Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Miami Marlins 8/21

And just like that it is game time here in the Bronx between the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins. In the first game of a quick two-game interleague play series the Yankees will send out Masahiro Tanaka while the Marlins will counter with Pablo Lopez inside Marlins Park. The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET inside Marlins Park in Miami 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 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 Yankees all season long. Enjoy the game, get out healthy and alive, and go Yankees!!

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Miami Marlins 8/21

Tonight the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins will begin a quick two-game interleague series down in Marlins Park, welcome back Giancarlo! In the start tonight the Yankees will send Masahiro Tanaka out to the mound looking to start a new unbeaten streak while the Marlins will counter with a young pitcher in Pablo Lopez. Let’s get to it down inside Marlins Park in Miami.

Tanaka has lost each of his last two starts after going 14 starts consecutively without taking a loss prior. In his last start the Yankees right-hander allowed just two runs over six innings against the Tampa Bay Rays, but ell victim to bad run support from the Yankees offense in a loss.

Lopez was shaky in his last start against the Atlanta Braves allowing six runs in 5.1 innings pitched in a loss for the Marlins. Lopez will be making his ninth career MLB start tonight and will look to improve on his 38 K’s and 12 walks that he has allowed thus far.

The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET inside Marlins Park in Miami 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 with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.

Enjoy the game, Tanaka better strike out every time he comes up to bat and go Yankees!!

Hello… Breaking News from the White House

Breaking news coming out of the White House this morning. President of the United States Donald Trump has officially renamed the months of the year going forward. Here are the new names as follows per a press release from FakeNews.com:

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

Giancarlo

September

October

November

December

Stay tuned for more, but for now that is all. Hey you, I loves you!!!

Open Thread: Home Run Derby 2017

The Home Run Derby has arrived!!! Here are the contestants once again, now let’s watch some balls clear that fence over in Miami! Good luck to Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez tonight for the Yankees.

American League

(2) Aaron Judge – NYY – 30 home runs

(4) Mike Moustakas – KC – 25 home runs

(5) Miguel Sano – MIN – 21 home runs

(8) Gary Sanchez – NYY – 13 home runs

National League

(1 seed & defending champion) Giancarlo Stanton – MIA – 26 home runs

(3) Cody Bellinger – LAD – 25 home runs

(6) Charlie Blackmon – COL – 20 home runs

(7) Justin Bour – MIA – 20 home runs

My Home Run Derby Predictions for 2017

The 2017 MLB Home Run Derby is tonight which, in my opinion, is one of the best spectacles and festivities to watch in all of the four major sports. Call me bias as a baseball fan but I just love watching home run after home run clear the walls and the crowd going wild, I always have, so this this season should be no different. Especially when you look at the field that will be taking this glorified set of batting practice down in Miami inside Marlins Park. Here are my predictions on what will happen tonight in the Home Run Derby, make sure you bookmark them so you can remind me how terribly I did later.

American League

(2) Aaron Judge – NYY – 30 home runs

(4) Mike Moustakas – KC – 25 home runs

(5) Miguel Sano – MIN – 21 home runs

(8) Gary Sanchez – NYY – 13 home runs

National League

(1) Giancarlo Stanton – MIA – 26 home runs

(3) Cody Bellinger – LAD – 25 home runs

(6) Charlie Blackmon – COL – 20 home runs

(7) Justin Bour – MIA – 20 home runs

I think youth, stamina and conditioning will win this year’s Home Run Derby down in hot and humid Miami, the good news for the fans is that all eight competitors have youth on their side. Giancarlo Stanton is going to put on a show, we all know that, and I think Justin Bour may surprise a lot of people in his hometown but my prediction for the final two will be Gary Sanchez and Cody Bellinger. Yes, I picked against Aaron Judge and Stanton both. Bold, I know.

Ultimately I think a member of the New York Yankees takes it home for the first time since Robinson Cano and that Yankee will be Mr. Gary Sanchez. Watch tonight as he unleashes the Kraken on Miami at 8:00 pm ET on ESPN.

My Thoughts on Judge & Sanchez in the Home Run Derby

The 2017 All-Star Game Home Run Derby field is set and despite some objections from Logan Morrison there are two members of the New York Yankees that will be participating in the event, Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez. Here are my thoughts on the inclusion of both Judge and Sanchez in the event and I may even rant a little bit on Morrison too, you never know. Keep reading to find out.

Aaron Judge is leading the world right now in home runs and has each of the top four hardest hit home runs in 2017 so it makes sense why the Yankees right fielder would be invited but many, including Morrison, are wondering why Sanchez, the Yankees catcher, was chosen. My thought process is this, why not? The game is going through a youth infusion and these are the two biggest names on arguably the biggest and most recognizable franchise in Major League Baseball. You want to grow not only new fans but young fans? Showcase players like Cody Bellinger, Sanchez and Judge in the Home Run Derby. Period.

Now many worry about how the derby has seemingly messed with players swings and screwed up their routines in the second half but I am truly not worried about that happening to either of these players. Judge and Sanchez have both asked their batting practice pitcher Danilo Valiente to throw to them at the derby and both players are treating this as a glorified round of batting practice. If you’ve ever been to the stadium early enough to watch either Judge or Sanchez take batting practice you know that both put on an absolute show in the Bronx so this should be light work for the duo.

In years past I have worried about Yankees participating in the Home Run Derby, most notably Robinson Cano, but this year for whatever reason I’m not. Call it a gut feeling, call it youth winning over aggression for once or just call it a total shot in the dark but that’s my opinion and I am sticking to it.

The Home Run Derby will go down on July 10 inside Marlins Park down in Miami as a part of the All-Star Game festivities. The entire lineup includes Aaron Judge (NYY), Gary Sanchez (NYY), Miguel Sano (MIN) and Mike Moustakas (KC) for the American League while Giancarlo Stanton (MIA) looks to defend his title alongside Justin Bour (MIA), Cody Bellinger (LAD) and Charlie Blackmon (COL) for the National League.

All-Star Game Snubs: The Pitching Edition

Earlier today we went over the snubs that did not make the All-Star Game on the offensive side of the game so it seems only fitting that we also cover the snubs on the pitching side of things. With the reduction in roster spots on the respective All-Star teams the amount of snubs are at an all-time high including these three glaring examples. If I missed any of if you disagree then leave your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section below and let’s start a conversation.

Carlos Carrasco of the Cleveland Indians has already surpassed the 100 strikeout mark this season and we are barely into July baseball. At the time of the team announcements Carrasco was sporting a 1.05 WHIP with a 3.50 ERA in 97.2 innings pitched. Sure the ERA was a bit high but in an era of sabermetrics and advanced statistics does anyone really pay attention to primitive stats like ERA anymore? Well maybe, I mean I did quote it just two or three lines above, but does it hold the same weight as it used to? I didn’t think so, but maybe.

Another pitcher that got snubbed is a pitcher that I suggested the Yankees buy-low on this winter in the Washington Nationals LHP Gio Gonzalez. Gonzalez has done nothing but bounce back in 2017 to post the third lowest ERA at the time of the roster announcement with a 2.77 ERA while also posting 104 strikeouts. Gonzalez was left off because it was either he, Stephen Strasburg or Max Scherzer that was going to be snubbed but I am sure that doesn’t make the southpaw feel any better about this. Gonzalez deserves to be there.

The final pitcher, also a lefty, is Felipe Rivero of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Rivero was sporting a 0.82 ERA when the rosters were announced over the weekend to go along with his 49 strikeouts and 14 holds for a mediocre Pittsburgh Pirates team. I know the All-Star Game is full of starters and closers but sometimes the setup man is just as important as the closer, if not more important. That is definitely the case with Rivero.

Quick Hit: All-Star Game Means Something Again

This morning we covered the All-Star Game representatives for the American League and National League but this game, unlike in years past, will not determine who receives home-field advantage in the World Series. The game is back to being a showcase and an exhibition game for the players and for the fans but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a bit of incentive for the players this year. The game still means something to these players, money.

The winners of the 2017 All-Star Game will each receive $20,000 while the losing team of the game will receiving nothing. Is that incentive enough? Honestly, it should be. Good luck to all parties involved, especially those five (potentially six) members of the New York Yankees. 

Yankees Send Two to All-Star Futures Game in 2017

The All-Star Game and their festivities in Major League Baseball is one of, if not the greatest All-Star Game set in all of the four major sports. Sure everyone gets hyped over the slam dunk contest in the NBA and many people enjoy the Pro Bowl in the NFL but no one puts on a show quite like Major League Baseball. You have the Home Run Derby, you have the actual All-Star Game itself and you also have the XM Futures Game which showcases top prospects from around the league representing not only their team but their countries as well. It has become quite an honor to represent your team and country in the XM Futures Game over the years and two members of the New York Yankees will be representing the team and Team World here in 2017, Domingo Acevedo and Estevan Florial.

Acevedo is currently pitching with the Double-A Trenton Thunder while Florial is an outfielder with the Charleston Riverdogs. Florial was born in Port Au Prince, Haiti while Acevedo was born in Villa los Almacigos in the Dominican Republic.

It’s also worth mentioning that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays Class-A team and Yoan Moncada of the Chicago White Sox Triple-A team will be teammates of both Acevedo and Florial in the game.

Okay So Maybe I Was Wrong About Aaron Hicks

"Thank you God for helping me make THE Daniel Burch happy"

If you have been reading my work here on the site for the last five-years or so you know a couple things about me as a fan and as a writer. I’m passionate, I believe that I am always 100% right and when I am not I am the first person to admit when I’m wrong. I had the Yankees making the postseason last year and they didn’t make it, I made a post admitting defeat. Hell I post all my predictions before every season and then post them again at the end of the season so you can see just how bad I did which leads me to the topic of Aaron Hicks and how incredibly wrong I may have been regarding him and his roster spot with the team.

Hicks, in a word, is killing it right now. Hicks is doing better than some starting outfielders and has been delegated to a fourth outfielder spot here with the Yankees. Has a fourth outfielder or bench piece ever made the All-Star Game? Probably not but if you ask me right now, all bias aside, Hicks may be and should be the first if the game was played today. Hicks has been brilliant for the Yankees thus far this season and the sample size just keeps growing and growing while the stat line remains relatively the same. He’s been the real deal for New York this season and I am almost, ALMOST, ready to admit that I may have been a bit hard on him last season and into spring training 2017. Almost.

Heading into the series finale with the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night Hicks was sitting at an impressive .342 batting average and 1.106 OPS with six home runs and 16 RBI in just 73 at-bats while playing an impressive outfield defensively, as usual. Could Hicks, now 27-years old, be the late-bloomer that Brian Cashman described last season when many people, no one more than myself, was killing the guy? It’s looking pretty foolish to have doubted him now and it also looks pretty foolish for Cashman to have compared Hicks to Jackie Bradley Jr. as well because he is far exceeding what Bradley Jr. has done thus far in the Majors. Again, it’s 73 at-bats but again as the sample size rises so do his stats so I don’t know how comfortable I am being the one to doubt him again.

Keep hitting like this Aaron and you keep making me look like a moron for ever doubting you, and I’m totally okay with that. 

MLB Umps May Begin Explaining Replay Decisions/Calls

You know how after every penalty in the NFL the referee’s go on the loudspeaker in the stadium and announce what the penalty was and who the penalty was on? Well that may begin happening in Major League Baseball as well, sort of. Instead of penalties the MLB umps may soon be announcing video review decisions with explanations if they and Major League Baseball executives get their way.

Currently MLB and the umpires are expected to discuss a plan where the crew chief wears a headset and microphone to explain replay rulings, although nothing has been agreed upon nor set in stone at the time of this writing.

Early discussions and indications seem to point towards the umpires wearing headsets during the All-Star Game in Miami during a dry run while they continue to do so during the second half of the MLB season and into the postseason.

I haven’t fully made up my mind on how I feel about this yet which leads me to believe that it’s one of those changes that don’t really affect the integrity of the game. Eventually I come to terms with and accept those so I don’t see why I wouldn’t with this new rule either. Stay tuned.

Key Dates to Look Forward to in 2017

Opening Day 2017 happens on Sunday, April 2^nd when the New York Yankees take on the Tampa Bay Rays inside Tropicana Field in Tampa St. Pete. The 2017 season has a lot of key dates and games this season so I wanted to go over a few and hit the high spots as we prepare for the 2017 regular season to begin. This post is worth keeping bookmarked just in case.

On the same day the Yankees and Rays kick off the 2017 season the Chicago Cubs begin their World Series title defense against the St. Louis Cardinals. Manning center field for those Cardinals? None other than the center fielder who was on the field when the Cubs won their World Series and reversed the curse of the billy goat, Dexter Fowler. That should be fun.

Sunday, May 14^th is Derek Jeter Day in the Bronx as the New York Yankees play host to the Houston Astros inside Yankee Stadium. Before the game the Yankees will unveil a plaque in Monument Park for Jeter while also retiring his #2 jersey on Mother’s Day. That’s a game you definitely do not want to miss.

The All-Star Game is played on Tuesday, July 11 inside Marlins Park in Miami. This will be the first time that the Marlins host the All-Star Game in their 25 season existence so that should be fun as should the Home Run Derby that happens the night before. Giancarlo Stanton sighting anyone?

On Sunday, July 30 we will watch as Hall of Fame inductees Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez get inducted officially into the Hall along with former Commissioner Bud Selig and former Royals and Braves executive John Schuerholz.

The non-waiver trading deadline returns to July 31^st this season after last year the deadline occurred on August 1^st. The revocable trade waiver deadline is still August 31^st, as always.

The final game of the season happens, barring any need for tiebreaker games and such, on October 1^st.

Yankees ST: New York Yankees @ Miami Marlins 4/1

As the calendar turns to April, as we try and fend off April Fools Jokes and as the Yankees play their penultimate game in their spring training schedule today we reminisce. Robert Refsnyder has gone down and so has Aaron Judge, Jorge Mateo, Gary Sanchez and other top Yankees prospects but one constant has been today's starter for New York, Nathan Eovaldi. Eovaldi's final tuneup before the season comes today inside Marlins Park in the first of a two-game exhibition between the two clubs. Opposing Eovaldi tonight will be Jose Fernandez, the Marlins ace.

The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET and for whatever reason no major, national or local media outlet has picked up the game. That sucks. Enjoy and go Yankees!

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Miami Marlins 6/16

For the final time in Marlins Park the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins will face off head-to-head tonight with Nathan Eovaldi facing off against David Phelps. The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

The Yankees will be back at home in the Bronx tomorrow night to face off with Giancarlo Stanton and this same Miami Marlins team so to be there and catch one of his home run balls click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog. You can have your tickets in hand by tomorrow night and still have your arm and your leg that you would have to sacrifice paying those other ticket sites. If you can’t make it live then that’s no problem just jump on Twitter and follow @GreedyStripes to interact with us during each and every game.

Mr. Eovaldi is back in Miami and is ready to take his next step in his growth as a starting pitcher with the Yankees. Will we see Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Eovaldi tonight? Stay tuned, Go Yankees!

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Miami Marlins 6/16

Last night we watched as Masahiro Tanaka took his at bats against the Miami Marlins and tonight we watch as Nathan Eovaldi faces off against his old team. Eovaldi and Garrett Jones were traded from Miami to New York this winter for Martin Prado and David Phelps so there will be some reunions on both sides tonight with Eovaldi taking the mound for the Yankees. Facing off with Eovaldi is Phelps for the Marlins. The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

• Eovaldi faces off with his former team tonight for the first time in his career and he comes with a new pitch, the splitter. Eovaldi started throwing the split last September under then pitching coach Chuck Hernandez and has continued to work on it and a forkball under current pitching coach Larry Rothschild.

• Phelps faces off with his former team tonight for the first time in his career as he comes off easily his best performance of his career. Phelps threw eight shutout innings against the Colorado Rockies last time out in a victory for Miami improving his record to 3-3 with a 3.62 ERA in 11 starts.

The Yankees return home to play host to these same Miami Marlins tomorrow night in the Bronx with “Big Mike” Michael Pineda taking the mound for New York. I’ll just be happy when I don’t have to see our pitchers taking at bats anymore because it scares me, I’m not going to lie. Go Yankees!

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Miami Marlins 6/15

Tonight in Marlins Park the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins start a four game series with the first two games coming in Miami and the last two games coming in the Bronx and inside Yankee Stadium. Tonight the Yankees will send Masahiro Tanaka to the mound to face off with the Marlins starter TBA. The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET and can be seen on WPIX Channel 11 and MLB TV.

• Tanaka has made two starts since coming off the disabled list and has looked great in both starts against the Seattle Mariners and the Washington Nationals. In both contests Tanaka allowed just one run in seven innings including 15 strikeouts and zero walks combined in both starts. 

• TBA

Am I the only one that is a tad bit concerned with Tanaka having to take at bats tonight in the National League park? Eovaldi starts tomorrow and has experience as a former member of the Marlins but anytime a big time Yankees starter has to hit in Interleague Play I immediately think to Chien-Ming Wang. Maybe I'm just a worrier by nature. Go Yankees!

BIP Locations: Garrett Jones

Earlier in the day we looked at Nathan Eovaldi's BIP Locations from Marlins Park to Yankee Stadium and I was left with a bitter and bad taste in my mouth. Let's clear that up, hopefully, by taking a look at what kind of raw power Jones could bring to Yankee Stadium and the Yankees. The Yankees have lacked that true power threat off the bench since the 2012 season when Raul Ibanez became a folk hero so I am excited to welcome Jones to the Yankees, unless these numbers are ugly... let's get to it.

Doubles
Home Runs
Fly Outs
Line Outs



As you can see I included line outs in the legend for the first time in a long time but that's because Jones is a bit of a line drive hitter. The way the wind blows out at Yankee Stadium, especially on a Saturday afternoon type setting, I could see at least one of these getting out into the Bleacher Creatures. Jones' doubles may turn into as many as six more home runs inside Yankee Stadium while a few of his outs, I count eight, have legitimate shots at getting out in the Bronx the way the ball travels here. And the home runs, look at the home runs, are not going to be cheap wall scrapers either in New York as most of these would be absolute bombs in Yankee Stadium. Jones looks to be a dead pull hitter and a left handed bat inside Yankee Stadium, if he doesn't get shifted on and refuse to beat it he may do some serious damage backing up everyone on the team. I was skeptical about bringing him in, and I still am, but these numbers at least make me feel better.

BIP Locations: Nathan Eovaldi

The New York Yankees acquired Nathan Eovaldi from the Miami Marlins along with Garrett Jones and Domingo German for Martin Prado and David Phelps. As always, and as we hinted to earlier on the blog, we are going to take a look at the BIP locations for Mr. Eovaldi and see what the season would have looked like had he pitched 2014 inside Yankee Stadium and not Marlins Park. I'd say enjoy, but it's scary.

Singles
Doubles
Triples
Home Runs
Fly Outs



For the first time ever I had to include singles on one of these. The lightest shade of blue are the singles, seen on the legend above, and it looks like one had a real legit shot at leaving Yankee Stadium. A single in Marlins Park is like a home run in Yankee Stadium, that's saying something. The darkest shade of blue are the home runs and none of them stay inside Yankee Stadium, as expected, but the next shade down are triples. It's probably hard to see on the photo but there are two dots in between the 408 sign and the 385 sign that are sandwiched in between two doubles. Both triples leave Yankee Stadium along with at least 10 of the doubles he surrendered. If Larry Rothschild and Gil Patterson don't fix Eovaldi's movement and control of his pitches we may be wishing we had Phil Hughes back in the Bronx in 2015.