Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers 4/3

Game six of the young 2019 campaign will be an afternoon game in the Bronx between the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers. In the finale of this three-game set inside Yankee Stadium the Yankees will send Jonathan Loaisiga to the mound to face off with Matthew Boyd of the Tigers. The game will be played at 4:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB Network. You can also follow along with the game on MLB TV and on WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. Enjoy the game and go Yankees!!

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers 4/3

The New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers will finish off their three-game set this week in the Bronxc with the rubber match this afternoon. In the finale the Yankees will send --- to the mound to face off with Matthew Boyd for the Tigers. These are not must-win games for the Yankees, but these have the potential to be games you look back at in September and October and wish you had, so let’s get to it here in the Bronx.

Loaisiga will make his season debut for CC Sabathia, the veteran Yankees lefty that served a five-game suspension before being placed on the 10-Day injured list to start the season. Good luck, Johnny Lasagna. 

Boyd is a fly-ball pitcher. Mix that in with the fact that the ball travels inside Yankee Stadium, especially during the day, and this could make for a long day for the Tigers left-hander. Boyd allowed three runs on five hits in six innings of work in his last start in the Bronx in September, including two home runs allowed. Boyd did not pitch well in his first start of the season, a loss against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The game will be played at 4:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB Network. You can also follow along with the game on MLB TV and on WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. Enjoy the game and go Yankees!!

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers 4/2

The time has come, it is game time here in the Bronx between the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers. Game Five of the young 2019 season for the New York Yankees, let’s get to it. The Yankees will send Masahiro Tanaka to the mound to face off with Jordan Zimmermann for the Tigers. The game will be played at 6:35 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and can be seen on the YES Network. You can also follow along with the game on MLB TV and on WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. Enjoy the game and, as always, go Yankees!!

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers 4/2

The New York Yankees have been through the rotation once, technically, and will turn the rotation over for the first time tonight here in the Bronx. In the middle game of their three-game set with the Detroit Tigers, the Yankees will send Masahiro Tanaka to the mound for his second start of the young season. Opposing Tanaka will be Jordan Zimmermann who was almost unhittable in his first start of the season. It should be an interesting matchup to say the least, so let’s get to it here in the Bronx.

Tanaka ripped the Opening Day monkey off his back here in 2019, limiting the Baltimore Orioles to just two runs, one of them earned, over six hits in 5.2 innings pitched. The Yankees won the game while Tanaka became the first Yankees starter to record at least five strikeouts without a walk on Opening Day snice Catfish Hunter.

Zimmermann was equally as strong on Opening Day in Toronto against the Blue Jays, pitching 6.2 perfect innings before giving up a hit. Zimmermann has pitched well inside of Yankee Stadium lately including a streak of 12 innings without giving up a run over the last two seasons.

The game will be played at 6:35 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and can be seen on the YES Network. You can also follow along with the game on MLB TV and on WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. Enjoy the game and, as always, go Yankees!!

Predicting the 2019 Season: The Comeback Players of the Year

The Comeback Player of the Year Award is a tough one to predict from year-to-year. For example, David Price won the award in 2018 with the Boston Red Sox, but my initial thought was what exactly did Price come back from? He came back from getting shelled by the Yankees in 2017, so that made him eligible to win the award? So, with that said I tried to do my best to make an educated guess at these awards, but like most of my predictions they will very likely be wrong.

I know everyone expects me to pick Gary Sanchez of the New York Yankees, partly because of his terrible offensive season in 2018 and partly because I am a self-professed “Yankees homer” in a lot of cases, but that would be too easy. Instead, I’ll pick a guy that made Gary Sanchez want to punch him in the mouth, Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers. Cabrera has been down for quite a number of seasons now, but I think a lot of that wear-and-tear will be nullified with his full-time move to the DH position this coming year. I think the Tigers can extend Miggy’s career by a couple years with the move and I also think the team will see immediate dividends here in 2019.

In the National League I tried to pick a true comeback player. I tried to pick a player that had come back from adversity or injury to take the 2019 season by storm. I tried to pick a pitcher that came back from Tommy John surgery only to suffer a pretty serious shoulder injury that cost him much of his 2018 campaign as well. My pick for the NL Comeback Player of the Year is Alex Reyes of the St. Louis Cardinals, for all the aforementioned reasons.

Meet the 2019 Yankees: Luis Cessa

I know all 5000+ of my Twitter followers just rolled their eyes when they saw this post go live and get tweeted on Twitter but hear me out. Love him or hate him, I have to support Luis Cessa. Why? Because he wears Yankees pinstripes. Not every player on the team every single season will win you over, and that’s Cessa for me, but you still have to support the player and the team. Let’s meet the man that has a lot of “winning me over” to do, Luis Cessa.

Luis Cessa, 26-years old, is a right-handed starter and reliever currently within the New York Yankees system. Cessa possesses a 95 MPH four-seam fastball, an 84 MPH slider, an 86 MPH changeup, and a rarely thrown 81 MPH curveball. Cessa creates a lot of ground balls with his fastball as well as with his changeup. His slider has a 12-6 movement and has some two-plane movement.

Luis Enrique Cessa was born on April 25, 1992 in Cordoba, Mexico where he was signed as an international free agent by the New York Mets back in 2008. The Mets signed Cessa as a shortstop and watched him in his first two professional seasons at the position before transitioning him to a pitcher in 2011. Cessa continued his work as a starter with the Mets until July 31, 2015 when New York traded Cessa and Michael Fulmer to the Detroit Tigers for Yoenis Cespedes. By the end of the 2015 season, Cessa was on the move again, this time back to New York. On December 9, 2015 the Tigers traded Cessa along with Chad Green to the New York Yankees for lefty Justin Wilson.

Cessa made the Yankees Opening Day roster in 2016 and made his MLB debut on April 8, pitching two innings and allowing two hits, including a home run, with two strikeouts against the Detroit Tigers. Cessa bounced back and forth between Triple-A and the Bronx for the remainder of the 2016 season before starting the 2017 season back in Triple-A. Cessa bounced back and forth again in 2017 and 2018 with the Yankees, mainly as a spot starter, but may have found his niche with the team as a relief pitcher during the 2018 campaign.

Listen, Cessa isn’t my favorite Yankee of all-time, I am on record of thinking that many, many times, but I still support him. I think Cessa could be more than serviceable as a relief pitcher, but in no way do I ever want him starting games for the New York Yankees again. His stuff just doesn’t translate in my opinion, but again… I will still support him regardless. I support my Yankees, and you should too.

Meet the 2019 Yankees: Chad Green

I have to admit, when the New York Yankees acquired Luis Cessa and the right-arm we are about to meet, Chad Green, in a trade with the Detroit Tigers for Justin Wilson, I was confused. I had never heard of either of them, and truth be told, neither of them seemed all that special. Three years later, and plenty of egg on my face and crow in my belly, Green is one of the key factors of the Yankees bullpen. Let’s get reacquainted with him. Meet the 2019 Yankees and meet Chad Green.

Chad Green, 27-years old, is a right-handed relief pitcher for the New York Yankees that was once used exclusively as a starter with the Detroit Tigers organization. For that reason, Green possesses a 97 MPH four-seam fastball, an 88 MPH slider, an 88 MPH splitter and a 88 MPH changeup making it hard for opposing batters to know which direction the ball will go once it leaves his hand.

Chad Keith Green was born on May 24, 1991 in Greenville, South Carolina to Howard and Sheena Green, along with a twin brother Chase Green. Green attended Effingham High School in Effingham, Illinois where he was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 37^th round of the 2010 MLB First Year Players Draft. Green did not sign, and instead the right-handed attended the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Green pitched well for Louisville, leaving the school with the team’s best ERA in their history at 2.38, catching the eye of the Detroit Tigers along the way who selected Green in the 11^th round of the 2013 MLB Draft. Green signed with Detroit and would immediately begin his professional career with the GCL Tigers. By December of 2015 the Tigers sent Green and teammate Luis Cessa to the New York Yankees in exchange for left-handed relief pitcher Justin Wilson. Green was assigned to Triple-A to begin the 2016 season but was quickly called up to start in the Yankees starting rotation. Injuries led to Green being added to the 15-day disabled list after just four starts and saw his 2016 season at the Major League level limited to 42.2 innings pitched.

Green was used primarily as a reliever during the 2017 season and saw his career truly take off within the Yankees bullpen. Green was a dominant force for Joe Girardi and the Yankees in 2017, finishing the season with a 5-0 record and a 1.83 ERA with 103 strikeouts in just 69 innings pitched. Green helped the Yankees get within one game of the 2017 World Series and continued to pitch well for the 2018 Yankees, becoming an integral go-to man for new manager Aaron Boone. Green will be another familiar face anywhere from the 5^th inning to the 9^th inning for Boone and the Yankees here in 2019, and I look forward to every pitch that he throws.

New York Yankees 2019 Spring Training Schedule

Hello… September & New Opportunities

Good morning Yankees family and welcome back to the blog. Also, a big welcome to the weekend and the Labor Day holiday on Monday. We need it, and we deserve it. I will definitely appreciate the day off next week because I am starting a new position with my current company on Tuesday. I won’t lie, I am not excited about it, but I am thinking (hoping) that this the more of the fear of the unknown and less of a sign of what is to come. I will remain cautiously optimistic and do my best, as always, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I was nervous.

September call ups begin today, will we see Justus Sheffield?

And September 1^st marks one more day with the love of my life. How lucky am I? More than I could ever put into words, but my gratefulness surely matches my luck, I promise you that. I love you Kari!

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers 8/31

And just like that it is game time here in the Bronx between the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers. In the second game of this four-game weekend set in the Bronx the Yankees will send Luis Severino out to the mound to face off with Jordan Zimmermann of the Tigers. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network. You can also follow along with the game on MLB TV, with the MLB At-Bat app and by tuning into the Yankees radio broadcast on WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.

Follow us on Twitter, @GreedyStripes, and “Like” us on Facebook, The Greedy Pinstripes, to keep up with us and the team all season long. Enjoy the game, Sevy goes for 18, and go Yankees!!

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers 8/31

The Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees will continue their four-game weekend set tonight with the second game of the series in the Bronx. In the start tonight the Yankees will send Luis Severino out to the mound to face off with Jordan Zimmermann. The Yankees starting rotation, not to look too far ahead, is set up nicely to have Happ (last night’s starter) pitch the AL Wild Card Game if it came to that with tonight’s starter, Severino, pitching a potential Game One of the ALDS. I like it, so let’s get to it here in the Bronx.

Severino has won each of his last two starts and has shown at least glimpses of being able to fix what has ailed the right-hander for much of the second half of the season. In Severino’s last start the righty allowed three runs, two of them earned, across 5.2 innings en route to his MLB-leading 17^th victory of the season.

Zimmermann has also struggled since the All-Star break this season posting a 2-5 record with a 5.50 ERA. Let’s hope tonight does not mark his magical turnaround this season. Zimmermann may see the Yankees as just what the doctor ordered judging by his career 3-1 record against the Bombers with a 3.09 ERA.

The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network. You can also follow along with the game on MLB TV, with the MLB At-Bat app and by tuning into the Yankees radio broadcast on WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.

Enjoy the game, play every game from here on out like it is a playoff game, and go Yankees!!

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers 8/30

And just like that it is game time here in the Bronx between the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers. Tonight will start the beginning of a four-game set between these two clubs that will stretch into the weekend here inside Yankee Stadium. In the opener of the series the Yankees will send JA Happ to the mound to face off with Francisco Liriano of the Tigers. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network. You can also follow along with the game on MLB TV, with the MLB At-Bat app and by tuning into the Yankees radio broadcast on WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.

Follow us on Twitter, @GreedyStripes, and “Like” us on Facebook, The Greedy Pinstripes, to keep up with us and the team all season long. Enjoy the game, it’s August 30^th… it’s Gleyber Day, and go Yankees!!

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers 8/30

The New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers will begin a four-game set that stretches into the weekend tonight in the Bronx. In the opener of the series the Yankees will send JA Happ to the mound to face off with Francisco Liriano for the Tigers. Detroit is sending a lefty out that has struggled with the home run ball lately out to Yankee Stadium to face off with the Yankees… yeah… let’s definitely get to it here in the Bronx.

Happ has won each of his first five starts for the New York Yankees and will look for a sixth straight win tonight in the Bronx. Along the way Happ has posted a 2.37 ERA including a solid start against the Baltimore Orioles last time out where he gave up two runs in six innings of work with nine strikeouts.

Liriano will head into the start tonight on a couple days of extra rest tonight inside Yankee Stadium. Liriano may benefit from the rest after a horrible August that saw the lefty go 0-4 with a 6.88 ERA in four starts, including giving up five home runs in 17 innings worth of work.

The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network. You can also follow along with the game on MLB TV, with the MLB At-Bat app and by tuning into the Yankees radio broadcast on WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.

Enjoy the game, tomorrow is the trade deadline, and go Yankees!!

This Day in New York Yankees History 6/27: Wade Blasingame’s Debut & Goodbye

On this day in 1972 Wade Blasingame made his last start of his career and his first career start for the New York Yankees. The Tigers would hit three consecutive home runs in the first inning when Aurelio Rodriguez, Al Kaline, and Willie Horton went deep. The Tigers would beat the Yankees 5-2.

This Day in New York Yankees History 6/23: Cleveland ROCKED!

On this day in 1996 the Yankees showed how much of a "never count us out" team they really were when they behind early only to come back with nine runs in the sixth inning. The Yankees would win the game 11-9 at Jacobs Field over the Cleveland Indians and it would complete the first time the Yankees would sweep the Indians in Cleveland in a four game series since 1964.


Also on this day in 1950 the Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees combined for 11 home runs in a nine inning game, a major league record for the most in a single game. Hoot Evers hit the historic home run as a walk off home to give the Tigers a very dramatic 10-9 victory over New York.



Finally on this day in 1915 the Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Bruno Hass made his major league debut against the New York Yankees at the very historic Shibe Park. The good news was the 24 year old southpaw, known as Boon, tossed a complete game in the contest and in the start established a post-1900 major league record. The bad news was the record was for issuing 16 walks during the nine inning game in a 15-7 loss to the Yankees.

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Detroit Tigers 4/14

Saturday afternoon baseball has arrived as the New York Yankees made the trip to Detroit and Comerica Park to take on the Detroit Tigers. In the start this afternoon the Yankees will send Luis Cessa to the mound to face off with Francisco Liriano for the Tigers. The game will be played at 1:10 pm ET inside Comerica Park and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB Network. You can also follow along on MLB TV, with the MLB At-Bat app and by tuning into the Yankees radio broadcast on WFAN with the legendary John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.

Follow us on Twitter, @GreedyStripes, and “Like” us on Facebook to keep up with us and the Baby Bombers all season long. Enjoy the game, spank Liriano, and go Yankees!

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Detroit Tigers 4/14

The New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers will continue their three-game set this weekend with the middle game of the series this afternoon in Detroit. The Yankees called up a pair of pitchers after losing CC Sabathia to a hip injury, Luis Cessa and Domingo German, and Aaron Boone had those two to decide from when deciding who would make this afternoon’s start. Boone ultimately decided that Luis Cessa would make the start this afternoon facing off with Francisco Liriano for the Tigers. Let’s get to it.

Cessa will make the start this afternoon over German, likely his only start with Sabathia expected back on Tuesday. Cessa has posted a 4.54 ERA in 73.3 innings as a Major League starter since coming over to the Yankees from the Detroit Tigers in December of 2015. 

Liriano did not get a full spring training here in 2018, but he hasn’t show any affects of it thus far this season. Liriano had made two good starts for Detroit thus far in 2018 including his last start where he took a no-hitter into the fifth inning against the Cleveland Indians in an eventual 2-0 loss.

The game will be played at 1:10 pm ET inside Comerica Park in Detroit and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB Network. You can also follow along with the game on MLB TV, with the MLB At-Bat app or by tuning into the Yankees radio broadcast with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN.

Enjoy the game, even if it doesn’t mean we are going to be seeing Luis Cessa on the mound once again and go Yankees!!

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Detroit Tigers 4/13

And just like that it is game time on this Friday the 13^th between the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers. In the first of this three-game weekend set the Yankees will send out Jordan Montgomery taking CC Sabathia’s turn in the rotation while the Tigers will counter with former Houston Astros starter Mike Fiers. The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET inside Comerica Park and can be seen on the YES Network. You can also follow along with the game on MLB TV, the MLB At-Bat app and by tuning into the Yankees radio broadcast on WFAN.

Follow us on Twitter, @GreedyStripes, and “Like” us on Facebook, The Greedy Pinstripes, to keep up with us and the team all season long. Enjoy the game, Fiers you’re not in Houston anymore, and go Yankees!!

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Detroit Tigers 4/13

The New York Yankees are out of Boston and heading to Detroit to begin a three-game weekend set with the Detroit Tigers this weekend inside Comerica Park. The Tigers are in the midst of a total rebuild giving the Yankees a huge advantage on paper, but if the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles have taught us anything this season thus far it is that the games are unfortunately not played on paper. They are played in real life, and in real life the Yankees have to put in the work in order to win. Given that task for the Yankees tonight is Jordan Montgomery taking CC Sabathia’s turn in the rotation while the Tigers give the ball to Mike Fiers. Should be a good one, let’s get to it.

Montgomery was not sharp in his last start against the Baltimore Orioles allowing a career-high 10 hits in 4.1 innings of work. Montgomery allowed four runs as well in a no-decision inside Yankee Stadium. This will mark the first time in his career that the young Yankees left-hander will face the Detroit Tigers. 

Fiers was great in his Tigers debut last weekend against the Chicago White Sox and will look to replicate that tonight for Detroit against the Bronx Bombers. In that start Fiera pitched six scoreless innings allowing just three hits with six strikeouts in the victory, all despite his velocity being 90 MPH or below in each of his pitches in the start.

The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET inside Comerica Park in Detroit and can be seen on the YES Network. You can also follow along using MLB TV, the MLB At-Bat app and by tuning into the Yankees radio broadcast on WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.

Enjoy the game, don’t pitch to Miggy, and go Yankees!!

No Need To Worry About Second Or Third Base

"To infinity 2017 and beyond!"

If the Yankees were to trade for or acquire a second or third baseman, then that person has to be for 2017 and beyond. 

With the firepower the Yankees batting lineup possesses, there's absolutely no need for a move to be made. We could have 2015 Stephen Drew at second, and 2013 Jayson Nix at third, and the team would still average over five runs a game. 

I'm not saying that if we had players that contributed as little as Drew in 2015 or Nix in 2013 in the lineup regularly I'd be ok with that. However, I don't expect to have another All Star, let alone another MVP candidate, playing those positions this season. 

Therefore, unless the Yankees acquired somebody that's clearly above average, and under team control for at least a couple more years, then there's no point.

Here's a list of such players....

Second Base

Jose Ramirez

Jonathan Schoop

Robinson Cano

Third Base

Justin Turner

Jose Ramirez

Kris Bryant

Anthony Rendon

Nolan Arenado

Joey Gallo

Alex Bregman

Travis Shaw

Nicholas Castellanos

The Yankees are not trading for any of those three second basemen. Ramirez plays for the Indians, who would be looking to add to their team... not subtract. I suppose something might be able to get done to bring back Cano, but the $24 million AAV of his contract would be a huge obstacle. Jonathan Schoop is another outside possibility, but seeing that he's in Baltimore I doubt a deal would get done. 

Although Turner, Ramirez, Bryant, Rendon, Bregman, and Shaw look to be off-limits, third base does present some possibilities. 

Joey Gallo is a bit intriguing thanks to him coming off a 41 homer campaign last season, but his batting average is pretty bad (.209). So even though he's on that list, unless the Rangers asking price for him was pretty low, I'd pass.

One name that's quite intriguing is Nolan Arenado. Arenado is right there with Manny Machado in that they're both very good players, at the same position, but the one big difference is that Nolan is not eligible for free agency until after the 2019 season. But would Colorado want to move him? While the Dodgers seem to have a firm grip on the National League West division, the Rockies certainly have their eyes on one of the Wild Card spots. Taking things a step further, the Rox also have a nice crop of starters that the Yankees could go after. But I just don't see such a big trade happening with a team that has serious postseason hopes.

There's been plenty of talk about trading for Michael Fulmer of the Detroit Tigers, but third baseman Nicholas Castellanos (he can also play right field) would be a nice target. He brings a good batting average and can hit 20+ home runs. His defense leaves some to be desired, although it's not awful by any means. Miguel Andujar and a non-Adams/Sheffield pitching prospect could probably get a deal done. But what about a trade that would bring over Castellanos and Fulmer? While that would be perfect, I'm not sure about the cost. Clint Frazier, Miguel Andujar, Chance Adams, and another lower-level pitcher? Is that too much? Probably, but I would think hard about this trade.

The way I see things when it comes to trading for a second or third baseman, it's Detroit or bust. I don't think any other player would be available without the Yankees having to blow a team away with an offer. And let's be honest, the Yankees absolutely do not need to offer a package that would blow anybody away. 

I'm going to definitely be thinking more about that Fulmer and Castellanos trade I mentioned above.