Monday, August 24, 2015

Recap: Yankees 1, Astros 0

Nathan Eovaldi tossed eight shutout innings and the Yankees edged the Astros, 1-0, on Monday night at Yankee Stadium.

Just What They Needed: With the team's bullpen gassed following Sunday's loss to the Indians, Eovaldi gave the Yankees eight frames of four-hit ball -- holding the Astros to 0-for-7 with RISP while walking three and striking out seven. Eovaldi stayed out of trouble for the most part on the evening, but when the visitors put men on base in the fifth and sixth, the righty saw to it they never passed third.

Walk-Off: The Yankees' bats were virtually nonexistent in eight innings against Scott Feldman, but their luck began to turn when Oliver Perez took the hill for the ninth. Perez -- a lefty with a 3.06 ERA -- walked three consecutive (one intentionally) to load the bases, and after he was removed for Chad Qualls, the Yankees won it on a sac fly by Carlos Beltran. 

Probably Should Have Scored There: The Yankees put runners on the corners with none out in the seventh, but failed to score when Greg Bird struck out and Chase Headley lined into an 8-2 double play. Headley, hitless in three at-bats on the evening, actually made good contact on the inning-ender, but his efforts ultimately went for naught after Carlos Gomez gunned down Brian McCann at the plate.

Probably Should Have Scored There, Too: Didi Gregorius and Stephen Drew -- of all people -- led-off the third with a pair of singles, but again, the Yankees couldn't capitalize on the threat. Jacoby Ellsbury hit into a fielder's choice, Brett Gardner fanned and Alex Rodriguez flied to shallow right, wasting an opportunity they usually won't get from the bottom of the lineup.

He's Baaack: Mark Teixeira was seen in the on-deck circle prior to Beltran's sac fly, apparently pinch-hitting for the 0-for-3 Bird. Teixeira obviously never got a chance in the batter's box, but this could be a sign that his health is improving.

Next Up: The Yankees and Astros continue this three-game series with another meeting on Tuesday, the Yanks starting Ivan Nova (5-5, 3.72 ERA) versus Houston's Dallas Keuchel (14-6, 2.37 ERA). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET, with YES and WFAN calling the action.

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros 8/24


The New York Yankees and the Houston Astros are ready to get their three game series going tonight in the Bronx with three great pitching match-ups. Tonight the Yankees will send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound searching for his 14th victory of the season while the Astros will counter with Scott Feldman. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on WPIX Channel 11, MLB Network and MLB TV.

The Yankees have two more games with these Astros before heading back out on the road so you have two more opportunities to click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog and two more opportunities to see the team live inside Yankee Stadium. If you can't make it to the Bronx or you have to root from afar like I do simply jump on Twitter and give @GreedyStripes a follow to root for the Yankees during each and every Yankees game this season.

Eovaldi is ready to keep Eovolving and win that 14th game this season and I'm ready to watch it all go down. Go Yankees!

CC Sabathia Placed on DL, Chris Capuano is Back


The New York Yankees have announced that left-handed starter CC Sabathia has been placed on the 15 day disabled list with right knee inflammation. Sabathia left his start on Sunday against the Cleveland Indians in the third inning with pain in his right knee and was sent for an MRI immediately following the game. This is the surgically repaired and cleaned up knee that has been giving CC fits for multiple seasons now and the same knee that has been drained twice already this season due to a degenerative knee condition. CC dodged a bullet last time after initial diagnosis that stated it could be a career ending injury so hopefully he gets that same optimistic diagnosis this time around. As much as he has struggled and maybe even hurt the Yankees this season pitching every fifth day you still don’t wish harm on anyone, get well soon big guy!


Chris Capuano is back with the Yankees and will take Sabathia’s roster spot. Once you think you get rid of this guy he just keeps coming back, doesn’t he?

ICYMI: Andy Pettitte & Jorge Posada Day Videos

Pettitte's Speech

Pettitte's Gifts from the Yankees

Pettitte's Plaque

Andy Pettitte throws out the first pitch

Posada's Speech

Posada's Gifts from the Yankees

Posada's Plaque

Posada's First Pitch


Most Popular Article of the Week: Is It Safe to Say New York Won the Didi Gregorius Trade?

The New York Yankees were faced with an almost impossible task this offseason, the task of replacing the irreplaceable icon and legend at shortstop Derek Jeter. It didn't matter what the Yankees did or who the Yankees acquired to fill the position there was going to be backlash and a feeling that the team did not do enough, it was inevitable. When the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks hooked up for a three team trade that saw the Yankees give up Shane Greene to Detroit while a young shortstop named Didi Gregorius came back to New York the fans absolutely lost their minds. "Didi sucked" before he even played a single spring training game with the Yankees let alone an inning at Yankee Stadium in front of the Bronx faithful and once again Yankees GM Brian Cashman was under fire.

Greene, the Yankees rookie right-hander that broke out in 2014, didn't help Cashman's cause by starting out the season with a 3-0 record and an anemic ERA while giving up one earned run and Didi didn't do himself or the Yankees any favors either. Didi struggled with the bat, struggled in the field and had many questioning his overall baseball IQ. From the beginning I pleaded with Yankees fans to give Didi some time to adjust to a new team, a new league, playing everyday, the fans in New York who would hold him up to unrealistic expectations and I pleaded with Didi to settle down and not try and do too much like he was so obviously doing. Finally, after a ton of "Dammit Didi's" and other phrases coined by us here on our Twitter account (@GREEDYSTRIPES) Gregorius finally settled down at the plate and in the field.

Since the month of April Gregorius has been hitting a respectable .277 batting average while playing some of the best defense at the shortstop position that this team and their fans have seen possibly in their lifetimes. Greene, after starting the season with a 3-0 record and an 0.39 ERA, is now in the Detroit Tigers minor league system and is currently sporting an ERA over 9.00. Is it safe to say that the New York Yankees clearly and obviously won this trade? I think so.

We obviously have a long, long way to go in the career's of Gregorius and Greene but if this trend remains the way it is now going forward this may be one of the best trade's in Cashman's tenure as the Yankees GM. At the time of this writing the Yankees were able to improve from their last place finish among shortstops in the American League according to WAR in 2014 to become the 3rd best team in 2015. Gregorius has accounted for a 2.8 WAR increase through August 16th which has accounted for the biggest improvement for the Yankees at any position, and that includes the DH position currently occupied by Alex Rodriguez and the first base position occupied by Mark Teixeira in 2015.

Didi has a long career ahead of him in pinstripes potentially, he's not eligible for free agency until before the 2020 season, and at just 25 years-old he could be well on his way to earning a special spot in Yankees history. I may be getting ahead of myself, I admit, but I don't think I'm that far off base when I say that Didi has helped Cashman and the Yankees not only win the trade but will potentially help send the team back to the postseason for the first time since the 2012 season, a.k.a an eternity in Yankees terms.

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros 8/24


The New York Yankees are off an emotional weekend and a big series with the Cleveland Indians that didn't see enough victories for the Bronx Bombers. The team had all the breathing room they had in the American League East basically disappear so victories in this series with the Houston Astros are as important as they've ever been. The Yankees will send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound tonight to face off with Scott Feldman for the Astros. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on WPIX Channel 11, MLB Network and MLB TV.

Eovaldi has only faced the Astros twice in his career and owns a 1-0 record against the team that calls Eovaldi's birthplace home. Eovaldi had a perfect game into the 6th inning last start before earning his 13th win of the season behind Greg Bird's two home run game. 


Feldman has been one of the best Astros pitchers this season and has been good as of late allowing two earned runs or fewer in four of his past five starts. Feldman held down the Tampa Bay Rays in his last start holding them to just two runs in seven innings in a victory. 


MLB Network has picked up all three games for this series expecting a good three games head-to-head between these two teams. Eovaldi is searching for his 14th victory, Ivan Nova looks to bounce back from a terrible start and Michael Pineda returns off the disabled list for New York this series as the Yankees begin their quest with the six-man rotation. With Eovaldi on the mound tonight we should expect plenty of offense, some frustration and maybe a few more 102 MPH fastballs. Go Yankees!

Twitter Poll: One Game Playoff, Severino or Tanaka Start?

I am absolutely all-in for the New York Yankees this season and I agree with the above tweet that it is American League East Division title or nothing. This is simply a hypothetical Twitter Poll this morning, if the Yankees did have to settle for a Wild Card and a one-game playoff who does Joe Girardi have starting that contest? Assuming that everyone is well rested and on their normal rest who starts that game if you, not Joe Girardi, is making the decision? Is it the rookie who seems unfazed by the bright lights in Luis Severino or is it the ace that's honestly never been there before either in his Major League career in Masahiro Tanaka?











Personally I give the ball to Severino with a short leash if I am making the decision. We have only seen Severino make a handful of starts in his MLB career and his worst may have been his start Saturday against the Indians as he struggled with command and he still won the game. Severino's stuff is so good that even with less than stellar command he still found a way to hold Cleveland to just one run and still found a way to win. Severino strikes out nearly 10 batters a game and has not shown that he is going to be home run prone, the same cannot be said for Tanaka. This is not in any way meant to disrespect Tanaka, he's the ace and he's the starting pitcher that will lead us to the promised land, this is merely my personal preference.

What's yours? To be involved in the next Twitter Poll head over to the app and give @GreedyStripes a follow and be on the lookout for our next Twitter Poll tweet. We will not use your answers without informing you first.

Updated List Of Retired Yankees Numbers



This weekend the New York Yankees retired the jersey numbers of Jorge Posada (#20) and Andy Pettitte #46) bringing their already impressive number of retired numbers two steps closer to triple numbers. With Derek Jeter's number assumed to be retired sometime in 2016 things could get really interesting in all of our lifetime's. First thing is first though, the list. See below. 19 numbers and counting.

#1 Billy Martin
#3 Babe Ruth
#4 Lou Gehrig
#5 Joe DiMaggio
#6 Joe Torre
#7 Mickey Mantle
#8 Yogi Berra/ Bill Dickey
#9 Roger Maris
#10 Phil Rizzuto
#15 Thurman Munson
#16 Whitey Ford
#20 Jorge Posada
#23 Don Mattingly
#32 Elston Howard
#37 Casey Stengel
#42 Mariano Rivera/ Jackie Robinson
#44 Reggie Jackson
#46 Andy Pettitte
#49 Ron Guidry
#51 Bernie Williams

Weekly Check In: Gary Sanchez


When Gary Sanchez was called up to Triple-A he came up to Scranton with a huge bat and a great attitude for the RailRiders. Sanchez has since cooled off and is mired in the middle of a pretty bad slump that will hopefully turn around soon enough. He still is hitting for power but a 7-for-48 slump can hurt anyone's batting line.

Sanchez is just one home run away from tying his career high that he set back in 2012 with 18 home runs after hitting his 17th home run of the season on Saturday. Hopefully Sanchez can turn things around soon for Scranton and keep knocking on Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman's door in the Bronx.

YearLevGPARH2BHRRBISBBBSOBAOBPSLGOPS
2015AA-AAA89386479321176172976.265.324.470.794
2015AA58254336114123661850.262.319.476.795
2015AAA311321432752511126.271.333.458.791

This Day In New York Yankees History 8/24: Yankees Hats Start a Gang War




Unknown to the New York Yankees their hats may have contributed to an uptick in gang violence in East Harlem, New York. On this day in 2007, a day after protests concerning the gang related items, New Era announced that it will remove the "offensive" hats that bears the colors and symbols of the rival gangs the Bloods, the Crips, and the Latin Kings. Two white hats had been wrapped in red and blue bandannas made by New Era and appeared to represent the Bloods and the Crips. A black Yankees hat with the interlocking NY also had a crown symbolic of the Latin Kings.

Also on this day in 1985 Don Baylor ties a major league record in a Yankees uniform when he is hit by a pitch for the 189th time in his career.

Finally on this day in 1951 Mickey Mantle was recalled from the minor leagues and for the first time in his career wore his #7 jersey. The Yankees would win the game and Mantle would go 1-4 in the 2-0 victory over the Indians. Mantle had previously wore #6 before being demoted six weeks ago and his jersey was given to infielder Bobby Brown.