Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Yankees Put Up 8 Spot in Third; Beat Tigers Easily in Middle Game

Shane Greene surrendered just 2 earned runs in 7 innings and Derek Jeter collected two RBIs tonight as the Yankees impressively beat the Tigers, 8-4, to set up a rubber game tomorrow afternoon. 

In their first two at-bats this evening, interestingly, the Yanks couldn't get anybody home, stranding four men on base despite the fact that David Price was struggling mightily.

Nonetheless, eventually in the top of the third the heavily-bending Price snapped, giving up nine straight hits to start the inning to plate 8 New York runs and end his night after just six outs. 

Indeed, the Yankees really did dominate in the batter's box during that crucial turn, amazingly connecting on seven singles, two doubles, and two sac flies during the monumental threat. 

Still, somehow the red-hot team never scored more than once on one play, with Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, Brett Gardner, Francisco Cervelli, Jacoby Ellsbury, and the aforementioned Jeter being responsible for their constant trips around the bases. 

As for Greene, the Pinstripes' hurler in this one, he also showed a lot of promising stuff, helpfully allowing just five knocks while striking out eight to easily get the W, his fourth already this season.

8/27 Yankees Open Game Thread vs. Detroit Tigers


It’s game time Yankees family so welcome to tonight’s open thread for the second game of a three game set this week in Detroit between the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers. The Yankees will send rookie sensation Shane Greene to the mound to face off with an old foe in David Price for the Tigers. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, ESPN’s Wednesday Night Baseball, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with WFAN.

Grab a pair of Yankees tickets off the blog today HERE androot for the home team as New York continues to push towards the playoffs. Also be sure to give the blog a follow on Twitter by following @GreedyStripes and like our page on Facebook by searching for The Greedy Pinstripes.


It’s an open thread so use the comments section of the post to talk about whatever you would like, preferably the Yankees and the game tonight. Enjoy the game Yankees family and enjoy the rest of your evening. Go Yankees!

BREAKING NEWS: David Phelps To Start Saturday


Breaking news. I am not sure if this is a typo or something that has not been released yet but if you head over to the Yankees probable pitchers you will see that David Phelps is scheduled to start this Saturday against the Toronto Blue Jays. If this is true this is great news for the Yankees and may truly mean we are going to see a six man rotation this season as Chris Capuano, the obvious candidate to leave the rotation, is pitching on Friday.

EDIT: Jack Curry and Wallace Matthews both say this is bad information and Michael Pineda will start on Saturday. Thanks Yankees.com.

Joe Girardi Does Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS, Yankees Donate $100,000

The Evil Empire


Joe Girardi #ALSIceBucketChallenge

The Reason David Price Has Struggled In Detroit


He isn't used to pitching in front of packed out home crowds like he see's in Detroit. Don't blame the guy.

Yankees Sign Ex-Met Chris Young to Minor League Deal

When longtime Arizona Diamondbacks Outfielder Chris Young was with the Mets this season, it's fair to say that things didn't go as planned.

Young, a 30-year-old veteran who has connected on 151 home runs since 2006, left the yard just eight times during his 254 at-bats with the team, a number only made worse by the fact he also hit just .205. 

Now had Young been relatively cheap when he was signed in the offseason, obviously, those dissapointing stats would be easier to brush off, but considering he was getting paid a decent $7.25 million instead he would unsurprisingly get cut two weeks ago, a decision that has apparently made him available to the crosstown Yankees. 

Yep, according to CBS Sports' Jon Heyman the always-looking-for-rentals Yanks inked Young to a minor league deal earlier this afternoon, something that is probably confusing to many.

For one, New York's AL representative is currently overstocked with grass-dwellers, with a few notable examples including Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran, and Ichiro Suzuki. 

Nonetheless, due to the upcoming roster expansion on September 1 I guess this acquisition isn't completely random, as the defensively-solid Young is likely someone who'd help out off the bench.

8/27 Yankees Game Preview vs. Detroit Tigers


The red hot New York Yankees will once again take on the Detroit Tigers in Comerica Park tonight and will once again face a tough starting pitcher. Luckily for New York the competition gets a little easier, at least on paper and on the stat sheet anyway, starting tomorrow so the Yankees just have to get through tonight hopefully with another well fought victory. The Yankees will send Shane Greene to the mound to face off with the Tigers David Price. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, ESPN as a part of Wednesday Night Baseball, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN.

Greene had a rough first inning in his last start against the Chicago White Sox in which he allowed a three run home run to Jose Dariel Abreu in the first inning without recording an out. Greene ultimately settled down and found the control of his slider and fastball and kept the Yankees in the game. New York would come from behind and win a wild one as they went on to sweep Chicago. Greene showed a mental toughness and savvy that you don’t see every day in rookie starting pitchers, a great sign for the Yankees going forward.

Price has already faced the Yankees once in his new Tigers uniform and took a no decision in a game back on August 5th. Price was trailing when he left the game but the Yankees bullpen gave up the lead and Detroit ended up winning the game, the only game of the four game series. Price is also coming off a start in which he retired 23 batters in a row and only gave up one hit to his former club, the Tampa Bay Rays, in a surprising 1-0 loss by Detroit. 



Go Yankees!!

Too Much Pitching is a Good Problem to Have


The New York Yankees face a very massive problem in 2015, and it’s a good problem to have, as they are looking at having too many starting pitchers and not enough starting rotation spots to fill them all. Even if the Yankees go with a six man rotation in 2015, which has been speculated upon and brought up by pitching coach Larry Rothschild, New York may have a crowded pitcher’s mound next season.

The Yankees already have CC Sabathia, Shane Greene, David Phelps, Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, and Ivan Nova under contract for next season for a total of six starting pitchers. New York is also likely to have top prospects Manny Banuelos and Luis Severino knocking on the door in Spring Training as well as the Bryan Mitchell’s and equivalents of the world vying for a spot as well. This is all before the Yankees go out and presumably attempt to bring back Brandon McCarthy or try and lure a big named free agent like Jon Lester, James Shields, or Max Scherzer to the Bronx.


Honestly I am a fan, a greedy fan at that if you couldn’t tell by the blog name, and I couldn’t care less about the potential log jam that is being created in the Bronx right now. That’s what people like Joe Girardi, Larry Rothschild, Gary Tuck, and others are paid big bucks to worry about. I am a fan, not an insider, and this is a fan site, not necessarily a news outlet. There will be injuries, there will be struggles, and there should be options. Bring me McCarthy, bring me Lester, bring me Shields, bring me Banuelos, and bring me whoever else is left. Too much pitching is a GOOD problem to have. 

Discussing a 2015 Contract for Chase Headley


Yesterday we took a look at Brandon McCarthy and a potential contract for the 2015 season and beyond with the Yankees and today we will look at another player the Yankees acquired at the trading deadline, Chase Headley. Headley is currently in his age 30 season, although 2015 will be his age 31 season, and plays a stellar third base defensively. Chase has also filled in out of necessity at first base when mark Teixeira needed a day or two off and did not skip a beat defensively, a site for sore eyes after watching others struggle over at first this season. Headley can also switch hit which really adds to the versatility of the lineup and gives manager Joe Girardi tons of options to mix and match, which can only help.

Headley is in the final season of arbitration and is making $10.53 million in salary before heading into free agency for the first time in his career. Just two seasons ago Yankee fans were salivating about having Headley manning the hot corner in New York with his .300 average and 30+ home run power and Headley was likely salivating thinking of the monster contract that he would receive in doing so. Headley has fallen off a bit with his production in recent years and has fallen victim to the injury bug which will likely keep a new contract down in terms of years and salary, something that works in the Yankees favor.

New York already has Alex Rodriguez in the fold for 2015 although he is likely to be designated as a DH for most of 2015 barring any injuries and such. Third base is wide open and Headley will likely use a weak third base market to his advantage in the negotiations. The only notable third baseman that will hit the market are Hanley Ramirez, who the Dodgers will likely attempt to retain, and Pablo Sandoval, who the San Francisco Giants are likely to attempt to retain.

With that said I fully expect Headley to receive a raise from his $10.5 million AAV but not much of one. Not many .240 - .250 hitters are getting much more than $12 million per season, especially when they seemingly have been zapped of their power, so I wouldn’t expect Headley to get much more than that in the open market. The years I am unsure about because presumably Headley will want some security heading into the latter part of his prime. I could see Headley asking for a four or even five year deal and ultimately settling on a three or four year deal. If the Yankees weren’t interested I couldn’t see much more than a two year deal for Headley but we all know how the team has a history of bidding against themselves in situations like this.


In the end I can see Headley getting a three year deal worth around $35 - $38 million from the Yankees. Again, just like yesterday with Brandon McCarthy, this is not necessarily what I personally would want to give Headley but this is what I believe the Yankees will ultimately give Headley. Agree? Disagree? Like? Dislike? Tell me about it in the comments section. 

Can't Predict Baseball: Back to Back Inside The Park Home Runs


Only once in the long and storied history of Major League Baseball has two players hit consecutive back to back home runs in a single game. The only time this happened in history was on this day way back in 1977 inside Yankee Stadium with the Texas Rangers in town for a series.

Toby Harrah and Bump Wills would hit the consecutive inside the park home runs back to back on consecutive pitches in an 8-2 Rangers victory over the Yankees. You really can't predict baseball Suzyn.

McCarthy, Offense Struggle in 5-2 Loss to Tigers

Jacoby Ellsbury went 3-for-4 with two solo home runs and Derek Jeter added a couple of more hits, but since Brandon McCarthy surrendered five earned runs in a rough 6 1/3 innings and Detroit's offense stayed hot the Yankees fell to the Tigers last night, 5-2, in the series opener at Comerica Park. 

For most of his outing yesterday, interestingly, McCarthy actually hung around, keeping the game at 2-1 through five despite his overall bad control. 

Nonetheless, in the bottoms of the sixth and seventh the usually-good veteran finally broke, surrendering three runs on five knocks in those frames to put the contest out of reach.

No, McCarthy wasn't necessarily terrible in his thirteenth loss of the season, but yes, he did give up 9 hits, an unfortunate stat that essentially made the aforementioned homers by Ellsbury worthless. 

Also, as you can see by that final score, it greatly assisted Tigers Starter Rick Porcello in his efforts to get the win, something he'd eventually do with a dominant 8-inning performance in which Ellsbury's blasts to right were the only bad spots. 

Note: For Ellsbury, his shots in this one brought his total over the last two days to three, a number that deserves acknowledgement even if the Yanks have gone just 1-1 in those games. 

Quick Hit: Brett Gardner Expected Back Tonight


Brett Gardner has been dealing with some lingering soreness in his ankle after fouling a ball off of it last week in the Bronx. Gardner has missed three games with the ankle and is expected to be back in the lineup tonight for the Yankees. New York may decide to give him another day just to be sure, in true Joe Girardi fashion, since the Yankees face a left hander tonight but I doubt it.

The Yankees are in the middle of a pennant chase and a playoff push and they need Gardner back in left field and at the top of that lineup. Gardner's game comes from his legs so I have no issue with holding him out if necessary but it's time, put him in coach.

Jake Cave, Jose Pirela Post Season All Stars

Jake Cave Selected to the FSL Post-Season All-Star Team
One Tampa Yankee makes 2014 FSL All-Star Team
Tampa, Fla. - The Florida State League All-Star Team for 2014 was announced today by League President Chuck Murphy. The team was selected by Field Managers, Official Scorers, and club Sports Writers representing the twelve (12) teams in the league.

Jake Cave was selected as an outfielder for the 2014 FSL All-Star Team. Cave was promoted to the Double-A Trenton Thunder on July 16, 2014. During his time with the Tampa Yankees he led the team with 117 hits. He held a .304 batting average over 90 games with 18 doubles, four triples, three homeruns and 24 RBI. He was selected to the 2014 FSL Mid-Season North Division All-Star Team. Cave was selected by the New York Yankees in the sixth round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft out of Kecoughtan High School in Hampton, Va.

Also from Yankees.com:

Moosic, Pa. -- Jose Pirela's 2014 season has had the talented hitter soar to heights previously unseen on his career. Today, he can add another accolade to the list. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders' (Triple-A/New York Yankees) versatile leadoff man was named the International League's All-Star second baseman on the year-end squad.

Pirela ranks among the IL's leaders in batting average (4th, .308), hits (1st, 159), runs scored (1st, 85) and total bases (2nd, 231). The 24-year-old native of Venezuela was the IL's starting second baseman at July's Triple-A All-Star Game and earned the league's Player of the Month honors for June.

Pirela has spent the majority of his time this season at second base. He has also demonstrated his talents at other positions both new and familiar. He has seen time in all three outfield spots, at shortstop and at first base along with select time as the squad's designated hitter. Pirela had never played center field, right field or first base in his stateside pro career before this season. He is the team's first player to receive year-end honors since Jorge Vazquez as the DH in 2011. Pirela is the first SWB player to achieve post-season All-Star status at second base since Kevin Russo in 2009.

The 2014 International League All-Star squad is voted on by the circuit's managers, coaches, media and club representatives.

This Day In New York Yankees History 8/27: First No Hitter In Yankee Stadium History


The Yankees made a day of it on this day in 1938 with a pair of historic milestones that happened on this day. First the Yankees All Star outfielder Joe DiMaggio would hit three consecutive triples in the first game of a double header with the Cleveland Indians. The Yankees would win Game 1 by the score of 8-7 but it was the second game that truly made history.

Monte Pearson became the first pitcher to ever throw a no hitter inside the House that Ruth Built. Pearson faces the minimum 27 batters thanks to a pair of double plays. The Yankees would sweep the double header and win the game 13-0 over the Indians for the Yankees 10th consecutive victory.