for the day, sounds like the perfect opportunity to utilize one of these nifty little open threads for the night. The Yankees have been playing 8:00 pm ET games the last three Saturday’s in a row so it will be nice to be able to watch a movie with the kids or something, you know?

So here is the thread for the night, use it to talk about whatever you like. The Knicks draft score? The Yankees inability to hit Dallas Keuchel or any bad teams this season? Alex Rodriguez’s run at an ESPN ESPY Award? Have fun and enjoy.

I leave you with this music recommendation out of my own personal iPod. The band is called “Seether” and the name of the song is "FMLYHM." Enjoy!

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Houston Astros 6/27

You know what the best part about afternoon games for the New York Yankees is? I have an excuse not to be outside cutting the grass or working on my honey-do list during the hottest part of the day, thank you MLB schedulers! Anyway I just had to get that out, this afternoon the Yankees and the Astros will face off for the third time in this four game weekend series inside Minute Maid Park. The Yankees will send Masahiro Tanaka to the mound, Happy Tanaka Day by the way, to face off against LHP Brett Oberholtzer of the Astros. The game will be played at 4:10 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

The Yankees and Astros have one more game in Houston before the Yankees start playing those middle of the damn night games again on the west coast. With the Yankees in Anaheim taking on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim you should have plenty of time during your day to jump on the blog, click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog and order some Yankees tickets for when the team returns home to the Bronx. If you can’t make it live then that’s not a problem, simply jump on Twitter (@GreedyStripes) and/or the comments section of the site to interact with us during each and every Yankees game.

I really don’t look forward to tweeting out the word “Oberholtzer” many times this afternoon so let’s hope the Yankees bomb him and make quick work of him. Go Yankees!

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Houston Astros 6/27

The New York Yankees and the Houston Astros will go at it again head-to-head this afternoon inside Minute Maid Park for the third time in this four game weekend set. The last time the Yankees faced a left handed Astros pitcher, Dallas Keuchel on Thursday night, they struck out 12 times and were shutout in a 4-0 so let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself this afternoon in Houston. Today the Yankees will send Masahiro Tanaka to the mound looking to rebound from a tough start last time out and he will be opposed by Brett Oberholtzer for Houston. The game will be played at 4:10 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

• Tanaka is coming off a start in which he allowed seven runs in five innings to the Detroit Tigers after returning to his dominant form in his two starts prior. Tanaka has been dominant since his return off the DL with wrist tendinitis and a forearm strain and looks to return to that form tonight in Houston.

• Oberholtzer has made six starts this season and pitched well in every single one of them, a trend the Yankees looks to turn around tonight in Houston. Oberholtzer has allowed two earned runs or fewer in five of those six starts and has allowed only one home run all season long.

The Yankees play a mid-afternoon game today inside Minute Maid Park and an afternoon game tomorrow before heading out West to face off with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Yankees don’t want to start this road trip off by losing a series so a win this afternoon can go a long, long way. Go Yankees!

Yankees Need to Manage CC like Rays Manage Pitching

I found an interesting article this week on the USA Today that revealed the secrets to the Tampa Bay Rays success this season despite losing half their team, their GM Andrew Friedman and their manager Joe Maddon all in the same offseason. The key to the Rays success in a nutshell in how they manage their pitching staff and bullpen which got me thinking, could the Yankees learn a thing or two from the Rays when it comes to the way they manage CC Sabathia?

The Rays have had success this season despite losing ace Matt Moore to Tommy John surgery, Alex Cobb to Tommy John surgery and Drew Smyly to a shoulder injury because the team is using common sense. The third time an offense see’s an opposing pitcher they are likely to do better against that pitcher. The pitcher is dealing with fatigue the third time around through the order and the batter has seen anywhere from five to twenty pitches off this pitcher already on the night. So what do the Rays do to combat this? They don’t let their pitchers see the opposing team’s offense three times in a night. Sounds simply enough, right?

In 2015 MLB hitters have a .696 OPS in their first at bats in a game, a .728 OPS in their second at bats and a .760 OPS in their third at bat of the game showing a no so surprising trend. These numbers are up from the 2014 marks of .681 in the first at bat, .708 in the second and .749 in the third at bat respectively. The Rays are on pace to let opposing offense’s see their pitchers three times in a game less than 1,000 plate appearances this season, by far the lowest in Major League Baseball this season. 

If the Tampa Bay Rays have an offense that sports just a .700 OPS at the time of this writing, 11^th best in the American League out of 15 teams, and are still in first place over the mighty Yankees then they must be doing something right. Buster Olney tweeted out the stats from CC when he faces an order a third time in a night and the stats were atrocious, and so is his record. Is it time to take notice and simply allow CC two times through the order before turning it over to the bullpen? If you’re asking me I have to say yes after seeing these Tampa Bay Rays stats. 

TGP Daily Poll: Yankees Acquire Two Players

The July 31^st trading deadline is a little over a month away and the Yankees need reinforcements if they want to make the postseason in 2015. Reinforcements are on the way as the team will acquire at least two players this July.

                                                     

Vote in our prediction poll on Knoda.com

Weekly Check In: Jorge Mateo

props to our friends Pinstriped Prospects for the image

The last time we checked in with Jorge Mateo he had eclipsed the 50 stolen base plateau for the season as he continued to do well for the Yankees. How many stolen bases will Mateo finish with? Is 100 out of the realm of possibilities? I’m not entirely sure but I do know one thing he is making strides inside the Yankees system and may be in line for a call up before this season is said and done, he’s done that well.

Mateo has done a lot to silence the haters and the ones who questioned his unusually high ranking in many top prospects lists. Mateo may not be chasing down Billy Hamilton for the all-time single season stolen base record for minor league baseball but he may be running into a promotion very, very soon. 

Year	Lev	G	PA	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2015	A	63	274	33	68	8	6	2	26	51	10	19	61	.274	.330	.379	.709

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

This Day in New York Yankees History 6/27: Wade Blasingame’s Debut & Goodbye

On this day in 1972 Wade Blasingame made his last start of his career and his first career start for the New York Yankees. The Tigers would hit three consecutive home runs in the first inning when Aurelio Rodriguez, Al Kaline, and Willie Horton went deep. The Tigers would beat the Yankees 5-2.