Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins 8/18


The New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins are just about ready to kick off their second game of this three game set this week inside Yankee Stadium. The Yankees are in the middle of a 16 games in 16 days stretch with this game marking the eighth game in a row for New York. The Yankees inserted a sixth man into the rotation last night in Bryan Mitchell allowing tonight’s starter CC Sabathia to get an extra night of rest. Opposing Sabathia tonight will be Mike Pelfrey for the Twins. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

We have three more days of HOPE Week at Yankee Stadium this week and have four more games being played in the Bronx this week before the team heads back out onto the road. If you want to see any of these games live then simply click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog and grab a pair of tickets while supporting the blog. If you can’t make it to the Bronx then that’s not a problem, simply jump on Twitter and give @GreedyStripes a follow to root for the home team and interact with us during each and every game this season.


Sabathia with an extra day has been closer to vintage CC Sabathia lately so I am excited to sit down, relax and watch another Yankees victory unfold tonight. Go Yankees!

Yankees HOPE Week: Prospector Theater


Here is the press release from the New York Yankees:

Across America, more than 57 million adults have some form of disability, and 80 percent of those individuals are unemployed. Valerie Jensen grew up with a sister who has Down Syndrome, and has seen first-hand how difficult everyday tasks and activities can be for individuals with disabilities, especially finding a fulfilling job. She recognizes that many who have disabilities face an internal struggle to feel as if they have a purpose in life.

One afternoon, Jensen was driving in Ridgefield, Conn., when she saw an old, vacant former theater that was going to be demolished. She immediately had a vision—to transform the building into a unique movie theater, staffed primarily by individuals with disabilities. Over the course of the next several months, she made her vision a reality, with The Prospector Theater opening to the public in November 2014.

At The Prospector Theater, staff members are referred to as “prospects,” as a way to make them feel inspired to realize their own potential and give them the necessary training to advance to other jobs using their skills developed at the theater. In the 10 months since its grand opening, the staff of The Prospector Theater has grown to over 100 people, with no signs of slowing down. As Jensen put it, “we really didn’t need more trips to the pond. We really didn’t need more trips to the zoo. We just needed meaningful employment.”

In many ways, The Prospector Theater is like a traditional theater—visitors purchase their tickets just inside the main entrance and can stop at one of two concession stands before going to see a popular new release. It has four theaters, ranging in capacity from 16-167 people, with the smallest theater designed especially for people with sensory issues who may not enjoy movies in larger settings. Each of the four theaters has handicap seating, along with fixed chairs, so friends and families are able to watch movies together. All of the theaters are also equipped with technology to aid those who are hearing and/or visually impaired, offering closed-captioning glasses and high-quality headphones.
“The answer to the unemployment epidemic among adults with disabilities is in our own backyard, on every Main Street in America. Small businesses are missing out on a huge resource that lies in the incredible talent pool of the 57 million talented Americans with disabilities, who are willing, competent, and able to work,” says Valerie Jensen.


Modifying a Six-Man Rotation for the New York Yankees


The New York Yankees watched on Sunday as Michael Pineda made a rehab assignment start with their Double-A affiliate the Trenton Thunder. Pineda was originally slated to be out until at least September with a forearm strain but has exceeded the expectations from the original time table and could make a start as early as this coming weekend after going pain free in Trenton. The Yankees have a unique and a good problem to have at this point in the season, too much pitching and not enough rotation spots. Well not enough rotation spots unless they go with a six-man rotation.

The Yankees would not benefit from your run of the mill six-man rotation though, they would need to modify one to accommodate certain pitchers in the rotation. While Nathan Eovaldi doesn’t seem fazed by four days rest or five days rest others, especially Michael Pineda, seem to either benefit or struggle with the extra rest. Masahiro Tanaka’s name is always brought up when considering a sixth man being placed into the rotation as well as CC Sabathia’s and Ivan Nova’s while the team could also benefit from giving Luis Severino an extra day or two when they can to limit his innings. With this in mind I came up with a very rough modified six-man rotation that I think could benefit the Yankees somewhat. It’s not perfect and it’s far from written in stone but this is the general basis for the idea.

8/18: CC Sabathia (5)
8/19: Nathan Eovaldi (5)
8/20: Ivan Nova (5)
8/21: Michael Pineda (4)
8/22: Masahiro Tanaka (6)
8/23: Luis Severino (6)
8/24: CC Sabathia (5)
8/25: Nathan Eovaldi (5)
8/26: Michael Pineda (4)
8/27: OFF DAY
8/28: Ivan Nova (7)
8/29: Masahiro Tanaka (6)
8/30: Luis Severino (6)
8/31: Michael Pineda (4)
9/1: CC Sabathia (7)
9/2: Nathan Eovaldi (7)
9/3: OFF DAY
9/4: Ivan Nova (6)
9/5: Michael Pineda (4)
9/6: Masahiro Tanaka (7)
9/7: Luis Severino (7)

  • ·         Number of days rest in parenthesis



Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment in the comments section below. Thanks. 

USA Today's Weekly MLB Power Rankings


The New York Yankees had an up and down week last week as the team posted a 6-6 record overall with a series victory against the Toronto Blue Jays and a series loss against the Cleveland Indians. New York’s offense was mired in a huge slump before breaking out of it in the final game of the Indians series and the offense seems to be back to firing on all cylinders now, a great sign for the Yankees. Will it be enough to improve on the team’s ranking from last week though? Keep reading…

We start the rankings reveal at the top with the St. Louis Cardinals who remain at the top of the rankings and the top of Major League Baseball. The team who came in ranked 30th in the rankings is the Philadelphia Phillies who are no strangers to being in the cellar of these rankings. New York’s 3-3 week and climb back into first place in the American League East garnered them to remain at the #7 position.

The biggest rise of the week goes to the Boston Red Sox who rose two spots to the #24 position while the biggest fall of the week goes to the Washington Nationals who fell two spots all the way to the #14 position.

To round out the American League East the Toronto Blue Jays finished with the #4 position while the Baltimore Orioles finished #12 overall. The Tamp Bay Rays were barely behind the Orioles with the #15 position while the Boston Red Sox finished another week off in last place with the #24 position.


The sample sizes from the trade deadline are starting to take effect, look at the Toronto Blue Jays for instance. New York did nothing at the deadline and they are lagging behind and in the midst of a dog fight for the division and in a dog fight with Toronto in the rankings. Can the Yankees young guns do enough to vault them ahead of Toronto in the division and in the rankings? Ask me again next week and I’ll have a much clearer answer. 

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins 8/18


The New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins are set to play their second game of their three game set this week at Yankee Stadium with both teams in the midst of playoff pushes and chases. The New York Yankees have their eye on the American League East crown while the Minnesota Twins may have to settle for one of the two Wild Card slots left in the American League playoff picture. The Yankees will send CC Sabathia to the mound tonight to face off against the Twins starter Mike Pelfrey. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

  • Sabathia gets an extra day of rest before tonight’s start after Bryan Mitchell was inserted into the starting rotation as a sixth man. Sabathia faced Minnesota once already this season in the Alex Rodriguez three home run game and was ineffective against the Twins. Sabathia allowed five runs on six hits including two home runs in just 5.2 innings pitched.


  • Pelfrey heads into this start tonight fresh off a good start against the Cleveland Indians last time out. Pelfrey has struggled for much of this season posting a 6-7 record with a 3.91 ERA and has also struggled against the Yankees in his career. Pelfrey owns a career 5.28 ERA against New York in five starts and 29 innings pitched.



The Yankees and Twins have one more game this series after tonight before New York stays home to play host to the Cleveland Indians. New York will also announce their latest HOPE Week participant any minute now so be on the lookout for that. New York still has Toronto breathing down their necks in the division so every win is much needed and every win is important, here’s to another win this evening in the Bronx. Go Yankees!

Is It Safe to Say New York Won the Didi Gregorius Trade?


The New York Yankees were faced with an almost impossible task this offseason, the task of replacing the irreplaceable icon and legend at shortstop Derek Jeter. It didn't matter what the Yankees did or who the Yankees acquired to fill the position there was going to be backlash and a feeling that the team did not do enough, it was inevitable. When the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks hooked up for a three team trade that saw the Yankees give up Shane Greene to Detroit while a young shortstop named Didi Gregorius came back to New York the fans absolutely lost their minds. "Didi sucked" before he even played a single spring training game with the Yankees let alone an inning at Yankee Stadium in front of the Bronx faithful and once again Yankees GM Brian Cashman was under fire.

Greene, the Yankees rookie right-hander that broke out in 2014, didn't help Cashman's cause by starting out the season with a 3-0 record and an anemic ERA while giving up one earned run and Didi didn't do himself or the Yankees any favors either. Didi struggled with the bat, struggled in the field and had many questioning his overall baseball IQ. From the beginning I pleaded with Yankees fans to give Didi some time to adjust to a new team, a new league, playing everyday, the fans in New York who would hold him up to unrealistic expectations and I pleaded with Didi to settle down and not try and do too much like he was so obviously doing. Finally, after a ton of "Dammit Didi's" and other phrases coined by us here on our Twitter account (@GREEDYSTRIPES) Gregorius finally settled down at the plate and in the field.

Since the month of April Gregorius has been hitting a respectable .277 batting average while playing some of the best defense at the shortstop position that this team and their fans have seen possibly in their lifetimes. Greene, after starting the season with a 3-0 record and an 0.39 ERA, is now in the Detroit Tigers minor league system and is currently sporting an ERA over 9.00. Is it safe to say that the New York Yankees clearly and obviously won this trade? I think so.

We obviously have a long, long way to go in the career's of Gregorius and Greene but if this trend remains the way it is now going forward this may be one of the best trade's in Cashman's tenure as the Yankees GM. At the time of this writing the Yankees were able to improve from their last place finish among shortstops in the American League according to WAR in 2014 to become the 3rd best team in 2015. Gregorius has accounted for a 2.8 WAR increase through August 16th which has accounted for the biggest improvement for the Yankees at any position, and that includes the DH position currently occupied by Alex Rodriguez and the first base position occupied by Mark Teixeira in 2015.

Didi has a long career ahead of him in pinstripes potentially, he's not eligible for free agency until before the 2020 season, and at just 25 years-old he could be well on his way to earning a special spot in Yankees history. I may be getting ahead of myself, I admit, but I don't think I'm that far off base when I say that Didi has helped Cashman and the Yankees not only win the trade but will potentially help send the team back to the postseason for the first time since the 2012 season, a.k.a an eternity in Yankees terms.




So Much Talent Could Be On The Way From Scranton


Brian Cashman has put the Triple-A manager Dave Miley on notice, a ton of players could be coming up to the Bronx for the stretch run in September. The New York Yankees are apparently planning to fully utilize the expanded rosters that come with September call ups and they could potentially wipe out most of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders roster in the process. We have predicted the players that could be coming up in a previous blog post, a blog post that will likely be updated at least once more before September, but we didn't really bring you any stats to go along with it. Well, not until today anyway.

The potential offensive call ups:

NameGPARH2BHRRBISBBBSOBAOBPSLGOPS
Taylor Dugas*1453513105046.283.340.304.644
Cole Figueroa*105435401191934443623.308.367.386.753
Ben Gamel*1104706812820955104087.301.360.478.838
Slade Heathcott*492132149511861544.250.302.321.623
Aaron Judge401721937762452049.248.331.416.748
Rico Noel101321000315.083.154.083.237
Gregorio Petit2510192360100513.240.277.302.579
Jose Pirela4620036601332251819.335.395.458.853
Rob Refsnyder1054696111124949105465.280.374.418.792
Kyle Roller*1044324280151353052125.217.326.370.696
Austin Romine7931636751874102146.259.313.393.706
Gary Sanchez261071328742111118.301.374.505.879
Rob Segedin401532339741321130.281.342.432.774
The potential pitching call ups:
NameWLERAGSVIPHRERHRBBSOWHIPH9HR9BB9SO9
Andrew Bailey003.00536.06220291.3339.00.03.013.5
Johnny Barbato200.718312.291115101.1056.40.73.67.1
Caleb Cotham201.0316126.1194302270.7976.50.00.79.2
Joel De La Cruz703.2515061.0592522417291.2468.70.62.54.3
Jose De Paula*235.206027.2321616010121.51810.40.03.33.9
Jordan Foley014.50206.05330551.6677.50.07.57.5
Nick Goody111.648211.0103204161.2738.20.03.313.1
Brady Lail114.503016.017982881.5629.61.14.54.5
Jacob Lindgren*111.2315322.01673010291.1826.50.04.111.9
Jaron Long564.9417085.21155547723531.61112.10.72.45.6
Chris Martin013.6614119.21910816171.2718.70.52.77.8
Andrew Miller*000.00101.02000012.00018.00.00.09.0
Mark Montgomery100.00414.11000040.2312.10.00.08.3
James Pazos*311.3218227.12064012301.1716.60.04.09.9
Branden Pinder132.9722133.1311511310351.2308.40.82.79.4
Nick Rumbelow234.2234749.0432623413541.1437.90.72.49.9
Eric Ruth015.252012.014871131.25010.50.80.82.2
Miguel Sulbaran*100.00105.05000231.4009.00.03.65.4
Tyler Webb*232.8425238.0401812411411.3429.50.92.69.7