Thursday, June 9, 2016

Yankees Sweep Angels, 6-3, Get Back to .500

     Tonight, as the Yankees attempted the rare four-game sweep, we were treated to a pitching match-up that featured two starters with very similar pitching styles. Sinker-baller Ivan Nova toed the rubber for New York, bringing along with him his 4-3 record with a 4.41 ERA. On the mound for the Angels, acquired earlier this season from the Braves, was Jhoulys Chacin. Chacin predominately throws the sink her as well, sporting a 4.50 ERA between the two clubs so far in 2016. But, Nova was again strong and the Yankee bats stayed hot as they got back to .500 and completed the four-game sweep.
     Both starters went scoreless through the first three frames of the ballgame. The Angels were the first team to hit the board tonight, coming in the top of the fourth. Mike Trout led off the inning with a double down the left-field line, eventually stealing third base with one out. C.J. Cron then singled to left, scoring Trout, giving the Angels a 1-0 lead.
     The Pinstripers would quickly respond as they hit the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth inning. With Didi Gregorius on second base, the hero from last night Chris Parmelee belted a single into right field that scored Gregorius and tied the game at one. Then, Chacin allowed a hit to Jacoby Ellsbury and walked Brett Gardner, loading the bases for maybe the hottest hitter in all of baseball, Carlos Beltran. The right fielder stayed hot, ripping a double into right, scoring Ellsbury and Parmelee and giving the Yankees a 3-1 lead. Alex Rodriguez followed with a sacrifice fly to Center, scoring Gardner and extending the lead to three. And then, Brian McCann smoked an opposite field double that score Beltran and open the game up to a 5-1 Yankee advantage.
      Jhoulys Chacin's Knight would come to an end in the bottom of the sixth inning. After allowing a one out double to Chase Headley, Chacin was lifted for reliever Mike Morin. The 28-year old departed with a final line of 5.1 innings pitched, allowing five earned runs on seven hits, while walking and striking out three.
     Ivan Nova would be pulled in the top of the seventh inning as he let the Halos back in the game. After allowing a leadoff double to second baseman Johnny Giavotella, Nova served up a two run homerun to pinch-hitter Jeffrey Morte that pulled LAA back to within two, 5-3. Nova left the game sporting a final line of 6.1 IP, allowing three runs on six hits, while walking one and striking out five.
     The Bombers would extend their lead in the bottom of the seventh as they handed the ball to No-Run DMC to close it out. Cory Rasmus, Brother of Astro outfielder Colby Rasmus, allowed a leadoff single to Brett Gardner. Coming through with his second RBI of the game, Alex Rodriguez ripped a double to left-center that scored Gardner and extended the Yankee lead back to three, 6-3.
     No Run DMC, or as Yankee radio play-by-play man calls them "Murderer's Throw", did what they do and shut the door on any Angel hopes of getting back into the ballgame. The trio allowed just two hits in the final three frames, with Chapman locking down his eleventh save as the Yankees won the contest 6-3.
     Look for the Yankees to continue their winning ways as they host the Detroit Tigers in a three-game set, with first pitch scheduled tomorrow for 7:05 PM ET.

Chris Parmelee Leaves Game w/ Hamstring Injury

Chris Parmelee has left tonight's contest against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim with an apparent hamstring injury. Parmelee stretched to catch a throw from shortstop Didi Gregorius to end the Top of the 7th inning and could not leave the field under his own power.

Another huge blow to the Yankees at the first base position. Now what? Is it finally Swisher time?

Video: Everything You Need to Know About Blake Rutherford

2016 Prospects Profile Video


2016 Highlight Video


Rutherford Swing Analysis

Yankees Select Blake Rutherford w/ 18th Overall Pick in 2016 MLB Draft


*In my best Commissioner Rob Manfred voice*

With the 18th pick in the MLB Draft the New York Yankees select outfielder Blake Rutherford.

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 6/9


The New York Yankees are on and so is the MLB Draft First Year Players Draft. I don’t have enough screens in my house or enough eyes to watch everything I want to watch tonight so I will definitely be flipping back and forth between it all. First world problems and the struggle is real. Tonight in the game the Yankees will send Ivan Nova to the mound to face off with Jhoulys Chacin of the Angels. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV. The Draft can also be seen on MLB Network right now and if I was a betting man I’d say it would be around 9:30 before the Yankees first pick in the draft so we have time.

The Yankees have three more games in the Bronx this weekend giving you three more opportunities to click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog and three more opportunities to snag your tickets. We have plenty of baseball left this season though giving you plenty of opportunities to interact with us on Twitter, @GreedyStripes, or on Facebook if you so choose. We’re always around even when we’re frustrated and quiet so wont you chat with us?

MLB Draft, Ivan Nova and a Yankees victory. Two out of three will not suffice. Go Yankees!

Live Game Updates: Angels at Yankees - 6/9

7:15 p.m., Mid 1st: Ivan Nova tosses a 1-2-3 first. Let's see what the Yankees' offense can do against Jhoulys Chacin.

7:26 p.m., End 1st: Yankees put a couple of runners on, but their threat is diminished when Brett Gardner is picked off second base. We head to the second in a scoreless tie.

7:42 p.m., End 2nd: Yankees leave a pair in scoring position in the second. They had men on second and third with just one out, but Chase Headley and Chris Parmelee failed to get the job done.

8:09 p.m., Mid 4th: Angels pick up a run in the fourth. Mike Trout leads off the frame with a double, and after stealing third, scores on a base hit by C.J. Cron. 

8:13 p.m., End 4th: Chacin retires the Yankees in order again. He has sat down nine straight as the Angels retain their 1-0 lead. 

8:38 p.m., End 5th: The Yankees offense finally gets to Chacin in the fifth. They score five runs on four hits, putting themselves in great position for the series sweep. Give Parmelee (RBI single), Carlos Beltran (two-run double), A-Rod (sac fly), and Brian McCann (RBI double) credit for the rally.

8:50 p.m., Mid 6th: Nova puts up a zero in the sixth. Time for the Yankees to add on and give their bullpen the night off.

9:16 p.m., Mid 7th: After Jefry Marte takes Nova deep for a two-run shot, Dellin Betances comes on to get the last two outs of the seventh. At stretch time, the Yankees lead 5-3.

Injury: Stretching to catch a Didi Gregorius throw to first in the seventh, Chris Parmelee appears to injure his right leg. Expect more updates about this later.

9:33 p.m., End 7th: A-Rod gives the Yankees some insurance with a run-scoring double. It's now 6-3 New York after seven.

Injury Update: It was a hamstring injury that sidelined Parmelee. That's all we know so far.

9:41 p.m., Mid 8th: Andrew Miller works a scoreless eighth. His ERA on the year is now a phenomenal 1.01. 

10:00 p.m., End 8th: Yankees leave the bases loaded against Huston Street. With the save opportunity still intact, Joe Girardi will bring in Aroldis Chapman for the final three outs.

10:09 p.m., Mid 9th: That's your ballgame. Yankees beat the Angels 6-3 as Chapman records his 11th save of the season.

Everything You Need to Know Before Tonight’s MLB Draft


Here is everything you need to know before tonight’s MLB Draft. Bookmark Me!

  • Draft coverage starts at 6:00 pm ET with the draft beginning at 7:00 pm ET on MLB Network.
  • Only the first two rounds of the draft are actually televised.
  • You can also stream Rounds 1-40 of the draft on MLB.com.
  • The Yankees own the 18th pick in the first round.
  • New York doesn’t pick again until 62nd overall in the second round.
  • New York has been linked to High School pitching and college bats with their first pick.
  • The Philadelphia Phillies have the first pick in the draft.
  • Here is the complete draft order courtesy of MLB.com http://m.mlb.com/draft/2016/order



The Last 20 Yankees First Round Draft Picks


With the MLB Draft tonight, which can be seen on MLB Network, I figured now would be a good time to look at the Yankees recent draft successes and failures, especially in the first round. Now for the sake of simplicity and time I had to go with the Yankees first overall pick in a few of these because the Yankees surrendered their first round pick so keep that in mind while reading. Despite me being a human I am well aware that Jacob Lindgren was a second round pick. Thank you for reading and let me know who you think will be selected 18th overall by the New York Yankees.

2015 – James Kaprielian, Kyle Holder
2014 – Jacob Lindgren (2nd round pick, no first round pick)
2013 – Ian Clarkin, Eric Jagielo, Aaron Judge
2012 – Ty Hensley
2011 – Dante Bichette Jr.
2010 – Cito Culver
2009 – Slade Heathcott
2008 – Gerrit Cole, Jeremy Bleich
2007 – Andrew Brackman
2006 – Ian Kennedy, Joba Chamberlain
2005 – CJ Henry
2004 – Phil Hughes, Jonathan Poterson, Jeffrey Marquez
2003 – Eric Duncan
2002 – Brandon Weeden (2nd round pick, no 1st round pick)
2001 – John-Ford Griffin, Bronson Sardinha, Jon Skaggs
2000 – David Parrish
1999 – David Walling
1998 – Andy Brown, Mark Prior
1997 – Tyrell Goodwin, Ryan Bradley

1996 – Eric Milton

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 6/9


Four times in one week and I could go for about four more, what about you? The New York Yankees have struggled against certain teams this season but it doesn’t seem like the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are one of them. The Yankees have had timely hitting and dominant pitching and are well on their way to another dominant stance in this series with just one more game between them and their ultimate goal. Looking to get yet another victory for the Yankees in the finale is Ivan Nova who takes the ball to face off against the Angels starter Jhoulys Chacin.

Nova came into the starting rotation out of the Yankees bullpen like a man possessed pitching like an ace but he has since come back down to Earth a bit. In his last start that was still good enough to get a victory despite allowing five earned runs on seven hits in six innings of work.
 Chacin struggled last time out against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday giving up three runs on six hits with four walks in just five innings of work. In the start before that he has pitched a complete game gem so no one truly knows what Chacin made the trip to the ballpark tonight in the Bronx.

The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV. The Yankees stay home after this game to play host to the Detroit Tigers for the weekend and then it’s off to Colorado on Tuesday. Nothing kick starts a new series like winning an old series so let’s get out of here with a victory and work on a new one tomorrow.


Go Yankees!

Making the Case for and Against Trading Didi Gregorius/Starlin Castro


Here we are back at it again making the case for against trading some of the New York Yankees big names and bigger contracts before this season’s trading deadline. We’ve gone over some of the more obvious choices to be moved and some of the names that have expiring contracts or were mentioned in trade rumors this winter but today we are throwing you all a little bit of a curveball. With Jorge Mateo having an absolute monster of a season after an absolute monster of a season in 2015 the Yankees may find themselves with too many middle infielders and not enough positions to play them all. Would trading one of Didi Gregorius or Starlin Castro make sense to clear the spot for Mateo?


The case for trading Didi/Castro:

It clears the way for Jorge Mateo.

The free agent market next season is weak so the Yankees could get a haul for both players.

Yeah… not too many good things I see about trading them so let’s move on.


The case against trading Didi/Castro:
Both are young and under controllable team friendly contracts which help with the youth movement and help with getting under the luxury tax threshold.

Didi is a great defensive shortstop, although not without his flaws defensively mind you, and a young guy a rebuilding team generally rebuilds around.

The core nucleus and clubhouse presence of these two men are presumably underrated to most. You can tell they are both a huge part of the clubhouse family.

New York has proven that middle infielders don’t grow on trees, well not productive ones anyway, which may lead to more Stephen Drew like signings.

Jorge Mateo is still in A-Ball. Let him have a monster season in Double-A or Triple-A first.



I really can’t bring myself to justify trading one of these two right now. They are both young and under team friendly deals for a bit and both fit the mold of what the team is trying to do. They can handle their own with the bat, the defensive side of things has improved with both of them in the field, they are both young, versatile and flexible and they are both a huge part of the clubhouse atmosphere. When and if Mateo gets to the higher levels and starts banging on the door then we can revisit this option but right now both of these options have to be off the table for me. What say you? 

Weekly Check In: Ian Clarkin

photo credit courtesy of our friends at Pinstriped Prospects

Somehow some way we skipped over a very important piece of the Yankees farm system this week with our weekly check in posts. Ian Clarkin, you have my apologies. So today we get caught back up and make it up to Clarkin by checking in with the Yankees left-hander as he continues his comeback season in 2016.

With a healthy season in 2016 he could be back on the track to the Major Leagues by the time he would have Bryce Harper backing him up in center field which is encouraging when you look at where he was at this point in his career last season. Clarkin is still growing stronger and still progressing after missing all of 2015 which can be seen in this stat line.


Check in every week to see how much stronger and how much progression the Yankees get out of their stud left-hander and former first round pick. 

YearAgeTmAffWLERAGGSCGIPHRERHRBBSOWHIPH9HR9BB9SO9
201621TampaNYY453.621111159.2683024118391.44110.30.22.75.9

This Day in New York Yankees History 6/9: MLB Draft Day 2016


On this day in 2005 Alex Rodriguez went 4-4 with two home runs to join the 400 home run club earlier than any other major league player. A Rod was 29 years and 316 days old and passed Ken Griffey Jr. for the honor when he hit a solo home run off the Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jorge De La Rosa in the eighth inning.





Also on this day in 1946 the New York Yankees hit the one million mark in attendance earlier than any other team in major league history. The Yankees would draw over two million fans this season at Yankee Stadium.