And just like that it is game time here in the Bronx between
the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners. In the opener of the three-game
set this week in the Bronx the Yankees will send Domingo German to the mound to face off
with Marco Gonzalez for the Mariners. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET
inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network. You can also follow
along with the game on MLB TV, with the MLB At-Bat app and by tuning into the
Yankees radio broadcast on WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.
Follow us on Twitter, @GreedyStripes, and “Like” us on Facebook,
The Greedy Pinstripes, to keep up with us and the team all season long. Enjoy
the game, no mercy for the Mariners, and go Yankees!!
With their 15th round pick, 457th overall,
in the 2018 MLB First Year Players Draft the New York Yankees selected Nick
Ernst, a right-handed starting pitcher out of Miami University in Ohio. It will
be a while before we see Ernst on the mound at any of the Yankees affiliates as
this season the right-hander tore his UCL, resulting in Tommy John surgery, but
let’s meet him regardless. This is Meet a Prospect: The Nick Ernst Edition.
Now I know what you’re thinking, the Yankees drafted yet
another college experienced right-handed starting pitcher for their upper
levels of their farm system. Yes and no. As I alluded to earlier Ernst tore his
UCL and has already undergone Tommy John surgery to repair the ligament, a
surgery that will force him to miss the 2018 season and likely most of the 2019
season. When healthy Ernst is not the type of pitcher the Yankees have drafted
recently in previous drafts. Ernst is a huge frame standing 6’3” and weighing
in at 195 lbs. but that is where the similarities begin and end. Ernst is not a
guy throwing in the high 90 MPH range and he is not going to be a pitcher that
strikes out nearly 10 batters per nine innings either. Instead Ernst sits
around 92 MPH with the ability to touch 94 MPH with a devastating slider that
he uses as his out pitch.
Here is what CollegeBaseballCentral.com had to say about
Ernst:
“MOST TEAMS WOULD
STRUGGLE AFTER LOSING THEIR FRIDAY NIGHT STARTER TWO WEEKS INTO THE SEASON. NOT
ONLY DOES THAT MEAN YOU’VE LOST WHAT IS TYPICALLY THE BEST STARTING PITCHER ON
THE ROSTER, BUT IT ALSO MEANS THAT EVERYONE ELSE ON THE STAFF HAS TO SLIDE DOWN
A SPOT, WHICH HURTS YOUR DEPTH.
MIAMI (25-15, 11-7) WAS IN THAT POSITION AFTER THE SECOND
WEEKEND OF THE SEASON, WHEN NICK ERNST WENT DOWN WITH A TORN UCL. THAT WAS
AFTER, MIND YOU, ERNST BEGAN HIS SEASON BY THROWING SIX INNINGS AGAINST ARIZONA
STATE, GIVING UP JUST FOUR HITS AND ONE RUN WITH NO WALKS AND SIX STRIKEOUTS IN
A 4-2 WIN THAT GAVE THE REDHAWKS THEIR FIRST OPENING DAY WIN SINCE 2007.”
“NICK ERNST LOOKED LIKE HE WAS ON HIS WAY TO A BREAKOUT
JUNIOR SEASON AS HE SHUT DOWN ARIZONA STATE IN MIAMI’S SEASON OPENER, BUT HE
LEFT HIS NEXT START WITH AN ELBOW INJURY THAT REQUIRED TOMMY JOHN SURGERY.
ERNST COULD HEAD BACK TO THE REDHAWKS FOR HIS SENIOR SEASON, BUT HE COULD STILL
BE DRAFTED BY A TEAM INTRIGUED BY HIS 90-94 MPH FASTBALL AND PROMISING SLIDER.”
Nick has already signed with the team since the draft so
welcome to the Yankees organization, and welcome to the Yankees family as well.
You can follow Nick on Twitter by following @NickyE123.
The New York Yankees will be in the market for a starting
pitcher before the July 31st trade deadline comes and goes here in
2018. Now let me preface by saying that this does not necessarily mean the team
will acquire a starter, only that they will be in the discussions for many of
the top available starters this trading deadline. One thing Brian Cashman, the
Yankees GM, has shown though is an unwillingness to “lose” a trade and trade
away top talent just because. Cashman won’t make a deal just for the sake of
making a deal, and that includes any deal that could potentially bring a
starter like Cole Hamels to the Bronx. Hamels is the name I have seen thrown
around the most when discussing who could potentially be on the radar for the
Yankees this winter, but he isn’t the top arm on my radar. While everyone wants
Hamels to be donning pinstripes on August 1st I’d much rather have
Tyson Ross of the San Diego Padres personally, but maybe that’s just me.
Ross is set to reach free agency for the first time in his
career after the 2018 season meaning that the right-hander is a true rental for
any team that could potentially acquire him. Where Ross is especially
attractive to the Yankees where Hamels may not be is in the financial
department. Ross is making just $1.7 million this season, which any team who
acquires him would be on the hook for roughly half that with a pro-rated
salary, while Hamels comes attached to not only a $23 million base salary for
the 2018 season (pro-rated to about $12 million for whichever team acquires
him) but the lefty also comes with a $20 million option for the 2019 season as
well with a $6 million buyout.
Ross is 31-years old and has undoubtedly benefited from pitching
in one of the biggest and most spacious ballparks in all of Major League
Baseball. I truly believe if the Yankees were to acquire Ross that they would
not be acquiring the ace that the San Diego Padres may be selling him as, but I
also truly think that Ross could be better than CC Sabathia, Sonny Gray,
Domingo German and Jonathan Loaisiga.
I am not an expert on the farm system of the San Diego
Padres, but the team seems to be in full rebuild mode meaning they may simply
take the best available package rather than a package heavily weighted towards
a certain position or pitching. The Yankees have plenty to offer in terms of
prospects and I truly believe that the team could acquire Ross for a reasonable
price, maybe a package of Chance Adams and Tyler Wade for example. Ross would
be the better fit in my opinion for the Yankees this season while also giving
the team a sneak peak of his abilities before he hits the free agent market
next season.
With their 12th round pick, 367th overall,
in the 2018 MLB First Year Players Draft the New York Yankees selected Matt
Pita, an outfielder from the Virginia Military Institute. Imagine that, the
Yankees drafted someone, and it wasn’t an experienced college starting pitcher.
Let’s meet the man that “defied the odds.” This is Meet a Prospect: The Matt
Pita Edition.
Pits stands just 5’10’ and weighs in at 175 lbs. which
immediately, based on size, garners comparisons to the Yankees current left
fielder Brett Gardner. Gardner is left-handed while Pita is right-handed, but
both can swing the bat well, which was never more evident than during Pita’s
three years at VMI. At VMI the outfielder slashed .359/.428/.639 including a
.389/.459/.721 here in 2018.
Pita, now 21-years old, is beginning to develop power which
translated to 41 extra-base hits in 2018. Here is what the VMI athletics page
had to say about Pita prior to the draft:
“18 OF HIS 55 HITS WENT FOR EXTRA BASES…FINISHED FIFTH IN
THE SOCON (BIG SOUTHERN CONFERENCE) IN BATTING AVERAGE AND EIGHTH IN SLUGGING
PERCENTAGE (.583)…CLOSED OUT THE YEAR ON A 10-GAME HITTING STREAK, EIGHT OF
WHICH WERE MULTI-HIT GAMES.”
Matt has already signed with the Yankees so congratulations
to him and to his family. Welcome to the organization and welcome to the
Yankees family. You can follow Matt on twitter by giving @Matt_Pita a follow.
Good morning everyone and welcome back to the Bronx, the location
for the next three games between the Seattle Mariners and the New York Yankees.
In the opener of this three-game set the Yankees will look to keep their
winning ways going here in 2018 by sending out Domingo German to the mound. Meanwhile the
Mariners continue to march towards a potential Wild Card spot in the American
League and look to continue to do that tonight with Marco Gonzalez on the
mound. Let’s get to it here in the Bronx.
German has led the Yankees to wins in each of his last two starts including his last start where he logged his first victory of his two-year career. This will be the first time that German has ever faced the Seattle Mariners.
Gonzalez has been impressive for the Mariners over his last
six starts posting a 4-0 record with a 1.41 ERA. This will be the first time
that the former first round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals has faced the New
York Yankees in his short MLB career.
The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium
and can be seen on the YES Network. You can also follow along with the game on
MLB TV, with the MLB At-Bat app and by tuning into the Yankees radio broadcast
on WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.
Enjoy the game, like a good Gleyber… Torres is there, and go
Yankees!!
Good morning Yankees family and welcome back to the blog. We
are going to shift our focus here on the blog a bit going forward now that the
2018 MLB First Year Players Draft is done, and the hot stove and international
free agent seasons begin. We will still cover prospects drafted by the Yankees
in our Meet a Prospect series, but we will only cover players that have agreed
to sign with the Yankees. We will also begin covering the 2018-2019
international free agent signing period that begins on July 2 as well as the
hot stove season that is on tap for the rest of this month and into July.
I want to expand my horizons just a little bit this season
and not only predict the trade deadline for the New York Yankees, but maybe for
all 30 teams. As much as I can anyway. It should be challenging, but it should
be fun as well, and that is what it is all about. So, stay tuned for that as I
begin to work on that this week.
And you, prepare to be my wife because in less than a year
all your dreams will finally become a reality. I love you my sweet and gorgeous
Kari Ann, I always have, and I always will.
Congratulations went out to Alex Rodriguez on this day in 2015 as the Yankees designated hitter hit his 3,000th hit of his major league career. In the first inning Rodriguez stepped up to the plate against the Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander and clobbered an opposite field home run to right field for the historic hit. Alex became just the third player in the history of the game to hit a home run for his 3000th hit joining Wade Boggs (Tampa Bay Rays) and Derek Jeter (New York Yankees) all-time. Congratulations once again to A Rod from all Yankees fans and from everyone here at The Greedy Pinstripes.
Also on this day in 1950 Joe DiMaggio had a two hit day and collected his 2,000th hit of his career. DiMaggio had an RBI single in the third inning and had another RBI single in the seventh inning to reach the milestone. The Yankees would beat the Indians 8-2 in DiMaggio's 1,537th game of his career.
For all the fans growing up in my generation to have a three strikeout game for a batter is something that happens once or twice a week, but it didn't happen all that much by Joe DiMaggio. On this day in 1942 DiMaggio struck out three times in a game for the first and only time in his 1,787 game career. The Indians Mel Harder is the pitcher that will forever go down in history in a 5-4 victory for Cleveland at Cleveland Stadium.
Also on this day in 1921 Babe Ruth vaulted himself into second place on the career list for home runs. Ruth would hit his 127th home run helping the Yankees beat the Red Sox in Fenway Park 7-6 in 10 innings. Ruth would pass Sam Thompson on the All-Time list and would find himself just 11 home runs away from the All-Time record holder Roger Connor.
