This Day In New York Yankees History 6/22: #TooManyDamnHomeRuns

On this day in 1941 the Yankees hit a home run for the 18th consecutive game setting a new major league record. Joe DiMaggio hit the historic home run in a 5-4 Yankees victory over the Detroit Tigers and extended his own hitting streak to 35 games.

This Day In New York Yankees History 6/22: #TooManyDamnHomeRuns

On this day in 1941 the Yankees hit a home run for the 18th consecutive game setting a new major league record. Joe DiMaggio hit the historic home run in a 5-4 Yankees victory over the Detroit Tigers and extended his own hitting streak to 35 games.

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. San Francisco Giants 7/22

The New York Yankees stay home after an impressive series victory over the Baltimore Orioles to welcome in the probable 2016 World Series Champions (because it’s an even year and because I’m feeling extremely sarcastic today) in the San Francisco Giants to town. On paper, and thank goodness these games are not played on paper, this has all the makings of being a tough and frustrating weekend for the Yankees and their fans as the Giants send their three best pitchers to the mound to square off against the Yankees with Madison Bumgarner taking the mound in the opener. Opposing the former World Series MVP will be the Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka. Happy Tanaka Day.

Tanaka had possibly his best start of the season last time out when he held the Boston Red Sox to just three hits in six innings of work on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. Tanaka did give up a solo home run to Dustin Pedroia for his only earned run of the contest while walking one and striking out seven before handing the win over to “No Runs DMC.”

Bumgarner will be making his first ever trip and appearance at Yankee Stadium, the new one or the original, tonight as he looks to improve on a sketchy interleague play record for his career. In 19 regular-season interleague starts Bumgarner has posted a career 8-7 record with a 3.75 ERA. The postseason on the other hands is a whole different story.

The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV. Madison Bumgarner wanted to participate in the Home Run Derby this season and while it was probably a good idea that he didn’t, no one was touching my pick to win it Giancarlo Stanton, it will still be fun to watch him hit in a very hitters friendly ballpark in the Bronx. It will also be interesting to see the Yankees ace and the Giants ace face off head-to-head tonight inside Yankee Stadium. Go Yankees!

So Your Fantasy Teams Needs a Little Power?

So you have a plan. Spend the All-Star break wheeling and dealing and scouring the free agent market looking for talent for your fantasy baseball team. The team hasn’t lived up to the preseason hype. Injuries have happened and so have down seasons and you, like a lot of your league mates, need power. I may not have the sleeper that you can get as an unknown that will turn your season around and bring you a championship but I just may have a couple guys you can maybe buy low on and watch as they turn around their season in the second half. What do you have to lose? You wouldn’t be reading this if you were in a good position now would you?

Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox is a better hitter and a better home run hitter than he has shown thus far in 2016. In Abreu’s first two seasons in the big leagues the slugger had at least 30 home runs and 100 RBI or more but to date Abreu has just 11 home runs in 2016. Abreu still has a ton of protection in that White Sox lineup and his contact, line drive and power indexes are still above average so sabermetrics suggest he is due to break out in a big way very, very soon.

Brian McCann is one that I watch on a daily basis. For that reason I don’t feel the need to throw fancy sabermetric stats at you but instead I will use the eye test. I know the back of his baseball card says he is a 25 home run type guy every season, especially inside Yankee Stadium, but he has been anything but that this season. I’m thinking he will wake up a bit in the second half and climb much closer to 20 than he is now and anyone can use that sort of power at the catcher position.

Finally you have Justin Upton. Yes I know he plays in a big yard in Comerica Park and yes I know his home run numbers have been down but hear me out. He is hitting fly balls over 40% of the time and he’s hitting them hard, some of them have to start falling in and falling over the fence soon. It’s simple mathematics and science. Upton is used to playing in pitching friendly ballparks in Atlanta, San Diego and Arizona and that never slowed him down. Comerica won’t either.

Trade from a strength, fill a hole and win your league. You’re welcome in advance. 

This Day In New York Yankees History 6/22: #TooManyDamnHomeRuns

On this day in 1941 the Yankees hit a home run for the 18th consecutive game setting a new major league record. Joe DiMaggio hit the historic home run in a 5-4 Yankees victory over the Detroit Tigers and extended his own hitting streak to 35 games.

Did the Yankees Screw up Trading Francisco Cervelli?

The New York Yankees and their GM Brian Cashman has grown to be known for their wheeling and dealing in recent years more so than their big money free agent signings. The tides may be turning in the Bronx and the Yankees GM is at the forefront of this change. Whether Cashman is a second tiered GM or even worth the breath you would waste to boo him if you saw him on the street is up for debate but I think we now have the answer to at least one question. Did the Yankees screw up when they traded away catcher Francisco Cervelli? In a word, yes.

Now one must keep in mind that Cervelli was traded on the heels of consecutive injury-riddled seasons and was also shipped away after a Biogenesis-related scandal and steroid suspension as well. There was all the drama and rumors circulating that Alex Rodriguez gave up names to investigators and the league including Cervelli’s and it was bad Ju Ju all around in the Yankees dugout. On paper that alone makes for a good trade for New York, especially when you consider they flipped him for durable reliever Justin Wilson before last season, but everything since has gone terribly wrong for the Yankees.

New York has since flipped Wilson for a pair of starting pitchers in Luis Cessa and Chad Green and neither have looked good in their ridiculously small MLB sample size. I won’t hold that against Cashman because we have a long way to go before determining who “won” that trade but after Cervelli signed a contract extension with Pittsburgh this week you have to think the trade to Pittsburgh was a loss for Cashman and company. Cervelli signed a three-year extension with Pittsburgh recently worth $31.5 million keeping the right-handed hitting catcher in Pittsburgh through his age 33 season.

Cervelli served as McCann’s backup in 2014 and since the 2015 season when Cervelli was shipped to Pittsburgh he has out-performed McCann in almost every aspect. Cerveli hits for a higher average, he actually frames balls better than McCann, Cervelli gets on base more often, his defense is better and so is his base running. McCann hits #TooManyDamnHrs but his WAR during that timeframe has been 3.8 while Cervelli has accumulated a 4.5 WAR in the same period.

So for less WAR the Yankees are paying McCann $16.40 million per year AAV while the Pirates will pay Cervelli roughly $10 million for a younger bat, better defense and a higher WAR. Sounds like the proof is in the pudding on this one Yankees family.

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Chicago White Sox 5/15

One last time. The New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox. In the finale of this three-game set between, statistically, one of the best teams in the American League vs. one of the worst teams in the American League we will all watch as Masahiro Tanaka takes the mound for the Yankees and Miguel Gonzalez takes the mound for the White Sox. The game will be played at 1:05 PM ET inside of Yankee Stadium and can be seen on WPIX Channel 11, MLB Network and MLB TV.

The Yankees are leaving on a jet plane after this game as they head out west to the desert to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks in their first interleague matchup of the season. In that series Michael Pineda, Nathan Eovaldi and Luis Severino will all take their hacks as they attempt to hit one into the pool out there beyond the outfield wall. It should be fun but it usually isn’t. Follow along on Twitter from the pool or from your own home and live tweet with us by following @GreedyStripes.

The Yankees are ready to bring back the Bronx Bombers and the #TooManyDamnHRs hashtag and Miguel Gonzalez is simply hoping to get out of the Bronx with his job. Let’s see which one happens and which one doesn’t. Go Yankees!

Most Popular Article of the Week: If Not Justin Upton then Who?

The New York Yankees are in a bit of a unique situation this offseason. The team has needs, every team does, but the team lacks a true position where they can upgrade the offense and team easily. There are at least seven players vying for the starting rotation and another 10+ vying for the final bullpen slots on the team. The offense is seemingly full and will see breakout rookies like Greg Bird and Robert Refsnyder starting the season in Triple-A while there’s little to no room to improve the defense without a chain reaction of trades. I have said many times this offseason that the team should be at least willing to discuss a potential trade of an outfielder to make room for Justin Upton with little traction coming from my blog posts, if not Upton then who else would make sense for the Yankees this offseason?


If not Upton then what Yoenis Cespedes? This is the obvious answer if the Yankees are looking for some right-handed pop in the lineup and another outfielder that can play in all three outfield positions. Cespedes, unlike Upton, would not require the forfeit of a first round draft pick though as he was not linked to a qualifying offer this offseason. The list of teams said to be interested in Cespedes is dwindling, especially after San Francisco signed Denard Span to a three-year deal, so you have to wonder if the one or two year pillow contract we discussed for Upton earlier last week would apply to Cespedes as well and whether he would take it or not. All signs point to no since teams like the Chicago White Sox and others have been willing to give Cespedes a three-year deal but you would have to think the window to win in New York is better than that of Chicago.


If the Yankees want to go back to #TooManyDamnHrs they could always shock the baseball world and go after Chris Davis as well. Davis, although better suited as a DH at this point in his career, has played at first base, third base and the outfield although none were considered to be adequate attempts defensively. You don’t acquire a player like Davis for his defense or his batting average though you acquire him for his 50+ home run power, which may translate to 60 home run power inside Yankee Stadium, and the Yankees may decide his bat is worth finding at bats for. New York would presumably have to beat Baltimore’s $154 million offer they have left on the table for Davis though which may be the biggest obstacle.


The final piece could bring a pitcher back to New York and that pitcher could be Wei-Yin Chen. I would hate to lose the draft pick for a pitcher that’s not an ace but Chen has a proven track record not only in the American League but in the AL East, which counts for more than people realize I think. Chen is just 30-years old and has a career 3.72 ERA pitching in the East while throwing in at least 185 innings in three of his first four seasons. Chen, like former teammate Davis, won’t come cheap making him unlikely to ever don pinstripes under this current regime but he’s the only pitcher out there that may be actually worth the risk and worth the reward.

If Not Justin Upton then Who?

The New York Yankees are in a bit of a unique situation this offseason. The team has needs, every team does, but the team lacks a true position where they can upgrade the offense and team easily. There are at least seven players vying for the starting rotation and another 10+ vying for the final bullpen slots on the team. The offense is seemingly full and will see breakout rookies like Greg Bird and Robert Refsnyder starting the season in Triple-A while there’s little to no room to improve the defense without a chain reaction of trades. I have said many times this offseason that the team should be at least willing to discuss a potential trade of an outfielder to make room for Justin Upton with little traction coming from my blog posts, if not Upton then who else would make sense for the Yankees this offseason? 

If not Upton then what Yoenis Cespedes? This is the obvious answer if the Yankees are looking for some right-handed pop in the lineup and another outfielder that can play in all three outfield positions. Cespedes, unlike Upton, would not require the forfeit of a first round draft pick though as he was not linked to a qualifying offer this offseason. The list of teams said to be interested in Cespedes is dwindling, especially after San Francisco signed Denard Span to a three-year deal, so you have to wonder if the one or two year pillow contract we discussed for Upton earlier last week would apply to Cespedes as well and whether he would take it or not. All signs point to no since teams like the Chicago White Sox and others have been willing to give Cespedes a three-year deal but you would have to think the window to win in New York is better than that of Chicago.  

If the Yankees want to go back to #TooManyDamnHrs they could always shock the baseball world and go after Chris Davis as well. Davis, although better suited as a DH at this point in his career, has played at first base, third base and the outfield although none were considered to be adequate attempts defensively. You don’t acquire a player like Davis for his defense or his batting average though you acquire him for his 50+ home run power, which may translate to 60 home run power inside Yankee Stadium, and the Yankees may decide his bat is worth finding at bats for. New York would presumably have to beat Baltimore’s $154 million offer they have left on the table for Davis though which may be the biggest obstacle.  

The final piece could bring a pitcher back to New York and that pitcher could be Wei-Yin Chen. I would hate to lose the draft pick for a pitcher that’s not an ace but Chen has a proven track record not only in the American League but in the AL East, which counts for more than people realize I think. Chen is just 30-years old and has a career 3.72 ERA pitching in the East while throwing in at least 185 innings in three of his first four seasons. Chen, like former teammate Davis, won’t come cheap making him unlikely to ever don pinstripes under this current regime but he’s the only pitcher out there that may be actually worth the risk and worth the reward. 

Pedro Alvarez NOT A Fit in New York

Pedro Alvarez, formerly of the Pittsburgh Pirates, was made a free agent last week after being non-tendered by his former team. I have received a slew of emails since asking if the Yankees would be interested in Alvarez’s services on a short-term deal so I figured I would answer everyone at once rather than in a million individual emails, Pedro Alvarez is NOT a fit in New York.

Yes I realize he will come “cheap” and yes I realize that Baseball Reference lists him as a third baseman and a first baseman. Yes I realize we have no true third base backup for Chase Headley and yes I realize he is “versatile” because he plays multiple positions but here’s the thing. He’s left-handed, he stinks up the joint at both positions defensively and he cannot be hidden at the DH position.

Alex Rodriguez is the team’s DH for the next two seasons, Greg Bird is going to take over for Mark Teixeira after this season and Chase Headley has three more seasons at third base. Sure Headley could get injured but the Yankees, and myself, feel more comfortable with Brendan Ryan’s defense over there than Alvarez’s, even if the former Pirates player could hit you 20 home runs.

The End of #TooManyDamnHrs Part II

The New York Yankees put an end to the #TooManyDamnHrs "problem" after the 2012 season and ultimately finished both the 2013 and 2014 seasons on the outside looking in when it came to the postseason. The Bronx Bombers returned in 2015 with the resurgence of Mark Teixeira and the return of Alex Rodriguez and the team finished with the second highest scoring offense and finished fourth in home runs in the league under new hitting coach Jeff Pentland and assistant hitting coach Alan Cockrell. Pentland is gone and Cockrell is in charge and he's already discussing potentially ending #TooManyDamnHrs again... kind of.

Cockrell, like many of the frustrated fans from 2015, wants the offense to be more multi-dimensional. New York hit 212 home runs in 2015 with 47 of them coming with runners on base. According to the YES Network a whopping 20% of the team's RBI came on the home run in 2015 but the problem was the situational hitting in 2015, not the home run ball. How many times did we see the Yankees needing to come up with the big hit or a the two-out hit and fail? I don't have a number but I can say with confidence that it was #TooDamnMany and Cockrell wants to fix that.

Cockrell wants to put an emphasis on getting on base, moving the runner from second to third base, giving yourself up with a groundball out for an RBI or to move a runner, etc. Good ole manufacturing runs when necessary. Cockrell doesn't want to ditch hitting home runs all together, especially during the 81 games the Yankees play inside Yankee Stadium every season, but Cockrell doesn't want to sit back and rely on in game in and game out... and I agree with him.

Improving the 2016 Yankees Starts w/ Putting the Ball in Play

The New York Yankees had one of the worst team batting averages in 2015 with many players hitting well below the magic .300 mark. The team’s leading hitter was Carlos Beltran with a .276 batting average while two members of the team hit below the .250 mark leaving the team hitting just .251 as a whole. The moneyball craze began with an emphasis of getting on base in a world where a strikeout counted the same as a line out to the shortstop but is the new craze moving towards putting the ball in play regardless of an out or not? Maybe.

If the new craze is not putting the ball in play, putting the pressure on the opposing team’s defense and running out every single play then it may be before we all know it. If it’s not this is an advantage that the Yankees need to explore and begin to build their team around and if it already is and we just don’t realize it yet it may be time to jump on board. The emphasis of taking pitching and merely getting on base or striking out is working about as well as #TooManyDamnHrs. If this team wants to be better in 2016 and relatively unchanged, which seems very likely, then a change at the plate may be in order.

New York fell into a very predictable pattern in 2015. If it was obvious enough for me to catch onto it with two kids climbing all over my wanting my attention then you know the opposing teams scouts and such caught on to it as well. The team would play patient with a lead or a tie game and the second they fell behind they would swing at anything and everything. The offense could be running on all cylinders but the second the team would fall behind they would get overly aggressive and lull themselves to sleep. With the lead the Yankees were making the opposing pitchers throw 15-25 pitches an inning and without the lead you saw the 7-10 pitch innings that frustrated the fans for much of the second half. So how do you fix it?

Swing at strikes. Sounds simple but it works. Who cares if the count is 3-0 or 0-2, if it’s a strike swing then you swing at it, simple. There are obvious exceptions to the rule, if the opposing pitcher hasn’t thrown a strike for the last two or three batters then you make him throw at least two strikes before you swing, but the general premise is the same. In Major League Baseball you may only get one good pitch to hit per at bat and too many times in 2015 the Yankees watched that best pitch go right down the middle because it was a 3-0 count or the first pitch of the at bat. SWING!

That’s what the players can do, what the GM Brian Cashman can do is bring the team hitters that can hit for average. Too Many Damn Home Runs is nice to watch but the Kansas City Royals are hitting too many damn home runs, they are spraying singles and doubles all over the park and scoring 10 runs a game (slight exaggeration) against a team that owned the Yankees all season long. Put the ball in play, swing at strikes, run out every play and put the pressure on the other team instead of yourselves. It sounds simple on paper but if the team and coaching staff can buy into the philosophy then I truly think it can help the team win in 2016. 

2015 Yankees: #TooManyDamnHRs

Every home run the New York Yankees hit during the 2015 regular season. 

Contrary to Popular Belief Trading Chase Headley Will NOT Fix the Offense

Whenever the Yankees “fail” during the postseason and fall short of a World Series championship the finger is quickly pointed around the team and the organization by the fans. Nothing can just happen in the land of the New York Yankees and someone absolutely has to be held accountable or to blame for every mistake, that’s the way things are unfortunately whether you agree with them or not. Me personally, I am okay with not being the best team on the field every single season if it means the team can rebuild from within and do things the right way. I am the anti “blow this team up and start from scratch” guy but others have their opinions and they are certainly entitled to them. That doesn’t mean I won’t call you out on them though…

The tweet above was pretty tongue in cheek but it put into words what a lot of Yankees fans voiced to me on Twitter the night of the Wild Card Game and the morning after. The team needed to do something, and I agree with that, and the something I saw more than anything else (well besides the generic “Fire Cashman” and “Fire Girardi” tweets I receive on the daily) was that many of our followers wanted to trade Chase Headley in order to fix the offense. Okay.

I will start this off by saying I think the team needs more power out of a premium position like third base and Headley doesn’t seem like he will provide that in New York. I will not agree with trading away the guy that led the team in base hits to “fix the offense.” This team is reliant on the #TooManyDamnHRs, something the fans also complain about openly and often, so trading away the guy that doesn’t hit for much power but leads the team in hits makes absolutely no sense to me. Bringing in, just for an examples sake, Manny Machado helps the offense and I am all for that since he adds defense, average hitting and power to the club, but adding someone like a Chris Davis only hurts the club in the long haul in my opinion. Sure it pads the home run and runs scored stats but what did having the second highest scoring offense in 2015 get the team in the playoffs? A shut out, a trip home for the winter and a rude awakening by the fans that were visibly and audibly sick of the team’s performance the last 60 days or so of the season.

Calm down and take a breath Yankees fans. Unless Cashman is going to pull off a miracle trade like the Blue Jays acquisition of Josh Donaldson last season the team is not going to improve at third base. Trading away Headley just to be rid of him is not going to fix the offense, it’s going to hurt the offense even more. Check the stats and use a clear and calm mind. We’re all better than that.

Quick Hit: The USA Today Explains the Yankees Offensive Woes in One Picture

Photo: USA Today Yankees Page

If a picture is worth a thousand words what will the picture above be worth if the team doesn’t change their offensive ways in 2016 and beyond? When I say change their offensive ways I mean if the team doesn’t get away from the #TooManyDamnHrs mantra and move towards situational hitting, bunting, fundamental baseball and THEN sitting back and waiting for the three run home run. Here is the Yankees offensive problem in a nutshell.

The team’s batting average is well below league average. The team simply does not hit the ball for a base hit three times out of every ten at bats, a lot of the team struggles to even hit the ball in play for a base hit 2.5 times out of every ten at bats. The team is far below average in the average department but the team can knock the ball over the fence like there is no tomorrow. The team lost a step or three to the Toronto Blue Jays after losing Mark Teixeira in the home run department but has still lived and died by the long ball, a recipe that has historically not worked when the calendar changed to October.

The Yankees can score runs at an above average clip but it is how those runs come across the board that may once again haunt this team when they face above average pitching on any given night in the playoffs. 

Recapping Stephen Drew’s Tenure as a Yankee

In all my years of being a fan of the New York Yankees I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a tenure for a player than that of Stephen Drew. The Yankees have shown Drew the utmost confidence, respect and patience during his season and a half tenure with the team and I have not, for that I apologize. I never truly meant anything by it, the “Stephen Drew Sucks” tweets and such, I am just a fan at the end of the day who happens to put his opinion on the internet in a blog form. Sometimes I was unruly and rude and sometimes I was just plain out unreasonable, I apologize. My sudden change of heart comes after the news that Drew may or may not have a concussion and has been battling a dizziness that may end his tenure and season with the New York Yankees.

Drew was acquired by the New York Yankees at the July 31 trade deadline in 2014 when the team sent Kelly Johnson to Boston straight up for the shortstop. Drew was moved to second base for the Yankees, a position he never played full-time in his career, and after a few early missteps actually took to the position well. Drew’s defense was never the concern, it was always his hitting and his seemingly inability to hit above .200 for any stretch of his tenure here in the Bronx. Drew only played half a season in 2014 after declining a qualifying offer that attached him to draft pick compensation as a free agent and left him unsigned until after the draft that season. That was the reasoning and what caught most of the blame for Drew’s lackluster 2014 campaign so the Yankees decided to take a waiver and give him a one year deal worth $5 million for the 2015 season.

Unfortunately for the Yankees the lack of hitting for average continued in 2015 despite him having a full spring training and even with him playing the full season. Drew did manage 17 home runs this season but barely kept his batting line above the Mendoza line finishing at .201. Home runs are nice but #TooManyDamnHRs is bad and in a lineup that hits far too many home runs, solo home runs at that since no one gets on base consistently, Drew just did not fit into the lineup. Drew finished his Yankees tenure with the below batting line and may or may not be back in 2016. Stay tuned.

Year	G	PA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2014	46	155	7	21	8	3	15	0	13	36	.150	.219	.271	.491	38
2015	131	428	43	77	16	17	44	0	37	71	.201	.271	.381	.652	79

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

We wish Drew nothing but the best as he battles these dizzy spells. Even if he hit .000 his health and his life after baseball and away from baseball far supersedes anything that goes on in the stadium. Get well soon Drew and maybe we’ll see you in October. 

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Atlanta Braves 8/29

The New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves continue their three game set tonight inside Turner Field with Mr. Greedy Pinstripes myself in the building. The Yankees have done well against the Braves in their short list of Interleague head-to-head matchups and New York looks to keep that going tonight with another key victory. The Yankees will send Luis Severino to the mound tonight looking for his second career victory while Atlanta counters with Matt Wisler. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on Fox Sports One and probably MLB TV.

• Severino heads into his fifth start of his Major League career tonight looking for his second victory of his young career. Severino earned his first win in his last start against the Cleveland Indians where he went six innings allowing just one run and three hits on August 22. Severino threw a career high 107 pitches last time out and could be good for more if needed tonight inside Turner Field.

• Wisler has been as home run prone as they come this season giving up eight home runs in just 22.2 innings pitched during the month of August. Wisler is in the midst of his rookie campaign with Atlanta and has struggled commanding both his fastball and his slider thus far which could be a recipe for disaster tonight against the Bronx Bombers.

I’m sitting in the right field outfield just over the fence and the Yankees are facing off against a guy that is giving up a home run every three innings or so, I may pull a Zack Hample tonight. With Mark Teixeira expected to be ready for tonight’s matchup and Jacoby Ellsbury hopefully back in center field as well it should be a great matchup for the Yankees tonight. I hate to say this out loud but in my 29 years of Yankees fandom I have never seen the team lose while I was in the stadium, never. The streak is on the line, Go Yankees!

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays 8/9

Another afternoon and another afternoon baseball game in the Bronx as the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays finish off their huge three game series this weekend inside Yankee Stadium. The pitching has been strong and the balls flying over the fence have accounted for many of the runs in the series with more of the same expected in the finale this afternoon. The Yankees will send Masahiro Tanaka to the mound, the team's ace that is becoming more and more home run prone as a member of the Yankees, to face off with the Blue Jay's starter Marco Estrada. The game will be played at 1:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

The Yankees are off tomorrow and head out on the road on Tuesday to Cleveland before making a trip to Toronto for next weekend's huge series. This gives you another week to click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog and another week to have your tickets in hand when the team returns home to the Bronx. Until then head over to Twitter and give @GreedyStripes a follow to root for the home team while they play out on the road.

Tanaka is ready to take the mound and Troy Tulowitzki is ready to step into the batters box so let's get to it. Go Yankees!

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays 8/8

The New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays face off again head-to-head this afternoon at Yankee Stadium with a familiar face in a new place taking the mound in the Bronx. The Yankees will send Ivan Nova to the mound looking to build on his strong outing last time out to face off with the Blue Jays newest toy, David Price. The Yankees have done well against Price in recent years and especially have this season but Price is too good of a pitcher to feel too much confidence against heading into the matchup. The game will be played at 1:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

• Nova heads into this start fresh off a dominant start last time out. Nova has made seven starts since returning off the disabled list from Tommy John surgery and holds a 3.10 ERA in that span. As expected Nova has struggled with his command at times and has not struck out nearly as many batters as he did in 2013 and prior but has pitched well enough to give the Yankees a chance to win in almost all seven of his starts.

• Price heads into this start against the Yankees, his second in a Blue Jays uniform, fresh off a dominant performance in his last start. Price allowed zero runs in eight innings retiring the last 15 batters he faced in a Toronto victory. Price struck out 11 batters and will look to get the monkey off his back with the Yankees uniform on tonight.

Day games inside Yankee Stadium are always really frustrating or really fun for the fans. I say that because the ball tends to fly out of the ballpark a lot in the Bronx during the day and these two teams can absolutely smash the ball. The Blue Jays may have the best offense in Major League Baseball this season while the Yankees may have the best home team offense in the league, despite what the stats may say. This is going to be fun, or frustrating, but hopefully fun. Go Yankees!

TGP Daily Poll: #TooManyDamnHRs

The New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays are both known for hitting the long ball and face off three times this weekend in the Bronx. Yankee Stadium is known for giving up its home runs, especially during the day, with New York will hitting more this series.

Vote in our prediction poll on Knoda.com