Sunday, August 30, 2015

Weekend Finale Open Thread


While this has been one of your run of the mill weekends for most this has been an absolutely crazy weekend for myself. The Yankees came down to Atlanta and I made the two hour trek to Turner Field with my wife and my son and made the two hour trek back to my home on Saturday which really wore me out. When I was younger and it was just me and the wife going to a game and staying out all night was nothing, we even went to work the next day, but now not so much. You don't merely sit in your seats for nine innings with a curious five-year old. You walk around the park, you go to the bathroom about 14 times, you go and get hot dogs, you go  and get drinks, you go see the sites and the museum's inside the ballpark and you're up by 7:00 AM the very next morning because you got two hours of sleep on the way home and you're a kid.

And it was all worth it....

Needless to say I'm beat so I leave you with this open thread to finish off the weekend here on the blog. I may stay up to watch Fear the Walking Dead but I doubt it so just in case I nod off I wanted to leave you here with this music recommendation out of my personal collection. It's my son's favorite song and I think we listened to it like 14 times on the way down to Atlanta Saturday and another nine times on the way home before he finally fell asleep. America's Suitehearts, the remix, by Fallout Boy. Enjoy!

Transactions: New York Yankees vs. Atlanta Braves


As the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves finish up their three game set inside Turner Field this weekend I got to thinking, could the roster shuffle and revolving door that the Yankees have done in 2015 happen with a National League ball club? That's probably a harder question to answer than I have made it out to be but I decided to check out the team's respected transactions page from MLB.com and compared the sheer amount of transactions each team has made from month to month. I asked the question earlier in the week and I will finish the weekend by attempting to answer it, is the roster shuffle and roster manipulation the new meta?



Some of these transactions include draft signings, minor league free agent signings, injuries etc. but I wanted to include them because this post is about roster shuffling and manipulation as a whole and less about moving players in and out of a bullpen every ten days. The list above is far from perfect but it does go to show you, at least in my opinion, that this kind of roster manipulation can happen with a National League team. This may have been a bad comparison since the Braves are in the middle of rebuilding their franchise, and honestly I'm not entirely sure what I was trying to prove here, but the numbers are interesting enough to speak for themselves in my opinion.


Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Atlanta Braves 8/30


The New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves are ready to finish off their three game set this weekend inside Turner Field in what has been a bittersweet weekend for me. I was born in the Bronx, New York and was forced to move down to Atlanta, Georgia when I was 13 years old and it kills me not to be able to see my Yankees but once every three years but at the same time it makes the whole ballpark experience and being able to share it with my family all the more special. The experience comes to an end this afternoon as the New York Yankees send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound to face off wit the Braves ace Julio Teheran. The game will begin at 1:35 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

Thank you for all your kind words and the support this weekend not only on the blog but on our Twitter account as well. The support you give to us here on the blog and on the @GreedyStripes twitter account is truly humbling and amazing to me, especially when you consider the fact that I didn't even want a blog three years ago when we started this thing. Thank you, and Go Yankees!

An Open Letter to Joe Girardi

Joe,

I hate to be the "I told you so" guy but I did kind of tell you so in a Twitter Poll and in a separate post that I thought the team should have placed Mark Teixeira on the 15 day disabled list the day he fouled that pitch off his leg and bruised his bone. I pointed out that the Yankees were in the middle of an American League East Division race and a race for one of the two available American League Wild Card spots and the team could not afford to give Teixeira "a day" once or twice a week because the leg was sore and not fully healed. I also mentioned that Teixeira was probably the most indispensable player on the entire team not only offensively but defensively and pleaded with you and the Yankees organization for a backdated DL stint, to no avail.

Someone, not saying you necessarily Mr. Girardi, decided in their infinite wisdom that Teixeira should start one of those games against the Houston Astros eliminating a week's worth of retroactive DL time. Teixeira was obviously uncomfortable at the plate and could not run the bases but the team decided his right-handed bat was needed against Houston's ace Dallas Keuchel despite the repercussions for the decision, those repercussions being that the Yankees played with a short bench in the American League parks and have played this weekend in Atlanta with just a two man bench.

Talent has bailed you out of a lot of your decisions in your Yankees tenure, not to say I think you have been a bad manager or that you should be perfect when nobody walking this Earth is, and it did again this weekend inside Turner Field. You could have a zero man bench when your team is leading by ten or more and it won't matter but that doesn't and shouldn't excuse you or the decision maker on their bad decision.

The decision to insert Teixeira's bat for that one game in Houston could have crippled this team and sent it into a whirlwind downward that could have spelled doom, or worse than that a missed playoff season in 2015. You're an extremely intelligent man Mr. Girardi but that decision, in my opinion, was stupid and uninformed.

Daniel Burch

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Atlanta Braves 8/30


The New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves will finish off their three game set this afternoon in Turner Field before the Yankees make the trip to Fenway Park for a three game set. The Yankees offense exploded in the first game of the contest which marked the return to Atlanta for Brian McCann while the pitching matchups sent to the mound by New York have done the Braves no favors. The pitching matchups for Atlanta doesn't get any easier today when the Yankees send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound to face off with the Braves starter Julio Teheran. The game will be played at 1:35 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.


  • "Eovaldi gives up too many hits" so he has been correcting that lately giving up less and less hits per start. "Eovaldi can't go deep into games" so he threw eight shutout innings last time out against the Houston Astros and has been pitching later and later into his starts the longer the season has gone on. Let's try this, "Eovaldi can't improve on his 1-0 career record and 0.90 ERA in three career starts against the Atlanta Braves this afternoon." Bet you won't!




  • Teheran has pitched well during the month of August and may be the Braves best pitcher at the time of this start. Teheran has posted a 2.73 ERA in five August starts and has held opposing offenses to just a .210 batting average against after a change in how he approaches at bats and opposing hitters. Unfortunately for the Yankees the Braves were able to squeeze out one more August start from Teheran, let's hope New York can turn those stats around this afternoon. 


New York needed a little break in their schedule and they are seemingly getting in with this series and their series with Boston. The team is not getting any favors done for them by Toronto as the team cannot seemingly lose with any consistency this season so it's more and more imperative that New York wins every game they are supposed to win, that includes this afternoon's game. Go Yankees!

Former Yankees Update: Hiroki Kuroda


Hiroki Kuroda spent a total of three seasons as a member of the New York Yankees after spending his first four professional seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kuroda came over from Japan where he started his career, and will likely end his career, with the Hiroshima Carp of the Japanese League. Kuroda always said he would like to finish his pitching career where it began back in Japan and he did just that in 2015 leaving the Yankees with a glaring hole in their starting rotation. New York has another glaring hole in their starting rotation as Ivan Nova struggles, Michael Pineda continues to be given extra rest despite his stats while pitching on extra rest and with the struggles and subsequent injuries to CC Sabathia, could Kuroda be helping right now?

Looking at his stats from the Hiroshima Carp, seen below, absolutely. If this is how Kuroda wanted to go out I am ecstatic that he's going to get his wish. Going out with the team that gave him his first shot, going out on his own terms and going out on top. Congratulations to Mr. Kuroda.


YearAgeTmWLERAGIPHRERHRBBSOWHIPH9HR9BB9SO9
201540Hiroshima752.8917112.01114036622721.1888.90.51.85.8

Weekly Check In: Kyle Holder


Kyle Holder, the Yankees second pick in the first round of the 2015 MLB First Year Players Draft, was recently promoted to Staten Island where he will likely finish his first professional campaign inside Minor League Baseball. Holder is sneaking up on the 50 game plateau as this post goes live and the beginning to his professional career, at least offensively, has not gone according to plan for the San Diego State product. Holder is hovering right around the Mendoza Line this season, although many including myself don't put much stock into the half a season they play after being drafted, but there are encouraging stats.

Holder is taking his walks which is evident by his on-base percentage being 60 points higher than his batting average and the Yankees shortstop is also getting his work in. Holder was considered a raw product offensively when he was drafted, and 50 games in Staten Island isn't going to change that, but where the concern comes in has been with his defense. Holder already has seven errors in 50 games putting him on a Robert Refsnyder-ian year defensively.

Is it rust from sitting out so long after the college seasons came to a close? nerves? Human nature? Who knows, we won't know for sure until 2016. As long as Holder continues to get work in this season and stays healthy that's a step in the right direction despite what the stat line below says.

YearLevGPARH2BHRRBISBBBSOBAOBPSLGOPS
2015A-48219204040941528.202.264.232.496

Recap: Yankees 3, Braves 1

Luis Severino tossed six scoreless innings and the Yankees again beat the Braves, 3-1, on Saturday night at Turner Field.

The Real Deal?: Aided by nice defense from Chase Headley and Greg Bird, Severino logged his first career win on the road -- holding the Braves to just four hits while walking three and striking out five. The Yankees' rookie allowed multiple runners to reach in the first, fourth and sixth, but escaped each jam with good utilization of his fastball and slider.

A Gift: The Yankees were on the verge of blowing a golden scoring opportunity in the first, but were bailed out when a Matt Wisler wild pitch plated Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury had doubled to begin the frame, but after Carlos Beltran fanned with the infield back, found himself stuck at third with two down.

Needed That: The suddenly-hot Didi Gregorius lined an RBI double to right in the seventh, finally giving the Yankees some breathing room. The team had led 1-0 ever since the first, only logging one hit in innings 2-6.

Not What You Want: Normally reliable, Justin Wilson just did not have his stuff when he went out for the seventh, quickly surrendering a pair of singles before committing a missed catch error that broke up the shutout. The run, scored when Wilson dropped the return throw to first on an attempted double play, forced the Yankees to turn to Dellin Betances for a four-out hold -- something that might be worth remembering considering the righty had to use 26 pitches. 

He Must Like Atlanta: Brian McCann continued his great weekend with a double to right-center in the eighth, driving in Chris Young to hand the Yankees some insurance. McCann, a former Brave, has now gone 2-for-5 with five RBI and four walks over the last two games, his first in Georgia's capital since 2013.

Next Up: The Yankees and Braves wrap up this series with a matinee on Sunday, the Yanks sending Nathan Eovaldi (13-2, 4.00 ERA) to the hill verses RHP Julio Teheran (9-6, 4.29 ERA). First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m. ET, airing live on YES and WFAN. 

This Day In New York Yankees History 8/30: A Rod Hits 40 Home Runs


The New York Yankees are also well known as the Bronx Bombers but in their long storied history they have only had two right handed batters that have ever hit 40 home runs in a single season, Joe DiMaggio and Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez joined DiMaggio, who hit 46 home runs in 1937, on this day in 2005.

Also on this day in 1961 a computer named Casey was used to predict the chances that Yankees outfielder Roger Maris would surpass Babe Ruth's single season home run record of 60 within 154 games. The IBM 1481 predicted that Maris had a 55% chance of hitting 61 home runs in 154 games to establish the new mark for home runs but ultimately Maris hit his 61st home run in the Yankees 161st game of the season.

Finally on this day in 1939 the Yankees Atley Donald throws a recorded 94.7 MPH pitch to establish a new record for the fastest fastball in Major League Baseball history. Donald would also win 12 straight games that year to set an AL record for most consecutive victories by a rookie starting pitcher.