Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays 8/17

Before this series started I looked at the pitching probables and I thought the Yankees would either get swept or they would lose embarrassingly in at least two of the games. New York and their youth movement has come out firing on all cylinders once again against a tough team and will look to take another series from a team in front of them tonight in the Bronx. With the off day tomorrow and a west coast trip that begins in Los Angeles on Friday looming in the distance it is imperative that the Yankees take care of business today on their home field in front of their home fans. Donned with the task of putting Toronto back behind teams like Boston and Baltimore in the standings is New York’s starter for the game CC Sabathia. The arm donned with the task of keeping Toronto atop the AL East Division is JA Happ who starts this afternoon for the Blue Jays.

Sabathia had many believing he had finally learned how to pitch and not simply try to blow hitters away earlier in the season but the veteran left-hander has regressed a bit while coming back down to Earth since. The key to Sabathia’s success has been limiting his pitches and limiting his home runs, something he will try to do this afternoon in the Bronx.

Happ comes into this start fresh off his 16^th victory of the season last time out at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays. Happ became the league’s first 16-game winner by throwing six shutout innings against Tampa Bay while stretching his consecutive victories in decisions streak to 10.

The game will be played at 1:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV. Like I alluded to earlier the Yankees are off tomorrow before making the trip out west to begin a weekend series with Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. At last check those Angels had lost double digit games in a row so you know what that means for this Yankees series right? They will probably sweep us. I’m hoping not but that’s usually how it goes for this team this season isn’t? Oh well, regardless I’ll still be sitting here screaming “Go Yankees!”

Weekly Prospects Check In: Justus Sheffield

The Yankees are flush with positional prospects in their farm system and at the top of the many prospects lists that are floating around the internet but the team is seemingly thin as far as starting pitching prospects go. You have Domingo Acevedo and you have James Kaprielian, although both are injured currently as Kaprielian’s season is likely done after injuring his elbow and Acevedo battled a lower back injury, but it may be Justus Sheffield that leads the pack now. He had an amazing debut as a Yankee and has built off that strong start to seriously open the eyes of a lot of fans and members of the Yankees organization.

As Sheffield continues his Yankees career and tenure down in Tampa let’s take a look at what he has done this season with the Tampa Yankees and with the Cleveland Indians before the trade: 

Year	Age	Lev	Aff	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2016	20	A+	CLE-NYY	8	5	3.38	21	21	106.2	98	42	40	6	43	107	1.322	8.3	0.5	3.6	9.0
2016	20	A+	CLE	7	5	3.59	19	19	95.1	91	40	38	6	40	93	1.374	8.6	0.6	3.8	8.8
2016	20	A+	NYY	1	0	1.59	2	2	11.1	7	2	2	0	3	14	0.882	5.6	0.0	2.4	11.1

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Trading Brian McCann Without Hurting Gary Sanchez

There has been some backlash to the idea of trading Brian McCann, and at one point I joined them. The reason for doing so stemmed from my belief that catchers are perhaps the most intelligent and well-informed players on the field.

A catcher has to learn the tendencies of his pitching staff, so that he knows what pitches his pitcher likes to throw in certain situations. He also needs to learn about opposing hitters, and what pitches they're good at hitting and in what situations.

But it doesn't end there...

Catchers also need to be aware of what's going on throughout the game, as they sometimes have to call plays. Most notably when there are runners on first and third.

Having a good rapport with pitchers can help a ton, as there are times a pitcher needs to be talked to. Whether that be because a certain hitter is coming up, and they need to discuss strategy to get him out. Or perhaps the pitcher is struggling, and the catcher either needs to give that pitcher a break or communicate a possible reason for the struggling.

It's safe to say that a catcher's value goes way beyond the numbers on the back of their baseball cards. Heck, I didn't even mention pitch-framing, which is something Brian McCann is known to be very good at.

"Are you questioning how much I make? Really?"

As good as Gary Sanchez has looked at the plate, to go along with much praise on how he's improved defensively behind the plate, he can learn a ton from Brian McCann over the last two years of McCann's contract (assuming the Yankees don't exercise their team option for Brian in 2019).

But how do you play both of them?

Do you simply let them alternate days as the team's designated hitter and catcher? Although, it's not as though the team couldn't use the DH spot to give at bats to others. For example, Greg Bird could DH every so often while Austin Romine played a game at first base. Or Aaron Judge could get a half day off and DH while Tyler Austin starts in right field. Not to mention that Brett Gardner or Jacoby Ellsbury are no longer young, so they could use a DH-day, too.

I suppose Brian McCann could start at first base every once in a while. He has appeared at 1B in 29 games since coming to New York a couple of years ago. Although McCann has made it clear he's not comfortable over there. Plus, the Yankees have Greg Bird and others that could get time at first base, like the aforementioned Tyler Austin or Rob Refsnyder.

Like with trading so many other players, it all comes down to what the Yankees can get in return. You don't want to give away Brian McCann for next to nothing. This is not a "money dump" situation. If somebody such as the Atlanta Braves offer a couple of good to great prospects, then go ahead and do it. But the return has to be something the Yankees can use, if not right away at least sometime down the road, at the MLB level.

That's not to say I expect the Yankees to get another prospect the level of Clint Frazier or Gleyber Torres. But I'm not talking about a player(s) to be named later, either.

One last thing to keep in mind...

While McCann has all those things I mentioned earlier to offer Gary Sanchez, Brian isn't the only person around the Yankee clubhouse that could do that. There is another person that had a long catching career, saw things from both the American League and National League side of things, and has mentored another catcher before he had a great career...

I know that Joe Girardi has a lot on his plate as the team's manager, so he may not have a lot of time to offer Gary Sanchez as a mentor. But Sanchez won't be on his own when it comes to learning how to catch in Major League Baseball.

And Girardi's not the only guy on the coaching staff with plenty of MLB catching experience...

Current Yankees' First Base coach, Tony Pena, spent 18 years as a catcher in MLB. Seven plus years of that was spent in the American League. And you can't say Pena wasn't any good as a catcher, as he was a five time All Star and four time recipient of the Gold Glove Award.

So I don't think trading McCann would necessarily hurt the development of Gary Sanchez. Not that Brian's presence wouldn't be a good thing for Gary, but there are others around that can help. The main thing for the Yankees, should they deal away McCann, is to get something good in return. Perhaps some pitching help, now that Nathan Eovaldi's days in pinstripes may be over.

This Day In New York Yankees History 8/17: Sori Goes 30/30

For the better part of a decade Alfonso Soriano was one of the premier hitters, stolen base threats, and home run hitters in all of Major League Baseball. Soriano entered the 30 home run and 30 stolen base club on this day in 2002 after hitting a home run in the seventh inning of the Seattle Mariners James Baldwin. Soriano was the first ever second baseman to join the 30/30 club joining Bobby Bonds as the only other Yankee to accomplish the feat. Bonds went 30/30 in 1975.

Also on this day in 1948 Tommy Henrich hits his fourth grand slam of the season tying one of Babe Ruth's major league records. This came just a day after the great Babe Ruth passed away. This came after an estimated 100,000 fans passed the body of the Bambino at Yankee Stadium while showing their respect for the great.

Finally on this day in 1933 Lou Gehrig quietly passed Everett Scott for the most consecutive games played by playing in his 1,309th consecutive game. Gehrig would end up playing in 2,130 consecutive games before benching himself and ending the iron man streak.




Also on this day in 2015 CC Sabathia had to be restrained from a Toronto street fight outside a club and Bryan Mitchell took a fastball to the face. Yeah I didn't want to remember those either. Sorry.

Rain Delay Washes Away Yanks Lead, Squander Game 12-6

On a soggy night in the Bronx, the Yankees played two different games as they were pounded into submission in game two against the Blue Jays. Both Michael Pineda and Marco Estrada were the scheduled starters for tonight's affair, neither would factor into the final decision as the Pineda-led Yankees were untouchable through the first five frames before the 42 minute rain delay. But following the delay, the Pinstripers were torched for 12 unanswered runs in one of the toughest games I've had to watch/write about in a very long time.

It didn't take long for the Yankees to score against Estrada as the third batter for the Bombers Didi Gregorius took the first pitch he saw and deposited it into the right field seats, giving them a first inning one run lead.

Although Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin have been the most talked about call-ups over the last week, Gary Sanchez has kind of been left out of the youth movement conversation but re-asserted himself tonight in a big way. In the bottom of the second, Sanchez launched his third homerun of the season into the visitors bullpen in left to extend their lead to two. And then after back-to-back two out singles by Starlin Castro and Brian McCann in the bottom of the fourth, Sanchez obliterated an Estrada changeup that landed in the upper deck in left to push the Yanks lead to 5-0.

After the lengthy rain delay in the middle of the fifth, both teams were forced to go to the bullpen as the Jays tried to put together a comeback. After Didi Gregorius put another run on the board for the  Yankees with an RBI single off Scott Feldman in the bottom of the fifth, Anthony Swarzak coughed up four runs to the Jays in the top of the sixth. Devon Travis led off the frame with a double, scoring on a Josh Donaldson single, 6-1. After consecutive strikeouts of Edwin Encarnacion and Michael Saunders, Swarzak served up a two-run blast to Troy Tulowitzki, followed by a solo shot by Russell Martin to pull Toronto to within two at 6-4.

Although Tyler Clippard worked a perfect seventh, Adam Warren allowed the Jays to take the lead in the top of the eighth. Josh Donaldson worked a 12 pitch walk and scored when Edwin Encarnacion punished a Warren heater into the left field stands, tying the game at six apiece. Then, after Tulowitzki recorded his fourth hit of the night, Russell Martin smoked his second bomb of the game, a two-run shot that gave Toronto their first lead at 8-6.

Warren was pulled after the Martin longball and the Yankees bullpen really let the Jays break the game wide open. Chasen Shreve came on first, loading the bases after a hit-by-pitch, a walk and a single. Shreve then gave up a single to Travis, scoring Ceciliani and advancing everyone else a base, 9-6. After a walk to Donaldson that plated Melvin Upton Jr., 10-6, Shreve was pulled for rookie righty Blake Parker. Parker proceeded to get Encarnacion to ground out to Castro, 11-6, and then served up a double to four-hole hitter Michael Saunders that scored Travis to put the final score at 12-6.

Tomorrow, it doesn't get any easier as the rubber game of the three-game set is scheduled for the afternoon, with first pitch scheduled at 1:05 PM/EST.

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays 8/16

Here we go for the second time in this three game series between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays inside Yankee Stadium. Tonight in the middle game of the series the Yankees will send Michael Pineda to the mound looking to harness some of those Big Mike magic powers while the Blue Jays will counter with another pitcher who has magical powers it seems, but only against the Yankees, in Marco Estrada. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

Follow along all season long with us by either liking our page on Facebook or by giving our Twitter handle @GreedyStripes a follow. We’re always around and always down to talk some Yankees baseball so come chat with us as we look to put the social aspect back in social media.

Big Mike and Marco Estrada. Go Yankees!

2016 Trenton Thunder Playoff Tickets on Sale Now!

2016 Playoff Tickets on Sale Now!

With 23 games remaining in the 2016 regular season, the Thunder, Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, announced today that fans can purchase tickets to all potential playoff games at ARM & HAMMER Park.

Entering play this evening, the Thunder stand 8.5 games clear of the Hartford Yard Goats for the second and final playoff spot in the Eastern League's East Division, just 3.0 games back of Reading for the top spot in the division.

Tickets may be reserved online by clicking here or by calling the Thunder Ticket Office at 609-394-3300 x101.

Thunder full and half season ticket holders have until August 26 to claim their seats for the playoffs. Season ticket holders are encouraged to order their seats online but can also order in-person or by phone.

Tickets will be available to print-at-home or pick up at the Will Call window the day after the Thunder clinch their exact playoff spot. Fans will receive a refund for tickets to any home playoff games that are not played. Season ticket holders will receive a credit towards their 2016 season ticket package.

The Thunder last played postseason baseball in 2013 and went on to sweep the Binghamton Mets and Harrisburg Senators on their way to their third EL Championship in franchise history.

EASTERN LEAGUE PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

The Eastern League playoff format is a two-round system of best of three-out-of-five series. In the first round of Divisional Playoffs, the first and second place teams in each division play each other. The division winners then meet for the Eastern League Championship. Below (in bold) are the dates for potential Thunder Playoff Games (dates and times subject to change).

EASTERN DIVISION SERIES (ROUND 1)

Wednesday, September 7 (7pm): 1st Place @ 2nd Place
Thursday, September 8 (7pm) 1st Place @ 2nd Place
Friday, September 9: 2nd Place @ 1st Place
Saturday, September 10: 2nd Place @ 1st Place (If necessary)
Sunday, September 11: 2nd Place @ 1st Place (If necessary)

EASTERN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (ROUND 2)

Tuesday, September 13: Thunder @ West Division Champion
Wednesday, September 14: Thunder @ West Division Champion
Thursday, September 15 (7pm): West Division Champion @ Thunder
Friday, September 16 (7pm): West Division Champion @ Thunder
Saturday, September 17 (7pm): West Division Champion @ Thunder

ALL DATES AND TIMES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. VISIT TRENTONTHUNDER.COM FOR THE LATEST SCHEDULE

Ticket prices for all Thunder playoff games are the same as the regular season. Click Here for ticket pricing information.

RESERVE 2016 PLAYOFF TICKETS HERE

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays 8/16

Another day in the second half and another tough matchup for the New York Yankees. I have to admit that four games before the All-Star Break, the series in Cleveland against the first place Cleveland Indians, I had the Yankees buried in the Wild Card chase, I had the Yankees selling at the deadline and I had the team in the gutter of the AL East Division right now due to a strong second half schedule that included many top teams in the league. The Yankees have defied the odds, defied the stats and used an injection of youth to keep the good times rolling more times than not in the Bronx and hopefully that continues tonight in the second game of a three game set in the Bronx between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Pineda was good in his last start as he held the Boston Red Sox to just two runs in six innings of work and has been good against Toronto in his one start against them this season. In that start on April 13^th Pineda allowed three runs, two of them earned, against a tough Blue Jays offense.

Estrada wasn’t so good in his last start lasting just five innings while giving up three runs and seven hits to the Tampa Bay Rays. Estrada doesn’t give up a lot of hits so in turn he doesn’t give up a lot of runs so this could be a frustrating game tonight for New York.

The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV. Like I said earlier, another night in the Bronx and another tough starting pitcher and tough team to face for the Yankees. As long as they don’t lay down against the “easier” teams and keep up that same intensity we should be alright. Go Yankees!

A Sit Down With ThatSportsGamer

T.J. Lauerman aka ThatSportsGamer is a video game and sports fanatic who likes to spend his time playing video games on all different consoles. He loves sports and is a huge fan of everything baseball. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to interview him and ask him a few questions... His Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch are all "ThatSportsGamer" so you should really go check him out! I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to interview him and ask him a few questions...

Q: What was your first experience with Baseball? What made you like the sport so much?

  A: I can't remember exactly what my first experience with baseball was, but I do remember some of my earliest memories of baseball was watching Mets games at the kitchen table on our little 5” TV we had in there. The thing that really attracted me to baseball was the battle between the pitcher and batter, and how much every pitch mattered.

Q: What is your favorite MLB team? How did you become a fan of that team?

A: As someone who has grown up, and spent all my life living in Northern New Jersey, I’m obviously a fan of the Atlanta Braves. Surprised? Yeah, me too. I must have started seeing them in the 1991 World Series, but I honestly don’t remember it. On TV growing up I had the Yankees and Mets on local channels, and the Braves were on TBS. Maybe it was my love of the pitching side of the game that attracted me to the Braves, and their amazing rotation that came together starting in the early 90s.

Q: How many MLB stadiums have you been to? Do you have a favorite/least favorite?

A: I’ve been to a solid handful of stadiums, Citi Field (Mets), Yankee Stadium (Yankees), Citizens Bank Park (Phillies), Nationals Park (Nationals), Oriole Park at Camden Yards (Orioles), Tropicana Field (Rays), Dodger Stadium (Dodgers), Chase Field (Diamondbacks), Fenway Park (Red Sox). I don’t want to leave out Shea Stadium (Mets) and the previous Yankee Stadium. When I see the list written out like that, I realize I’ve been pretty lucky to go to nearly a third or the current stadiums. I don’t really think I could pick a favorite/least favorite, they all have their own little things that stick out in my mind, for good and for bad.

Q: How did you come up with your name as "That Sports Gamer"?

A: We’re actually about a month away from the 6 year anniversary from the creation of ThatSportsGamer. The name came from a mixture of places. New Jersey native, filmmaker, Kevin Smith’s Twitter handle, @ThatKevinSmith, is where the “That” came from, and also that I don’t think of myself as “the” sports gamer, but I like to think I’m a little more than just “a” sports gamer. The “SportsGamer” part game from Todd Zuniga’s podcast on 1Up.com back in the day, The Sports Game Guy's Sports Anomaly. That podcast was were I realized that if you want to write/talk about video games, you can do it in a super-niche that you love, like sports games.

Q: If you could pick any player from past or present to sit and watch a baseball game with who would it be and why?

A: Wow, that’s a tough one. There have been so many great players throughout history. Since it’s so tough, I’m going to cheat, and go with a pitcher and a hitter, because I think a conversation between Greg Maddux and Tony Gwynn would so amazing that I probably wouldn’t say much. Both were so amazing at doing exactly what they wanted to do on the field, that just hearing them talk strategy, pitch-by-pitch, would give you an amazing educational experience.

Q: If you were commissioner for a day what would be your first action in office?

A: Hmm… eliminate the DH, add the DH to the NL, give Montreal a team, reinstate Pete Rose? I think my first move would be to eliminate the All-Star Game giving a league home field advantage. That’s not what that game should be about. I’d rather it just be a celebration of the great talent that is in the league. While that would be the first thing I would do, it definitely wouldn’t be the last.

Q: What is your opinion on all of the moves that Brian Cashman has recently made?

A: While I would love loved to see No Runs DMC stick around a little longer, I completely understand moving Miller and Chapman. I also like moving Beltran, he doesn’t have a future with the Yankees, and now this opens up right field for Judge to come up. The only problem they have now with Sanchez coming up, is they have a handful of guys that are going to need to DH. With Sanchez being the future, I think they should have pushed harder to trade McCann. But, overall, I think Cashman did a great job getting a handful of prospects to, hopefully, for Yankee fans, make the team perennial picks to go deep into the playoffs.

Q: When did you first start broadcasting on Twitch?

A: I first started streaming on Twitch in late 2011. I’m a supporter of Extra Life, which is a gaming fundraiser that benefits Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Yearly, gamers across North America, and now the world, play games for 24 hours straight to raise money for their local children’s hospital. My first stream was my Extra Life stream in 2011, and it had to be awful. Thankfully it’s not archived anywhere. The stream was done with a laptop, using an external webcam on a tripod pointed at my TV. I like to think my stream quality has gotten a lot better since then. Here is the archive of the 2015 stream (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8Ipap6l0PPbBNx84WAhggwQgM-M7YGan).

This year I’ll be participating in my 7th Extra Life marathon, and if you’d like to support that, you can go to ThatSportsGamer.com/ExtraLife for more information.

Follow him on Twitter- @ThatSportsGamer

The Cry For Homegrown Talent May Be Ill Advised: 2009

This look at the New York Yankees roster in a World Series championship year is the year I was most excited about looking at because of the differences between this roster and the dynasty years. This World Series came a long nine years after the last time Mariano Rivera was seen jumping up and down on the mound in Shea Stadium and a lot has changed. The Yankees actually used a ton of homegrown talent in 2009 but how much? Let's see:

The Yankees infield looked a lot different then the last time we looked as Mark Teixeira (Angels) was our new first baseman, Alex Rodriguez was our new third baseman, and Hideki Matsui (Japan) was the teams DH in 2009. The Yankees did have homegrown talent up the middle as Robinson Cano manned second base and Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada grabbed their fifth World Series with the Yankees after coming up to be the shortstop and catcher respectively through the Yankees system. Angel Berroa (Royals) spent time on the Yankees bench with Jerry Hairston Jr. (Orioles) while the Yankees had homegrown talent in Cody Ransom, Ramiro Pena, and Juan Miranda all getting World Series rings in 2009.

The outfield had Nick Swisher (White Sox, Athletics) manning right field while Johnny Damon (Red Sox) was in left field fresh from the Boston Red Sox group of idiots. The Yankees did have a homegrown center fielder that season in Melky Cabrera and another in Brett Gardner waiting in the wings on the bench. Xavier Nady (Pirates), Eric Hinske (Blue Jays), and Freddy Guzman (Padres) spent big parts of the 2009 season in the outfield. The Yankees did introduce us to Shelley Duncan this season as well.

The pitching got a makeover in the winter of 2009 as New York brought in CC Sabathia (Indians, Brewers) and AJ Burnett (Marlins, Blue Jays) to join homegrown talent Andy Pettitte and Joba Chamberlain (the starting pitchah!). The fifth starter this season was more or less patched together and it wasn't always pretty.

The bullpen is where Joe Girardi made his name with the Yankees and made the best of the farm system that Brian Cashman put together. Phil Hughes was in the bullpen this season along with Mariano Rivera, David Robertson, Jose Veras, Edwar Ramirez, Phil Coke, Mike Dunn, Mark Melancon, and Ian Kennedy all pitching out of the pen in 2009. The Yankees did add Damaso Marte (former Yankee farm hand via Pittsburgh), Jonathan Albaladejo (Washington), and Alfredo Aceves (Mexico) to fill out the rest of Girardi's pen.

And the rest, as they say, is history. Maybe the Yankees recipe for success is correct, fill the bullpen with nothing but homegrown power arms and a free agent veteran signing or two. Whatever gets us another World Series I guess....