Sunday, June 26, 2016

Greedy Pinstripes Weekend Finale Open Thread


The weekend is over and so is the content here on the blog for the weekend. Monday morning looms and I have a ton to get done before it comes so tonight I leave you with an open thread for the evening and for the weekend. Talk about whatever you'd like. What show comes on tonight that has caught your attention? I could always use more to watch. What new music is out? I'm so far out of the loop with it. Leave it below in the comments.

Hope you had a great weekend Yankees family. Here's to another great week next week.

Weekly Prospects Check In: The Forgotten One, Johnny Barbato


Hey, you guys remember when the Yankees made a trade with the San Diego Padres for a relief pitcher that may or may not have needed Tommy John surgery? His name was Johnny Barbato and for a couple years after the trade he was seemingly forgotten down in the Yankees farm system until he broke camp with the team in 2016. Barbato pitched well all spring long and for a while in the Majors he pitched lights out even donning the name 'the Yankees secret weapon" from some publications. Since then? Well he's being forgotten again.

Barbato was told to go back down to Scranton and find the slider that made him so effective when he was sent down earlier this season. Has he found it? Well let's see what the box score says.

YearAgeLevWLERAGGFSVIPHRERHRBBSOWHIPH9HR9BB9SO9
201623AAA124.50126118.015129111181.4447.50.55.59.0
201623MLB125.54125013.0108824151.0776.91.42.810.4

Twins Bash Six Bombs, Roll over Yanks 7-1

     Any thoughts of a sweep were quickly brushed to the side as the Yankees were dominated today in the third and final game of the Minnesota series. Looking to get back into the win column, Nathan Eovaldi took the hill for New York in a sun-drenched Yankee Stadium this afternoon. Eovaldi has had a tough June, going 0-2 while sporting an ERA of nine during the month and a 5.00 ERA overall. For Minnesota, it was young right-hander Tyler Duffy, who has a batting average against of .311, fourth worst in the American League. But you wouldn't have known it today, as he was perfect through five in route to an impressive shutdown of the Yankee offense.
     The homerun ball has been a bugaboo for Eovaldi this year, giving up 12 longballs so far in 2016. And the Twins continued that dubious trend in the top of the third when Eovaldi served up his 13th round-tripper to the number nine hitter Danny Santana, a solo shot that gave Minnesota a one run advantage. Number 14 came in the top of the sixth when Eovaldi walked Joe Mauer with two outs and followed that up with a two run shot off the bat of red-hot Brian Dozier, pushing the Twins ahead by three. Unbelievably, he then gave up numbers 15 and 16 to Trevor Plouffe and Max Kepler, as Minnesota went back-to-back-to-back, 5-0. Luis Sessa, in relief of Eovaldi, followed suit as he allowed the fifth Twins homer of the day. In the top of the seventh, former Pinstriper Eduardo Nunez belted a solo shot off the right-handed reliever, extending the lead to six. The sixth ball to leave the yard for the Twins came in the top of the ninth, another solo shot, this one by Juan Centeno off of Kirby Yates.
     The only blemish of Tyler Duffy's impressive afternoon came in the bottom of the eighth inning where he allowed Mark Teixeira to join the homerun parade, A solo shot that inched the Yankees closer 6-1. Outside of that, the kid was utterly overpowering all afternoon long, going eight strong innings, allowing just one run on two hits while striking out eight Yankees. The Houston Texas native was said to be pitching for his spot in the rotation today, as he has struggled all season long. I'd say, after today's performance, he put any of those thoughts to bed. And, he did it in Yankee Stadium.

Live Game Updates: Twins at Yankees - 6/26

1:44 p.m., Mid 3rd: Danny Santana gives the Twins an early lead with a solo shot. Eovaldi looks better so far, but the Yankees trail.

2:16 p.m., End 5th: Yankees still looking for their first baserunner through five innings. Their bats look terrible so far.

2:32 p.m., Mid 6th: Twins knock Eovaldi for three straight home runs in the sixth. Just like that, it's 5-0 Minnesota as the Yankees look to simply get a baserunner.

2:40 p.m., End 6th: Hicks breaks up the perfecto with a double, but the Yankees can't get him in. It's still 5-0 Twins after six.

2:51 p.m., Mid 7th: Eduardo Nunez adds to the Yanks' misery with another homer off Luis Cessa. At this point, the Yankees should just be happy they gave their bullpen trio the day off.

3:15 p.m., End 8th: Teixeira of all people gets the Yankees on the board with a solo shot. It doesn't mean much today, but maybe finally hitting one will give the veteran some momentum.

3:33 p.m., End 9th: Game over. Yankees lose 7-1.

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins 6/26


The New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins will square off for the last time this series and the last time this season with the finale coming this afternoon in the Bronx. Like in years past it has been the same old song for the Yankees and the Twins, New York has absolutely dominated the season series and will look to end things on a high note today before welcoming the Texas Rangers to town tomorrow night. In the start today the Yankees will send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound to face off with the Twins starter Tyler Duffey. The game will be played at 1:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

The Yankees remain home for four with the Rangers after this contest and if you want to see any of those games live here in the Bronx click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog. Once you secure your seats you must secure your wardrobe and you can do that here as well because The Greedy Pinstripes are in the T-shirt sales business now as well. Click the TGP T-shirts link to get a Jacoby Ellsbury milk carton shirt or any of the other awesome shirts on the site brought to you by our friends BreakingT.

Follow along during this game and every game this season by either liking us on Facebook or by giving @GreedyStripes a follow on Twitter. We like to put the social aspect into social media so check us out and interact with us all season long. Go Yankees!

The Yankees "Soft" Schedule and the Gift or the Curse?


The New York Yankees came into the month of June struggling but there was a light at the end of the tunnel. See every team on a long enough timeline will have a lull in their schedule where the schedule gets a "bit soft" either because they get teams they have owned in years past, the Minnesota Twins for New York, or teams that are simply struggling while they rebuild, the Colorado Rockies are a recent example of this. For New York this month was seen as a gift and a curse because many thought the team would go on a run against their lesser competition which would lead to unreasonable and unrealistic expectations for the team going forward.

Would the team win too much and not trade away pieces that would help the team beyond the 2016 season thus jump starting the rebuilding phase? Would the Yankees continue to be mediocre and hang around the .500 mark leaving more questions than answers or would the team fall off the face of the Earth and "define" themselves? Depending on what circles you hang around in any one of the three could be the correct answer but the Yankees organization, unless they are just saying the right things, seems to think buying at the trade deadline is the answer.

Why would the Yankees buy at the August 1st trade deadline? This month the Yankees have faced the Minnesota Twins six times ( four wins before this afternoon's finale), the Colorado Rockies four times (one win), the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for four games (how sweep it was for the Yankees winning all four) and the Detroit Tigers for four (which the teams split with two wins each).

Now granted New York did play Baltimore three times (two losses), Toronto once (a loss) and will play Texas four times to round out the month but still overall that's a pretty favorable schedule for New York. Even if New York wins this afternoon and sweeps the Rangers, which they won't they would only finish the month with a 13-9 win/loss record and a 42-36 overall record.

That's not going to cut it. Not if you want to sell me on buying at the trade deadline this season. Now granted, what does my opinion account for in the grand scheme of things? Literally nothing but I know I'm not alone in my thinking and it is us, the fans, that should dictate such things. It is our ticket sales, merchandise sales, MLB TV and YES Network subscriptions and all that jazz that pay these salaries and pay for these buying sprees. Want to see selling off? Stop watching. Stop going. The gift and the curse was the Yankees schedule and now it's bring a fan of the team. We should call the shots and we need to start, today.

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins 6/26


The New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins are back in the Bronx for another beautiful afternoon game in the Bronx. This game will mark not only the finale of their three game set this weekend but will also mark the end of their season series, a season series that the Yankees have once again dominated. So in the finale the Yankees will look for one more victory against the Twins as they send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound to face off against the Twins starter Tyler Duffey.

Eovaldi has not been great during the month of June and no one knows it more than the Yankees right-hander. Eovaldi has seemingly lost his splitter more and more as the temperatures rise which has resulted in a 9.00  ERA in four starts. Allowing 20 runs and 32 hits in 20 innings including a loss to the Twins last Sunday is how you reach an ERA in the 9's.


Duffey has not pitched well either heading into the start and some wondered if twins manager Paul Molitor would allow Duffey to even make the start. Minnesota already moved Pat Dean out of the rotation once to miss the Yankees and after Duffey allowed six runs in three innings last time out against the Phillies it was at least considered again this afternoon.


The game will be played at 1:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV. The Yankees and Twins are done after this series and the Yankees will prepare to play host to the American League's best team the Texas Rangers. It's hard not to look ahead to those games, especially with the struggling Ivan Nova going Monday and Cole Hamels the Rangers ace going Tuesday, but the best way to enter that series is with a victory. So get it. Go Yankees!

Weekly Prospects Check In: Tyler Austin

The tweet above says it all, Tyler Austin is tearing up Triple-A pitching right now and has put himself back on the map for the New York Yankees. When the Yankees lost Chris Parmelee and were forced to sign Ike Davis the team called Austin back up to Triple-A to play first base and it may have been the best decision the Yankees have made this season.

Austin has done nothing but hit the cover off the ball in Scranton and hit the cover off the ball well over the outfield fence. He plays a good first base and has been hitting for power from the right side of the batters box. He's back and that, as a huge fan, makes me grin.

YearAgeLevGPARH2BHRRBISBBBSOBAOBPSLGOPS
201624AA-AAA68283366618104943765.273.367.479.847
201624AA5021022461042913046.260.367.395.762
201624AAA1873142086203719.308.370.7081.078

This Day in New York Yankees History 6/26: Mo No-Hitter and Derek Jeter’s Birthday



On this day in 1995 Mariano Rivera throws a five inning no hitter against the Rochester Red Wings of the International League. Mo finished his minor league career with a 27-18 record and a 2.35 ERA with seven complete games, this no hitter and another seven inning no hitter on his resume.


Also on this day in 1974 Derek Sanderson Jeter was born a mere 20 years before he became quite possibly the greatest Yankee of all-time and definitely the best Yankees player of my generation. Happy birthday Jetes!





Finally on this day in 1944 the great state of New York had a three team baseball game for charity. The Polo Grounds held roughly 50,000 fans that watched a six inning game between the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees, and New York Giants. The way it worked was a team would play consecutive innings against the other two teams and then would sit out the third inning. The money went for war bonds and the final score was the Dodgers 5, the Yankees 1, and the Giants 0.