Saturday, May 28, 2016

Pineda Gets Rocked By Rays, Yanks Fall 9-5

       Another tremendous Tanaka performance and two big homeruns by Alex Rodriguez and Carlos Beltran led the Yankees to a game one victory against Tampa last night. In game two, the Yankees sent Michael Pineda to the mound to face the Rays this afternoon. Pineda has really struggled in 2016, where in nine starts he has gone 2-5 with a large 6.34 ERA, north of 11 in the first inning. Tampa countered with the equally struggling Matt Moore and his1-3 record and a 5.47 ERA. The Rays have lost his last six starts, with Moore pitching to the tune of a 6.89 ERA over that span. Today's game would be a battle of which starter struggled less, and Pineda was absolutely terrible.
     Once again, the first inning was not a good one for Michael Pineda, needing 27 pitches to escape the frame. He led off the ballgame by drilling Brandon Guyer, who scored on an Evan Longoria sacrifice fly. Pineda then served up back-to-back knocks by Steve Pearce and Logan Morrison, with the latter scoring Brad Miller who had doubled after the hit by pitch. A broken-bat single by Corey Dickerson drove in Pearce and widened the Rays lead to 3-0. And then in the bottom of the second, Pineda served up a two out triple to Brad Miller which was followed by a towering homerun off the bat of Evan Longoria, extending the lead to 5-0.
      The Yankees did show some signs of life coming in the top of the fourth inning where we got to celebrate another Carlos Beltran milestone. With one out, Beltran ripped a solo shot off of Moore, the 2500th hit of his career that inched the Yanks closer, 5-1. The homerun was Beltran's 12th of the season and the second in as many nights.
       Pineda's day would be finished in the bottom of the fourth where he allowed yet another two-out RBI hit, another Evan Longoria missile that scored Hank Conger, 6-1 Tampa. When it looked like he had figured it out in his last start in Oakland, the 6'7" right-hander took a step back today, departing with a putrid final line of 3.2 innings pitched, allowing six earned runs on nine base hits. It's really getting to the point where you almost don't even want to watch the game when you know Michael Pineda is pitching.
     The New York bullpen didn't fare much better than their starter. In the bottom of the fifth, Luis Sessa, inhereting runners on second and third, served up a two-out three-run blast to the Rays backup catcher and nine hole hitter Hank Conger. The blast was Conger's first of the season and the second extra-base hit of the campaign, with the first coming off of Pineda earlier in the ballgame.
     Trying to get back in the game, New York was able to get into the Tampa Bay bullpen in the top of the seventh. After allowing Headley and Gregorius to get on with one out, Moore gave up an RBI single to Austin Romine, scoring Hadley and pulling the Yankees to within seven at 9-2, and leaving the bases loaded. Matt Moore then got Hicks to strike out but was lifted in favor of the bullpen, leaving with a final line of 6.2 IP, 8H, 3 ER, 3 BBs and 7K's. Eddie Romero, pitching in relief, immediately walked the next hitter Ronald Torreyes, forcing in Gregorius, 9-3, but got Alex Rodriguez to strike out to and the frame. Romero would go on to allow two more runs in the top of the eighth. Chase Headley, Didi Gregorius and Austin Romine each recorded their third hit of the game, with Gregorius and Rome on driving in the two runs, making it a four run contest, 9-5, where the score would remain.
     The Yankees aim to take the series in the rubber game tomorrow, with first pitch scheduled for 1:10 PM ET.



Greedy Pinstripes Saturday Night Open Thread


The Yankees game may or may not still be going on by the time this pre-written blog post goes live but either way I leave you tonight with this open thread for this beautiful Saturday night. Enjoy the night, spend it with friends, family and your pals over here at The Greedy Pinstripes.


Talk about whatever you like. Just enjoy the evening. Thanks all!

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Rays 5/28


The New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays are ready to kick off the second game of their three game weekend set here at Tropicana Field with another very intriguing pitching matchup. On paper both teams thought they had their #2 starter positions on lockdown heading into the season yet both Michael Pineda of the Yankees and Matt Moore of the Rays have struggled for large stretches this season respectively. Both will look to turn it around this afternoon and lead their team to a victory in a contest that begins at 4:10 pm ET. The game will be played inside of Tropicana Field and can be seen on WPIX Channel 11 and MLB TV.

Give us a follow on twitter and follow along with us and the Yankees during each and every game this season. Our twitter handle is @GreedyStripes and we have been on a mission since Day One to put the social aspect back into social media. Won’t you join us on our mission?

Go Yankees!


ICYMH: Slade Heathcott


ICYMH stands for “in case you miss him” and it’s much like ICYMI, or in case you missed it, in the fact that we are bringing attention to something that you may or may not have already seen. The New York Yankees have a downright gluttonous amount of speed and defense first minded light hitting outfielders in their farm system currently and the team ridded themselves of one this week with the release of Slade Heathcott. This, as a fan, came as a surprise and shocked me since Heathcott made such a memorable impact down the stretch last year but in the grand scheme of things the young outfielder did himself no favors during his tenure with the Yankees. So in case you miss him here is the Slade Heathcott story.

After being a first round draft pick for the Yankees in the 2009 Draft Heathcott has battled off the field issues including a fight with alcoholism as well as on the field issues. Well when he could be healthy enough to stay on the field that is. Heathcott has battled numerous injuries during his Yankees tenure including knee, shoulder and quad injuries and was on the Yankees Triple-A disabled list at the time of the release. Heathcott has been known to miss a team function or bus from time to time and has missed games due to sleeping in past his alarm and other humanly excuses. I can only presume that enough got to be enough for New York. Or did it.

You have to keep in mind that the Yankees had Heathcott on their 40 man roster, a 40 man roster that is currently stretched as thin as it’s going to get. The Yankees have already designated Heathcott for assignment and granted him his release only to immediately re-sign him to a new minor league deal and a similar outcome could be in the works right now. Heathcott is still injured and no one knows when he will return, will another major league team really take a chance on Heathcott right now? Unlikely. What is likely though is that he returns to New York as soon as next week. It’s called roster manipulation. Deal with it Boston.


So Heathcott is gone from the organization once again but have no fear to all those fans that may miss him, I truly think Heathcott will be back once again ( and yes I read Chad Jennings report where he said he didn't think the Yankees were going to pursue him again) and he will once again play like he has a chip on his shoulder. Personally, I can’t wait. 

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Rays 5/28


The New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays continue their three game set this Memorial Day weekend at Tropicana Field with the second of a three game set today. In the first game we were all entertained as Masahiro Tanaka and Chris Archer took the mound for their respective teams which gives today’s pitching matchup a lot to live up to. In today’s middle game of the three game set the Yankees will send Michael Pineda to the mound looking for more consistency this season against teams other than the Oakland Athletics while the Rays counter with their #2 pitcher Matt Moore.

Pineda has not pitched well outside of his two starts against the Oakland Athletics this season and has especially not pitched well in May during his career. Pineda had posted a 7.02 ERA in the month of May in 2016 before his last start where he earned a quality start and victory over the A’s.

Moore is giving up too many damn home runs this season, nine in just 51 innings, which usually tends to play right into the Yankees hands. In his last start Moore allowed five runs in five innings of work against the Miami Marlins and has only gone longer than five innings just three times this season in nine starts.


The game will be played at 4:10 pm ET inside Tropicana Field and can be seen on WPIX Channel 11 and MLB TV. It is a shame that more people don’t head out to Tropicana Field down in St. Pete it really is a cool experience. It’s not the greatest stadium I’ve ever seen cosmetically and boy was it a pain to get to but I think if you have a good set of teams playing inside the dome it’s worth it. More people need to go to Tropicana Field, even if they are all Yankees fans! I have spoken, now make it true. Go Yankees!

What If: CC Sabathia Keeps Pitching This Well?


Yes Yankees fans you are about to read some optimism. No I’m not sick and yes I really mean it. CC Sabathia has undoubtedly quieted many of his doubters and haters this season the way he has pitched including myself which has given me lots of joy and optimism while eating my crow. Now granted it’s still early and my crow eating may be a bit premature but I am more than willing to give credit where credit is due and credit is due to Mr. Sabathia this season. What does it mean if he can find that fountain of youth while reinventing himself and continue to pitch this well this season?

Even the deepest teams in the league have holes and flaws, the league calls it parity, and on any given day the worst team can beat the best team in the league and so do decisively. What sets apart first place teams and playoff contending teams is just how deep the team is on the field and just how much depth they have behind the team from top to bottom. Adding a sub-3.00 ERA (that’s his ERA currently and not nearly what I expect out of him when the season is in the books) pitcher to the back end of a rotation is almost like having a leadoff type hitter batting ninth in the batting order and then another one batting first in the order. It just makes you that much better. The Yankees may have that if CC keeps pitching at the clip he’s currently pitching at.

With CC pitching so well, Tanaka being the ace the Yankees paid for and Nathan Eovaldi constantly eovolving towards the better the Yankees pitching staff is looking deeper and deeper all the time. If the team could get any sort of consistency out of Michael Pineda or Luis Severino if and when he returns along with strong outings from Ivan Nova and this team could be scary and could compete again. Especially when you consider that even on the Yankees off days they could still simply throw their bullpen at the problem and shut down a game for five or six innings.


If CC continues to pitch this well the Yankees continue to climb in the AL East. It’s as simple as that. If he reverts back to his near 5.00 ERA then the Yankees continue to fall. It sounds simple enough on paper but it’s simple enough in real life as well if you let it be. CC pitches well and the Yankees win. Bottom line. 

Weekly Check In: Robert Refsnyder


Well when you call it you call it and we, and probably 95% of others as well, called it this week. Robert Refsnyder was sent down to Triple-A Scranton when the Yankees activated Alex Rodriguez off the 15 day disabled list with a hamstring strain. It’s not a surprise and not even me is upset with it because the move makes sense. Dustin Ackley can play first base, Refsnyder cannot. That’s ultimately what it comes down to at this point.

So Refsnyder is back in Triple-A, back to re-learning the outfield and multiple infield positions and back to crushing minor league baseball. His minor league option has been used for the year so he’ll be back, rest assured Yankees fans.

YearAgeLevGPARH2BHRRBISBBBSOBAOBPSLGOPS
201625AAA34143183962106916.293.336.398.734
201625MLB1301102000.333.333.6671.000

This Day in New York Yankees History 5/28: Mo Reaches 300 Saves


On this day in 2004 Mariano Rivera converted his 300th save of his career in a 7-5 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Rivera would become the 17th reliever in major league history to reach the historic milestone.


Also on this day in 1946 the first night game is played in New York at Yankee Stadium when General Electric president Charles E. Wilson throws out the first pitch. The Yankees drew 49,917 fans as the Washington Senators beat the Yankees 2-1. Dutch Leonard would have a complete game for the Senators and allowed only six hits to improve his record to 5-0 on the season.