MLB Approves Wearable Technology

Oh boy I wonder what Goose Gossage is going to have to say about this…

Major League Baseball has announced that wearable technology is coming to a MLB stadium and team near you. The league and the sport’s playing rules committee approved two devices for use during games this season named the “Motus Baseball Sleeve” and the “Zephyr Bioharness.” The Motus Baseball Sleeve measures stress on elbows and may help prevent or find a reason behind all the Tommy John surgeries across the league while the Zephyr monitors heart and breathing rates.

Clubs may not use this data outside of their organization and it cannot be provided to broadcasters or news outlets at this time. The league has also approved a pair of bat sensors for use on field during workouts that also fall into this category and rule set.

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros 4/7

Game time ladies and gentleman between the New York Yankees and the Houston Astros. This afternoon Mike Fiers and Nathan Eovaldi will finish off their three-game set before the Yankees leave the friendly confides of Yankee Stadium to travel to Detroit to take on the Detroit Tigers. The Yankees want to get out of town with a win, who wouldn’t, so the offense will have to show up as well as the pitching this afternoon for New York.

The game will be played at 4:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network and MLB TV. To get tickets for this game or any Yankees game this season, and yes they will be the real tickets and not the print-at-home variety, click the Yankees tickets link at the top of the blog to visit Ticket Monster, see the Yankees live and support the blog all at the same time. Enjoy and Go Yankees!

Join Us on Tap Sports 2016

Every year around this time we come out offering a free iOS app to play with us here at The Greedy Pinstripes and this year is no different. We are returning to the Tap Sports franchise for our third year in a row and we are now set up and ready to play “Tap Sports Baseball 2016.” Will you join us? It’s free!

Username: GreedyPinstripes

We don’t receive anything if you sign up or download the app, there isn’t a refer code and there isn’t any sort of incentive for us. We truly just want to interact with you guys and play a pretty damn awesome iOS baseball game at the same time. There’s a chat and some awesome gameplay, so join us?

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros 4/7

The New York Yankees and the Houston Astros will finish off their three-game series this afternoon in the Bronx with another great pitching matchup. The Yankees will send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound this afternoon in the Bronx to face off with the extremely underrated Mike Fiers for the Astros. Every win is important whether it be April or September so it’s all the more important to win today with a guy like Eovaldi on the mound for New York.

Eovaldi enters his second season in a Yankees uniform looking to build on an overall strong 2015 campaign. Last season Eovaldi set a new career high in victories with 14 before an elbow injury ended his season prematurely. Eovaldi has faced off against the Astros three times in his career and owns a 1-0 record with a 0.90 ERA although he did not face these Astros in 2015.

 Fiers was traded from the Milwaukee Brewers to the Astros last season in July and posted a 2-1 record with a 3.32 ERA in ten games, nine of them starts. This afternoon Fiers faces the Yankees for the first time in his career after posting new career highs in starts, innings pitched and strikeouts in 2015.
 

The game will be played at 4:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network and MLB TV. Go Yankees!!

James Loney, Come on Down?

If the 2015 season taught us anything about the relatively unchanged New York Yankees it’s this, Mark Teixeira is the real MVP. The New York Yankees had the second highest run scoring output in all of Major League Baseball last season and were firing on all cylinders until Teixeira fouled a ball off his shin fracturing his leg and ending his season. New York enjoyed a breakout of sorts from his replacement, Greg Bird, but nonetheless the offense scuffled as a whole without Teixeira and barely limped into the postseason before losing to Dallas Keuchel and these same Houston Astros that they face today. Teixeira is no less injury prone this season than he was last season and Bird is on the disabled list for the entire 2016 season meaning the Yankees will need depth behind Teixeira more so than ever, should that include James Loney?

Loney was recently told by his Tampa Bay Rays organization that he would not make the team despite his $8 million in salary and that he would either be traded or released this week. Should the Yankees be listening? New York has an obvious need for a backup first baseman, no I’m not sold on Chris Parmelee or his underachieving spring training he just put up and no I’m not sold on the combination of Dustin Ackley, Chase Headley and Brian McCann, but there is one issue with adding Loney. The 40 man roster. Yes the Yankees could simply add Greg Bird to the 60 day DL to accommodate the move but Loney adds little in terms of a lot of things for this team.

Loney doesn’t add any versatility or flexibility to a roster built on versatility and flexibility and his defense is nothing much to write home about either. Loney wouldn’t add power to a lineup and bench that may need to hit for power with Ronald Torreyes and Austin Romine already on it and his batting average leaves much to be desired as well.

Look, there’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal. If Loney wants a minor league deal I believe the Yankees should give him one. If not, and you would have to think that is an unlikely scenario, then I believe New York has to pass on the “Yankee Killer.” Sorry James.

Thunder Reveal Initial Player List For 2016 Season

Ahead of the team's Welcome North Open House on Tuesday, April 5 at ARM & HAMMER Park, the Thunder and the New York Yankees announced an initial player list for the 2016 season.

View the initial player list here. The players listed are the ones anticipated to be in attendance at the team's Welcome North Open House.

The player list, which is not to be interpreted as an Opening Day roster, contains three players that are listed among the top-30 prospects in the Yankees organization according to Baseball America. SS Tyler Wade (#7), OF Dustin Fowler (#10), and RHP Brady Lail (#22) each ranked on the pre-season list and project to begin the season with the Thunder. Fowler would be making his Double-A debut.

17 players listed have already worn a Thunder uniform in their professional career including the 2015 Smith's Ace Hardware Pitcher of the Year, LHP Caleb Smith.

The Thunder and Yankees will make a separate announcement prior to Opening Day (Thursday, April 7) containing the Opening Day roster.

Fans will have their first chance to meet the 2016 Thunder at the team's Welcome North Open House on Tuesday, April 5. For more information, click here.

This Day In New York Yankees History 4/7: Forbes Rates the Yankees

On this day in 2010 Forbes estimated the value of the New York Yankees to be worth approximately $1.6 billion, nearly twice as much as any other Major League franchise. The Yankees were reigning World Series champions and recently moved into a new ballpark and were using a new found $441 million in revenue after adjustments were made for its payment to baseball's revenue sharing program and the costs of financing Yankee Stadium III.

Also in case you were wondering the Tampa Bay Devil Rays retired former Yankee and Red Sox Wade Boggs #12 uniform number on this day in 2000. Boggs got his 3,000th hit in Tampa Bay and hit the first home run in the franchise's history.