Friday, August 26, 2016

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles 8/26


Here we go ladies and gentleman as the New York Yankees return home from the West Coast to play host to Buck Showalter and the fighting Baltimore Orioles. In the contest tonight the Yankees will send Luis Cessa out to the mound on an extra day’s rest after yesterday’s off day to face off with Yovanni Gallardo for the Orioles who makes the start for the injured Chris Tillman. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on WPIX Channel 11 and MLB TV.

Get your Yankees tickets for any game this series or any game this season including an upcoming crucial set with the red hot Kansas City Royals by clicking the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog. Also located up there is the TGP T-Shirts link that can bring you to our friends over at BreakingT who hosts and sells t-shirts for the blog. Click those links, support the blog and look the part while you’re rooting your butt off on the Bronx for the home team!


Follow along during this game and every game this season with us by either liking our page on Facebook or by giving our Twitter handle, @GreedyStripes, a follow. We’re always on there having fun and we’ll likely do some Buck Showalter bashing this weekend since he can’t let the whole “Yankees fired me 21 years ago” thing go. Enjoy the game and Go Yankees!

AL Wild Card Race Strength of Schedule


The New York Yankees don’t really have a shot at making the postseason this season, I said as much in my game preview earlier today, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop rooting for them. I’m going to go down swinging until the very last game and I hope that the team does the same so with that in mind I wanted to look at something that isn’t really (and shouldn’t really be) looked at in Major League Baseball. Strength of schedule. The Yankees have played 126 games this season as have many teams in the hunt and over the next 36 games they have a lot to prove. A lot of “making” or breaking is about to go down ladies and gents so let’s examine the schedules for the teams still left in the field.

Boston Red Sox: 71-55 record (tied for 1st place in AL East Division with Toronto)

3 vs. Kansas City Royals
6 vs. Tampa Bay Rays
3 vs. Oakland Athletics
3 vs. San Diego Padres
6 vs. Toronto Blue Jays
7 vs. Baltimore Orioles
7 vs. New York Yankees

Toronto Blue Jays: 71-55 record (tied for 1st place in AL East Division with Boston)

3 vs. Minnesota Twins
6 vs. Baltimore Orioles
6 vs. Tampa Bay Rays
7 vs. New York Yankees
6 vs. Boston Red Sox
4 vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
3 vs. Seattle Mariners

Baltimore Orioles: 70-56 (leads 2nd Wild Card by 3 games over Detroit)

3 vs. Detroit Tigers
9 vs. New York Yankees
6 vs. Toronto Blue Jays
7 vs. Tampa Bay Rays
3 vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
7 vs. Boston Red Sox

Detroit Tigers: 67-59

3 vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
6 vs. Chicago White Sox
6 vs. Kansas City Royals
3 vs. Baltimore Orioles
7 vs. Minnesota Twins
7 vs. Cleveland Indians
3 vs. Atlanta Braves


Seattle Mariners: 67-59

3 vs. Chicago White Sox
7 vs. Texas Rangers
6 vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
6 vs. Oakland Athletics
6 vs. Houston Astros
3 vs. Toronto Blue Jays
3 vs. Minnesota Twins

Houston Astros: 66-61

3 vs. Tampa Bay Rays
6 vs. Oakland Athletics
6 vs. Texas Rangers
4 vs. Cleveland Indians
3 vs. Chicago Cubs
6 vs. Seattle Mariners
7 vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Kansas City Royals: 65-61

3 vs. Boston Red Sox
3 vs. New York Yankees
3 vs. Detroit Tigers
6 vs. Minnesota Twins
7 vs. Chicago White Sox
4 vs. Oakland Athletics
6 vs. Cleveland Indians
3 vs. Detroit Tigers

New York Yankees: 65-61

9 vs. Baltimore Orioles
3 vs. Kansas City Royals
7 vs. Toronto Blue Jays
3 vs. Tampa Bay Rays
3 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
7 vs. Boston Red Sox

As you can see it won’t be easy for the Yankees, or any team that doesn’t control their own destiny at this point. Judging by these schedules, and of course with as much parity as there is in Major League Baseball that and a buck will get you a Coke these days, the Seattle Mariners may have the easiest road to the postseason while the hardest road may go through the Bronx. The toughest schedule with the most ground to make up and the most teams in front of them. It’s not looking good Yankees family, it’s not looking good at all.

*all standings are at the time of this writing and subject to change
** bolded teams in schedules are under .500


Yankees Stats Leaders Through 126 Games


Offense


Games Played:

 Starlin Castro - 124



At Bats:

Starlin Castro - 472




Runs Scored:

Brett Gardner - 63




Hits:

Didi Gregorius - 124




Doubles:

Didi Gregorius - 27




Home Runs:

 Didi Gregorius & Starlin Castro- 17 each



RBI:

 Didi Gregorius and Starlin Castro– 57 each


AVG:

Didi Gregorius - .310 (qualifying)







Pitching


GS:

Masahiro Tanaka - 26


AP:

Dellin Betances - 60


Wins:


Masahiro Tanaka - 11 


Losses:

CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda both have ten losses? Ouch!


ERA:

Dellin Betances - 2.23 (BULLPEN)
Masahiro Tanaka - 3.11 (ROTATION)


K's:


Dellin Betances - 108 (BULLPEN)
Michael Pineda - 160 (ROTATION

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles 8/26


The New York Yankees are back on the East Coast and back at home in the Bronx tonight to play host to one of their bitter AL East rivals in the Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees had a very successful West Coast road trip by all accounts taking both series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Seattle Mariners and are back for the playoff push here in the Eastern time zone for the remainder of the season. Tonight’s contest will showcase Luis Cessa for the Yankees looking to push them one step closer to that second Wild Card spot in the American League while the Baltimore Orioles, who are also in a dog fight of their own atop the AL East, will counter with Yovanni Gallardo.

Cessa has been brilliant for the Yankees in just one start and looks to build on that tonight in the biggest game he has started in his MLB career. Small sample size I know but these intra-division games and games with teams the Yankees are chasing in the Wild Card race. 

Yovanni Gallardo makes the start tonight despite reports that Mike Wright was called up to make the start for Baltimore in place on injured Chris Tillman. Gallardo has won just one start since June 29th which is a great sign for the Yankees.


The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on WPIX Channel 11 and MLB TV. I know the realistic chances that the Yankees make the postseason are slim, statistics and simple mathematics will tell you that, but I cannot and will not stop fighting and rooting for this team until those same statistics and same mathematics tell me it’s a lost cause. That’s just the kind of fan I am so let’s go out and slap these Orioles around two or three times this weekend and let’s keep the good times rolling in the Bronx all season long. Go Yankees!

The Yankees & The 2017 Rule 5 Draft


The New York Yankees youth movement is in full effect and with the excitement of seeing the likes of Tyler Austin, Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge and others comes the tough decisions that come along with stockpiling talent down in the minor leagues. The toughest decision of all tends to always come down to who should you protect and who should you leave unprotected from the Rule 5 Draft every winter. The Yankees have quite a few notable prospects that could be up for grabs this winter so here is who they are and who I think the Yankees will and should protect. If you disagree or if I miss anyone please leave it below in the comments section. 

The list of Rule 5 Draft eligible players this winter include Miguel Andujar, Jorge Mateo, Jake Cave, Kyle Higashioka, Dietrich Enns, Gio Gallegos, Brady Lail, Tyler Webb, Dante Bichette Jr., Rashad Crawford, Cale Coshow, Cito Culver, Ty Hensley, Mark Montgomery and Luis Torrens. It’s also worth mentioning that both Higashioka and Culver are set to become minor league free agents at the end of the season as well so the Yankees are at risk of losing them all together if they are not Rule 5 protected. So who gets protected and who doesn’t? 

You have to think that both Andujar and Mateo are givens to be protected. I highly doubt either are technically MLB ready but they are also loaded with talents and I could see a team sacrificing their development for a year to keep them on the bench as a pinch hitter, pinch runner or defensive replacement just to keep them within their organization. Those are the easy ones. The list of players I don’t believe will be protected due to being at low risk of being taken are Bichette, Crawford, Coshow, Culver, Hensley and Montgomery. Those also seems close to being locks for me. Now for the hard part, the players stuck in the middle. 

Cave was left unprotected last year and was taken by the Cincinnati Reds only to be handed back after spring training and with the absolute log jam in the Yankees outfield right now (barring an offseason trade) I can see him being left unprotected once again this offseason, and taken once again this offseason. Dietrich Enns, Gio Gallegos and Brady Lail remind me a lot of Rookie Davis who was protected last year and then traded. They aren’t blowing competitors away and knocking on the door in Triple-A but they are some of the best pitching prospects the Yankees have so any of the three could be protected, or maybe they won’t. I believe the toughest decision though will come down to the two Yankees catchers Luis Torrens and Kyle Higashioka. 


Higashioka seems to be a late bloomer and has become a legitimate prospect for the Yankees while Torrens remains one of, if not the, top Yankees catching prospect in all of the farm affiliates. The problem with Torrens is that he is a good two or three years away from the Major Leagues. The talent is there, see what I said above about Andujar and Mateo, so he could be protected but I just can’t see it. I would personally protect Torrens and try to work out something on the side with Higashioka, see Mason Williams and Slade Heathcott for recent examples of this type of “release” then re-sign tactic the Yankees have employed to circumvent the 40 man roster, if at all possible. If not I think Higashioka will be protected and Torrens will be left out there for anyone to snatch up.

Weekly Prospects Check In: Jorge Mateo


The Yankees youth movement is in full effect. I know I keep saying this but I feel like if I stop saying it the Yankees will turncoat on me and start signing up any dumpster dive veteran free agent they can find. Jorge Mateo is still in Tampa as you have to think the Yankees organization is trying to send a message to the young shortstop after his two-week suspension for questioning it and violating the team’s rules.


What did Mateo do down in Tampa this week with his new sidekick Gleyber Torres by his side? Let’s find out and delve into the stats: 

YearAgeTmGPARH2BHRRBISBBBSOBAOBPSLGOPS
201621Tampa10747962116168473430101.264.313.396.709

This Day In New York Yankees History 8/26: MLB TV is Born!

This day in Yankees history in 2002 was quite the day for New York players and fans as we were treated to a trio of historic events. First and foremost fans were finally able to watch the Yankees on their computers as MLBTV was born on MLB.com. Sixty three years after the first Major League Baseball game was televised the first live video streaming game took place on the internet. The New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers would face off in a game that approximately 30,000 fans saw on MLB.com and also 42,000 fans saw at Yankee Stadium.

In the Yankees 10-3 victory over Texas Alfonso Soriano hit a solo home run in the fourth inning to set a new team record for home runs by a second baseman. Soriano's 31st home runs passed Joe Gordon's previous mark of 30 home runs by a second baseman hit in 1940. Also on this day Derek Jeter became only the third player to score at least 100 runs in his first seven major league seasons. The Yankees captain joins Ted Williams (Red Sox) and Earle Combs (Yankees) as the only other two big leaguers to begin their careers with 100 runs scored in seven straight seasons.

What a day for Yankees fans and players alike.

Also on this day in 1991 the Yankees reluctantly agreed to a signing bonus with first overall pick Brien Taylor. Taylor agreed to a $1.55 million contract at age 19 at the dismay of suspended owner George Steinbrenner. This came two days after Steinbrenner told the media that "if they (Gene Michael) let him (Taylor) go, they ought to be shot."

Talk about bidding against yourself.