Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 7/1


Welcome to July baseball Yankees fans and welcome to a game being played on the west coast that us on the east coast can actually watch and not pay for in the morning. Tonight the Yankees remain in Angels Stadium for one more contest against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim before leaving on a jet plan after the game. The Yankees will send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound to face off against the Angels starter Matt Shoemaker. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

The Yankees return home Friday fresh off the off day tomorrow to play host to their American League East rivals in the Tampa Bay Rays. To see this game live in the Bronx and inside Yankee Stadium click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog to get your tickets without all the bulky shipping costs and the annoying fees in general through our friends at Ticket Monster. If you can’t make it to the Bronx live then that’s not a problem, simply jump on Twitter (@GreedyStripes) and/or the comments section of the blog to interact with us during each and every Yankees game this season.

Brett Gardner is stepping into the box and Eovaldi is in from the dugout so it looks like it’s game time in Angels Stadium, let’s do it. Go Yankees!


Rogers Outrighted, Dugas Up, Miller Throws Off Mound, Ellsbury in Center Field


It seems like every day the Yankees keep the people who update their transactions page on Yankees.com very, very busy. Today was no different as the Yankees made a couple roster moves today while they learned how close they were to having to make a couple more with a pair of injury updates.


  • Esmil Rogers has been outrighted off the roster and has been sent down to Triple-A. 



  • Rogers was outrighted to make room on the roster for Double-A outfielder Taylor Dugas. Dugas is here to fill in for Carlos Beltran while he battles a rib cage injury and while the Yankees decide if they want to DL him this week. 



  • Jacoby Ellsbury is back in center field tonight in Tampa after sitting out last night's game with general fatigue. 



  • Andrew Miller threw 20 pitches off a mound for the first time since his injury and could be back before the All-Star break if all goes according to plan. 

Five Thunder Players Named to Eastern League All-Star Team



Press Release:

The Thunder, in conjunction with the Eastern League, announced today that RHP Nick Goody, RHP Eric Ruth, OF Jake Cave, 3B Eric Jagielo and C Gary Sanchez have been selected to play in the 2015 Eastern League All-Star Game onWednesday July 15 at Hadlock Field in Portland, ME.

RHP Nick Goody is in his first full season with the Thunder after debuting with the team on June 21, 2014. Goody, a former sixth round draft pick out of Louisiana State University in 2012, is first in the Eastern League among active, qualified relief pitchers with 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings and fourth in the league in opponents batting average with a .193 mark. Overall in 27 appearances, Goody has compiled a 1-1 record with four saves and a 1.63 ERA. The 23-year-old has recorded at least one strikeout in all but one of his appearances this season for the Thunder.

RHP Eric Ruth, a native of Harleysville, PA, was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for the week of May 25-31. In that week, Ruth went 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA and struck out seven in 13 innings pitched. As of July 1, Ruth leads the Eastern League with a 1.97 ERA, among active and qualified pitchers, and has compiled a 5-1 record. Ruth leads the Thunder with seven quality starts (at least six innings, three runs or less) in his ten starts this season.

OF Jake Cave has been named to an All-Star team for the third time in his minor league career. In 2014, he was named a mid-season and post-season All-Star in the Florida State League while playing for the Tampa Yankees. This season with the Thunder, Cave has batted .281 with two home runs and 21 runs driven in. He has played in a team-high 72 games this season and entered the season as the No. 17 prospect in the New York Yankees system according to Baseball America.

3B Eric Jagielo, the former 26th overall selection of the New York Yankees in 2013, is second in the Eastern League in extra base hits with 31. The Downers Grove, IL native is batting .284 with nine home runs and 35 RBI this season. He entered the 2015 campaign as the No. 11 prospect in the New York Yankees system according to Baseball America.

C Gary Sanchez has been named an Eastern League All-Star for the second straight season. Sanchez, who was activated off the disabled list on June 29 (hand), is batting .251 this season with eight home runs and 29 RBI. Prior to his injury, Sanchez had driven in 22 runs in his last 24 games and was batting .284 over his previous 37 games. He entered the 2015 season as the No. 5 prospect in the New York Yankees system according to Baseball America.

The Eastern Division is comprised of the Binghamton Mets, New Britain Rock Cats, New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Portland Sea Dogs, Reading Fightin' Phils and the Thunder while the teams in the Western Division include the Akron RubberDucks, Altoona Curve, Bowie Baysox, Erie SeaWolves, Harrisburg Senators and Richmond Flying Squirrels.


The five players from the Thunder heading to the All-Star game are tied for the most by a single team in the Eastern League. For the full roster for each team, please CLICK HERE.

Twitter Poll: Pitching or Hitting

div class="MsoNormal"> It is getting late pretty early here in the 2015 Major League Baseball season as we enter July baseball tonight around the league. With the calendar changing to the month of July much of the focus around the league turns to trade rumors, new faces in new places and the talk of whether teams are contenders or pretenders. In a weakened American League East division the Yankees are definitely contenders but the team is far from perfect and far from complete. The team is one injury away in both the offensive and pitching department from becoming a fourth place team putting all of the pressure on Yankees GM Brian Cashman. Cashman presumably has a list and he’s making his calls but what do the Yankees need more, hitting or pitching? Sounds like the perfect idea for a Twitter poll.








In my opinion the Yankees don’t need to necessarily acquire a pitcher, they just need to utilize what they have more effectively. The Yankees cannot expect to go far this season handing CC Sabathia the ball every fifth day and letting him face a lineup three or four times a night. If the team would designate Chris Capuano or Esmil Rogers for assignment, make CC the highest paid long reliever in MLB history, call up Luis Severino to man the bullpen like Mike Axisa suggested weeks ago and rely more on the likes of Bryan Mitchell in the bullpen I think the Yankees would be fine. If the injury to Andrew Miller has taught us anything it is that other pieces like Chasen Shreve and Justin Wilson can be relied upon in high pressure and high leverage situations and it not go completely awry. This move would probably make Nathan Eovaldi the best 5th starter in the American League while Adam Warren remains in the rotation because he pitched like he belonged there.





In my opinion the hitting needs a pick-me-up at multiple positions including second base and right field. The bench could use a big bopper or two as well but adding Stephen Drew to the bench, Jose Pirela to the minor league club and someone like a Brandon Phillips to send base helps the offense and the bench at the same time. If the team can find a way to rid themselves of the Carlos Beltran contract, even if it comes down to a DFA, the defense is better, the offense is better and the bench is better because we wouldn’t need to justify carrying Garrett Jones anymore.



To be involved in our next Twitter poll head over and give @GreedyStripes a follow to be on the lookout for the next Twitter Poll tweet. We will not use your tweets without your permission.

Injuries, Suspension and Fantasy Baseball


The push is on in Major League Baseball for the playoffs and the same can be said for fantasy baseball as well. While MLB teams are lining up to add players or sell players at the July 31st trading deadline fantasy owners are on the edge of their seats waiting to see what is going to happen and how it is going to affect their fantasy teams, for better or worse. One thing I found interesting is the slew of either injured or suspended players that are set to come off the disabled and suspension lists in the coming weeks that could alter the way your league unfolds.

Jose Fernandez is set to make his 2015 season debut tomorrow for the Miami Marlins when the team faces off with the San Francisco Giants. The Marlins had a budding ace on their hands before the surgery but have not seen encouraging results from him in his rehab assignment. The last thing to come back is command and we saw Ivan Nova struggle with his command in his final tune-up before dominating the Phillies in his season debut so you never really know what to expect. Matt Moore of the Tampa Bay Rays is also set to come off the disabled list after missing most of the 2014 season with Tommy John surgery and will also make his season debut tomorrow against the Cleveland Indians. Moore is another ace that has struggled a bit with his command in his rehab and is another question mark moving forward. Frankly if I had to choose between the two I would go with Fernandez because it seems like the Rays are rushing Moore back for a potential division race and pennant chase.

Ervin Santana was suspended for the first 80 games of the MLB season after failing a steroid test with the Minnesota Twins. Santana’s suspension ends this Sunday but the team has not announced when and where his season debut will happen but for a team that is struggling and chasing a division title it will come sooner rather than later. The same can be said for Mets relief pitcher Jenrry Mejia who will also have his suspension lifted after 80 games. Mejia will return to a struggling Mets team that needs all the pitching help they can get. If I had to choose one or the other I would go with Santana who has had great results in his career and is a potential ace in Minnesota while Mejia isn’t likely to exceed 30 or 40 IP for the remainder of the season.



Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 7/1


The New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim face off tonight in the finale of their three game set in Angels Stadium. The Yankees will send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound tonight to face off against Matt Shoemaker for the Angels. It’s probably not a coincidence that Adam Warren was supposed to start in this game and won’t, I doubt the Yankees wanted Eovaldi to face off against the Tampa Bay Rays this weekend. Anyway the game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

  • Eovaldi is looking for his third straight strong start this season after looking impressive against the Houston Astros in his last start. In front of Nolan Ryan the fellow Texan allowed just two runs on five hits in six innings against the Astros in a victory for the Yankees leaving many ton wonder if Eovaldi finally has it figured out this season.


  • Shoemaker is fresh off a strong start against the Seattle Mariners last time out where he allowed just two runs in six innings of work for the Angels. Shoemaker had an extra two days of rest before the start as he worked on getting his timing in sync and will not have that luxury this time out for Anaheim. With that said maybe the Yankees can take advantage of that and clobber the cobbler.



The Yankees have one more game tonight in California before getting a much needed off day tomorrow. The Yankees will use the off day to travel and prepare for a big three game weekend series with the Tampa Bay Rays, the team that currently sits atop the American League East Division and one of the teams the Yankees are chasing in the playoff race. This has all the makings of your typical trap game for New York so hopefully Girardi has his troops ready for battle tonight in Anaheim. 

If The Giants Can Do It Why Can’t the Yankees?


Before we get too in-depth with this post I just want to start it off by saying that as unpopular of a decision that it was I actually agree with the Yankees decision to move Adam Warren back to the bullpen and to keep the likes of CC Sabathia and Nathan Eovaldi in the starting rotation for this team. There is zero doubt in my mind that Warren pitched better than either of these men and deserved to be in the rotation more than these two men but that’s not what was best for the team. Truth be told what’s best for the team is a trade, DFA or phantom injury to Sabathia but that’s also the unlikeliest of the scenarios as well but what can you do? Warren helps the bullpen more than Sabathia or Eovaldi could and Warren is also approaching his career high innings limit with a shade over half the season remaining which begs for disaster in September when he’s exhausted. This is not the last we’ve seen of Warren in the starting rotation I believe, and truth be told he is an injury away from being right back in it and with the Band-Aid that holds this rotation together being as flimsy as it is I’d expect him back at some point, but at least for now he’s in the bullpen and I think it helps the 2015 Yankees out more than anything and that’s all that really matters in the end.

The discussion and debate about whether Warren should be in the rotation and whether Sabathia should be in the bullpen is a discussion for another day, I will instead focus on why the Yankees made the move and why teams like the San Francisco Giants win World Series in the modern game and why teams like the New York Yankees do not. The Giants run their organization like it’s a multi-million dollar company while the Yankees run their organization like they are a mom and pop organization trying to compete with the new Super Wal-Mart in town. Hank can go on and on about how he isn’t cheap because of his payroll but what he wants us to forget is the contracts of Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and other high-priced Yankees players were handed out by George Steinbrenner, not Hal. Sure the Yankees owner did shell out over $500 million in an offseason but in a large sample size, there’s that whole sample size thing again, Hal has been more of the Coupon Clipper than the Yankees Clipper.

This mindset was brought to the front of the line when the Yankees moved Warren to the bullpen and kept Sabathia in the starting rotation. Again, for this team it was the right move but how many times have we seen the same decisions happen when it wasn’t the right move? The Yankees have used excuses like how much a player is owed to keep him in the rotation, to keep him on the field and to keep him on the roster but why? The Giants, the team that seemingly wins a World Series every other season and the Giants who are the reigning World Series Champions, aren’t afraid to make the moves that need to be done in order to propel the team to the ultimate prize. Do the names Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito ring a bell? Both players were making in excess of $20 million per season and both were struggling in the rotation much like Sabathia. The difference here is that the Giants trusted their analytics and trusted their scouts and weren’t shy about moving those players into the bullpen to make room for the players that helped the team win.

When the Yankees pull moves like this it does not instill confidence in me as a fan, it makes me believe that the bottom line is what’s most important and screw the on the field product as long as the team itself is making money. Sure it’s a business but it takes money to make money and with bonehead moves and policies like this I cannot see me and many other fans spending much more of our money to support a team that only cares about the money. This all sounds rich coming from a guy who owns a blog called The GREEDY Pinstripes but that greed comes from the team getting the players it needs to win by any means necessary and less about the financial greed. The financial greed comes with winning and comes with recognizable faces, maybe someone should let the Yankees owner know that.


TGP Daily Poll: Brett Gardner Leads Off w/ Jacoby Ellsbury


This is probably a losing bet I admit but I think it may be the best for the team. When Jacoby Ellsbury returns from injury, presumably Friday against Tampa Bay, the Yankees will keep Brett Gardner leading off and hit Ellsbury 2nd.


Vote in our prediction poll on Knoda.com

Weekly Check In: Greg Bird


The New York Yankees have left me scratching my head for many of my years as a fan when it comes to prospects and this year is no different. New York has been very wary of calling up and rushing many prospects like Robert Refsnyder, Gary Sanchez and others but have seemingly been very aggressive with others like Luis Severino and Aaron Judge. And then there’s Greg Bird who is still in Double-A after a strong start to his season and an Arizona Fall League MVP Award.

It seems unclear what the Yankees plan is regarding Bird at this point. Is he a legitimate prospect that will possibly replace Mark Teixeira at first base when his mega contract comes to an end? Is he trade bait this July for a piece to presumably put the Yankees over the top and into the postseason and beyond? Or is he another Kyle Roller? Hard to say, stay tuned.


If the Yankees do decide to trade Bird this summer this is what the Trenton Thunder would be missing out of the middle of their lineup for the remainder of the season: 

YearLevGPARH2BHRRBISBBBSOBAOBPSLGOPS
2015AA4519325411452512129.246.342.419.761

Quick Hit: All-Star Game Balloting Ends TOMORROW


Attention fans of the New York Yankees, balloting for the 2015 MLB All Star Game ends tomorrow, July 2nd. That means you have just over a day to send one of your New York Yankees to the All-Star Game while sending one Kansas City Royals player potentially home for a few days. The All-Star Game is just two weeks away and as it stands right now, before the pitchers are selected, the Yankees are sending none of their positional players to the game. Of course the Yankees will have a representative, every team has at least one, but it’s looking less and less likely that the player will be a positional player or a starter without your help.

As it stands at the time of this writing Mark Teixeira sits in sixth place among American League first baseman while Brett Gardner isn’t even a Top 15 outfielder according to the vote. Alex Rodriguez’s early charge at the DH position has subsided a bit while Nelson Cruz leads the position for the AL. Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran and others are in the discussion for starting jobs but seem unlikely at this point to nail down the victory in the vote. Dellin Betances is probably the Yankees best shot as making the All-Star Game along with Chasen Shreve and Andrew Miller although fans cannot vote for pitchers, and they shouldn’t.


This Day in New York Yankees History 7/1: Andy Hawkins No-Hitter


On this day in 1990 Yankees pitcher Andy Hawkins throws a no hitter against the Chicago White Sox and loses the game 4-0. He is not credited with an official no hitter since he only had to throw 8 IP and the White Sox did not have to hit in the 9th inning.

Also on this day in 1944 Joe DiMaggio tied the major league consecutive hit record of 44 held by Wee Willie Keeler.


Finally on this day in 1914 Yankees first basemen Harry Kingman became the first person born in China to play in a major league game. He would go 0-3 with a walk but the historic aspect remains relevant.