Yankees Spring Training Open Thread 3/16

So what happened today down at Yankees spring training camp? Let's get caught back up!

Brett Gardner made his spring debut today after missing the entire spring and Grapefruit League schedule with a lingering wrist problem.

In the game tonight, currently airing, Nathan Eovaldi makes his second start of the spring.

More when the game ends.

Puig Gets No Punishment

     I cannot believe that I am actually reporting this. But, Yasiel Puig  is not being punished at all by Major League Baseball for his alleged domestic violence incident, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Weeks after the Chapman suspension was handed down, you had to figure that Puig  was going to get at least the same punishment, right? If you look at the documents on both cases, both men were not charged officially with any crime, shot their  registered guns in their personally owned homes,  and neither woman pursued any charges being filed.  And yet, MLB saw fit to give Chapman 30 games and Puig nada.

     So, why does Rob Manfred feel like there needs to be an example made of Chapman and not one for the Dodgers outfielder? I wish I had the answer, but sadly, I don't. It would be one thing if Chapman  had other off the field incidents that would challenge his strength of character. Or,  even if Chapman was just a "bad guy" and MLB wanted to make an example out of him. But, he doesn't and he isn't.

     Now, it is not just because I am a Yankees fan that I am enraged at the decision. I fully expected there to be some sort of disciplinary action handed down to Chapman because that was the  General consensus. But, also.  I expected a punishment to be handed down to all three men, Jose Reyes included. If anything, Reyes should be the poster child for Major League Baseball's anti-domestic violence movement. But, as he is still under investigation, MLB cannot act on his case until it is finished in the court system.

    Either way, complete GARBAGE!!!  Hate to say it, Rob, you got this one completely wrong.

If Sabathia “Is on the Right Track” Then Color Me Worried!

I know it’s spring training and I know I’m overreacting. The fact that I know this separates me from a lot of other fans and maybe inches me closer to the “sane” side of the ballpark. Maybe not. I know that spring training stats are meaningless and it’s all about simply getting the work in and getting out alive and healthy but you still don’t get that fuzzy warm feeling in your stomach when you see a guy struggle. Plus, and I don’t know if this is just me, you don’t like to hear a guy say he’s “right on track” after struggling in the spring either.

Enter CC Sabathia. Sabathia struggled in his latest spring start and came out of it saying all the right things. He’s right on track but how can he say that? He’s throwing meatballs down the middle of the plate at 86 MPH, is this what we should expect from the big man this season? Look, he came out of it healthy and he got the work in. That’s all that matters and I realize this but that doesn’t make me confident going into next season at the same time. Not if he is going to struggle with his control and his velocity once again.

I’m the biggest CC supporter there is as a person, he’s a true inspiration, role model and leader, but as a player (and me as a fan first, blogger second) I am a bit worried. He has the stuff and the talent to be the best #5 starter in the league but if he lays an egg like he did this spring very often this season his win/loss record likely won’t look good once again at the end of the season. Sabathia is paid to win games, he’s the highest paid player on the team this season and one of the highest paid players in all of MLB this season so I don’t think it’s unfair to expect or want a little more.

I’m not screaming doom and gloom yet, just something about that comment rubbed me the wrong way. Velocity was down, command was down, pitches were up and so was the opposing team’s score. There is still plenty of time to get the work in and turn things around, trust me I’m far from worried, but a couple more starts like this and I may be.

The WPIX Channel 11 Yankees Broadcast Schedule for 2016

The New York Yankees are back on WPIX Channel 11 for their second straight season with their first game kicking off on April 30, 2016 against none other than the Boston Red Sox. WPIX 11 will broadcast 21 regular season Yankees games this season all in HD and will also showcase pregame specials for all the primetime 7:00 pm ET starts.

The YES Network’s Michael Kay, David Cone, John Flaherty, Al Leiter, Meredith Marakovits, Paul O’Neill and Ken Singleton will cover the games on WPIX with YES producing the telecasts this season. Here is the schedule for this upcoming season on WPIX:

Yankees on PIX11 2016 Schedule:

	Day	Date	Opponent	Time	Home/Away
1.	Saturday	April 30	Boston	7:00pm	Away
2.	Sunday	May 15	Chicago White Sox	1:00pm	Home
3.	Friday	May 27	Tampa	7:00pm	Away
4.	Saturday	May 28	Tampa	4:00pm	Away
5.	Sunday	May 29	Tampa	1:00pm	Away
6.	Tuesday	June 7	Angels	7:00pm	Home
7.	Friday	June 10	Detroit	7:00pm	Home
8.	Friday	June 17	Minnesota	8:00pm	Away
9.	Tuesday	June 21	Colorado	7:00pm	Home
10.	Saturday	June 25	Minnesota	1:00pm	Home
11.	Friday	July 15	Boston	7:00pm	Home
12.	Friday	July 22	San Francisco	7:00pm	Home
13.	Monday	July 25	Houston	8:00pm	Away
14.	Sunday	July 31	Tampa	1:00pm	Away
15.	Thursday	Aug 4	Mets	7:00pm	Home
16.	Saturday	Aug 20	Angels	9:00pm	Away
17.	Friday	Aug 26	Baltimore	7:00pm	Home
18.	Friday	Sept 16	Boston	7:00pm	Away
19.	Thursday	Sept 22	Tampa	7:00pm	Away
20.	Saturday	Sept 24	Toronto	1:00pm	Away
21.	Wednesday	Sept 28	Boston	7:00pm	Home

Yankees ST: New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays

Another day and another Grapefruit League game against their division rivals as the New York Yankees face off with the Toronto Blue Jays in their latest spring training game. For the first time this spring George M. Steinbrenner Field will showcase a Yankees spring game under the lights down in Tampa, Florida. The Yankees will send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound as the right-hander looks to keep "Eovolving."

The game will be played at 6:35 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. Go Yankees!

What First Rosters Cuts Really Mean

The New York Yankees made their first round of roster cuts from spring training to round out the week over the weekend sending 16 players back to the minor leagues. This happens with every team as we inch closer to Opening Day and as regulars need more playing time and the spring competitions heat up. The Yankees had a business as usual approach to their cuts sending players that had no legit shot at making the team out of spring back to the minor leagues, Jorge Mateo, Aaron Judge and James Kaprielian most notably, but one name really stood out to me. That name was Jacob Lindgren.

The Yankees bullpen is seemingly wide open aside from the “three-headed monster” and even more wide open with the fact that Aroldis Chapman is suspended for the first 30 games of the season. What did it hurt to have Lindgren in camp for another week or more?

You would think after Lindgren made his Major League debut in 2015 that the team would want to give him a shot at the 2016 bullpen but an elbow spur injury ended his season prematurely. Lindgren didn’t do himself any favors this spring struggling with command and effectiveness, but the same can be said for James Pazos who did not get cut just as an FYI, and will likely be the first one up if and when a need and/or an injury occurs.

Looking at the rest of the list no notable players really got cut but Lindgren, the rest are merely procedural. Here is the complete list again in case you missed it over the weekend:

Jacob Lindgren, Domingo German, Chad Green, Kyle Haynes, James Kaprielian, Brady Lail, Santiago Nessy, Tyler Webb, Francisco Diaz, Kyle Higashioka, Sebastian Valle, Jorge Mateo, Deibinson Romero, Tyler Wade, Lane Adams, Aaron Judge and Dustin Fowler.

Riverdogs Tickets So Close You Can Taste It

So Close You Can Almost Taste It;

RiverDogs Single Game Tickets on Sale Monday

Single Game Tickets Starting at Just $6

CHARLESTON, S.C. – As the Charleston RiverDogs prepare for the 20th season at The Joe, don’t miss the opportunity to secure your seats With the Crowd at the “Battle of the Beaches” Exhibition Opener on April 6 against Myrtle Beach, the Opening Night festivities on April 7, the Independence Day Celebration Weekend or any one of the 70 RiverDogs home games at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.


At 12:01am on Monday, March 14, individual game tickets for the regular season will go on sale to the public with the convenience of purchasing print-at-home tickets online at www.riverdogs.com, 24 hours a day.


For those that prefer the old-fashioned way of buying tickets, The Joe’s box office will open by phone and in-person orders beginning 9amTuesday, March 15. Open six days a week, the box office hours are Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm and Saturdays from 10am to 4pm.


“We are excited to have our single game tickets go on sale,” said RiverDogs President and General Manager Dave Echols. “There’s just something special about Opening Day baseball and this year’s opener should be extra special as we celebrate our 20th season at The Joe.”

Along the banks of the scenic Ashley River, the excitement at The Joe kicks off with an Opening Week that includes an exhibition opener against Myrtle Beach on Wednesday, April 6 at 7:05pm when the RiverDogs clash with the Pelicans in the battle for coastal supremacy. Charleston opens the regular season the following night with all the pomp and circumstance fans have come to expect. The Opening Night spectacular features an exhilarating postgame fireworks show and the first of 12 Budweiser Thirsty Thursdays presented by 95SX as Charleston celebrates two decades at Riley Park to start the seven game homestand (April 7-10 vs. Columbia Fireflies and April 11-13 vs. Asheville Tourists).

Opening Weekend will also feature a Friday night fireworks spectacular presented by Home Telecom and Mix 96 and an explosive postgame showcase on Saturday by David “The Bullet” Smith who brings his human cannonball show to the Lowcountry for the first rendition of “Saturdays Live at The Joe” presented by Kickin’ 92.5 and Star 99.7. On Sunday, the RiverDogs unveil their specialty Holy City uniforms for the first time and it’s a Kids Club Sunday presented by Charleston County Parks & Recreation and Y102.5 where Lowcountry youth eat for free, enjoy pregame catch on the field, and run the bases postgame presented by CPI Security.

Among the other home games that often sell out quickly, the Independence Day Weekend Celebration presented by Bush’s Baked Beans from July 1-3 features a massive postgame fireworks extravaganza at the conclusion of each game of the series against the Augusta GreenJackets.


Once again, the RiverDogs have worked to keep the entertainment value of all tickets at a premium. A multitude of ticket opportunities are available, with pricing remaining at just $6 for those that purchase their tickets in advance for all Saturday-Thursday games.


For additional information and to secure your tickets, please head to www.riverdogs.com or contact the The Joe’s box office at (843) 577-DOGS (3647). If you can't make the games, remember that RiverDogs baseball can be heard all season on the flagship radio home, WTMA 1250 AM.


--RIVERDOGS--

This Day In New York Yankees History 3/16: A Blank Check to Babe Ruth

On this day in 1932 Babe Ruth signed a deal for $75,000 and a percentage of the exhibition gate. Ruth signed a blank contract with the amount filled in later by Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert. Talk about trust.