Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 6/22

Time flies when you’re having fun I guess. I feel like it was just a few minutes ago that we were previewing the game tonight between the Yankees and the Angels and not it’s already game time. Tonight in the finale of their three game set the New York Yankees will send Luis Severino to the mound looking to bounce back from a rough start last time out in Oakland while the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim will counter with Jesse Chavez who gave the Kansas City Royals fits in his last start. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on WPIX Channel 11 and MLB TV. You can also follow along on the radio and in your cars by tuning into the WFAN broadcast with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.

Follow us on Twitter as we continue our climb towards 5,000 twitter followers by giving @GreedyStripes a follow. Enjoy the game and as always…. Go Yankees!!!

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 6/22

The New York Yankees need a win. The team has gone on a recent skid against west coast teams and are in danger of falling out of the American League East division title race. There’s still plenty of time left this season and there’s still plenty of more wins in the Yankees future but after a prolonged losing streak you, as a fan and as a player, always like to start a prolonged winning streak just to even it out. That mission continues tonight as the Yankees send Luis Severino to the mound to square off with Jesse Chavez for the Angels. Someone wake the offense, T-minus seven hours until game time. Someone wake up Tyler Clippard too while you’re at it.

Severino got knocked around a bit in his last start against the Oakland Athletics but he ultimately survived a four-run second inning to complete six innings of work. Severino allowed those four runs on four hits with four walks in a no-decision. Severino has not lost a decision since May 1 of this year.

Chavez is making his 15^th appearance of the season tonight in the Bronx and his 14^th start overall for the Angels. In his last outing the right-hander pitched seven innings against the Kansas City Royals allowing just two runs.

The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on WPIX Channel 11 and MLB TV. You can also follow along with the game on the radio and in your cars by tuning into John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN. Enjoy the game and as always, Go Yankees!

ICYMI: I Couldn't Have Been More Wrong About JA Happ

I wrote THIS article on December 2, 2015 for a few reasons. At the beginning of December the news around Major League Baseball is slow. Also it's the best time to be optimistic because basically all of free agency is ahead of you and every team is technically in first place. When the Toronto Blue Jays signed Jesse Chavez I wasn't exactly scared or worried. When they signed JA Happ I only feared for the left-handed hitters on the team, Happ has made it a habit of hitting and injuring left-handed Yankees hitters in recent years, and boy I could not have been more wrong about Happ. 20-wins later and possibly two more starts to go including tonight's star against New York it's time for me to eat crow on the issue publicly.

Here is the article that was originally posted on December 2nd in it's entirety: 

It's the offseason and I don't know if everyone is just turkey drunk, the Black Friday deals are just that good or if the fact that the market is so deep that teams are taking their time but times are slow right now. With the extra time on my hands I have turned my attention to not only the New York Yankees but the other four teams inside the American League East, especially the Toronto Blue Jays. Earlier this offseason I took a look at the fact that Jesse Chavez, a recent acquisition for the Mark Shapiro led Blue Jays franchise, was not David Price but left the door open for a return to Toronto for the lefty. That door is probably officially closed now after the team also signed lefty J.A. Happ to a three year deal and no, he isn't David Price either.

Price was absolute money for the Blue Jays down the stretch posting a 9-1 record in 11 starts with a 2.30 ERA and 1.009 WHIP. Price faced the Yankees four times as a member of the Blue Jays and beat them three times including twice in the middle of their pennant race in September. Without Price that division tells an entirely different story, is Happ enough to replace that production and almost a 6.0 WAR in 2016?

Well Happ only threw to a 3.0 WAR and was less than stellar the last time he pitched in the American League. Happ is no stranger to the American League, the AL East or the Blue Jays as this is his second stint with the club. Remember, Happ was the one that hit Curtis Granderson (the second time) to break his wrist in his final season in New York on his way to posting a 19-20 record with a 4.39 ERA in three seasons. Happ in a National League pitcher at this point in his career.

Happ owns a career .469 winning percentage(four season) in the AL and a .527 percentage (seven seasons) in the NL. If that were not enough then surely his better ERA+, WHIP, WAR, K and his overall numbers across the board are better in the National League. Happ is not the pitcher he was in Pittsburgh for half a season last year and he's not going to be enough to replace David Price. Toronto isn't necessarily in trouble yet but over the course of a 162 game season the Blue Jays aren't running away with this division either, even with Marcus Stroman.

Yankees Season Dependent on the Blue Jays Pitching

The New York Yankees are expected to stay relatively quiet this winter with any activity the team sees likely to come on the trade market. The Bronx Bombers, the former kings of free agency, will likely stay away from the top tier free agents and have already seen many names and plenty of dollars come off the board already. New York’s primary concern is waiting out these albatross contracts that expire after the 2016 and 2017 seasons without adding more albatross contracts as knee jerk reactions to what the other teams in the American League East have done. The Yankees, a playoff team in 2015, are also looking to at least compete for a Wild Card and playoff spot in 2016 while this is all going down, will they make it back to the promised land?

The Red Sox are going to be better undoubtedly, although the Yankees finished nine games ahead of them in 2015, and all signs point to the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays taking a step back next season but what about the Toronto Blue Jays? Toronto has already lost David Price to the rival Boston Red Sox but have added a couple complimentary pieces in Jesse Chavez and JA Happ, will that be enough to replace the production left behind by Price? Not likely but one thing is for certain, the Yankees postseason hopes depend on those two arms.

The Blue Jays, assuming the health and effectiveness of Marcus Stroman, are a better team than the Yankees if Chavez and Happ pitch better than they did in 2015. Happ was a big part of the impressive second half push the Pittsburgh Pirates made in the NL Central Division last year while Chavez continued to bounce back and forth between the bullpen and the starting rotation in Oakland. We’ve seen glimmers of hope from both pitchers in the past, and recently mind you, but we’ve also seen both pitcher fail. Fail hard. Toronto needs both of them to compete this season, RA Dickey is not a suitable #2 starter anymore and I can’t see Marco Estrada replicating his 2015 season although I could be wrong, and if they don’t they may be on the outside looking in at the postseason this year.

Sure the Blue Jays will have one of the best, if not the best, offense in all of Major League Baseball in 2016. Ask the Yankees how well that worked out in the 2000’s. For the most part that and 75 cents got you a can of Coke.

JA Happ is Not David Price Either

It's the offseason and I don't know if everyone is just turkey drunk, the Black Friday deals are just that good or if the fact that the market is so deep that teams are taking their time but times are slow right now. With the extra time on my hands I have turned my attention to not only the New York Yankees but the other four teams inside the American League East, especially the Toronto Blue Jays. Earlier this offseason I took a look at the fact that Jesse Chavez, a recent acquisition for the Mark Shapiro led Blue Jays franchise, was not David Price but left the door open for a return to Toronto for the lefty. That door is probably officially closed now after the team also signed lefty J.A. Happ to a three year deal and no, he isn't David Price either.

Price was absolute money for the Blue Jays down the stretch posting a 9-1 record in 11 starts with a 2.30 ERA and 1.009 WHIP. Price faced the Yankees four times as a member of the Blue Jays and beat them three times including twice in the middle of their pennant race in September. Without Price that division tells an entirely different story, is Happ enough to replace that production and almost a 6.0 WAR in 2016?

Well Happ only threw to a 3.0 WAR and was less than stellar the last time he pitched in the American League. Happ is no stranger to the American League, the AL East or the Blue Jays as this is his second stint with the club. Remember, Happ was the one that hit Curtis Granderson (the second time) to break his wrist in his final season in New York on his way to posting a 19-20 record with a 4.39 ERA in three seasons. Happ in a National League pitcher at this point in his career.

Happ owns a career .469 winning percentage(four season) in the AL and a .527 percentage (seven seasons) in the NL. If that were not enough then surely his better ERA+, WHIP, WAR, K and his overall numbers across the board are better in the National League. Happ is not the pitcher he was in Pittsburgh for half a season last year and he's not going to be enough to replace David Price. Toronto isn't necessarily in trouble yet but over the course of a 162 game season the Blue Jays aren't running away with this division either, even with Marcus Stroman.

Jesse Chavez is no David Price for Toronto… Thankfully

You’ll have to excuse me as I have been sick for almost a week now and I haven’t been writing much at all. Thank goodness for my back-logged stuff and all the content I had saved as a draft or the site would have likely gone quiet, and it’s never been quiet for a full day since its inception almost four years ago now. One of the key tidbits of news that I missed regarding an American League East rival of the New York Yankees was when the Toronto Blue Jays acquired Jesse Chavez, a right-handed starting pitcher from the Oakland Athletics. Chavez is a nice piece but thankfully for the Yankees he’s not David Price.

The Blue Jays sent Liam Hendricks, a now full-time relief pitcher who went 5-0 with a 2.92 ERA in 58 appearances in 2015, to Oakland in exchange for Chavez. Hendricks trade value has never been higher after a switch to the bullpen not only saw his ERA, WHIP, FIP and peripherals go down but his fastball velocity spike leading to a career-best 9.9 K/9 ratio. Hendricks is under team control through the 2020 season while Chavez is a free agent after the 2016 season.

Chavez has made 26 starts over the past two seasons as he has bounced between the A’s bullpen and rotation and has posted a combined 7-15 record with a 4.18 ERA. Chavez is 32-years old and is a former member of the Blue Jays as recently as 2012 so he’s no stranger to Toronto. Chavez was last seen sporting an 8.44 ERA in a Blue Jays uniform before being acquired for cash from the Athletics. Chavez is a definite win-now move for the Blue Jays but will he be enough? Will he be enough to replace the man he is essentially, for lack of a better word, replacing in David Price?

Price was money for Toronto posting this stat line:

Year	Tm	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2015 ★	TOT	18	5	2.45	32	220.1	190	70	60	17	47	225	161	2.78	1.076	7.8	0.7	1.9	9.2
2015	DET	9	4	2.53	21	146.0	133	50	41	13	29	138	156	3.06	1.110	8.2	0.8	1.8	8.5
2015	TOR	9	1	2.30	11	74.1	57	20	19	4	18	87	172	2.22	1.009	6.9	0.5	2.2	10.5

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Chavez on the other hand was anything but “money” in 2015:

Year	Tm	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2015	OAK	7	15	4.18	30	157.0	164	78	73	18	48	136	96	3.85	1.350	9.4	1.0	2.8	7.8

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Even with Marcus Stroman coming back last September to lead the Blue Jays to the ALCS Toronto doesn’t go as far without Price. Price was a godsend for Toronto and led the team down the stretch with clutch performance after clutch performance, especially against the New York Yankees. Toronto may have likely still made the playoffs without Price but bet your bottom dollar if the Jays have Chavez starting everything fifth day in the second half of the 2015 season and not Price they aren’t winning that AL East Division. Not by a long shot. 

Recap: Yankees 6, A's 2

Masahiro Tanaka tossed 7 2/3 innings of two-run ball and the Yankees cruised past the A's, 6-2, in a Thursday matinee at Yankee Stadium.

Just Like the Old Days: Tanaka logged arguably his best outing of the season in this one, holding Oakland to just one earned run and two hits while walking one and striking out six. He ran into some trouble in the second -- the A's scored twice on RBI doubles by Billy Butler and Mark Canha -- but it ultimately proved to be nothing as the veteran recorded the win.

His Knee Must Be Healed: Batting with two men in scoring position and one out in the fourth, Jacoby Ellsbury delivered probably the biggest hit of the game -- a clutch two-run single off Jesse Chavez to break a 2-2 tie. Ellsbury, activated off the DL on Wednesday, was able to lace one just fair down the right-field line to give the Yankees the lead -- the ball barely clipping the corner of first base as it flew by in mid-air. 

An All-Star Selection and a Home Run: If his first-inning home run and two subsequent singles didn't already make him happy, Brett Gardner can at least take solace knowing he's now on the 2015 AL All-Star team -- an announcement made on the stadium jumbotron between the fourth and fifth. Gardner will fill the spot previously occupied by the Royals' Alex Gordon, who will miss the event due to a recent injury.

Staying Hot: Mark Teixeira continued his great week with an RBI single in the third, a liner on a 2-2 sinker that plated the aforementioned Ellsbury. It was Teixeira's eighth ribbie of the homestand and third of the series, bringing his total on the year to 62.

A Good First Impression: Making his major league debut following a few months with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Cole Figueroa went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles -- the latter of which likely would've driven in a run had it not bounced into the stands. Figueroa is expected to be one of the Yankees' backup infielders for the time being, joining Gregorio Petit as a defender capable of playing second, short and third.

Next Up: The Yankees will look to keep their momentum going on Friday when they visit the Red Sox for a weekend at Fenway -- beginning at 7:10 p.m. ET and airing live on MLB Network. Michael Pineda (8-5, 3.79 ERA) will get the nod for the Yankees hoping for a third straight quality start, facing surging Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz (7-6, 3.27 ERA).

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Oakland Athletics 7/9

Happy Tanaka Day Yankees fans and welcome to another afternoon game in the Bronx as Yankee Stadium plays host to the finale between the New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics. The Yankees will send Masahiro Tanaka, hence the Tanaka Day, to the mound this afternoon to face off with the A’s starter Jesse Chavez as both pitchers look to rebound from a bad month’s worth of starts. The game will be played at 1:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network and MLB TV.

The Yankees head to Fenway Park for a three game series against the Boston Red Sox this weekend. The last time the Yankees were in Fenway early on in the season New York swept the Red Sox and quieted the color commentary crew on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. Hopefully that kind of play continues this weekend in Fenway but first thing is first, a victory this afternoon in the Bronx. Jump on twitter and follow @GreedyStripes to interact with us during each and every Yankees game and hopefully root for New York with us during another sweep of Fenway.

Tanaka is ready to take the mound and take back the “ace’ moniker that so many placed on him last season and I’m ready to watch. Go Tanaka and Go Yankees!

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Oakland Athletics 7/9

The New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics will play in the finale of their three game set this afternoon inside Yankee Stadium. For some reason the A’s have been terrible against most teams but have seemingly brought their “A” game, no pun intended, against the Yankees this season. New York will look to reverse that trend this afternoon with Masahiro Tanaka on the mound as he faces off with Jesse Chavez for Oakland. The game will be played at 1:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network and MLB TV.

• Tanaka heads into this afternoon’s start on a bit of a rough streak after giving up 14 earned runs in his last three starts. Tanaka has not made it past the sixth inning in any of those three starts and has just one quality start in that same timeline. Tanaka looked great in his first two starts off the disabled list and has regressed dramatically ever since, hopefully that turns around this afternoon in the Bronx.

• Chavez is also heading into this afternoon’s start on a bit of a rough streak after he gave up 12 earned runs on his own in his last three starts. Chavez has been prone to the home run ball in that streak and has allowed at least six hits in all three starts, both of which are great signs for the Yankees offense this afternoon inside hitting friendly Yankee Stadium.

New York heads to Fenway for a weekend series with the Boston Red Sox while the Athletics go anywhere but here after this afternoon’s contest. Boston is red hot and are climbing back into this American League East Division race slowly and quietly and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little worried. All New York has to do it win and all those worries go away, at least temporarily, so just win. Go Yankees!

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Oakland Athletics 5/31

Hey a west coast game that I can actually stay up and watch, imagine that. I need one of those jobs where I can work from home and get paid to do it while watching games and hanging out my kids. Anyway, I digress. The Yankees travel out to Oakland for one last time this road trip as they face off with the Athletics at 4:05 pm ET. In the matchup that will be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network and MLB TV and will showcase Adam Warren facing off against Jesse Chavez for the Athletics.

The Yankees are coming home and it will be here before you know it so waste away your New York Rangers blues inside the greatest stadium in the world, Yankee Stadium. Click the Yankees Tickets link above this post to get your set today without any fees or shipping costs associated with the deal. You can always jump on Twitter and follow @GreedyStripes and/or jump on our comments section of the site to chat during each and every game that isn’t played in the middle of the damn night.

With that said I’ll stop rambling here and let Mr. Warren do my talking for me. Go Yankees!

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Oakland Athletics 5/31

For the fourth and final time this week the New York Yankees will travel to Oakland County Coliseum to take on Billy Beane’s Oakland Athletics. The Yankees lack of situational hitting, pitching and defense have been exposed this week after sweeping the Kansas City Royals as New York looks to salvage the rubber game of the series. On the mound for New York is Adam Warren who is looking to pitch his way into staying with the rotation this afternoon as he faces off with Jesse Chavez for the Athletics. The game will be played at 4:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network and MLB TV.

• Warren is coming into the contest fresh off another strong start against the Kansas City Royals where he allowed just one run on 6.1 IP. Warren received praise from manager Joe Girardi after the start, a start he left after just 88 pitches, as the Yankees manager stated Warren was pitching as well as anyone in the rotation at this point in the season.

• Chavez comes into the contest still looking for some run support from his club as the RHP is fresh off another tough 1-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers in his last start. Chavez went eight innings allowing just the unearned run in the loss pushing his record to 1-5 and his ERA down to 2.44 on the season.

The Yankees head north to Seattle tomorrow to face off with Felix Hernandez, Nelson Cruz, Robinson Cano and the rest of the Seattle Mariners for another west coast road trip. Hopefully New York will use the energy pulled from facing off against their former second baseman and translate it into a big victory for the Yankees today and going forward. Go Yankees!

Nuno's Rough Start Dooms Yankees in Rubber Game

In his last start in Seattle, Yankees Pitcher Vidal Nuno gave us something to smile about.

The struggling lefty, who began the season as a long reliever, tossed 5.2 innings of one-run ball, giving the Yanks a much-needed chance to win.

After that performance, it was only reasonable to believe he'd do something similar today, although that simply didn't happen, as Nuno didn't even make it out of the fourth in a 10-5 A's victory.

For the rookie, the game ended pretty early, as Derek Norris and Coco Crisp each hit three-run home runs in Oakland's first two at-bats.

After giving up another pair in the bottom of the fourth, Nuno's outing was finally over, with his line reading a tough 3+ frames of 8-earned run ball, dropping his 2014 record to 1-3 and raising his ERA to 5.90.

From that point on, the Yanks' bullpen did hold their ground (getting a combined four scoreless innings from Shawn Kelley, Adam Warren, and Matt Thornton), something that didn't really matter, as the scoreboard read 10-0 Oakland after four innings of play.

In the final five frames, the Bombers' bats did begin to improve after Jesse Chavez' (6 IP, ER, gave up an RBI Double to Mark Teixeira) departure, bringing the contest to within five thanks to a Sac Fly from Derek Jeter, a Solo Homer from Carlos Beltran, and a two-run shot from Brett Gardner.

Still, the double-digit deficit they faced proved too large for them to overcome, as they lost for the second time in the three-game series, fell to 35-33 overall, and lost the second wild card spot to the suddenly-hot Royals.

As for their road trip, its record dropped to 5-4, with two of its three sets resulting in frustrating defeat after the openers were won. 

Yankees Blow Another Lead; Lose Fourth Straight Game to A's

Tonight's 7-4 loss to the A's was pretty much an exact replica of yesterday's.

For the first two innings, both starters, Vidal Nuno and Jesse Chavez, kept the game scoreless, before the Yankees' bats suddenly got hot in the third.

In that frame, speedy Outfielders Ichiro Suzuki and Brett Gardner got on base for Derek Jeter, who beat out a grounder to short for a go-ahead, RBI Infield Single.

The contest obviously wasn't over at that point, but still, after a following three-run home run from Jacoby Ellsbury it definitely looked favorable.

Or, so it was thought.

On the first pitch of the top of the fourth, Yoenis Cespedes took Nuno deep, putting Oakland on the board. 

It wasn't anything to panic over, but it did begin to turn the tides.

In the A's next at-bat, they'd tack on another thanks to a Sac Fly from Jed Lowrie, knocking Nuno out after 4.2 innings of two-run, 92-pitch ball. 

He wasn't perfect, but considering that the Bombers still led 4-2 the team looked to be in good shape. 

Anyway, after Nuno's exit, Matt Daly came in, inducing a flyout from Josh Donaldson followed by a lead-off homer from Cespedes to start the sixth, his second of the night.

The Pinstripes' lead had fallen to 4-3, something that, after a throwing error from Jeter and a Matt Thornton-allowed single and walk, looked pretty dissatisfying. 

Eventually, Thornton would get out of the jam surrendering just the unearned run, tying the contest.

Later on in the top of the seventh, the earlier-mentioned Donaldson would homer off recent Triple-A call-up Jose Ramirez, causing him to take the loss in his MLB Debut.

In other words, nothing all that new happened in this game. The Yanks got off to a good start, but were again let down by their bullpen.