Friday, May 6, 2016

CC to DL, Nova to Rotation, Coke to Pen

Just a quick post to catch up on the injury news from Yankee Stadium today.

- CC Sabathia has been placed on the 15 day DL with a strained groin injury.

- Alex Rodriguez has been diagnosed with a Grade-1 plus hamstring strain.

- Ivan Nova has entered the Yankees rotation to replace Sabathia.

- Phil Coke has been called up to pitch out of the Yankees bullpen.

Jacoby Ellsbury Leaves Game w/ Possible Hip Injury

Jacoby Ellsbury has apparently left the game tonight between the Yankees and the Red Sox after the bottom of the first inning with an apparent hip injury. Ellsbury was seen rounding third base in the first inning and was seen by the YES cameras grabbing his hip.

Ellsbury would stay in the game and go on to score on a Brian McCann double before being seen entering the tunnel with the Yankees trainer Steve Donaghue.

More when the updates come back but it looks like Ben Gamel is here to stay and Ellsbury will at least miss "a day."

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox 5/5


The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox are just about ready to kick off their second series in a week's time, the first coming inside Fenway Park and this weekend series coming inside of the legendary Yankee Stadium. The Yankees will send Michael Pineda to the mound tonight looking for a victory while the Red Sox will counter with Rick Porcello who beat the Yankees just last weekend as well. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside of Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network and MLB TV.

To see any of these games live inside Yankee Stadium be sure to click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog. The link will redirect you to our friends over at Ticket Monster and it will allow you to get cheap Yankee tickets even if you shouldn't be there, you know to piss off people like Lonn Trost. Also be sure to follow along all season long on Twitter by giving @GreedyStripes a follow.

Michael Pineda is taking the mound and the Boston Red Sox offense is ready to be shut down so let's get to it. Go Yankees!

Peptides, Is the Game Clean and the New CBA


Just when you thought this great game of Major League Baseball was clean the league announces a couple steroid suspensions. It seems to happen more and more often and it seems to happen every year now. This year we’ve already seen notable suspensions for Chris Colabello and Dee Gordon and the league hints at more to come with the main focus being on a new frontier of doping, these are called peptides.

Between the Major Leagues and the Minor Leagues there have been five positive tests for peptides in the last calendar year. Peptides are formulated and produced from raw materials imported from China and are available on dozens upon dozens of websites from suppliers based in China and even the United states. These peptides have become easily accessible to anyone and everyone and until this season many thought these PED’s were undetectable in Major League Baseball. Boy were they wrong, huh?

Why these players would even take these peptides are beyond me as the FDA has not approved the drug. In fact the drugs are labeled as “not for human consumption” giving the suppliers loopholes and deniability in these cases. They are not classified as controlled substances with this labeling even though they are still considered to be anabolic steroids.

Peptides are what got Taylor Teagarden, the man who admitted to use in the Al Jazeera investigation, suspended for 80 games and are what also got Josh Ravin of the Dodgers and Andrew McKirahan of the Braves suspended along with three minor league pitchers. Peptides have been banned for a while by the World Anti-Doping Agency and sports leagues yet these players still continue to risk their careers in taking them and why? For money? Fortune? Fame?

Will the game ever be clean? We may never know but if history is any indicator of the future it looks like the answer is “probably not.”


Remember the Promise of a 25th Man Revolving Door?


This winter while Brian Cashman was trying to trade everything that wasn’t nailed down to the ground he made a bit of a promise. Well maybe promise isn’t the right word or terminology but he did make a statement that has yet to come to fruition this season. Cashman made the statement this winter that he planned on using the Yankees final bench position, better known as the 25th man on the roster, as a revolving door much like he has used the last bullpen slot as a means for the Scranton Shuttle the past season and a half. With the injury to Alex Rodriguez you have to wonder if this statement is going to come true or if Cashman even remembers that he said it.  

The Yankees initially called up left-handed relief pitcher James Pazos when the Yankees placed their DH on the 15-day disabled list but with the minor league option already burned for the 2016 season and with his minor league options secure the Yankees could move some pieces around to have a full bench if they wanted to. Who would their most obvious choices be though if they decided to bring up a bench piece and looked to improve the offense? 

Look no farther than Nick Swisher. While technically he may be the hardest player on the list to move up and down this season, his lack of a 40 man roster spot and minor league options complicates things a bit, he may make the most sense for the club. He can play right field and first base and he’s a switch hitter, both things the Yankees seem to love. The problem is when he is sent down he will have to be designated for assignment, clear waivers and then accept a minor league assignment to stay in the organization. Chris Capuano did it 19 times last season, an exaggeration but not by much it felt like, so Swisher could too. I would just hate to bank on that.  

Rob Refsnyder has a 40 man roster spot, unlike Swisher, and has been seen playing second base, third base and most recently right field with the organization. Refsnyder has also played the DH position down in Triple-A making him an ideal candidate for the call up. 

The Yankees are now once again lacking right-handed power in the lineup. Gary Sanchez has right-handed power and he has a 40 man roster spot. The days he isn’t DH’ing he could be giving Brian McCann a half-day off at the DH position or a total day off on the bench keeping him fresh and healthy for the stretch run. 


The final option, although maybe not the most ideal option, would be Aaron Judge. The Yankees are keen on giving Carlos Beltran days at the DH position leaving Aaron Hicks to either play right field or continue to come off the bench while Judge adds a right-handed power bat to the lineup and the outfield. It’s unlikely the Yankees would call up Judge despite putting to bed some of the rumors and fears that he couldn’t handle Triple-A pitching but like the lottery in New York, hey you never know. 

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox 5/5


We had our fun but now it’s back to work because I can write all the posts I want to about not watching this weekend and we all know that I’m going to watch. So to prepare for the game tonight between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, the first of a three-game weekend set in the Bronx, we bring to you this game preview. The Yankees will send Michael Pineda to the mound, how is it that this guy never seems to miss the Red Sox by the way, to face off with Rick Porcello for the Red Sox.

Pineda looked so strong and primed for a good season this year during spring training and yet that strong start has not translated well when the games started to count for something. Pineda is traditionally not the same pitcher in warmer weather as he is in colder weather so whether that is to blame for his slow start, home run tendencies and control problems or not remains to be seen. Either way though Pineda needs to figure it out and figure it out fast before this season is over as quickly as it began.

Porcello is off to the best start of his career in 2016 and looks to have a second consecutive strong start against the Yankees as well. Last time out Porcello threw seven shutout innings against New York and has not allowed a run in his last 13.1 innings. Get to him early, get to him often.

The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside of Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network and MLB TV. The Yankees got swept away by Boston last time out so a sweep reversal would be the most ideal situation for New York but frankly I’d take a series win at this point. One step at a time, just make sure that they are big steps.

Go Yankees!!


Fun Things to do This Weekend besides Watch the Yankees


This post is all in fun, please treat it as such.

The New York Yankees travel home to the Bronx tonight to play host to the Boston Red Sox in the first of a three-game set. We’ve all watched the Yankees this season and in the immortal words of myself on twitter, the Yankees suck! Not really but they aren’t playing exceptionally well and they especially struggled against the Boston Red Sox in a sweep inside Fenway Park last weekend. Do you really want to sit at home or sit inside Yankee Stadium and watch the Yankees lose three more games against a guy that looks like Shrek, a guy that looks like a garden gnome, a guy that got arrested for stealing laptops in college and a guy that refused to shave his beard to come to the Yankees? I know I don’t so here are a few fun ideas to do this weekend besides watch the Yankees.

Captain America Civil War is coming out in theaters. I’m not a big movie guy personally and I’m especially not a big superhero movie guy, although I did enjoy Deadpool, but this one looks good. It may be worth checking it out if you can’t wait for it to come out on the internet.

The NBA playoffs are going on as are the NHL playoffs. Again, not a huge fan of either but I will check in with the NBA playoffs from time to time. 

Read a book. The good people at Summer Game Books have been nice enough to send me some complimentary copies of their baseball related books in PDF format that I need to catch up on. I think I will! 

The Walking Dead: Road to Survival game for iOS and Android is incredibly addicting. Incredibly. 

Go outside and do something. It’s good for the soul! 

And the final thing you can do for fun this weekend besides watching the New York Yankees is to go to your local Wal Mart after 9:00 pm. That sounds incredibly boring on paper but just try it and thank me later. There is always something going on after 9:00 pm. PeopleofWalMart.com stuff going on. You’re welcome.



Weekly Check In: Jorge Mateo


The Yankees top prospect Jorge Mateo left a game earlier in the week early with an undisclosed injury. The truth never officially came out but rumors immediately circulated that he was removed because he wasn't hustling. That doesn't sound like Mateo but you never know.

Mateo also saw his season end early in 2015 due to a leg injury so when does the team start worrying about a pattern rearing its ugly head? Yes I realize it’s too early to think about something like that but I can’t help it, it’s just the way I am hardwired. I’m always thinking 10 moves ahead. It’s a gift and a curse.

At the time of the injury Mateo had done well statistically speaking although his stolen base numbers have left much to be desired after 2015. An alarming number I am noticing is the number of caught stealing and pick off attempts that go awry with Mateo. Is he just unlucky or is his read on the opposing pitcher that bad? I truly don’t know.

Mateo’s future with the club is something I definitely think is worth discussing and worth worrying about now despite the fact that he is still a good couple years away from the Major Leagues. The Yankees have young and effective players at both the shortstop position (Didi Gregorius) and second base position (Starlin Castro) for the foreseeable future and I’m not sure if Mateo’s arm could be sustainable at the third base position. Does this make Mateo trade bait potentially? You have to think that may at least be a possibility.

But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. There’s no room for negativity, it’s Friday!


YearAgeLevGPARH2BHRRBISBCSBBSOBAOBPSLGOPS
201621A+2410721313319861023.330.396.521.918

This Day in New York Yankees History 5/6: “I’ll Be Seeing You Guys Real Soon”



On this day in 2007 Roger Clemens announced that he would be coming back for another season and that it would be with the New York Yankees. Clemens agreed to a one year deal worth $28 million, which prorated down to a little more than half that. This would be the richest deal in the history of the game for a pitcher. Clemens made the announcement in the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium in owner George Steinbrenner's press box.