Monday, May 4, 2015

Recap: Blue Jays 3, Yankees 1

Russell Martin hit a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth and the Yankees dropped a heartbreaker to the Blue Jays, 3-1, on Monday night at Rogers Centre.

Martin Hurts His Old Team: Batting with the bases loaded and two outs against the usually-unhittable Dellin Betances, Martin connected on a sharp ground ball to third -- stopped on a dive by Chase Headley before a wild throw extended the inning. The knock resulted in one RBI for Martin (charged to Chris Martin), with a second unearned run also crossing home on the error.

Whitley's Gem: Prior to the bullpen's collapse in the eighth, minor-league call-up Chase Whitley logged a dominant outing for the Yankees -- holding the Blue Jays to no runs and six hits over seven scoreless innings. Whitley actually found himself in a second-and-third, no-out jam in the sixth -- impressively escaping without any damage after Kevin Pillar popped to short. 

Breaking the Tie: The Yankees' offense recorded just two hits in the first six innings off Toronto's R.A. Dickey, but took a quick 1-0 lead in the seventh on a Garrett Jones groundout. Carlos Beltran had started the frame with a double off the wall three hitters earlier, advancing to third later on a routine roller to first.

Drew's Struggles Persist: Stephen Drew went an unproductive 0-for-3 in this one, reducing his already-low average on the year to just .149. He hasn't gotten a hit in his last 17 at-bats, not even reaching base since April 27.

Oops: Looking to spark a rally with one out in the third, Blue Jays outfielder Ezequiel Carrera bunted a fastball up the first-base line -- fielded by Whitley with little time to make the play. Whitley still tried to do so, however, and heaved the ball well into foul territory as Carrera took third.

Next Up: The Yankees hope to rebound from this tough loss on Tuesday when they meet the Blue Jays in the middle game of this three-game set -- beginning at 7:07 p.m. ET and airing live on the YES Network. Michael Pineda (3-0, 3.73 ERA) will start for the Yankees aiming to continue his early-season success, facing young Jays right-hander Marco Estrada (1-0, 0.84 ERA).

The Almost Daily Dozen: #Hashtags trending on TGP

I really don't want to talk about how #TheBinder lost the game by trying to be cute tonight or how awful Headley must feel after the #FormerYankeeKiller Russell Martin hit the go-ahead infield single.  Instead here are some of my personal favorite hashtags that we, here at The Greedy Pinstripes, like to use during LIVE tweets of the games:

1. #TheBinder.  If you didn't know, Joe Girardi's nickname is "The Binder".  He goes to his faithful book of knowledge for virtually every situation and in my opinion out thinks himself quite often.  This mostly happens with the pitching staff.

2. #ForgiveARod.  Led by DBurchHero, we here have been trumpeting for A-Rod to be forgiven for his transgressions.  It is the only way to move on as an organization.

3. #GetGreedy.  The namesake of this blog came from a tongue-in-cheek effort by several of us here at TGP when we were over on another (and obsolete) forum.  It started with the effort to bring Manny Ramirez back to the Bronx and was used to make fun of the less-endowed bank accounts of lesser teams.

4. #NappyBeard.  This started last year every time Mike Napoli and his nasty beard would come to the plate against the Yankees or if he makes a stupid error in the field.  We don't like him...does it show?

5. #EllsBells.  Supposedly the Sahx fans used this for him at Fenway...since I've never been to FP, I contend that I came up with it.  Sorry Boston...you lose again.

6. #ShutTheKrukUp.  This was added to the TGP lexicon just last night and should be pretty self-explanatory. John Kruk is a horrible broadcaster and just needs to concentrate on eating chili cheese dogs instead of doting over Dustin Pedroia.

7. #FormerYankeeKiller.  It seems that every former Yankee that plays them comes up with big hits or big outs on the mound (re: Russell Martin tonight OR Philthy in the past OR even Joba on occasion).

8. #EnterSandman.  Wow...don't you wish this was still an active hashtag on twitter? Although that other guy is doing well right now, which brings me to...

9. #MillerTime.  Yeah...so it's not very inventive...so sue us! Wit and sarcasm takes a lot of work...it's nice to be able to rest our brains in the 9th inning.

10. #Knepper'sFault.  This is primarily used to describe when the Yankees start losing after I turn on the game or something bad happens due to superstition.  It's primarily (over)used by Daniel Burch.

11. #TanakaTime.  Let's hope we get to use this hashtag pretty soon, eh?

12. #GardyParty.  Use this whenever Brett #TheHitman Gardner does something great on the diamond, which is on average 2.5 times per game.

I hope you enjoyed this abbreviated list of a DOZEN #Hashtags commonly used by TGP.  What are some of your favorite #Yankees hashtags?  Feel free to add them to the comments section and who knows they may be trending during tomorrow's game!

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Toronto Blue Jays 5/4


I got the cure for the Monday's, a victory by the New York Yankees over the Toronto Blue Jays. That is what the team will go for tonight when these two teams go head-to-head inside the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Tonight's pitching matchup will showcase Chase Whitley making his second start of the season in place of Masahiro Tanaka for the Yankees while the Blue Jays will send R.A. Dickey to the mound looking to stop the red hot Yankees. The game will be played at 7:07 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

The Yankees return home on Thursday to play host to the Baltimore Orioles in a four game extended weekend series so be sure to grab your Yankees tickets now for those four games. By clicking our Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog you can get said tickets for cheap because we won't associate any sort of fees or shipping costs through our partnership with Ticket Monster. If you can't make it to the Bronx then join me on Twitter (@GreedyStripes) and/or in the comments section of the site to interact during this and every single Yankees game this season.

Whitley will take it from here, and for the forseeable future for Masahiro Tanaka, so I will let him have the stage now. Go Yankees!


Most Popular Article of the Week: Didi Gregorius and others for Troy Tulowitzki, Would You Do It?


Let’s have a little fun this morning since there isn’t a Yankees game to get ready for and I’m frankly tired of talking about Masahiro Tanaka. Let’s talk about making an off the wall trade that will probably never happen and a trade that I’m not even sure I would be all for to be honest, let’s talk about another trade for the Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. Many this offseason scoffed at the idea of having Tulo in the Yankees lineup due to his hip surgery and general health questions but Tulo seems to be full recovered from the hip injury and may be primed to finally play shortstop in Yankees pinstripes in the Bronx if the Rockies decide to trade him in July.

If the Rockies trade Tulowitzki then the team has to go into full blown rebuild mode, and will have to trade Carlos Gonzalez as well if healthy, which is where Didi Gregorius comes in. Gregorius has a ton of team control left for a marginal league minimum salary heading into his arbitration years. Didi will miss out on Super Two status in 2015 and even with a few break out seasons will cost the Rockies less in the long haul then Tulo would. Obviously the Yankees would have to throw more into the deal but as long as that deal did not include Aaron Judge or Luis Severino then I think the deal could conceivably get done and get done in the Yankees favor.

What Tulo brings back to the Yankees would be a right handed power threat to balance out the lineup and really add some dynamic to the team. If you look at things from 2014 and compare them to 2015 offensively Brian McCann is still off to a slow start and so is Carlos Beltran. Mark Teixeira is better but overall the only real addition to the team has been a right handed hitting Alex Rodriguez. Chase Headley is on the team but his stats aren’t as good as Yangervis Solarte’s were at the beginning of the 2014 season and Stephen Drew pretty much pushes Brian Roberts’s production. One man, a soon to be 40 year old man at that, changed the dynamic of the lineup simply because he takes his walks, hits for power and can balance out a very left handed lineup. Adding Tulowitzki to that mix and taking essentially your worst hitter and turning him into your best hitter can only make this team better.


For those worried about Tulo’s health one must consider the fact that the Yankees have the DH in the American League and can give him half days off at least once a week if they so choose. Also the team has a suitable defense replacement in Brendan Ryan for those times that Joe Girardi feels compelled to give Tulo a day like he’s been known to do. Tulo’s hip surgery doesn’t worry me as much as it this offseason either after the shortstop came out of the gate, albeit in still a small sample size, hitting .297 with a .312 on-base percentage with two home runs and 10 RBI. I’m not dogging on Didi here and I’m not calling for him to be traded no matter what but if the deal makes sense then you have to do it. This deal, depending on the other moving pieces, makes sense for the Yankees even if it still likely won’t happen for New York. 

Blue Jays Face Off w/ Different Yankees Team Tonight


The New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays were inside Yankee Stadium on Opening Day when the 2015 season officially kicked off. Toronto bombed Masahiro Tanaka on Opening Day and was a wild gift wrapped 8th inning away from starting the season 2-0 before CC Sabathia took the mound for the Yankees in game three. As we all know CC hasn't won a game since the 2014 season and that includes the 3rd game of the season when the Blue Jays won the series with New York looking like the better team. That was April, this is May and this is a completely different team that Toronto will be playing tonight inside the Rogers Centre.

New York gave up 15 runs in the two losses to Toronto while only scoring eight runs including just one, a Brett Gardner late inning home run, on Opening Day. The Yankees defense looked more like the Bad News Bears then it did a team that was supposed to be much improved on the defensive side of the ball with the additions of Didi Gregorius, Chase Headley and a full season of Stephen Drew and Mark Teixeira. The defense made four errors this series but it should have been more if you watched the game and all the throwing errors from Gregorius that Teixeira and company saved while New York has committed just 14 more errors since. The defense will be much improved in this series as it has been up to date this season.

The Yankees offense was terrible in that opening series as well getting just three hits and one run in game one, four runs on seven hits in the second game and three runs on seven hits in the third game. Since the opening series the Yankees have 83 hits, 29 home runs, the team has stolen bases, the team has taken their walks and the team has flat out won. The Yankees have won five consecutive series including sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays and taking three of four from the Detroit Tigers.

The Yankees rotation has been better, the bullpen has been better, the offense has been better, the defense has been better, the fundamentals have been better, the base running has been better, the Yankees have been better. New York went from last place to first place in the American League East while the Toronto Blue Jays are in last place in the same division. A lot has changed since that opening series and this is a totally different team that Toronto beat up on to start the 2015 season. New York may have lost that opening series and the next two series after that but they won't lose this series, not if they continue to play like they have the last three weeks of 2015.

Fangraphs Does It Again With Soft Contact Percentage Statistic


The incredible baseball statistics website, Fangraphs.com, has come up with a new stat percentage that shows the amount of soft contact a pitcher has given up. This will be great when the time comes to write about Yankees pitchers*, like I did Yankees hitters last week.

While the season is still young for Dellin Betances, who has thrown 14.2 innings (he threw 90 last season), it's nice to see that he leads all MLB reliever with a soft contact percentage of 52%. While his batting average on balls in play (BABIP) of .240 could scare people into thinking he's due for a regression, when you look at that soft contact percentage it makes sense. Oh, and then there's the fact his BABIP was just .241 last season.

When you add the soft contact percentage with an awesome strikeout rate (he's k'd 25 hitters in those 14.2 innings), it makes Yankees fans feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

You can check out MLB league leaders, among all pitchers, right here. But before you click that let me tell you that Cole Hamels, the pitcher everybody in baseball will be discussing in trade rumors, is leading all "qualified" pitchers. And no... I still don't want the Yankees to trade the farm for the guy. Tanaka or not.

*Sorry... I can't say when this article will be out. Not because I'm keeping it a secret, but because I really don't know.

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Toronto Blue Jays 5/4


The New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays face off head-to-head for the second time already in the young season with the first series coming inside Yankee Stadium and this series coming inside the Rogers Centre in Toronto. The Blue Jays took two games out of three and basically gift wrapped the Yankees first victory of the season while trying to replicate the Bad News Bears movie but both teams are playing much different thus far this season. The Yankees have won five consecutive series and are in first place in the American League East while the Blue Jays have slipped into the cellar of the division and continue to struggle both offensively, defensively and in the pitching department. Tonight the Yankees will see knuckle ball pitcher R.A. Dickey who always gives New York trouble while the Bronx Bombers send Chase Whitley to the mound looking for his second win of his young season. The game will be played at 7:07 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.


  • Whitley made his 2015 season debut last time out as the Yankees looked to add a sixth starter to keep their starting pitchers fresh and healthy. That lasted all of about 15 minutes as Masahiro Tanaka was announced injured during Whitley's start pushing the young RHP into the rotation full time for Tanaka. Whitley threw five innings allowing just one run and one walk with 5 K's in a victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. 



  • Dickey hasn't been especially sharp or effective this season although he did make a start in which he did not walk a batter his last time out. Dickey went seven innings matching a season high last time out against the Boston Red Sox allowing four runs including a two run home run to Red Sox left fielder Hanley Ramirez. Walking batters, home run prone, sounds like a great recipe for the Yankees tonight.



Dickey kills the Yankees when his knuckle ball is on so if it's high let's hope the Yankees let it fly and if it's low let's hope the Yankees let it go. More importantly though let's hope the Yankees continue their great play, continue to win and continue to dominate the American League East division. Go Yankees!

ICYMI: Alex Rodriguez Hits Home Run #660 All-Time


Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez has hit his 660th home run of his career to tie Willie Mays for fourth on the all-time home run list. Steroids or not this is a milestone and a hell of an accomplishment and I will give credit and congratulations where credit and congratulations is due. Congrats A Rod, you came back when no one said you should and you put together a great first month of the season when nobody said you could. You deserve this!

Now about that $6 million check....

TGP Daily Poll: Yankees Win Series over Toronto


The New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays faced off in the first series of the 2015 season and Toronto was one gift wrapped error filled inning away from a sweep. That will not happen this time around with the Yankees winning at least two out of three.

Vote in our prediction poll on Knoda.com

Weekly Check In: Jacob Lindgren


Good morning and Happy Monday Yankees family. Another week into the MLB and MiLB seasons and the Yankees first pick in the 2014 MLB First Year Players Draft is still in the minor leagues, his name is Jacob Lindgren. Lindgren continues to strike out players at an alarming rate in Scranton with the RailRiders as he continues to force the hands of the Yankees management. The biggest problem for Lindgren is that there is not a glaring weakness in the Yankees bullpen right now and there isn't an injury, and you don't want to hope for an injury either, that would allow Lindgren to come up to the Bronx. For now, and not for long I hope, we will continue to do these check ins with Lindgren as a minor league player and not a player in the Bronx. Imagine these numbers inside Yankee Stadium:


YearLevWLERAGSVIPHRERHRBBSOWHIPH9HR9BB9SO9
2015AAA012.618210.1117306141.6459.60.05.212.2

This Day in New York Yankees History 5/4: New Jersey Hall of Fame


On this day in 2008 Yogi Berra was one of 15 inaugural honorees to be inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. Yogi was not without a "Yogism" as he called fellow inductee Albert Einstein "a pretty smart guy," although he did not think the Nobel Prize winner for physics would have made a good MLB manager.

Also on this day in 2006 Forbes magazine valued the New York Yankees at $1 billion making the Yanks the first Major League Baseball team to be valued over $1 billion. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays were valued at $209 million coming in last in the publication.

Also on this day in 1981 the Yankees Ron Davis set a major league mark for consecutive strikeouts by a reliever when he struck out eight consecutive Angels batters in a 4-2 New York victory. Davis came in for the seventh inning and immediately got Don Baylor to pop up and followed to strike out the rest of the batters he faced en route to a save and a Yankees victory.

Also on this day in 1968 the song Mrs. Robinson made its debut on the Billboard Top 40. The lyrics in the song ask "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you."

Finally on this day in 1931 the Yankees put Babe Ruth at first base to take some strain off his legs and moved Lou Gehrig to right field. Gehrig commits an error in right and the Senators would win the game 7-3.