Live Game Updates: Yankees at Twins - 6/16

8:51 p.m., End 2nd: CC leaves the bases-loaded in the second. He's struggled so far, but this one's still somehow scoreless. 

9:13 p.m., Mid 4th: Continuing their struggles from the Rockies series, the Yankees' bats are again flustered. They have recorded just two hits so far against Twins righty Kyle Gibson, who entered play tonight with an ERA over six.

9:29 p.m., End 4th: An RBI single by former Yankee Eduardo Nunez gives the Twins an early lead. CC's already at 83 pitches, so expect yet another long night for the bullpen.

9:51 p.m., End 5th: Now at 104 pitches, CC escapes trouble again in the fifth. Still, the Yankees trail 1-0.

10:06 p.m., Mid 6th: Ellsbury ties the game with an RBI single, but the Yankees should've had a lot more. Gardner and Beltran squander a bases-loaded, no-out opportunity with a popout and a double play, as the Yankees' offense continues its inability to produce. 

10:15 p.m., End 6th: CC comes back out and works a 1-2-3 sixth. His pitch count has reached 116; expect No Runs-DMC to take over from here.

10:28 p.m., Mid 7th: Didi breaks the tie with a bang. He crushes a three-run shot to right off lefty reliever Fernando Abad, and the Yankees have a 4-1 lead at stretch time.

10:37 p.m., End 7th: Betances throws a scoreless seventh. On to Miller.

10:54 p.m., End 8th: Miller fans two in a perfect eighth. On to Chapman.

11:11 p.m., End 9th: Chapman closes it out. Yankees win 4-1.

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Minnesota Twins 6/16

It’s game time on a Thursday night between the New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins as these two teams play the first contest in their four-game set. Tonight the Yankees will send the suddenly youthful CC Sabathia to the mound looking to get the team going in the right direction with a victory while the Twins will counter with Kyle Gibson. The game will be played at 8:10 pm ET inside Target Field and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

We introduced TGP T-Shirts yesterday on the blog and pretty soon we’re going to roll out a design your own T-shirt contest and to be eligible you have to follow us on Twitter so head over to the app and give @GreedyStripes a follow. When I get everything set up and all that the information will be fed to you there! Until then let’s root for the home team and root for a victory tonight in Minnesota.

Go Yankees!

Yankees Sign 2nd Rounder Nick Solak

The New York Yankees have reportedly signed or are set to sign second round pick Nick Solak out of Louisville University. No terms or official announcements have come from the team at the time of this writing but according to the Chicago Tribune a deal will be struck over the weekend in the Bronx. Solak was the 62nd overall pick which comes with a $1.04 million slot bonus.

Solak finished the season hitting .376 with five home runs for the Cardinal and will immediately join the organization to begin his professional career after signing with the Yankees on Monday.

Meet a Prospect: Dom Thompson-Williams

Nick Nelson is not the only Yankees draftee to recently sign with the club, the team also signed their fifth round pick as well this week. Dom Thompson was drafted 286^th overall by the New York Yankees out of the University of South Carolina and will soon be making his professional debut with the club, let’s meet him.

This is Meet a Prospect: The Dom Thompson-Williams Edition. Williams was a center fielder with the Gamecocks and was the ninth best player in the state of South Carolina at the time of his drafting. Baseball America had Thompson-Williams ranked 286^th overall due to concerns about whether his bat can carry him to the next level of competition. Williams is a left-handed batter and a speedy center fielder but his bat may make him more of the Chris Young or Aaron Hicks type (as they are today) and less of an ideal starter for most teams.

Obviously a lot can change between now and whenever Williams may potentially be knocking on the door to the Bronx and it’s worth mentioning that the Yankees have had some success with picks that no one really batted at eye at before, especially in the outfield. See Dustin Fowler as a recent example of this not to compare the two players whatsoever. Most prospects can hit a fastball and it’s whether they can hit the breaking stuff that defines them but the complete opposite is the case for Williams who has shown an ability to hit offspeed pitches while it’s the fastball that gives him fits, especially the higher velocity fastballs that you see all around the league today.

In 2016 Williams posted a .329/.430/.529 triple slash with seven home runs and 17 stolen bases even with those concerns about his bat speed. If the Yankees can make a slight mechanical or swing adjustment to give him another half second on his bat speed the Yankees may have one of the steals of the drafts on their hands with this fifth round pick. If not he may be out of the organization in four-to-five years, prospects are fickle creatures.

Williams is in the fold after signing a below slot deal that also paves the way for a potential signing of Blake Rutherford, Nick Solak, Nolan Martinez or all of the above. Welcome to the team Dom and welcome to the family!

Meet a Prospect: Nick Nelson

With the Yankees fourth round pick in the 2016 MLB First Year Players Draft the organization selected a right-handed pitcher out of Gulf Coast Community College and his name was Nick Nelson. Nelson became the 128^th overall pick in the draft despite being committed to the University of Florida (the 3^rd ranked college baseball team in the nation) and had recently signed with the club for below slot beginning his professional career. Let’s meet him.

This is Meet a Prospect: The Nick Nelson Edition. Heading into the draft Baseball America had Nelson listed as their 325^th best prospect on the board and the 38^th best prospect in the state of Florida making him a bit of a reach for the Yankees. Either New York liked Nelson more than everyone else did, everyone else was worried about his commitment to the Florida Gators or the Yankees simply drafted him to save some pool space in order to sign Blake Rutherford. Either way Nelson has signed, for below cap once again, and is officially a part of the organization.

Nelson is just 20-years old and is listed at 6’1”. Nelson is a two-way player in college but will shift to the mound full time after posting a 4.48 ERA in 15 starts and 90.1 innings this season. In those 90 innings Nelson struck out 99 batters while walking 38 while also playing some first base. Nelson was much better in 2015 posting a 2.96 ERA in 24.1 innings, six starts and one relief appearance.

Nelson boasts a low 90’s MPH fastball with a developing breaking ball. Since Nelson owns just two pitches currently his future may be in the Yankees bullpen although New York has already announced that they would give him every chance to start much like they have done with Jonathan Holder, Vicente Camps and Chance Adams in recent years.

Nelson is in the fold and he saved a little money for the team to give to one of Blake Rutherford, Nick Solak or Nolan Martinez. Welcome to the team, welcome to the organization and most importantly welcome to the Yankees family!

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Minnesota Twins 6/16

The New York Yankees must be glad to get out of the rarified air in Colorado and into an environment where a lazy fly ball doesn’t go 500 feet off the bat. New York left Colorado yesterday and will be inside Minnesota’s Target Field tonight for the first of a four-game set between the two clubs. The Yankees will send their 5^th starter CC Sabathia to the mound fresh out of the fountain of youth to take on Kyle Gibson for the Twins.

Sabathia has been nearly untouchable since coming off the disabled list with a strained groin and has easily been the Yankees best pitcher during that stretch. Whether it’s a healthy groin muscle, a clear mind, a new knee brace or all the work on his cutter with Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte that is to blame for this renaissance who knows but I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Gibson has made all of one start since returning off the disabled list with a shoulder strain and as you can imagine he struggled in that outing against a tough Red Sox offense. Gibson did go 5.2 innings in the start but he allowed five runs and seven hits in a Minnesota loss. Not bad after missing 42 games with the injury I guess.

The game will be played at 8:10 pm ET inside Target Field and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV. No Phil Hughes this series and no John Ryan Murphy but we can always pass the time by placing bets on how many times Eduardo Nunez’s batting helmet will fall off. That’s always fun, I’m going with 12 spread across the four games. Leave your predictions in the comments section. Oh, and go Yankees!

The Yankees 40th Round Pick & “Courtesy Picks”

The New York Yankees made 40 picks this season in the MLB Draft and while some were notable, none more notable than #18 overall pick Blake Rutherford, some were not including the Yankees 40^th round pick Nate Brown. Earlier this week I was reading a great article on LakeCountryNow.com regarding Brown and his pick with the Yankees and the intriguing story is something I felt compelled to bring to you guys this morning. The story revolves around Brown’s commitment to the University of Florida and what are referred to “courtesy picks” in the MLB Draft.

Steve Lemke is the Yankees area scout in that area and is the scout that watched Brown throw while in High School. Lemke suggested drafting Brown with the 40^th pick despite his strong commitment to Florida as a way of getting a relationship started and to show Brown, and I’m sure this went on with others as well with all 30 teams, that while others weren’t watching or noticing his talents that Lemke and the Yankees were.

Brown was the third ever Arrowhead High School player to ever be drafted in the MLB Draft but there is almost no way he foregoes his college commitment to sign so why would the Yankees draft him? Well Brown answered that very question himself in the article linked above. Brown was quoted as saying the following:

"My adviser and I both knew I was going to fall to the late rounds, and it would be a 'courtesy pick,'" Brown said. "Once Round 35 started, they started pushing my name as a courtesy pick. The Yankees want to build the relationship up.

"They kind of know they're probably not going to be able to get me (to sign with the organization as a late-round pick)," Brown added. "But it's the thought of saying, 'Congratulations, we think you're going to be a prospect to watch in three years.' It's more of a thank-you for me for all the communication we had and everything that led up to the draft. They're trying to build a connection and relationship for all their courtesy picks. ... Now I have a love for the Yankees I didn't have before. Three years from now, if they come in and (draft me) and don't offer me as much as I've been (hoping for), there's still that deep feeling in my heart that three years ago, they saw something that the other guys didn't."

See you in three years Nate. Remember this day because I know I will.

Weekly Check In: Domingo Acevedo

The New York Yankees are a bit thin on starting pitching depth right now, especially at the upper tiers of their farm system, but one of their best took a step forward this week with a promotion from Low-A Charleston Riverdogs to High-A Tampa with the Tampa Yankees. His name is Domingo Acevedo and he may be the best Yankees pitching prospect to ever come out of the farm during my lifetime when all the dust has settled and that’s saying something.

Acevedo battled lower leg injuries earlier in the season and was placed on the MiLB 7-day DL but has since returned and picked up right where he left off. The Yankees have shown a willingness lately to be very aggressive with their prospects, namely their starting pitching, so it is not out of the realm of possibilities that Acevedo finishes the season in Trenton with a strong push in the Florida State League.

Acevedo comes with Dellin Betances comps and a 103 MPH fastball. What is not to love and what is not to get excited about? Bring on the man we call “Ace” here on the blog. 

Year	Age	Tm	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2016	22	Charleston	3	1	1.90	8	8	42.2	34	13	9	1	7	48	0.961	7.2	0.2	1.5	10.1

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

This Day in New York Yankees History 6/16: RIP Tony Gwynn

On this day in 2014 Major League Baseball lost a great soul when Tony Gwynn lost his battle with cancer and passed away at his home.


Also on this day in 2006 the Yankees played a regular season game in Washington D.C. for the first time in 35 years. The Yankees would beat the Nationals at RFK Stadium 7-5. The last time the Yankees played in the nation's capital was September 30, 1971 where the Yankees beat the Washington Senators 9-0. The fans were upset about losing the Senators for the second time since 1961 and refused to leave the field with their team ahead by two runs in the season finale.


Also on this day in 1997 the New York Mets would play, and beat, the New York Yankees for the first time ever in the regular season. The Mets would win 6-0 behind a Dave Milicki complete game shutout.


Also on this day in 1996 the legendary Mel Allen lost his battle with heart failure, he was 83 years old, Allen was in the Hall of Fame and best known for his play by play work with the New York Yankees. Allen was best known for his "How About That?" moniker.


Also on this day in 1962 Jerry Kindall of the Cleveland Indians hits a two run walk off home run to give his team a 10-9 victory. Yogi Berra was playing left field and probably had a bit of deja vu after seeing Bill Mazeroski's Game 7 home run in the 1960 World Series also go over his head for a big loss.


Finally on this day in 1953 the New York Yankees 18 game winning streak comes to an end at the hands of the St. Louis Browns. The Browns would snap their own 14 game losing streak in the battle in the Bronx that handed Whitey Ford his first loss in eight decisions.