Sunday, February 24, 2013

Yankees Shut Out In 2nd Spring Training Game


The Yankees banged out 11 hits today while the Blue Jays could only muster 9 hits but the Yankees lost the game today 2-0. The Yankees pitched well today but just could not string enough hits together to score a run. This may become a common occurrence as the Yankees also lost Curtis Granderson to a fractured forearm after taking a fastball from Blue Jays lefty JA Happ today and will miss the next 10 weeks before he is back to the majors.


The Yankees pitched well today but just did not have enough offense to stay in the game. Yankees starter Adam Warren had a pitching line of 2 IP 0 H 0 ER and we saw impressive performances by Jim Miller, Preston Clairborne, Juan Cedeno, and others but it was not enough as the Yankees go down 2-0.

The Yankees continue their Spring Training schedule tomorrow afternoon as they send Vidal Nuno to the mound to pitch against the Baltimore Orioles.

Replace Curtis Granderson With Eduardo Nunez In OF


The Yankees love the bat of Eduardo Nunez and would like for him to get 500 at bats this season if possible. With Curtis Granderson now out for the next 10 weeks with a fractured forearm the Yankees are probably scuffling to find a replacement even though Curtis should be back in May. The Yankees already have that replacement if you ask me and it is Eduardo Nunez. Nunez has enough speed and range to play left field with the Yankees and his right handed bat that is capable of power would be better than anything that Matt Diaz or Juan Rivera could give us. Also, let's face it, the Yankees can hide people in left field at Yankees Stadium, see Johnny Damon and Raul Ibanez. Before the Yankees go out and make a knee jerk reaction or lose someone on the 40 man roster for a temporary replacement why not give the at bats to Eduardo Nunez? Makes too much sense not to if you ask me.

Curtis Granderson Fractured Forearm To Miss 10 Weeks

EDIT Pt.  2: Curtis Granderson has a fractured forearm after taking a pitch from JA Happ off the right forearm and will miss 10 weeks before being Major League ready to play. 43 more home runs off the board, at least temporarily, for the New York Yankees. Here we go again.

EDIT: Curtis Granderson has a bruised forearm and was sent for precautionary x rays. Long story short he did not get hit on the wrist and he seems like he will be fine. Take a collective sigh of relief breathe Yankees fans...


Curtis Granderson has been hit on the wrist in a Spring Training game by Blue Jays lefty JA Happ. He was immediately taken out of the game after the Yankees staff examined him at first base. Hopefully this is nothing but a precaution because we cannot afford any more injuries, especially this early in the spring. Stay tuned for the latest updates.

Derek Jeter To DH In Spring Training On March 10th


Brian Cashman has told reporters that the Yankees will see Derek Jeter is a Spring Training game as a designated hitter on or around March 10th. This will be the first game that the captain will see since his ankle surgery last October. March 10th or so cannot come fast enough.

Offseason Winners Rankings

"All is well!" - to Yankee fans screaming about a quiet offseason

I ran across an article at the Wall Street Journal from Brian Costa, in which Mr. Costa uses Zip's WAR projections in order to find the the "winners" of the offseason. He has the Toronto Blue Jays as the offseason winner, whose moves have improved the team by 10.7 wins, thanks to the acquisitions of Jose Reyes (4.3), R.A. Dickey (4.0), Josh Johnson (3.4), Mark Buehrle (2.5), and Melky Cabrera (2.5). The Jays are followed up by the Cubs (+8.2), Indians (+7.2), Red Sox (+6.3), and Phillies (+5.4).

Right off the bat I was skeptical. Sure, the Blue Jays are the "cool" pick to do well this season, and although I don't see them winning the division they will be good, but the other top 5 teams don't frighten me. The Cubs just finished 2012 with a record of 61-101, the Indians were 68-94, and Red Sox were 69-93, and the Phillies were 81-81.

Yes, the rankings by Brian Costa are not trying to say those teams have set themselves up to win anything this coming season. But I wanted to point out that winning the offseason means nothing. Take a look at the top 5 from the Wall Street Journal's "winners" of the 2011/2012 MLB offseason. They had the Angels winning it, which makes sense as they added Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson, while really only losing Joel Piniero. However, they finished 3rd in the AL West behind the Rangers and Athletics. The Marlins, Tigers, Nationals, and Mariners rounded out the top 5. The Tigers went on to win the American League, while the Nationals finished with the best record in the National League. But the other two teams, the Marlins and Mariners, finished a combined 36 games below .500. Meanwhile, the eventual 2012 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants finished 26th in those rankings.

So what does winning the offseason really mean? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"'Nothing'... kind of like my analysis."

Toronto Blue Jays @ New York Yankees 2/23


The New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays will face off today in both teams second Grapefruit League game in this years Spring Training. The Yankees will send AAA Scranton starter Adam Warren to the mound for about 35 pitches or 2 IP. The game will be televised on YES and on MLB Network at 1:00 pm ET.

Here is the projected order of pitchers( which is always subject to change):

Adam Warren, Cody Eppley, Matt Daley, Francisco Rondon, Preston Clairborne, Juan Cedeno and Jim Miller.

Here is the second string of positional players:

Bobby Wilson (C), Addison Maruszak (1B), Jayson Nix (2B), Cito Culver (SS), Rob Segedin (3B), Ronnier Mustelier (LF), Adonis Garcia (CF), Thomas Neal (RF), Gary Sanchez (DH)


Here is the Yankees lineup:

Brett Gardner CF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Curtis Granderson LF
Kevin Youkilis 3B
Travis Hafner DH
Eduardo Nunez SS
Chris Stewart C

Granderson fractures forearm as Yanks fall to Blue Jays 2-0

I guess the odds weren't in Curtis Granderson's favor. In the second Spring Training game of the season, the Yankees were faced with a gigantic blow when Granderson was hit by a pitch in his first at-bat of the Spring. After watching enough baseball, I knew the outcome wasn't going to be pretty. Granderson's original diagnosis was a bruised forearm, but as a precaution they sent the outfielder to get some x-rays.


The final diagnosis was a fractured forearm, putting Granderson and the Yankees in a bind for the next ten weeks--and giving Brett Gardner the CF position by default. The Yankees had already lost 100 home runs and now the Yankees could lose 43 more this season. Granderson however, told YES Network during the telecast that he was planning on conditioning the lower half of his body while his forearm heals, just so he could be up to speed and return as quickly as possible. Granderson did say this to the media, showing optimism during what seemed to be a dark road ahead.


"It's just a little bump in the road. It's definitely not the end of everything."


Other In Game Notes:


-- Adam Warren pitched two scoreless innings, which easily erased his start with the Yankees back in 2012. Warren most likely won't get a spot on the roster as soon as Spring Training ends, but if a pitcher goes down, he could be one of the first they call to help.


-- Brett Gardner, Ichiro Suzuki, Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira and Travis Hafner each had one hit in this game (Cano was robbed of two hits by his buddy Melky Cabrera).


-- Kevin Youkilis had no hits today, but in all three at-bats he hit the ball very hard, his first at-bat coming close to hitting a Grand Slam.


Side Note:


Earlier in the post I said that I knew enough about baseball to know Granderson was going to miss some time. Here's how I knew. Gardner: 2011. Alex Rodriguez: 2012. Both of them were hit by a pitch in the hand area. Gardner missed a few games and needed surgery after the season. Alex Rodriguez missed a lot of the 2012 season with a broken hand. Just know, when you get hit in the hand and you've seen as much baseball as possible--you know when it's serious.

Granderson breaks right forearm, to be out 10 weeks

Granderson breaks right forearm, to be out 10 weeks

by fishjam25

Terrible news for the Yankees.  Granderson was hit by a pitch in his first At Bat today and X-Rays revealed he has a fracture in his right forearm.  The Yanks could ill-afford to lose his power and will now have to scramble to replace Granderson.  In-house options include veterans in camp on Minor-lg deals such as Juan Rivera & Thomas Neal, veteran minor-leaguers like Cubans Ronnier Mustelier & Adonis Garcia as well as their 2 highest ranking OF prospects Zoilo Almonte & Melky Mesa.

If he's out for 10 weeks, that would bring him back during the first week in May.  They could go out and look to bring in a veteran OF like Alfonso Soriano but if Granderson will only miss approximately 5 weeks, do they want to bring in a significant player?  I think they need to be patient and look at the in-house options before doing anything hasty.  A platoon of  Rivera or Mustelier from the Right Side and Zoilo from the left side might not be a bad idea.  Sure would be nice to have Chris Dickerson right about now!

Highlights Of Yankees Portrait Day


How do we not start with this picture? Is Joba planning on throwing fastballs at people's heads this season or is he planning on luring kids into a van with some candy? I never understood the mustache trend and stache's like this just cement that fact in my mind. Hopefully he gets bombed the first month of the season and decides to be superstitious and shave it. Terrible stache. 


You may always be a Red Sock Kevin Youkilis but we will always have this picture to use as black mail. I always said that Youkilis was never going to win over any Yankees fans with his words and could only do it on the field with his play and he is making me look REALLY good with that prediction right now. 


This just seemed kind of random to me... First of all when did we start doing group photo day shots? Secondly why did we pair up Francisco Cervelli and Eduardo Nunez of all people? Someone know something that I don't? 
*Insert Eduardo Nunez cannot play defense because Biogenesis Clinic made him too strong jokes here*


Manny Banuelos! He may miss the 2013 season after having Tommy John surgery but he is still an exciting Yankees prospect.


Dellin Betances! Maybe the return of Dealin' Dellin in 2013?


The newest Yankee Travis Hafner. What will Pronk be able to do in Yankees Stadium this year? I expect big things if healthy. 





Pregame Notes: Let the experiment ever be in your favor!

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Let the experiment ever be in your favor...



Yeah, I quoted "The Hunger Games", sort of. I went there. But in the way the Yankees are having their own kind of "Hunger Games" or as I like to call it "The Center Field Games". The Center Field Games, a series of experiments in order to test the flexibility and defense of two of the Yankees players: Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson. The winner gets to be the center fielder  on Opening Day and possibly for the 2013 season. The other player gets to play the coveted left field position, further enhancing their value in the outfield.


The issue? Both Gardner and Granderson both see themselves as center fielders. Gardner came up in the minor leagues as a center fielder while Granderson played almost his entire career as a center fielder. Granderson doesn't have as much experience as a left fielder as Gardner. Gardner admits that left field is the harder position to play although he makes it look incredibly easy on television.


So welcome one and all to the first (and hopefully last) "Center Field Games." And may the odds ever be in their favor.


More Tidbits Before Game Time:




Spring Training 2/24/13 Lineup

Brett Gardner CF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Curtis Granderson LF
Kevin Youkilis 3B
Travis Hafner DH
Eduardo Nunez SS
Chris Stewart C

Adam Warren P

Start Time: 1:05 p.m
T.V/Radio: YES Network/WCBS

Meet A Prospect : Corban Joseph


Corban R. Joseph was born on October 28th, 1988 in Franklin, TN where he attended Franklin High School in Franklin, TN. With a 6'0" 180 lb frame from the left side of the plate you can tell why the Yankees drafted him in the 4th round of the 2008 MLB First Year Players Draft out of Franklin High School. This will be Corban's second year under 40 man roster protection from the Rule 5 draft and looks to be within arms reach of the majors and the big league club. The only thing standing in the way of Corban, well besides that little injury bug he had pre-2012, is some guy named Robinson Cano sharing second base with him. With Corban looking at a mid to late season call up.


Corban played for his High School baseball team in Franklin, TN where in his sophomore season he was named to the All-Midstate team. In his senior season he was named All-Midstate Player of the Year while putting up a .510 average while belting 15 home runs and driving in 58 RBIs. He would sign a letter of commitment to play for the University of Kentucky before being drafted by the Yankees in the 2008 draft. Corban's brother, Caleb Joseph, was also selected in the 2008 draft by the Baltimore Orioles in the 7th round.


Corban would be assigned to the Gulf Coast League in 2008 where he put up a triple slash of .277/.359/.434 to end an impressive rookie campaign. Corban would be promoted to the Charleston Riverdogs in Class A in 2009 where he put up a triple slash of .300/.381/.418 while being named the South Atlantic League's Player of the Month for the month of June and also named a post season all star third basemen despite only playing 39 games there. Corban would split his time between two teams in 2010, the A+ Tampa Yankees and the AA Trenton Thunder, putting up a combined triple slash of .283/.362/.415. Corban would stay in Trenton for the entire 2011 season where he put up a .277/.353/.415 line. The 2012 season would be sort of a break out season for Corban as he split time between Trenton and the Yankees AAA affiliate the Scranton Wilkes-Barre team where he put up a triple slash of .276/.375/.465 opening a lot of eyes internally and to the fans.


Corban seems to be right on the cusp of being promoted to the major leagues and would be a welcomed addition to this team in my opinion. He has proven that he can hit for a high average no matter where he goes along with taking a ton of walks and slugging the ball. Whether he is in the long term plans for the Yankees as  a bench player or a full time player I really want to see him stick with New York. He, like I said, takes his walks and has a nice left handed swing that can benefit from the new Yankees Stadium. He also seems to be a great character guy and is solid with the glove. We will see Corban Joseph in the Major Leagues very very soon.


ETA: 2013