Thursday, June 4, 2015

New York Yankees Off Day Open Thread


There will be no game thread today obviously and I am sure that isn’t hurting a lot of people’s feeling right now. Those west coast games and just take it out of you as the games don’t generally start until 10:05 pm ET and don’t end until well past 1:00 am ET. If you’re like me and you have a job to go to early the next morning and/or kids that don’t care if you stayed up watching baseball all night they still use the sun as their alarm clock then you understand we all need a day to recharge the batteries. That day is today so instead of bringing you more content I am going to leave you with this open thread for the night to discuss whatever comes to your minds.

NBA Finals start tonight, the Yankees play host to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim starting tomorrow night in the Bronx, I’m sure that hockey thing is about to start any day now and a load of baseball on tap. There’s plenty going on and there’s plenty to talk about so go wild and have fun.


I leave you with this musical recommendation out of my personal collection like I do with every open thread: Not That Beautiful by Papa Roach. Before you snub your nose at the name of the band at least give it a listen. Thank you and enjoy. 

Yankees Designate Carpenter, Lose McCann

Update:




While I, and many, were at work the New York Yankees were making roster moves and unfortunately losing players from their starting lineup. The team added Masahiro Tanaka to the rotation sending Chris Capuano to the bullpen earlier in the week forcing the team to designate David Carpenter for assignment to make room on the 25 man roster. Tanaka took the mound for the first time in over a month when he faced off against the Seattle Mariners.

In the contest the Yankees may have lost their starting catcher Brian McCann to a foot injury. McCann was seen limping and wincing after hitting a ground ball in the second inning forcing the Yankees to pull him from the lineup. McCann is headed back to New York for an MRI so stay tuned.

Looking Ahead to the 2015 MLB Draft


The New York Yankees have a trio of picks in the first two rounds of the 2015 MLB First Year Players Draft leaving many prospect humpers (trademark pending) like myself extremely excited for the draft on June 8th. All three picks will be showcased on MLB Network while the Yankees are off that night meaning that all the stars are aligned for a good night for the Bronx Bombers and their fans. In this article we’ll take a look at a few of the possibilities that the Yankees could take with that #16 pick and that #30 pick respectively and who the team might have on their board if they were to fall due to injury concerns or signability issues.

First and foremost if the Yankees feel they can wait on a prospect to recover from an injury, namely Tommy John surgery, they could see the likes of former #1 pick Brady Aiken and potential #1 pick before injury Mike Matuella fall into their laps at #16.

Out of the trio of high-end players coming out of Vanderbilt this season New York has been attached to one of them, Carson Fulmer, in recent mock drafts. Fellow pitcher Walker Buehler could be intriguing with the #30 pick after battling some elbow soreness early this season while shortstop Dansby Swanson, who will likely be off the board by the time the Yankees pick and likely off the board first to the Arizona Diamondbacks, would also be a nice find for the Yankees and their draft committee if they can snag a couple of those players. These three Vanderbilt products will look to join fellow Alumni David Price, Sonny Gray, Mike Minor, Pedro Alvarez and Ryan Flaherty in the major leagues.

Brendan Rodgers may be the best or second best shortstop along with Swanson in the draft this season making him the perfect fit for the Yankees system that seriously lacks many middle infield talents. Unfortunately for the Yankees Rodgers is also expected to be taken early in the draft leaving the team to rely on and wait on Jorge Mateo for their shortstop of the future. While New York would have to wait for Rodgers they would not have to wait too long on UC Santa Barbara’s Dillon Tate or Illinois LHP Tyler Jay who could both be available at that #16 spot for New York. Jay is a dominant bullpen arm that could follow the same quick journey to the major leagues that Jacob Lindgren did while Tate is a starting pitcher that struck out 111 batters in 103.1 IP in 2015.


New York has a ton of options but the MLB Draft is about as uncertain as all of these mock drafts have been showing New York interested in about 15 different players in 15 different mock drafts. The only way to find out who New York takes is to tune in at 8:00 pm ET on Monday, June 8th to see who the Yankees take. 

Yankees Off Day Walk Up Music Recommendation


The New York Yankees are fresh off an exhausting seven game road trip on the West Coast and are using today as a travel day and a day of rest before starting a new series tomorrow night at home in the Bronx against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. On this off day we will bring you the walk up music of one of the Yankees players like we have with every off day the team has had this season. So far we have gone over the walk up music for Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira so keeping with the lineup order theme today we bring you the walk up music of the team’s #5 hitter Brian McCann.


When McCann walks up to the plate inside Yankee Stadium the song Homeboy by Eric Church is blaring in the speakers much like it is likely blaring into yours right now. Enjoy the off day everyone and we’ll be back at full strength tomorrow here on the blog. 

New York Yankees Leaders Through 54 Games


The New York Yankees enter an off day that followed a seven game west coast swing that included a four game series with the Oakland Athletics and a three game set at Safeco Field against the Seattle Mariners. The Yankees handed Oakland their first home series win of the season when the team lost three of four games to the A’s and then proceeded to beat up on Robinson Cano and the Mariners. The theme here is consistency and this team is consistently inconsistent.

Offense


Games Played:

Chase Headley: 52


At Bats:

Chase Headley: 192


Runs Scored:

Brett Gardner: 35


Hits:

Brett Gardner and Chase Headley: 49


Doubles:

Carlos Beltran: 13


Home Runs:

Mark Teixeira: 15


RBI:

Mark Teixeira: 40


AVG:

Jacoby Ellsbury: .324 





  

Pitching:

GS:

CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda: 11


AP:

Dellin Betances and Justin Wilson: 26


Wins:

Nathan Eovaldi and Dellin Betances: 4


Losses:

CC Sabathia: 7


ERA:

Bullpen: Dellin Betances 0.00

Rotation: Masahiro Tanaka 3.22


K's:

Rotation: Michael Pineda - 76

Bullpen: Dellin Betances - 49


More Alex Rodriguez Milestones on Deck


Alex Rodriguez has surpassed many milestones this season, marketable for the New York Yankees or not, including tying and passing the likes of Willie Mays, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds in home runs and RBI all-time. That's an awesome career for any player, especially all in one season, but Rodriguez is quietly sneaking up on another handful of milestones that he could potentially surpass this season as well.

Rodriguez is a mere 13 hits away from the historic 3000 hit plateau and with the 2,987 hits he would become just the 29th player in Major League History to achieve the historic milestone. Only three players in major league history have surpassed 3,000 hits and are not yet in the Hall of Fame, Pete Rose, who is ineligible, Rafael Palmeiro, who admitted steroids use, and Derek Jeter, who is a shoe-in for induction. Rodriguez will likely join Rose and Palmeiro in not making Cooperstown despite the milestone.

Rodriguez is also just 35 home runs away from becoming the fourth player in Major League history to reach the 700 home run plateau. Rodriguez isn't likely to reach that mark in 2015 but after this season there is little reason to believe why he cannot, health and playing time dependent of course, achieve that in 2016.

Alex is just 5.0 WAR away from tying Red Sox legend Ted Williams in WAR all-time as he currently sits at 117.1 WAR while Williams has 123.1 WAR in their respected careers.

Rodriguez is one good season away from joining the Top Three of all-time in RBI as A-Rod currently sits at 1996 RBI in his career just 79 behind Cap Anson.

TGP Daily Poll: Ivan Nova Returns in June Too


Ivan Nova is throwing in simulated games, bullpen sessions and extended spring training games and got up to 75 pitches in his last outing between the pen and the game. Nova will return from Tommy John surgery in the month of June.


Vote in our prediction poll on Knoda.com

Weekly Check In: Brady Lail


Brady Lail is a name that many casual fans of the New York Yankees and/or their farm system may not know because he isn’t going to show up on anyone’s Top 10 Prospects list. He isn’t a sexy name with the upside of an ace starting pitcher or a light’s out reliever like a Luis Severino or a Jacob Lindgren but he is a starting pitcher for the Trenton Thunder that is quietly having a great 2015 campaign. While this spot is normally reserved for Tyler Austin his struggles at the plate, specifically in the batting average category, mixed with the sudden and quiet emergence of Lail forced the move at least temporarily.


If you don’t know Lail but you’re a fan of the Yankees farm system then check this stat line out and be on the lookout for these posts because this is a name we may see in Scranton and the Bronx sooner than we all think. Take notice, ZERO HOME RUNS ALLOWED.

YearLevWLERAGIPHRERHRBBSOWHIPH9HR9BB9SO9
2015AA-A+422.231144.1461311012301.3089.30.02.46.1
2015A+100.0015.04000090.8007.20.00.016.2
2015AA322.521039.1421311012211.3739.60.02.74.8

This Day in New York Yankees History 6/4: Big Unit Wins 300


On this day in 2009 the San Francisco Giants Randy Johnson would pitch six innings in a 5-1 Giants victory over the Washington Nationals for Johnson's 300th victory of his career. The former Seattle Mariner, Houston Astro, Arizona Diamondback, and New York Yankee would become the 24th pitcher in the history of the game to win #300 and the first to win his 300th game in his first try since Tom Seaver beat the Yankees in 1985.


Also on this day in 1980 at Shea Stadium the recently traded Jim Kaat, who was fresh over from the New York Yankees, gets a complete game shutout against the St. Louis Cardinals in 10 innings. The Mets would beat the Cardinals 1-0 in 10 innings. The 41 year old pitcher did not start a game for the Yankees last season but gets the win thanks to a 10th inning solo home run from Ken Reitz. Ain't that some luck?