Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Kansas City Royals 5/16

Ladies and gentleman it is an hour later than usual but it is still game time between the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals. In the first of the three-game set in the central time zone the Yankees will send CC Sabathia to the mound to square off with Jason Hammel for the Royals. The game will be played at 8:15 pm ET inside Kauffman Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network and MLB TV. You can also follow along in your cars and on the radio by tuning into the WFAN broadcast.

Follow us on Twitter by giving @GreedyStripes a follow and stand side-by-side with us as we scream Go Yankees!

Text from Derek Jeter’s Speech on Derek Jeter Day

Hey all and Happy Tuesday afternoon. In case you missed it over the weekend, and shame on you if you did while turning in your Yankees fandom cards at the door, the New York Yankees retired their final single digit number in their franchise’s storied history when Derek Jeter saw his #2 retired inside Monument Park. Jeter was never a huge talker during his playing career and he hasn’t been much for words since heading into retirement aside from the occasional blog post on the Players Tribune but he did address the Yankees crowd before Sunday’s second game of a double-header with the Houston Astros. Here is what Jeter had to say in his own words.

“First of all, I just want to say happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there, especially my mom, my grandmother, my sister and my wife, who is very soon going to be a mother. So happy Mother's Day.

What do you say on a day like this? You know, I'll start with thank you to George Steinbrenner and the Steinbrenner family for giving me the opportunity to play my entire career for the only team I ever wanted to play for.

I want to thank my managers, coaches, teammates, support staff, those of you that are here today and those of you who aren't for being with me along that the entire journey.

I want to thank my family for their love, support, honesty and more importantly their presence at everything I did both on and off the field.

And the fans — wow — I want to thank you guys for pushing me, challenging me, for making me accountable, more importantly for embracing me since day one.

You know, I was asked recently by someone, they said if you could trade places with one person, who would it be? And I say this very humbly, there isn't a person or player I would trade places with that's playing now or ever. And the reason why I say that is because I got a chance to play for a first-class organization and in front of the greatest fans in the history of sports.

You know, you play here in New York for 20 years, you know I learned that time flies, memories fade, but family is forever, and I'll be eternally grateful to be a part of the Yankees' family. So I can't thank you guys enough. Thank you very much.”

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Kansas City Royals 5/16

Another series and another week of baseball for the New York Yankees. The Yankees didn’t have a good showing over the weekend against the Houston Astros but the team had the off day yesterday to mend and lick their wounds and are back at it again tonight with the first of a three-game set with the Kansas City Royals. The Yankees will send CC Sabathia to the mound looking to turn his season around after recent struggles have bogged the lefty down while the Royals will counter with former Chicago Cub and veteran pitcher Jason Hammel.

Sabathia has been horrible lately, let’s not mince words and let’s not equivocate. Sabathia has pitched to an 8.14 ERA in the first three innings of games this season and is still prone to that one big inning almost every single time he takes the ball. Sabathia has allowed five or more runs in each of his last three starts which is a complete polar opposite of his first three starts of the 2017 where he was dominant. Just counting down the days before a 10-day DL trip and a knee drain happens.

Hammel was not especially sharp either in his last start against the Tampa Bay Rays allowing a whopping 13 hits and six earned runs in seven innings of work on Wednesday. If the Yankees score six runs and collect 13 hits you have to think that even with Sabathia on the mound that this one is in the bag. No?

The game will be played at 8:15 pm ET inside Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network and MLB TV. You can also follow along in your cars or on the radio by tuning into John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN. 

The Cole Hard Truth...

Credit:  Elsa/Getty Images

The Yankees are in first place in the American League East so it might be a bit premature to scream, “the sky is falling”, but frankly, the starting rotation scares the h**l out of me and not in a good way.

The last five starts look like this:

In terms of numbers, the results are just as ugly:

1 2/3 innings, 7 hits, 8 runs/earned runs, 1 BB, 3 K’s, 4 home runs

2 1/3 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs/earned runs, 3 BB, 2 K’s

6 innings, 8 hits, 4 runs/earned runs, 1 BB, 7 K’s, one home run

6 2/3 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs/earned runs, 1 BB, 7 K’s, one home run

6 innings, 7 hits, 5 runs/earned runs, 2 BB, 2 K’s

So, for 22 2/3 innings of work, Yankee starters have given up 23 runs.  If you want to heavily tax a bullpen, I give you the New York Yankees starting rotation.  It’s no wonder that we started to see some cracks in the armor this past week.  Michael Pineda has probably been the most consistent pitcher.  He’s the only one that threw a so-called “quality” start and that’s a scary thought.  

I saw one tweet that said the Yankees need to trade for Gerrit Cole or Chris Archer before the trading deadline.  As much as I like Chris Archer, I don’t think the Tampa Bay Rays would trade him within the division without a serious overpay.  That’s why Cole remains high on my priority list.  The Pirates are currently in last place in the NL Central and going nowhere fast.  Cole is presently 1-4 but has a better ERA than any Yankees starter (3.06).  In 50 innings, he has only given up 43 hits, 17 earned runs, 7 HR’s, and 10 walks.  He has struck out 47 batters.  Cole, 26, is currently paid $3.75 million with two years of arbitration eligibility remaining.  I don’t care that he’ll be a free agent in 2020.  This is an opportunity to kick the tires, so long as it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg (in other words, Gleyber Torres).  Outside of Torres, no one is untouchable and the Yankees should put together a package that works for both sides.  

Credit:  Ross D Franklin/Associated Press

The Boston Red Sox keep scuffling but knowing that they can throw out Chris Sale every five days keeps them a prime threat.  The Yankees need one of those kind of guys.  I know, aces are not grown on trees but GM Brian Cashman is a creative guy.  He can make some magic to bring help for the rotation.  I thought CC Sabathia was the weak link in the rotation but there are no guarantees in any spot.  Every time a pitcher posts an ugly line, the comment is always how the pitches weren’t working.  When do we hold the pitcher, and not the pitches, accountable?  The Yankees need an anchor in the rotation.  With the promise of the young offense, intermixed with the veteran influence, a decent starting rotation could carry this team to October.  Chance Adams, would you hurry up and get your butt to the Bronx?…

Credit:  Patrick Teale

Today finds the Yankees in the City of Fountains.  They begin a three game set in Kansas City before making their way to their home away home in Tampa.  The scheduled pitching matchups are:

TODAY

Yankees:  CC Sabathia (2-2, 5.77 ERA)

Royals:  Jason Hammel (1-4, 5.97 ERA)

WEDNESDAY

Yankees:  Michael Pineda (3-2, 3.27 ERA)

Royals:  Jason Vargas (5-1, 1.01 ERA)

THURSDAY

Yankees:  Jordan Montgomery (2-2, 4.19 ERA)

Royals:  Danny Duffy (2-3, 3.38 ERA)

These games are winnable regardless of the great start that Jason Vargas has gotten off to.  We just need to concentrate on one pitch at a time.  Objective:  To miss bats and or least only allow balls to be hit to positional players in proper fielding position without touching the ground.  C’mon, how hard can that be?…

Have a great Tuesday!  Let's have a royal good time!

Bryce Harper’s New Deal & the New York Yankees

In a bit of a weird turn of events the Washington Nationals restructured the contract for Bryce Harper for the 2018 season, his final season before hitting free agency. The Nationals and Harper agreed over the weekend on a contract that will pay Harper $21,625,000 next season plus an additional $1 million if he were to win the National League MVP Award. The money isn’t an issue really, well it is but one thing at a time, but what this deal tells me more than the obvious that whoever signs him before 2019 will have to break the bank to do so is that Harper hitting free agency is all but a foregone conclusion at this point.

Harper will not be pulling a Mike Trout and will not sign a contract extension like Trout did to stay with the Washington Nationals. Nope, Harper is testing the market after the 2018 season which is exciting for the Yankees, presumably, and their fans, confirmed.

Bryce Harper will be just 26-years old when he hits free agency which reminds me a lot of another former Yankee player, Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez was 25-years old when he signed his 10-year deal worth $252 million with the Texas Rangers and that was back in 2001. What does that mean for Harper? Will he be the first to sign a $400 million deal for 10-years or so? At this point, the way inflation has run rampant through the game, I’m not going to be the one to say that he won’t. Especially considering his agent, like Alex at the time, is Scott Boras.

So what does Harper’s new deal mean for the Yankees? It means they, and 29 other teams, will have the opportunity to bid on his services before the 2019 season. 10-years and $400 million? $600 million and 15-years? Giancarlo Stanton signed a $300 million deal for 12-years and has shown nothing but an injury prone season after another so keep that in mind before scoffing at a 15-year deal. The bidding wars have already begun and it’s only going to get higher and higher from here.

Yankees fans, and most notably the Steinbrenner family, are you ready? 

So it Seems the Yankees Suck on their “Days”

Boy, the New York Yankees have made it a habit of losing on all these special events and days that they hold at the stadium don’t they? It’s becoming a trend more than a coincidence at this point and it’s a scary precedent that I don’t like being set. Let’s look at recent “days” at Yankee Stadium and their success rates. What does this mean in the long run? Absolutely nothing but it is still fun to take a look at regardless.

Derek Jeter Day – 5/14/17

10-7 loss to the Houston Astros

Jorge Posada Day – 8/22/15

6-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians

Bernie Williams Day – 5/24/15

5-2 loss to the Texas Rangers

Joe Torre Day – 8/23/14

5-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox

Paul O’Neill Day – 8/9/14

3-0 loss to the Cleveland Indians

Andy Pettitte Day – 9/23/13

4-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians

Tino Martinez Day – 6/21/14

6-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles

This Day in New York Yankees History 5/16: Yankees Come Back from 9-0 to Win

On this day in 2006 the New York Yankees overcame a nine run deficit for the fourth time in their history defeating the Rangers 14-13. The Yankees were down 9-0 after an inning and a half before Jorge Posada hit a two out, two run walk off home run to win the game.


Also on this day in 1932 Lefty Gomez throws a five hit shutout giving the Yankees their fourth consecutive shutout. Gomez joins Johnny Allen, George Pipgras, and Red Ruffing in the streak. The Yankees would beat Cleveland 8-0 on this night.