Monday, May 13, 2013

Ivan Nova Quick Injury Update


Ivan Nova had a set back when he felt pain in his upper back on his left side and that is why he did not pitch today. Originally it was reported that he felt something in his side but apparently that was not the case according to Nova himself. The set back does not seem serious and Nova could feasibly pitch in another rehab game this week but I expect the Yankees to pamper Nova like they always have.

Interesting Fact Concerning Mariano Rivera


Mariano Rivera is in his final season and is a perfect 15 for 15 in saves this year which got me thinking. Mariano Rivera is either tied with or has more saves then some teams have wins this season. Let's take a look at how Mariano Rivera is outperforming the winners of the off season World Series with the Toronto Blue Jays, the two Los Angeles teams throwing around all the money in the Angels and the Dodgers, and even the cross town rival New York Mets. Mariano Rivera is cementing one last time that he is the right hand of God and we will never truly appreciate and understand just what he has done for us as fans and for this baseball team. Thank you Mariano Rivera!


Mariano Rivera - 15 Saves

Los Angeles Dodgers 15-21
Chicago Cubs 15-22
Milwaukee Brewers 15-20
Miami Marlins 11-27
New York Mets 14-20
Houston Astros 10-28
Los Angeles Angels 14-23
Chicago White Sox 15-20
Toronto Blue Jays 15-24

Boesch Down. Granderson Returning?

What do you know? Daniel was right.

This morning Burch pointed out that Brennan Boesch, not Ben Francisco, could get demoted when Curtis Granderson returns. The reason, along with Boesch being another unneeded left-handed bat, was that Brennan also has an option remaining.

Sure enough, Boesch was sent down. For the time being it was for an extra pitcher, but it's likely that after the double-header today Granderson will be ready to return.

Curtis has been doing well in his rehab appearances at AAA Scranton, as he's batting .412 with a home run.

The outfield may not need any help right now, but it will be nice having Grandy's bat back in the lineup.

Game Thread NYY @ CLE 5/13 Game 2


Game two of the straight double header between the Yankees and the Indians starts with Vidal Nuno making his first major league start of his career. The Yankees and the Indians will both have a 26th man so look for him to become a factor today with Nuno not having pitched since April 29th and both Mariano Rivera and David Robertson probably not available tonight. Feel free to use this thread to chat about the game or head over to twitter and follow @GreedyStripes to chat with us all season long.

New York Yankees @ Cleveland Indians 5/13 Game 2


The Yankees and Indians will play the second game of their double header today as they finish making up the two games that were rained out earlier in the season. The Yankees will surprisingly send Vidal Nuno, not Adam Warren or Ivan Nova specifically, to the mound to face off with Trevor Bauer. Nuno has only pitched once since being called up and that was on April 29th when he threw three scoreless innings of relief. Expect a little rust and not a lot of length out of Nuno today in my opinion. The game will be televised on YES and on MLB TV.

Game Thread NYY @ CLE 5/13 Game 1


The Yankees begin their straight double header against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field in Cleveland today. The Yankees have a five game winning streak that David Phelps will look to keep alive. Both David Robertson and Mariano Rivera are probably unavailable today so the Yankees need all hands on deck with the rest of the pen today and some length out of Phelps. Please use this thread to chat during the game or head over to twitter and follow @GreedyStripes and chat with us all year long.

DH Game 2 Lineup: Yankees @ Indians

Well, the first game sucked. Here's to hoping to a better Game 2! Here's the lineup:

Brett Gardner CF
Jayson Nix 3B
Robinson Cano DH
Vernon Wells LF
Lyle Overbay 1B
Ben Francisco RF
Corban Joseph 2B
Alberto Gonzalez SS
Austin Romine C

Vidal Nuno LHP

 

New York Yankees @ Cleveland Indians 5/13 Game 1


The Yankees and the Indians will play a straight double header today making up two games that were rained out earlier in the season. The Yankees and Indians will be allowed to call up a 26th man for the double header today only so expect the Yankees to bring an extra pitcher, probably Brett Marshall. The Yankees will send David Phelps to the mound to keep the Yankees five game winning streak alive and he will be opposed by Justin Masterson. The game will be televised at 12:05 pm ET on YES and on MLB TV

One year ago today, Andy Pettitte returned

andy-pettitte-360x540Amazingly, today marks the one year anniversary of Andy Pettitte's return from retirement.

It had seemed that the old lefty had left the game for good following the 2010 season, as absolutely no murmurs of a potential comeback were spread during 2011. Andy was enjoying life at home in Texas, being there for his family like he hadn't been for almost his entire adult life.

Meanwhile, the Yankees were doing just fine without him. Piecing together a starting rotation featuring Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon, the team won 97 games and the A.L. East. Andy even threw out the first pitch to Jorge Posada prior to Game 2 of the ALDS, making a brief re-appearance in New York. It was a great, yet unfortunate moment, as fans knew he went out on the top of his game, and probably could have helped the Yanks that October.

The season ended and soon after it was reported Andy Pettitte would be back with the Yankees - as a spring instructor, that is. Any remaining fans holding out for a return of #46 probably finally gave up when the team bolstered its pitching staff by acquiring Michael Pineda and signing Hiroki Kuroda. If there wasn't even a rotation spot open, how could anyone expect him to put the pinstripes back on, or longer than the two weeks Andy was scheduled to be down in Tampa that is.

Spring training beckoned and indeed Pettitte was back in uniform. Throwing BP, helping out minor leaguers, and getting his chops busted by his former teammates, Andy was reportedly in incredible shape. Of course, a beer belly wouldn't form over one year, but still it looked as if he was keeping his body in baseball shape.

And that's when our sneeky general manager Brian Cashman got to work. Andy had indeed been working out, and wanted to pitch again. It was a shocking development that was kept under wraps for a few weeks, as the then 39-year old threw a few bullpen sessions testing how it felt to be back on a mound after so long.

The Yankees must have been pleased with what they saw, for on March 16th, 2012 it was announcedby YES Network's Jack Curry that they had signed back their homegrown ace to a minor league contract worth up to $2.5 million in incentives. To the public, it seemed completely out of the blue and many fans were shocked but elated to have Pettitte back.

Still, there was no guaruntee of him even getting back to the major leagues. He had to mak e a number of starts at various levels in the Yankees' farm system while the regular season was underway, to make sure that his "stuff" could still get out professional baseball players.

When the Yanks finally purchased his contract and called him up to officially return to Major League Baseball, it just so happened to be Mother's Day. Facing the Mariners, Pettitte quickly settled down and before you knew it he was pitching like he never left. Four earned runs in 6.1 innings was a start typical to Andy's career, but his performance following that was exceptional.

He would pitch to a 2.87 ERA in an injury-shortened season, posting an 8.2 K/9 ratio while striking out batters at an astronimcal rate. In the postseason he was dandy as he's always been, allowing just 5 runs total in two starts. He didn't add to his record 19 postseason wins, but he certainly deserved to.

And so here we are today. Andy Pettitte is back for 2013 as well and is pitching [aside from two subpar outings] as well if not better than many of the top flight starters in MLB. Each night he takes the mound it really is a treat to watch, because a little over a year ago we were certain to have seen the last of old #46. He's gotten a new appreciation and love for the game thanks to his year off, and hopefully the rest he got then can keep him healthy and productive for the Yanks throughout this season. As in each of his past 17 seasons, we'll need him.

Ben Francisco May Be Safe After All, For Now


I was thinking about what the Yankees are going to do when the plethora of players on the disabled list start getting healthy and return to the Bronx. Some are obvious as Chris Nelson is probably gone when Kevin Youkilis comes back, some are not so obvious like what we will do with the rotation when Michael Pineda comes back, and some are not as obvious as I once thought they were. Originally I thought that when Curtis Granderson came back we would see the end of Ben Francisco but on second thought that may not exactly be the case. The Yankees outfield is very left handed hitting heavy so it makes sense to keep Ben Francisco on the bench over left hander Brennan Boesch. The difference between Francisco and Boesch, besides the obvious sides of the plate that they both hit from, is that Brennan has a minor league option remaining that Francisco does not. This would make the Yankees more flexible with two right handed outfielder and three left handed outfielders and all of them can play multiple outfield positions, which always helps. As much as I hate to see Ben Francisco continue to stay on this team it makes too much sense to get rid of him for nothing when we can stash Brennan in the minors for the time being.

DH Game 1 Lineup: Yankees @ Indians

Let's play two today! Here's the lineup for Game 1!

Brett Gardner CF
Ichiro Suzuki LF
Robinson Cano 2B
Travis Hafner DH
Brennan Boesch RF
Chris Nelson 3B
Corban Joseph 1B
Chris Stewart C
Alberto Gonzalez SS

David Phelps RHP

Notes:

-- Joe Girardi made it clear that Robinson Cano would only play the first game of the doubleheader, Vernon Wells would play the second game of the double header and most likely Austin Romine would catch the second game.

-- If the Yankees need to make a roster move in between the doubleheader, Brett Marshall is waiting around in Cleveland.

This Day In Yankees History 5/13


On this day in 1955 Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle hit home runs from both sides of the plate for the first time in his major league career. He would actually hit three home runs in this game and would drive in all five Yankees run in a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers in Yankees Stadium.