Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Atlanta Braves 7/3

And just like that it is game time here in the Bronx between the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves. In the middle game of this three-game interleague set the Yankees will send Domingo German out to the mound for his 10^th start of the season while the Braves will counter with Sean Newcomb. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB 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 with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN.

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, I am predicting seven runs scored tonight for the Bombers and go Yankees!!

Predicting the 2018 Trade Deadline: Danny Duffy

The name Danny Duffy is not at the top of any team’s priority list if we are being completely honest, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be more than a couple teams interested in his services this summer before the July 31^st trading deadline. In my opinion, and I know this will not be a popular opinion by any stretch of the imagination, I believe that both of the teams we will watch inside Yankee Stadium this evening will be at least interested in the Kansas City Royals left-hander, the Yankees and the Braves. Who will win tonight will be decided in just a few years, but who will win in a potential Danny Duffy sweepstakes? Well that could take until the end of July to find out.  

Before we get too far into this let’s get one thing out and in the open, Danny Duffy is not at the top of the Yankees priority list and Duffy is also not the arm that will put New York over the top when it comes to the postseason and the World Series. At least not on paper, but he could be a serviceable addition to the rotation if the Yankees were to run into a few scenarios. Do either of Domingo German or Jonathan Loaisiga have innings limits this season? German has never thrown over 123 innings (he has already pitched more than half as many innings thus far in 2018) in a season and that came back in 2014 while Loaisiga has never pitched more than 68 innings in a season, so it is conceivable that both could be on innings limits by the end of the season. Do you trust Sonny Gray pitching Game Four of a playoff series? Because I don’t either. The other scenario is an injury, it could happen to any pitcher, but it could especially happen to CC Sabathia with his balky knees and lower extremities. Duffy isn’t the ideal choice, but he should be looked at nonetheless in my opinion.  

Duffy would come cheap as he has been inconsistent here in 2018, a year before hitting his free agency before the 2019 season. Duffy’s overall stats are not pretty but if you look at his game logs he shows at least something to get excited about. Duffy has made 17 starts as of the time of this writing and has been the model of consistently inconsistent in all of them. Duffy has allowed three runs or less in nine of them including three games where he allowed zero earned runs. Where his inflated numbers come in at are in the games where he allowed five runs (three times), nine runs, six runs (twice), and seven runs against the Houston Astros.  

Duffy seems to be a lot like Sonny Gray in the way that when he is good, he is great, but when he isn’t… watch out. Could Larry Rothschild work his magic on him and “fix” him? I can’t say no, he has done it with so many others before, but for the same reasons the Yankees would want him would be the same reasons why the Atlanta Braves would need him. The Braves will be stiff competition, and stiff competition makes the price for everything go up. If the Yankees decide that they need another starter and a better option doesn’t present itself first, a better option being a better pitcher who is younger and with more team control for example, then I could see the Yankees rolling the dice on Duffy for the cost of a couple low-level prospects. If the price gets too high, then I’d be content with letting the Braves have him and going with what we currently have. The Yankees don’t need him, Justus Sheffield should be ready soon, but in my opinion the Atlanta Braves do if they want to hold off the Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies.  

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Atlanta Braves 7/3

In the second of the three-game set between the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves we will watch once again as the best team in both respective leagues go head-to-head. In the middle game of the series the Yankees will send Domingo German out to the mound to square off with Sean Newcomb for the Braves. Let’s get to it here in the Bronx.

German will make his 10^th start of the season tonight in place of the injured Jordan Montgomery and will make his first ever start against the Atlanta Braves. In German’s last start the right-hander struggled against the Tampa Bay Rays allowing six runs on nine hits in just three innings of work and will need to be better tonight in the Bronx to escape with a victory.

Newcomb has made three consecutive quality starts heading into this start and 11 overall this season. In his age-25 season Newcomb is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in three interleague starts this season, but none of those have come against the New York Yankees inside of Yankee Stadium.

The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB 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 with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN.

Enjoy the game, show the Braves that the AL reigns supreme, and go Yankees!!

Hello… A Shift in Focus

Good morning everyone and welcome back to the blog. What a weekend for the Yankees, huh? To not only take two of three from Boston, but in the way the team did it was so impressive to me, and I truly think it sent a message to everyone in a Boston uniform. You guys may be good, but we may be better.

Also, a big middle finger to the MLB schedule makers who have the Atlanta Braves coming to New York here in 2018, but not vice versa. I waited three years for this as I live in Atlanta and you took that from me, thanks.

Anyway, the shift in focus. The calendar has turned to July and all eyes have been shifted to the trade deadline. No more Meet a Prospect talk, more finding that final piece that could lead the team to the World Series talk. Let’s get to it.

Oh, and hey you. I love you. My focus may shift elsewhere, but you are always at the center of my eye, my focus, my attention and my heart. I loves you.

This Day in New York Yankees History 7/3: ESPN Sued By The Sleeping Man

On this day in 2014 the New York Yankees were playing as a part of ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball and one fan was caught sleeping live on national television. Andrew Rector filed a $10 million defamation suit in the Bronx Supreme Court against the New York Yankees, Major League Baseball, ESPN and ESPN's play-by-play men Dan Shulman and John Kruk. Rector, the 26 year old used car salesman, was caught napping in the game and felt like the commentary pained him in a bad light and damaged his reputation. Okay.


Also on this day in 1932 the Boston Red Sox played the New York Yankees on what was a Sunday in Fenway Park. What made this significant is the fact that Boston law outlawed games played within 1000 feet of a church. The Red Sox would lose 13-2 on this day.


Finally on this Independence Day eve you have to wonder what the world would have been like had they had Twitter back then. While the official news that the United States of America had gained its independence on this day would have dropped on July 4th in the 1770’s the news would have likely been breaking today, July 3rd, in modern times you would have to think. Just some senseless thinking on my part that doesn’t really mean much to start your day.


Have a great day Yankees fans!

Returning the Favor...

Photo Credit: NJ Advance Media for NJ.com (John Munson)

Yanks Take Series Against Red Sox…

A day after a lop-sided loss to the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees got revenge with a similar 11-1 beating of the Sox. I really wanted an identical 11-0 beating to match the Red Sox winning score on Saturday but Aroldis Chapman lost the shutout in the ninth. Oh well, all is good with the ten-run victory and a woefully quiet Red Sox Nation.

It was disheartening to watch the Yankees fall behind behind by six runs in the first two innings during Saturday’s loss so I am sure the Red Sox fans felt the same way yesterday. I had felt so much more confidence with Luis Severino pitching for the Yankees and perennial Yankees punching bag David Price going for Boston. Six home runs from the home team, including three from the other Aaron (Hicks), certainly did not hurt. On an evening when so many balls were leaving the yard, it was odd that Giancarlo Stanton didn't join the party.  But he had a couple of hits and scored a run so not all was lost.  

First, Severino. Sevy has been one of the best pitchers in the American League this year and after this game, he might be the best. He’s 13-2 with 1.98 ERA, both marks are the best in the league.  Justin Verlander had been the ERA leader for most of the season but he currently stands at 2.12.  If Sevy is not named the starter for this year’s All-Star Game, it will be a travesty by Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch. For this game, Severino shut out the Red Sox for 6 2/3 innings, yielding only two hits and three walks. He struck out six to increase his season total to 138. I might have been a little worried going into the game that Sevy might not have his best stuff coming off his masterful performance against the Philadelphia Phillies last week, but Sevy showed why he is the ace of the staff. I am very happy Luis Severino is a Yankee.

As for the other guys, Aaron Judge got the homer party started early with a one-out homer over the center field wall into Monument Park.  After a single by Giancarlo Stanton and a double from Didi Gregorius, Gleyber Torres continued his magical season with a blast to right to give the Yankees a 4-0 lead.  David Price could only look up at the scorecard and think “there goes my ERA”.  Gleyber’s smile in the Yankees dugout after the homer was, you could say, priceless.

In the bottom of the second, the speedy Brett Gardner reached on an infield single to second when a bobble and momentum took Brock Holt away from getting the ball to first in time. The eldest Yankees position player didn’t have to stand on first base very long. Aaron Hicks took David Price deep to right for the first of his three home runs on the night.  

Photo Credit: NY Post (Charles Wenzelberg)

The Red Sox had something going in the top of the third inning and could have climbed back into the game. Mookie Betts worked a two-out walk and advanced to third on a single to left center by Andrew Benintendi, the first hit off Severino. It brought J.D. Martinez to the plate and the Red Sox Nation was probably thinking it would soon be a three-run game.  Martinez worked the count full and seemed to be in position for a big hit but a swinging strikeout ended the threat. A very nice job by Sevy in that spot.  No doubt it would have been a three-run homer if Sonny Gray had been on the mound.

The moment Kyle Higashioka had been waiting for happened in the fourth inning.  Higgy had struck out in the second inning to extend his Major League hitless streak to 0-for-22. But leading off the bottom of the fourth, Higgy made his first Major League hit a big one with a home run into the second deck in left field. Congrats, Higgy!  I hope it is the first of many.

An out later, Aaron Hicks had his second homer of the night, a shot to center. 8-0 Yankees, but they weren’t done. The Hicks homer ended David Price’s night and Aaron Judge greeted Red Sox reliever and fellow Fresno State alum Justin Haley with a single to left. Giancarlo Stanton followed with a double to left center, advancing Judge to third.  Didi Gregorius lofted a fly to left which was deep enough to score Judge with the third run of the inning.  

Manager Aaron Boone lifted Severino with two outs in the seventh inning after throwing 99 pitches and brought in David Robertson to record the final out, a fly out by Christian Vasquez.

With such a huge lead, I didn’t really expect to see Robertson, Dellin Betances and later Aroldis Chapman in the game. After D-Rob struck out the first two batters of the eighth inning, Betances came in to get the final out via a groundout to first by Andrew Benintendi.

With Hector Velasquez pitching for the Sox in the bottom of the eighth, Aaron Hicks blasted his third home run of the night with a shot to right from the left-side. The switch-hitting Hicks had recorded the first two homers from the right side. Hicks is only the third Yankee to hit three home runs in a game against Boston, joining Lou Gehrig and Mark Teixeira. Aaron Judge followed with a walk and took second on a single by Brandon Drury, pinch-hitting for Giancarlo Stanton. Neil Walker, who had entered the game at second in the seventh inning with Gleyber Torres sliding to short in place of Didi Gregorius, lifted a ball over the head of Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers into left to score Judge.  

Dellin Betances got the first out of the ninth inning (strikeout of J.D. Martinez) but Boone made the curious decision at that point to bring in Aroldis Chapman. Sandy Leon, pinch-hitting for Mitch Moreland, doubled into the left-field corner. Blake Swihart reached first on an infield single that advanced Leon to third. Rafael Devers hit a grounder to third and while the Yankees forced Swihart at second, Leon ruined the shutout when he scored on the play. Brock Holt hit a grounder to Gleyber Torres who, after looking toward first, tapped second base with his glove ahead of Devers for the final out. The Yankees win!  

The Yankees (54-27) put themselves back into a first place tie with the Red Sox (56-29) in the AL East and technically lead by percentage points (.667 to .659). My goal going into this series was to take two of three so I was very satisfied with the results. A sweep would have been great but as Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com often says, Sonny was not grayt.  Between Gray and David Price, the two Vanderbilt guys gave up fourteen runs in 5 2/3 innings. Not a great couple of days for former Commodores.

The last Yankee to hit three home runs in a game was a then-39 year old Alex Rodriguez who smacked three against the Minnesota Twins on July 25, 2015. A-Rod's last homer of the game sailed over the head of Twins center fielder, you guessed it, Aaron Hicks. Hicks also had a homer in that game, a two-run shot off CC Sabathia. But the Yankees prevailed, 8-5.  

Poor Aaron Hicks. If Yankees Twitter had their way, Hicksie would have been DFA'd long ago. I have not felt the desire to bash Hicks (I'll stick with Sonny Gray, Chasen Shreve and Neil Walker). I'd gladly take Hicks over DL-King Jacoby Ellsbury whom, honestly, I hope never wears the Pinstripes again regardless of the cost. If Estevan Florial was knocking at the door or if  Clint Frazier was a legitimate option for center, I'd feel differently but for now, I'm fine with Hicks in the outfield even if he hadn't hit three dingers last night.  

The Yankees now host the NL East leading Atlanta Braves (48-34) for a three-game set at Yankee Stadium starting this evening. Jonathan Loaisiga (2-0, 1.93 ERA) gets the start. He’ll face former Detroit Tiger Anibal Sanchez who has pitched well for the Braves this year (3-2, 2.68 ERA) after being released by the Minnesota Twins during training camp.

It's July which means it will be a big month for new Yankees. The 2018-19 International Signing Period opens today meaning some very talented international youths will soon begin their journeys for Major League dreams with Baseball's most storied franchise. The non-waiver Trading Deadline is July 31st so the rumor mill, which was already cranked up, will be hitting on all cylinders for the next few weeks. Who will be the next players to pull on the famed Pinstripes? We will find out by month-end. Good times.

Go Yankees!

Yankees CAPTION THIS: Brian Cashman and Andy Pettitte

Let's have some fun today while we wait on the Sunday Night Baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Caption the picture above, best comment wins some notoriety or something cool like that on the internet. Enjoy.

A Gray-fully Pathetic Start...

Photo Credit: AP (Julie Jacobson)

Can I get the Men in Black Neuralyzer, please?…

Aargh! That’s one game that I’d just as soon forget. It looked like a mismatch on paper with Chris Sale versus Sonny Gray and sadly it was. The Yankees were hammered 11-0 and could only muster two hits against Sale and the Red Sox bullpen. No game highlights for this one. Maybe the mercy killing when Aaron Boone finally pulled Gray with one out in the third inning after 68 miserable pitches.

Of course this game was not all on Gray. Despite the seven hits and six runs he allowed, the bullpen was not up to the task  as they would let five more Red Sox runners cross home plate and the Yankees hitters could not buy a hit on Sale. When Giancarlo Stanton singled in the first inning, it was the first and only hit that Sale would give up. By the time he departed after seven innings, he had racked up eleven strikeouts. Gleyber Torres registered the second hit for the Yankees with a meaningless two-out single in the ninth against Sox reliever Hector Velasquez but the Yankees were unable to get any extra base hits on this night. By the time it was done, the Sox had accumulated 17 hits (or 15 more than the Yankees) and Chris Sale had the easy victory over the Yankees.  

I hate games that are over before they really start and that’s what happened yesterday. A grand slam in the first inning by Rafael Devers gave the Red Sox a 4-0 lead before the Yankees had taken an at-bat.  

Photo Credit: AP (Julie Jacobson)

The Red Sox picked up a couple more runs in the second inning and the most positive of Yankees fans (which wouldn’t include me) were screaming that it was still early and lots of time to make up ground. Unfortunately, the Yankees were never in this one.  It’s best to forget the loss and look forward to today when a much more reliable starting pitcher takes the mound for the Yankees. Of course that could be any other pitcher in the Yankees starting rotation not named Sonny Gray but thankfully for us it will be Luis Severino as the Yankees attempt to take the series despite the pitiful loss on Saturday. My goal for this series was to take two of three and it’s still very possible.

I really think we need to come to the realization that Sonny Gray is not cut out for New York.  It happens. Not every pitcher is meant to play on Baseball’s biggest stage. I am sure that he can be a very good pitcher for a team in a more forgiving and less pressurized environment. He has all the makings of a future Pittsburgh Pirates starter, following in the footsteps of former Yankees A.J. Burnett and Ivan Nova. Or send him back to Oakland. The A’s are third in the Wild Card standings and have three months to make up seven games on the Seattle Mariners. Maybe they’d like to get their former ace back for the stretch run. I keep waiting for Gray to have his Yankees moment but it never happens.  

After the game, he was quoted as saying “I feel like we’re the best team in baseball four out of five days, and then I go out and do that.  It just sucks.” I guess even he acknowledges that Sonny Gray sucks.  

I have seen a few suggestions that the Yankees should trade Gray-for-Gray. Jon Gray of the Colorado Rockies is another pitcher who might benefit from a change in scenery. The Rockies optioned Gray to Triple A yesterday.  He is 7-7 with a 5.77 ERA for the season, but has ace-like stuff. In 108 innings this season, he has struck out 119 batters (fourth in the NL) and has only allowed 11 homers which is noteworthy considering he pitches in the hitter-friendly high altitude of Coors Field. The Yankees drafted Gray in the tenth round of the 2011 MLB Draft but he did not sign. Nonetheless, he’s a pitcher they’ve scouted and potentially one they could turn around. I’d gladly send Sonny Gray and a prospect to Colorado for Jon Gray.  

I’ve been talking up Brandon Drury for weeks and in his return to the lineup, he goes 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. But it wasn’t just him. Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres also struck out three times. An O-fer night was prevalent among most of the hitters.  

As if it wasn’t bad enough, the Yankees lost catcher Austin Romine after six innings when he tweaked his left hammy. MRI results came back negative, but it most likely means that Romine will be lost for a few games even if a trip to the disabled list is not in the cards. Kyle Higashioka, 0-for-21 in his MLB career, becomes the starter if Romine misses any time. If the Yankees have to bring up a catcher from the minor leagues, they’ll have to make room on the 40-man roster (with several guys on the 60-day DL, I believe the 40-man currently stands at 39). The most likely and the most expendable option appears to be 34-year-old Wilkin Castillo. Castillo hasn’t appeared in the Major Leagues since 2009 with the Cincinnati Reds. I liked some of the work that 27-year-old Jorge Saez did during Spring Training but he has missed time this year with injury and has only appeared in 15 games for Double-A Trenton, batting .224/.296/.245 (no homers, 3 RBI’s). Currently healthy, his last ribbie happened on April 21st so Saez does not appear to be ready for a promotion. The injuries at catcher certainly reveal the lack of depth at the position, at least in the upper levels of the farm system and why the Yankees went so heavy for catchers in the recent draft. I kind of wish the Yankees had held onto Erik Kratz, who was traded to Milwaukee in May.  Ronald Torreyes has been listed as an emergency catcher in the past. Okay, I wouldn’t trust Toe catching but his bat would certainly be more reliable than others. However, I believe that he is currently on a personal leave of absence at Triple A. Another catching option, Francisco Diaz, delivered a game-winning walk-off RBI single yesterday as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders took down the Pawtucket Red Sox in extra innings. Diaz, 28, is hitting .302/.417/.373, with a homer and 20 RBI’s in 41 games (mostly at the Single and Double A levels). Whichever catching option gets promoted will lose his 40-man roster spot when the need is over which makes it seem like Castillo is the best option.  

Photo Credit: Newsday (J Conrad Williams, Jr)

The loss dropped the Yankees (53-27) a game behind the Red Sox (56-28) in the AL East, and two games ahead of the Mariners in the Wild Card standings.  The Yankees still have the second best winning percentage in MLB.  The third-place Tampa Bay Rays beat the Houston Astros, the team many call the best team in Baseball, and Justin Verlander to reach .500.  

After the game, the Yankees optioned Giovanny Gallegos to Triple A. So, they have an open spot on the active roster. You’d think they would fill the position with a pitcher since they previously sacrificed a pitcher to promote Brandon Drury. So, if the Yankees do promote a catcher, it would seem that a position player (Drury?) will have to go the other way. Using a catcher to fill the spot vacated by Gallegos would leave the Yankees with only eleven pitchers which seems very unlikely. Sorry, Brandon, you look like the odd man out even if I’d rather see Neil Walker get DFA’d.  

It’s a new day. Today is a good day. A great day for a Yankees win. We got this. Go Yankees!

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox 6/30

And just like that it is game time here in the Bronx between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. In the middle game of this three-game weekend set the Yankees will send Sonny Gray hoping for sunny skies above the Bronx, while the Red Sox will counter with their ace, Chris Sale. The game will be played at 7:15 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on FOX. 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 with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFN.

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, make Sale remember the 2017 season where he failed to record a win against the Baby Bombers, and go Yankees!!

Meet a Prospect: Reid Anderson

With their 40^th round pick, 1207^th overall, in the 2018 MLB First Year Players Draft the New York Yankees selected Reid Anderson, a right-handed pitcher out of Brown University. Let’s meet the man that concluded the Yankees 2018 Draft when he was selected. This is Meet a Prospect: The Reid Anderson Edition.

Anderson, an Aledo, Texas native, was a starter for Brown University all four years while at the school pitching in a total of 31 games, 26 as a starting pitcher. Along the way Anderson racked up 130 strikeouts over 143 innings across four seasons including a team-high 41 K’s as a junior in 2017. Anderson did pitch to a 5.98 ERA while at Brown University, but the right-hander was much stronger in High School pitching to a 12-1 record with a 0.72 ERA with 80 strikeouts in 70 innings.

The Yankees have signed their 40th round pick so let us be one of the first to welcome him not only to the Yankees organization, but to the Yankees family as well. You can follow Reid on Twitter by following @YouKnowTaco , one of the best Twitter handles in all of baseball in my opinion.