Sunday, July 12, 2015

Yanks Go Yard Radio Show Open Thread


The New York Yankees game is in the books, the All Star Futures Game is in the book and the first half of the 2015 Major League Baseball season is officially in the books. With the first half in the books the very popular Yankees blog Yanks Go Yard has asked for one of us to join them on their weekly radio show, how could we say no? The last time we did a radio show I took the reigns and did the show and thoroughly enjoyed it so I asked Bryan Van Dusen if he wanted to do one this time around. Van Dusen accepted and will be joining Yanks Go Yard here in a few minutes to do a first half round table, should be interesting.

HERE IS THE LINK again for the Yanks Go Yard radio show, support the blog and support Bryan by heading over there and giving it a listen either live or after the fact, it would mean the world to both of us to have your love and support. Thank you.

Robert Refsnyder's First MLB Hit & MLB Home Run

http://web.yesnetwork.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=255951583&topic_id=&tcid=vpp_copy_255951583&v=3

A bloop line drive (when we find an embed code we'll bring it to you)

and a blast


2015 MLB Futures Game Open Thread


All-Star Week has officially begun even though the slate of games are still going on around Major League Baseball including the Yankees and Red Sox game that started a couple of hours ago. The game will be played on the field in Cincinnati inside the Great American Ball Park and can be seen live on MLB Network and MLB.com. See below for the complete rosters for both Aaron Judge and Team USA and Gary Sanchez and Team World.




TEAM USA

Pitchers

Mark Appel, Astros
Tyler Beede, Giants
Zach Davies, Orioles
Carl Edwards Jr., Cubs
Amir Garrett, Reds
Lucas Giolito, Nationals
Sean Newcomb, Angels
Aaron Nola, Phillies
Colin Rea, Padres
Blake Snell, Rays

Catchers

Kyle Farmer, Dodgers
Kyle Schwarber, Cubs

Infielders

Josh Bell, Pirates
JP Crawford, Phillies
Tony Kemp, Astros
Matt Olson, A's
Richie Shaffer, Rays
Trevor Story, Rockies
Trea Turner, Nationals

Outfielders

Michael Conforto, Mets
Aaron Judge, Yankees
Brandon Nimmo, Mets
Kyle Waldrop, Reds
Nick Williams, Rangers
Bradley Zimmer, Indians










TEAM WORLD


Pitchers

Jose Berrios, Twins
Edwin Diaz, Mariners
Jarlin Garcia, Marlins
Juan Gonzalez, Dodgers
Wei-Chieh Huang, Diamondbacks
Joe Jimenez, Tigers
Jairo Labourt, Blue Jays
Keury Mella, Giants
Frankie Montas, White Sox
Luis Perdomo, Cardinals

Catchers

Elias Diaz, Pirates
Gary Sanchez, Yankees

Infielders

Ozhaino Albies, Braves
Orlando Arcia, Brewers
Cheslor Cuthbert, Royals
Rafael Devers, Red Sox
Ketel Marte, Mariners
Raul Mondesi, Royals
Renato Nunez, A's
Balbino Fuenmayer, Royals 

Outfielders

Socrates Brito, Diamondbacks
Manuel Margot, Red Sox
Nomar Mazara, Rangers
Yorman Rodriguez, Reds
Raimel Tapia, Rockies

Yankees Announce Second Half Order, Other News

The New York Yankees have announced their starting rotation order for the second half of the 2015 season and it starts with Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova and Nathan Eovaldi. No surprises there, everyone gets about eight or nine days off and Sabathia faces that plethora of left handed hitters in Seattle. The Yankees have an off day that Monday after the break so theoretically they could skip Eovaldi or one of their starters there but for now, this is the plan.

Brendan Ryan is likely back after the All-Star break and so is Carlos Beltran barring an injury or a setback which could mean the end of Gregorio Petit and Robert Refsnyder. One of those two are almost guaranteed to go down. The Yankees could go with a short bullpen for a while and send down Bryan Mitchell but that seems unlikely at this point.

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox 7/12

"Revolver"

For the final time in the "first half" of the 2015 Major League Baseball season the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox will face off head-to-head inside Fenway Park. The Yankees will head into the All-Star Break in first place in the American League East while the Boston Red Sox are guaranteed to be in the cellar of the same division. The Yankees will send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound this afternoon looking to end the first half on a high note will the Red Sox lefty Wade Miley looks to do the same for Boston. The game will be played at 1:35 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, TBS and MLB TV.

Three Yankees are headed to the All-Star Game on Tuesday including Brett Gardner, Mark Teixeira and Dellin Betances while Boston sends Brock Holt to Cincinnati. Join us Twitter, @GreedyStripes, to interact with us during today's Futures Game, tomorrow's Home Run Derby, Tuesday's All-Star Game and to chat with us during the All-Star Break while we gear up for the July 31st trading deadline.

Let's make this a Rob Manfred special, three hours or less, and let's go home. Go Yankees!

My Thoughts on the Yankees First Half


In about four or five hours the first half for the New York Yankees will officially be over as the team faces off with the Boston Red Sox in the first half finale. The Yankees are guaranteed to be in first place all by themselves no matter what happens in this afternoon's game which is a lot better placement then many, including myself, thought the team could be in on July 12th. How did the Yankees do it and can the Yankees sustain their success?

In the offseason the general line of thinking was if the team could stay relatively healthy and if they could get nice comeback seasons from Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann that the offense would be good enough to hang around. The same line of thinking went along with the return of Alex Rodriguez, if the team could get absolutely anything out of their former third baseman the offense would be exponentially better while the team enjoyed a full season of Chase Headley and officially said goodbye to Derek Jeter.  The team has been relatively healthy, Teixeira is back, McCann is better, Rodriguez is great and Headley has been as described offensively which is a great sign and could explain the first place Yankees success.

The bullpen was supposed to be a strength and after riding through some injuries to Chris Capuano, Masahiro Tanaka and others the bullpen is finally a strength with Andrew Miller, Dellin Betances, Adam Warren, Justin Wilson, Chasen Shreve and Bryan Mitchell all contributing. The starting pitching has held together and while the starting five is not giving the Yankees much length, either because of inefficiency or due to Joe Girardi's short hook, they have been good enough to keep the team in almost every single game this season, another reason the team is in first place as the first half comes to a close.

The team has been inconsistently inconsistent, they can beat the best teams in baseball handily and turn around and lose to the worst teams in baseball but I can't see that being a season long thing. This is a veteran team that had new faces in and out of the clubhouse almost every day for the entire first half. Now that everyone for the most part is back, healthy and being effective I think the Yankees can settle down and start picking on the teams they are supposed to beat. If New York can do that and hang around with the better teams in the league I don't see why we won't be talking postseason baseball in 2015. First things first though, let's not get too ahead of ourselves here, let's hope the team finishes off Boston this afternoon in the first half finale.

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox 7/12


The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox finish off the first half of the 2015 Major League Baseball season this afternoon inside Boston's Fenway Park. Boston has played some sloppy baseball this weekend and had all their momentum cut down in a tough loss on Friday night. New York will look to go for the jugular this afternoon by sending Nathan Eovaldi to the mound to face off with the Red Sox starter Wade Miley. The game will be played at 1:35 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, TBS and MLB TV.


  • Eovaldi heads into the final start of the first half after being pulled after throwing just 86 pitches in his last start. Eovaldi was dominating the Oakland Athletics in that start and has made five consecutive great starts for New York leaving many to wonder if the young Texas-born right hander may have finally figured it all out. 




  • Miley is coming off one of his better starts in 2015 where he struck out nine batters while allowing three runs in 6.2 inning pitched, more commonly known as a quality start. Miley hasn't had the same success against the Yankees this season though as he owns a 0-1 record with a 3.65 ERA in two starts against New York. 



After this game the Yankees will send three of their own, Dellin Betances, Brett Gardner and Mark Teixeira, to the All-Star Game in Cincinnati while the rest of the team gets a much needed break. The Yankees bullpen could use a week off, guys like Chase Headley and Carlos Beltran could use a week off to let their little nagging injuries heal fully and the team could use some time off to spend with their friends and families. I love the All-Star Break more than I do the All-Star Game truth be told because the break means something to the team, the game doesn't no matter how hard Major League Baseball tries. Go Yankees!

Tempering Expectations for Robert Refsnyder


I know, I know, I know I'm the guy that has been beating the drums for a season and a half for the promotion of Robert Refsnyder and now that the wonder child is here I'm asking you to temper your expectations for the young second baseman. I know it sounds pretty unreasonable but hear me out on this. The reason I felt it necessary to temper mine and everyone else's expectations for Refsnyder is because this, and some people can easily forget this, is not Triple-A. Throw those Triple-A numbers out the window and let's get down to when the stats and every at bat really counts.

In the midst of my celebration party when it was announced that Refsnyder was being called up someone had to kill my buzz by asking me what I would do and say if Refsnyder comes up and doesn't produce. At first it sort of angered me, it's a legitimate question but everyone who follows me on twitter and especially this guy knows how badly I wanted Refsnyder to be called up. His timing sucked but he asked a very good question and I had what I believe to be the best answer you could have. See that below.

Refsnyder could be the Yankees 5th best prospects, which he is, or he could be the team's best prospect or worst prospect, it doesn't matter. Refsnyder deserves the same patience, learning curve and understanding that any other player and/or prospect gets in this game. I have hyped up Refsnyder to be the second coming of Cal Ripken Jr. when he very well could be Billy Ripken but I only ask that you give him a fair shake and enough time to figure out which Ripken he wants to be before we start running the guy out of town.


The fans were very hard on Nathan Eovaldi at the beginning of the season even though he was showcased as a work in progress fourth or fifth starter and he has been one of the best starters the team has had in the last month and a half. The fans also killed Didi Gregorius the first month to month and a half of the season and he has progressed light years ahead of what he once was both offensively and defensively due to the fact that he could simply slow the game down, relax and do his thing. Refsnyder may be one of the top prospects and may be one of the more hyped prospects to come out of the Yankees system in a long time but he's still that, a prospect. Patience is the best thing we as the fans can give him.

Weekly Check In: Luis Severino


The New York Yankees called up their top middle infield prospects before last night's game in Robert Refsnyder after a great couple months worth of baseball. The call up of Refsnyder has been a long time coming and was long overdue and we're getting close to being able to say the same thing about the Yankees top pitching prospect, Luis Severino.

Severino has made a couple month's worth of starts in Triple-A with the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and has left many extremely impressed with his progress. The Yankees have been very aggressive with Severino as the young RHP looks to be on the fast track to the majors. With the question marks surrounding Masahiro Tanaka's elbow, MIchael Pineda's innings and shoulder, Ivan Nova's return from Tommy John surgery, CC Sabathia's knee and Nathan Eovaldi's ability to win games with five or six runs of run support per game Severino may be the most important Yankees prospect in the entire farm system and may be the man that makes the biggest impact in 2015.

Severino is set to make another start soon and here is what his stats will look like when he takes his next turn for the Scranton RailRiders.

YearLevWLERAGIPHRERHRBBSOWHIPH9HR9BB9SO9
2015AAA-AA622.591683.1642924224801.0566.90.22.68.6
2015AA223.32838.0321714210481.1057.60.52.411.4
2015AAA401.99845.1321210014321.0156.40.02.86.4

This Day In New York Yankees History 7/12: Denny Neagle


The New York Yankees had an absolutely loaded pitching staff in the late 90's and early 2000's but it was the off the radar type deals that really put New York over the edge and into the World Series in 2000 against the New York Mets. Deals like the Yankees made on this day in 2000 where Denny Neagle (8-2, 3.52 ERA) and outfielder Mike Frank were to sent to the Yankees and Drew Henson, Jackson Melian, Brian Reith, and Ed Yarnall (basically nobody) was sent to Cincinnati in return.

Also on this day in 1989 Major League Baseball lost another great arm as Louisiana Lightning Ron Guidry called it a career. Guidry finishes with a 170-91 record and a 3.29 ERA during his 14 year career, all with the Yankees. Guidry won the 1978 American League Cy Young Award unanimously after posting a 25-3 record with a 1.74 ERA. Incredible.