Thursday, May 7, 2015

Game Thread: Baltimore Orioles @ New York Yankees 5/7


Will the real Buck Showalter please stand up? Did I say stand up? I meant shut up. How long can this guy really hold a grudge against a team, for real? This guy seemingly hates the Yankees and every player that has ever worn the pinstripes because George Steinbrenner, who is dead in case you missed it, fired him after the 1995 season making Showalter miss out on a plaque in Monument Park and the Dynasty years. Get over it Buck. I had to get that off my chest, thank you for listening by the way, before Nathan Eovaldi took the mound to face off with the Orioles Chris Tillman. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

It’s not too late to get tickets to tonight’s game or any game this weekend between these two teams if you click our Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog. It’s going to be a beautiful weekend and there’s no better way to spend it than at the ballpark in the Bronx. If you can’t make it to the Bronx this weekend then don’t fret just join us on the comments section of the site and on Twitter (@GreedyStripes) to chat it up during the game. Your mentions, favorites and retweets are always truly appreciated.

Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Eovaldi, whichever shows his mug tonight remains to be seen but we won’t have to wait long to find out. Go Yankees and Go Mr. Eovaldi!


Platooning Jose Pirela & Stephen Drew


Jose Pirela is finally back in the fold for the New York Yankees after joining the team before their second game in Toronto on Tuesday night. Pirela missed basically a month of the season after suffering a concussion late into spring training and has been on a rehab assignment in the Yankees minor league system for a couple of weeks now. With Pirela back and activated and incumbent second baseman Stephen Drew once again struggling would it make more sense to simply hand Pirela the second base job or would a straight platoon better suit the club?

The idea seems simplistic with Pirela batting from the right side of the plate and Drew batting from the left side of the plate but the biggest hang up is in Drew’s ability to put the ball in play and “hit it where they aint.” Pirela’s right handed bat has shown some pop, albeit in gap power less than it is home run power, in the minor leagues and would really help balance out and add some pop to the bottom of the Yankees order. Drew’s only saving grace offensively is his power as he has four home runs and ten RBI this season but when he is hitting lower than the .162 he hit last season between New York and Boston it’s getting harder and harder to justify giving him at bats in this lineup.

Drew has done exceptionally well manning the second base position and honestly may be the better option defensively even though Pirela’s natural and best position is second base. The Yankees love to stack left handed bats against right handed pitching so I don’t believe Drew’s job will disappear altogether with the addition of Pirela but I truly believe, in a platoon position or not, a ton of his at bats are going to be going elsewhere going forward. That may be the best news the Yankees get all month and they are likely to get Masahiro Tanaka back this month so that is saying something.


Chris Capuano vs. Chase Whitley vs. Adam Warren


Let’s assume that Chris Capuano is back in the Yankees rotation and off the disabled list before Masahiro Tanaka returns from his wrist injury and forearm strain, what would the Yankees do with their roster? Would they dare send Chase Whitley back down to Scranton and waste his gems in Triple-A again? Would the team send Adam Warren back into an already crowded bullpen or would they keep him in the rotation and send Capuano to the pen? These are pretty difficult questions to answer so I decided to take to Twitter to try and get some answers and these are your responses.











If you’re asking me what I would do I would have to cut my losses with Capuano but since that is highly unlikely I would at least hope that Whitley stays up, Warren goes to the pen and Capuano becomes the 5th starter. Whitley has been throwing darts this season, albeit in two starts, and looks primed to be the 2015 version of Shane Greene. There is no way I am taking Whitley out of the rotation right now as much as I like what Warren has been able to do as a starter.


To be a part of our next post like this head on over to Twitter and give @GreedyStripes a follow and be on look out for a tweet from myself. I will always inform you that I may or may not use your tweet in any potential blog post. 

Game Preview: Baltimore Orioles @ New York Yankees 5/7


The New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles start a four game series tonight in the Bronx and inside Yankee Stadium as the Yankees return home. The Yankees are playing their best baseball of the season right now and will look to silent Adam Jones, Buck Showalter and the Baltimore Orioles. Tonight the Yankees send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound looking to build off his second great start of the season and to face off with Chris Tillman for Baltimore. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

  • Eovaldi pitched extremely well in his last start, his second great start this season for the Yankees, holding the Red Sox down. Eovaldi has been inconsistent this season so whether he will be great tonight in the Bronx or dominant against the Orioles remains to be seen, stay tuned. 


  • Tillman has struggled recently against the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays but always seems to bring his best against the Yankees. Tillman allowed seven runs against Toronto before dueling with the Rays Alex Colome in his last start. 



If the Yankees want to win this division in 2015 they have to beat the teams that they are supposed to beat, especially when they are in the same division, and one of those teams is the Baltimore Orioles. New York will succeed as long as they hit and follow these three simple rules, don’t pitch to Adam Jones, don’t give Chris Davis anything out over the plate and don’t pitch to Adam Jones. Go Yankees!

Jacob Lindgren & Weaknesses in Yankees Bullpen


Every time we do our weekly check in with Yankees prospect and top pick in 2014 Jacob Lindgren I post a slew of overly impressive stats along with a disclaimer that the bullpen for New York is too good to justify a spot for the young lefty. I think Lindgren and the fans may have finally found that weakness inside the Yankees pen that could go down or be designated for assignment to make room for the Mississippi State product. David Carpenter’s fall from grace out of Joe Girardi’s “Circle of Trust” came quicker than so many analogies that are just not coming to my mind right now. The lack of trust and the subsequent lack of use is only going to get worse while it gets less and less frequent so it may be time to finally make the move now.

Chris Capuano has already begun a rehab assignment to come back to the major leagues and presumably you would think he would return as a starting pitcher. When Capuano returns you have to think that Adam Warren goes back to the bullpen, especially after the way Chase Whitley has pitched in his first two starts this season, giving Girardi his 7th inning man back in the pen. Carpenter was supposed to be that 7th inning man this season before Chris Martin essentially jumped him on the totem pole alone with Justin Wilson and Chasen Shreve. Now it seems like Carpenter is the last man on the depth chart for Girardi and his performance is suffering for it.

None of this is to say that Carpenter is a bad pitcher or that any of it is his fault though because I understand the need to stay active and stay sharp. When you rot on the bench for six days out of seven a week as a pitcher it tends to mess with your command, control and your ability to get major league hitters out. That part is on Girardi, not on Carpenter, and so is bringing in Carpenter and expecting anything less than a failure more times than not. If you’re not going to use Carpenter it’s only going to hurt, not help, the Yankees pen in the long run so why not give Lindgren a shot and let him strike out two batters an inning in the Bronx instead of in Scranton.


Think of the matchups the binder would give Girardi replacing Carpenter with Lindgren. Let’s take the Boston Red Sox for example: You can pitch Dellin Betances to Mookie Betts and Dustin Pedroia, Wilson to David Ortiz, Martin to Hanley Ramirez, Lindgren to Pablo Sandoval, and the rest of the pen including Andrew Miller for anyone else. That’s an opposing manager’s nightmare matchup wise and no other team in the league can boast that. It makes sense but as we know that doesn’t always matter with Girardi and GM Brian Cashman so I’m not saying that the move will be made I’m just saying that it should. 

TGP Daily Poll: Jose Pirela Gets More AB’s



Jose Pirela has been activated and will hopefully put a little bit of life into the bottom half of the Yankees order. Pirela has put the likes of Didi Gregorius and Stephen Drew on notice and if he hits, and I think he will, he will get more at bats this month than Drew will.


Vote in our prediction poll on Knoda.com

Weekly Check In: Tyler Austin


Tyler Austin may have found his entrance into the major leagues as Garrett Jones continues to struggle on both the offensive and defensive side of the baseball. Jones is primarily on the team because of his ability to play right field and backup the first base position, although his defense was never heralded as great at either position. Austin was a third baseman when the Yankees drafted him and played some first base in the minor leagues before being moved permanently to the outfield to allow him a clearer path to the major leagues and to keep him healthy. Austin has been healthy and has been potent with the bat and seems to be knocking on the door to the Bronx as we speak.


Let’s take a look at the stats that should have Jones shaking in his boots right now:

YearLevGPARH2B3BHRRBIBBSOBAOBPSLGOPS
2015AAA241028202018527.211.255.263.518

This Day in New York Yankees History 5/7: Torre Wins 1,000


On this day in 2006 Joe Torre became the fourth Yankees manager to win 1,000 games with the team. The other three Yankees managers were Joe McCarthy (1,460), Casey Stengel (1,149) and Miller Huggins (1,067) for the record. Torre at the time was 1,000-645 after beating the Rangers 8-5.

Also on this day in 2000 the Yankees held Bob Sheppard Day at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. The Yankees were honoring Sheppard's 50 years of service as the ”Voice of God” with a plaque in Monument Park.

Also on this day in 1999 the Yankees Hideki Irabu faced off with the Mariners Matt Suzuki in the first match up of Japanese starting pitchers in Major League history. Irabu would get the best of Suzuki as the Yankees beat Seattle 10-1 on this day.

Also on this day in 1966 only twenty games into his second season as manager of the Yankees Johnny Keane was fired by General Manager Ralph Houk with Houk returning to the dugout to manage the team after the firing. The Yankees were 4-16 under Keane and would go on to win 13 of its next 17 games under Houk.


Finally on this day in 1903 the rivalry began between the Highlanders and the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims beat the Highlanders at Boston's Huntington Avenue Grounds 6-2. The teams would eventually change their named to the Red Sox and the Yankees but the rivalry stayed the same.