Monday, August 11, 2014

8/11 Yankees Open Game Thread vs. Baltimore Orioles


Welcome to tonight's open thread for the game between the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles. This is the first of three games these two teams will play at Camden Yards this week. The Yankees will send Chris Capuano to the mound to face off with the Orioles Bud Norris. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with WFAN.

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It's an open thread and your Monday is over so spend the evening commenting in our comments section. Enjoy the game Yankees family and enjoy the rest of your evening. Go Yankees!

Nick's Pick's: Yankees VS Orioles 8/11/14

Isn't it amazing how baseball works; so full of unpredictability. Who could have scripted losing two of three to the struggling Indians and yet win the series of the Cy Young's by going 3-1. I certainly did not predict it as I had the Yankees sweeping this weekend series. That is behind us though, and we need to brush that off and worry about the true test; beating the Orioles. This three game set is going to be huge, and anything less than a series win will be unacceptable. Tonight marks the start of a make or break series for the pinstripes. As the Orioles look to distant themselves the Yankees look to pull close, and remind them how wide open this division really is this year. 

Tonight we see Chris Capuano against Bud Norris. Both pitchers are coming off of huge games as Capuano pitched a strong 6 2/3 against the Tigers and looks to be solid against an Orioles lineup that has not faced the lefty too much. Norris, who was a bit shaky against the Blue Jays in his last start, has been amazing since the All-Star break and should not be taken lightly.



The picks tonight hopefully reflect a better outcome than I had predicted over the weekend. Also, with the boost of getting Michael Pineda back for Wednesday, the offense needs to wake up and solidify this stretch run. 

Top Pitcher: How can you not pick Capuano in this game, especially after his last outing against a more formidable Tigers offense. The Orioles will come at him hard, but the lefty is good at keeping hitters off balanced and guessing. I predict Capuano to go seven strong innings giving up two runs and striking out six.

Top Hitter: Carlos Beltran has faced Norris more than any other Yankee, so I am going with the hot hand. Hopefully Beltran can get some runners on ahead of him and really ignite this offense. I see Beltran going 2-4 with a double and driving in a couple runs. 



Clutch Performer: I think that Gardner is also going to do some work at the top of the lineup. As much as I would love for him to get on base and really make things work with his legs, I am pretty sure he will be typical Brett Gardner and hit in the clutch. Gardner is going to come up big with a few key hits en route to a late inning victory. 

Let's hope that tonight things finally click and the Yankees can show the Orioles that this is far from over. I predict a Yankee win tonight in the later innings, let's say 6-3. Remember YCPB! Let's go Yankees! 






 

Yankees Chasing Baltimore For First Place In AL East




Greg Bird Named EL Player of the Week


Bird Named EL Player of the Week
Infielder is the Fifth Thunder Player To Earn Weekly Honor This Season

The Eastern League announced today that Thunder infielder Greg Bird has been selected as the Eastern League Player of the Week for the period of August 4th-August 10th.

Bird hit .421 (8-for-19) with two doubles, three home runs, eight runs scored, three RBI, four walks and a 1.000 slugging percentage in six games for the Thunder last week.  Bird, who is a native of Aurora, Colorado, kicked off his week by homering in back-to-back wins over Altoona on Tuesdayand Wednesday at ARM & HAMMER Park.  Bird’s homer on Tuesday night was his first career Double-A hit after receiving a promotion from Class-A Tampa on August 2nd.  He followed that up by going 4-for-4 and hitting a pair of homers in a 7-3 win on Wednesday afternoon.  The 6’3”, 215 lb. slugger led all Eastern League hitters in runs scored (8), slugging percentage (1.000) and OPS (1.542) last week and tied for the lead in extra-base hits (5).  He also ranked among the weekly leaders in total bases (19-2nd), home runs (3-tied 2nd), doubles (2-tied 2nd), on-base percentage (.542-3rd), hits (8-tied 3rd) and batting average (.421-5th).  Greg, who is rated by MLB.com as the 12th best prospect in the Yankees organization, was selected by the New York Yankees in the fifth round of the 2011 draft out of Grandview High School in Aurora, Colorado.

Akron’s Duke von Schamann (2-0, 2.57 ERA, 5 K, 14.0 IP) was selected as the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week.

Bird is the fifth Trenton Thunder player to win an E.L. weekly award in 2014.  RHP Bryan Mitchell earned Pitcher of the Week for the period ending April 21, INF Kyle Roller earned the Player of the Week for the period ending April 27, Jeremy Bleich was Pitcher of the Week for the period endingMay 27, and Rob Refsynder was Player of the Week for June 1.

8/11 Yankees Game Preview vs. Baltimore Orioles


The New York Yankees start a three game set tonight with the team they are chasing in the AL East division in the Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees will send Chris Capuano to the mound to face off with the Orioles Bud Norris. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN.

Capuano has been money since coming over to the Yankees and finally got his first win to show for it. The Yankees had not won any of his starts this season, although Capuano had pitched well, but finally got the victory last time out against the Detroit Tigers.

Norris has a 2.63 ERA since the All Star break and has been a huge part of the Orioles success since the break. Norris is coming off a start in which he beat the Toronto Blue Jays after a mediocre start that was aided by run support from his Orioles teammates.

Get your Yankees tickets for any game this series right here on the blog or grab a pair for when the Yankees return home next week. We won't charge you any shipping costs or tack on any hidden fees with our tickets so order now. 

Go Yankees!!

Do The Yankees Suck When It Matters? Redux


This is an article revisit from a month back. I wanted to add Mariano Rivera Day losses and Paul O'Neill Day losses to the post. SEE HERE for the original post.

You have to start wondering just how clutch the Yankees are when the seasons and the games really matter. I know this sounds weird coming from a team with 27 World Series championships and five in the last 20 seasons but hear me out.

Just last season the Yankees knew Mariano Rivera was retiring early and eventually learned that Andy Pettitte would be joining him. The team responded by missing the postseason for the second time since the strike shortened 1994 season. Jorge Posada retired after the 2011 season after the Yankees had another disappointing ALDS loss in the post season.

The 2008 season was miserable for all Yankees fans as we watched Mike Mussina win 20 games and ride off into the sunset without a playoff berth. The Yankees also closed Yankee Stadium that season and celebrated by missing the playoffs for the first time in 14 seasons. Before that we saw Bernie Williams essentially call it a career after the 2006 season and yet another ALDS loss in the postseason.

The Yankees all but knew that 2001 was Paul O'Neill and Scott Brosius' last season and made it all the way to the World Series. 2001 was also the season the terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and the country and New York needed the Yankees more than ever. The Yankees had a heartbreaking loss to the 2001 World Series after giving up the lead in the 9th inning in Game 7.

It goes much farther back but the last instance in my memory is the Don Mattingly retirement party that ended after yet another heartbreaking loss in the ALDS. The Yankees were the first ever Wild Card team and were in the postseason for the first time in Mattingly's career. The Yankees took the first two games against the Seattle Mariners only to lose the next three in heartbreaking fashion to end their season.

Now we have Derek Jeter and a team that spent $500 million to be essentially a .500 team. All I know is nobody better retire next season.... or else.

Rays Were Open to Trading Price to Yankees

The Rays were open to trading Left Handed Pitcher David Price to the Yankees around this season's trade deadline.

According to Marc Tompkin of the Tampa Bay Times, the team was willing to consider all of their options, divisional rival New York included.

Last week, as you probably already know, Newsday's David Lennon reported that the GMs of the Rays and Red Sox were told by their ownership to not deal to the Bronx, although that rumor now appears to be completely untrue, something Tampa President Matt Silverman confirmed to the aforementioned Times earlier today.

"We don't have a no-fly list," Silverman said. "We have 29 potential trading partners, and we have explored trades with each and every one of them."

Back in July, interestingly, some suggested the Yanks deal top pitching prospect Luis Severino along with other young talent to St. Pete, an offer that could actually have been thought about.

Either way, it doesn't really matter now, as Price has obviously already been moved to Detroit, a place where he's unsurprisingly been okay (surrendered 3 earned runs in 8 2/3 innings against the Yankees and 4 in 6 against the Blue Jays) in his first two starts.

The Cry For Homegrown Talent May Be Ill Advised: 1996


I am probably one of the worst for this but the thought of having a mostly homegrown team may not be the best thing for the Yankees. I got to thinking about how much homegrown talent the Yankees actually had when they won the World Series in 1996 and the results were shocking. The Yankees had a total of six regulars on that team that came from the farm system, six. Let's take a closer look at that 1996 Yankees roster.

The Yankees infield wasn't exactly homegrown with Joe Girardi (Cubs and Rockies), Tino Martinez (Mariners) filling the huge shoes of Don Mattingly at first base, Mariano Duncan (many NL teams) manned second base, and Wade Boggs (Red Sox) was at the hot corner. Jim Leyrtiz did split time catching and Derek Jeter manned shortstop from Opening Day until present day for the only homegrown talent on the team.

From the infield to the outfield we saw much of the same story. Darryl Strawberry (Mets) and Tim Raines (Expos) played a lot of left field after home grown talent Gerald Williams was traded to Milwaukee midway through the season. Paul O'Neill (Reds) was the rock of the outfield after coming over from Cincinnati. The Yankees had Bernie Williams manning center field for the only Yankees homegrown talent in the outfield.

The designated hitter spot belonged to Ruben Sierra (Rangers) before he was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Cecil Fielder.

The Yankees rotation in 1996 was far from homegrown with Kenny Rogers (Rangers), Jimmy Key (Blue Jays), Dwight Gooden (Mets) and David Cone (Royals) joining the homegrown Andy Pettitte on the mound.

The Yankees bullpen, again, was far from homegrown with John Wetteland (Montreal) closing out games, Jeff Nelson (Mariners) pitching in middle relief, and had Jim Mecir (Mariners) and Steve Howe (Dodgers) making major appearances. The only homegrown Yankees in the bullpen that season were Bob Wickman and the great Mariano Rivera.

So as you can see the cry for the homegrown talent may be fun for us fans but it won't necessarily win us a World Series this year or any time in the future. The Yankees will still need free agency, they will still need international signings, and they will still need to make trades.

ICYMI: Paul O'Neill Day At Yankee Stadium


We have had some issues with iframes and Blogger in the past so just in case the embedded video doesn't work HERE is a link to this video.

Here is Paul O'Neill's speech. Again, if you're having issues seeing then HERE is the link.

Quick Hit: Pineda Likely Wednesday's Starter


The Yankees have a tough decision on their hands for this Wednesday for the game against the Baltimore Orioles and frankly it's a good problem to have. The Yankees may have too many options for Wednesday's start after Esmil Rogers was fantastic in a spot start Friday night against the Cleveland Indians. Now Girardi and company have to decide if rehabbing right hander Michael Pineda is ready for the Major Leagues and ready to take the injured David Phelps spot in the rotation or if he needs one more rehab start. If the Yankees decide that it's the latter then Rogers will likely get a second spot start in a big game that the Yankees absolutely need to win.

Rogers went five innings on Friday and only allowed one run to the Indians while keeping the ball down and in the ballpark. Pineda has been typical Pineda in the minor leagues and can go an estimated 90 pitches on Wednesday.

My personal opinion is you can always have Rogers piggyback Pineda. Pineda's 90 pitches are much more valuable to the team in Baltimore then they are in Scranton. Just my two cents, whats yours?

Yankees Re-Sign Scott Sizemore, Daley Sent To AAA


The New York Yankees have brought Scott Sizemore back on another minor league deal after releasing him last week. Many around the league thought that Sizemore would return to the Oakland Athletics who were interested in him before his release but ultimately Sizemore returned to the Yankees.

Matt Daley was passed through waivers after being designated for assignment once again and was sent to Triple-A Scranton with the RailRiders. Daley should be back before the season is over for another run in the bullpen.

This Day In New York Yankees History 8/11: Reggie Jackson Hits #400


Reggie Jackson was only a member of the New York Yankees for a short time but he made the most of his time in pinstripes and even got his number retired. Mr. October made a bit of history on this day in 1980 as he connected for his 400th home run of his career. Reggie hit the milestone home run off the White Sox pitcher Britt Burns. Jackson would finish his career with 563 home runs which was good for sixth all time when he retired in 1987.

Also on this day in 1973 the Yankees held Old Timers Day at Yankee Stadium and the crowd was treated to a show. Mickey Mantle would hit a home run off his good friend Whitey Ford during the exhibition game a pitch after he hit one foul into the upper deck.