Saturday, September 29, 2012

Steve Pearce Claimed Off Waivers By Orioles


Steve Pearce is going back to the Orioles for the final four games of the season after being claimed off of waivers today. This will be the second time this season he was with the Orioles after spending his second time with the Yankees this season. This will be the 5th time Steve has changed organizations this season if memory serves.

Steve will not be post season eligible because he was not on the Orioles 40 man roster at midnight on August 31st. The scales just may have tilted in the Orioles favor in the AL East.


Yankees @ Blue Jays 9/29/12

Update:

Robinson Cano sac fly makes it 1-0 Yankees early
Curtis Granderson sac fly makes it 2-0 Yankees
Yankees lose 3-2

The Yankees will face off against the Toronto Blue Jays this afternoon in the third game of a four game weekend set. These two teams have split the first two meetings but the Yankees need the wins so they can get that magic number down. The Yankees will send Andy Pettitte to the mound to face off against Ricky Romero. The game will be televised at 1:05 pm ET on YES.

Lineups

1. Jeter DH
2. Ichiro LF
3. Rodriguez 3B
4. Cano 2B
5. Swisher 1B
6. Granderson CF
7. Jones RF
8. Nunez SS
9. Stewart C

Go Yankees!!

This Day In Yankees History 9/29/12


Don Mattingly hit his 5th grand slam of the season on this day in 1987 setting a new major league record. These would be the only 5 grand slams he would hit in his entire career.

Mark Teixeira Progressing In Instructional League


Mark Teixeira is now officially on the fast track back to the majors and it started yesterday in the Instructional Leagues. Mark Teixeira took advantage of the wacky rules of the Instructs and got himself seven at bats and even played first base for an inning. He ran the bases at 75-80% and reported no injuries, stiffness, or problems whatsoever.

Today he is scheduled to play another five innings and Joe Girardi came out and said he would be available to be back with the team next week for the final series with Boston. This is great news for a team that has had less then stellar replacement for Teix since his injury.

Jayson Nix To Get MRI

In news that is bound to upset nobody, Jayson Nix is heading back to New York in order to get an MRI on his hip flexor. Chances are Eduardo Nunez will take over Jayson's duties, McGehee and Chavez will help out at 1B and/or 3B, and the team may call upon somebody else for extra bench help.

Mark Teixeira To Return Against The Red Sox

Mark Teixeira's strained left calf first kept him out of the lineup starting on August 27th. Nearly two weeks later Mark was put into the lineup on September 8th against the Orioles, but he ended up re-aggravating the injury and has not played since that point. Well, good news...

Tex will play 5 innings in Instructs today, and Girardi says he'll rejoin the team next week for the series against the Red Sox. It's too bad Mark won't get much time against MLB pitchers before the postseason, but he can't do any worse than his replacements, who have hit .225/.343/.393.

Yankees Magic Number

The Yankees magic number to clinch the AL East
Ther magic number for a playoff spot is 2 using the Angels losses. 

Thinking About 2013: The 5th Outfielder

The last time the Yankees went out and signed an oft injured former star who was young enough to still be in his prime but opted to play for the Yankees as a part time player they signed INF Eric Chavez. The Yankees will presumably want some situation guys off the bench next year much like they did with Andruw Jones and Raul Ibanez this season. Ibanez will be entering his age 41 season so I see no way he comes back to the Yankees but I may have someone in mind who can match or exceed his production. I think it is time for the Yankees to take yet another waiver on a guy who's career has been slowed due to injuries and that is Grady Sizemore.


It is hard to believe that Grady will only be entering his age 30 season entering the 2013 season and what was such a promising career has been abruptly halted by injuries. Grady has only played in roughly 100 games combined in the last three seasons including missing the entire 2012 season but early reports I have seen suggest that he seems more fiery and healthy then ever.

Contrary to twitter rumors this IS Grady Sizemore and NOT me...

Grady signed a 1 year $5 million deal for the 2012 season giving the Indians a home town discount and gave them nothing for it. Unless he just wants to stay with the Indians since they have consistently stayed with him, and I would not blame him whatsoever, I do not see a scenario where he does not sign a one year deal and/or a minor league deal. Those kind of deals basically mean NO risk EXTREMELY HIGH reward and the Yankees tend to get the better end of those kind of deals.


Grady Sizemore has a career batting average in the .280's against right handed starters with 105 of his 139 career home runs against righties. He has drawn twice as many walks career against a right handed starter then he has a left handed one and three times as many steals against right handed pitchers. He screams platoon player for the Yankees in the same situation as Raul has been this season. He is a well below average hitter against left handed pitching.

Not to mention that Grady and his girlfriend would also be a welcome addition to the wives and girlfriends section, I'm just saying.

Robinson Cano's Getting An X-Ray

"No!"

Robinson Cano was hit by a pitch in the 6th inning of tonight's game. While he remained in the game after the trainer checked him out, the Yankees want to make sure everything is okay. Cano, after all, is the team's most valuable player.

Robbie did have what is called a fluoroscopy at the Rogers Centre, which I hear is like a poor man's x-ray, which turned out negative. But I think having a real x-ray would be ideal. Let's keep our fingers crossed until we hear the results tomorrow.

EDIT: Although the Yankees haven't officially said everything is okay, word is that Cano's x-ray was negative. Oh, and the fact he's starting today at 2B, and batting 4th, is really all we need to hear.

Playoff Predictions : The Rotation


With the Yankees currently having seven starting pitchers, and only four needed to start in the playoffs, the Yankees have some tough decisions ahead of themselves to make. Adding another problem on top of the decision on who will be starting is who will even make the roster. I do not see a need in carrying 7 starting pitchers, I actually think we are a going for a little overkill  with six starters, but Phelps is versatile and flexible as he has come out of the pen for most of the season. This makes one of our starters the odd man out for the post season and I think that man will be Freddy Garcia.

Obviously CC Sabathia is a lock. Andy Pettitte, barring health, and Hiroki Kuroda also seem to be locks. The decision comes down to Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova. Let's look at it statistically to make this decision maybe a little easier.














W/L
        Nova - 12-7
        Hughes - 16-13

ERA
       Nova - 4.94
       Hughes - 4.10

WHIP
       Nova - 1.46
       Hughes - 1.24

HR
       Nova - 27
       Hughes - 34

K's
       Nova - 149
       Hughes - 161

BB's
       Nova - 54
       Hughes - 44

GB%
      Nova - 45.2%
      Hughes - 32.6%

WAR
     Nova - 1.6
     Hughes - 1.8

As you can see, based on these key statistics, the 4th starter for the Yankees should be Phil Hughes. The home runs really do Phil Hughes in especially when pitching in Yankees Stadium but he has found a lot of confidence in his fastball lately and has really improved and gotten stronger as the season has gone on. Nova struggled for a big stretch this season before going on the DL with shoulder inflammation. Either way one of these too can and will help us get to the goal we're all looking for, an #untuck.

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