Yankees Claim Matt Tracy Off Waivers

And the Matt Tracy parade continues to go round and round. The New York Yankees called up Tracy two weeks ago for a fresh arm in the bullpen and ultimately designated him for assignment after one appearance. The Yankees were hoping that Tracy would clear waivers and could be stashed back in Scranton on the Triple-A team but the Miami Marlins jumped on him and gave him a 25 man roster spot.

Tracy lasted in Miami all of four days before the Marlins designated him for assignment. New York has once again claimed Tracy back off waivers and have stashed him back in Triple-A with the RailRiders. So the plan ultimately worked just with a whole lot more paperwork and a new jersey or two for Mr. Tracy.

Welcome back.

Marlins Claim Yankees LHP Matt Tracy

The New York Yankees called up Matt Tracy after purchasing his contract to give the team a fresh arm in the bullpen. After just one appearance Tracy was designated for assignment with the hopes of clearing waivers and being sent back to Scranton. That hope did not work out for New York as the Miami Marlins claimed Tracy off waivers this afternoon and will send him to their Triple-A affiliate.

Kyle Davies Up, Matt Tracy DFA

Chasen Shreve took it on the chin for the Yankees Friday night and Matt Tracy was called up to give the Yankees a fresh arm on Saturday. Well apparently the Yankees need another fresh arm and have designated Tracy for assignment to make room on the roster for Kyle Davies. Davies will be active for tonight's finale in the Bronx against the Boston Red Sox. 

Davies is a veteran on a minor league deal so it will be interesting to see what kind of leash he has on the team. If he were a rookie I would say a little to none on the leash but since he is a veteran you never know. 

Meet A Prospect : Matt Tracy

Matt Tracy was called up for the game yesterday between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees to give New York a fresh arm in the bullpen after a 19 inning marathon the night before. Tracy was not on the 40 man roster at the time of the call up and is likely not long for the 40 man this time around so we better hurry and introduce you to the latest pitcher to come out of the bullpen for Yankees manager Joe Girardi. Let's meet Mr. Matt Tracy. 

Matthew J. Tracy was born on November 26th, 1988 in St. Louis Missouri. Matt Tracy was drafted in the 24th round of the 2011 MLB First Year Players Draft out of Ole Miss University. Tracy spent most of his time playing in the outfield for the Rebels but the Yankees announced that they would be drafting him as a pitcher after signing him for a $2,000 draft bonus. He has a great pitchers frame at 6'3" and 212 lbs while hitting 94-95 mph on the gun with his two seam fastball.

In his first professional season for the short season Staten Island Yankees Matt pitched 47.1 IP between the bullpen and starting while striking out 48 batters for a 9.13 K/9 and only walking 16 for a 3.14 BB/9 ratio. Matt helped the Staten Island Yankees win the New York Penn League title in 2011. While pitching out of the pen Tracy had a .108 batting average against in 22.3 IP before being moved to the starting rotation. Combined Tracy finished with a 3-2 record with a 2.43 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. Matt split his time between Low A Charleston and the Tampa Yankees as a full time starter in 2012 and had a combined 6-7 record with a 3.20 ERA in 19 starts and 104 IP while compiling 68 K's and a 1.29 WHIP.

Since the 2011 season Tracy has been all over the Yankees system including stops in Scranton and Tampa in 2012, Trenton in 2013 with return trips to Trenton and Scranton in 2014. Tracy holds a career 20-22 record in the minor leagues heading into 2015 with a 3.81 ERA and 265 K's in 366 IP. Tracy is not going to go out there and throw 100 MPH and he isn't going to strike out 10-15 batters per nine innings but he can give you solid relief and take one on the chin, or the left arm, much like Rogers and Shreve did on Friday night for the Yankees. 

Welcome to the family and welcome to the big leagues Tracy. You earned it. 

Matt Tracy Called Up, Chasen Shreve Going Down, Nova to 60 Day DL

UPDATE:

It's official, Tracy is up, Shreve goes down and Ivan Nova is transferred to 60 day DL.

The New York Yankees have announced that left handed starting pitcher Matt Tracy will be heading up for this afternoon's game in the Bronx. You have to assume that Chasen Shreve, who threw 3.1 IP of relief in the 19 inning affair last night will be going down to the minors for a rest.

Tracy is not on the 40 man roster so some roster move will need to be made just five games into the season. Not exactly how you want to start a season.

Looking At Potential Matt Thornton Replacements

So I think we all know by now that Rich Hill will not be the answer as a replacement for Matt Thornton. He has been mediocre at best for 10 seasons and was less than stellar in his first appearance as a Yankee. The good news is the Yankees have a good ten or more potential replacements without doing much research to replace Thornton, and his name is not Rich Hill.

James Pazos has pitched in 20 games for the Trenton Thunder and sports a 1.29 ERA striking out 9.3 per nine innings and has not allowed a home run. Pazos Pazos has a .194 batting average against and that's against both righties and lefties.

Tyler Webb only has 8.2 innings pitched in Scranton but between Trenton, Tampa, and Scranton sports a 3.45 ERA and 12.7 K/9 ratio. Webb has a BAA of .152 in Tampa, .247 in Trenton, and .161 in Scranton.

Jacob Lindgren has made three stops since being drafted in June and currently sits in Double-A Trenton. Lindgren has a total of 13.1 IP and has 30 K's which is good for a 20.2 K/9 ratio. The problem with Lindrgen is I can't see him joining the bullpen before September.

Manny Banuelos has struggled this season after coming back from Tommy John surgery and has a 4.03 ERA between Trenton and Tampa this season. Banuelos does have 53 K's and a 8.2 K/9 as a starter but is likely going to finish the season in the minor leagues.

Pat Venditte is the perfect arm(s) that the Yankees should call up as he can go multiple innings if need be and can throw with both his arms for christ sake. Venditte has a 3.15 ERA with a 8.6 K/9 ratio. For some reason the Yankees continue to overlook the 29 year old.

Matt Tracy is a starting pitcher in Triple-A and has posted a 3.48 ERA in 126.2 innings. Tracy has a 5.1 K/9 this season which may keep him from the Bronx. That or his 1.643 WHIP with the RailRiders this season.

Finally Francisco Rondon has pitched well for both Trenton and Scranton this season with a combined 3.31 ERA in 32.2 innings in 2014. Rondon misses bats and was considered to be one of the best Yankees left handed relievers not too long ago.

Nik Turley has unfortunately struggled for the Scranton RailRiders this season with a 6.43 ERA as a starter making his call up highly unlikely. Same goes for Jeremy Bleich who has a 7.71 ERA and is not missing nearly enough bats to be a serious contender for the roster spot. Eric Wooten is barely in Trenton, has a 4.08 ERA, and doesn't miss nearly enough bats to be taken seriously for the roster spot. Daniel Camarena has a 6.29 ERA for Trenton and a 1.685 WHIP and Fred Lewis was not able to build on a strong Arizona Fall League or Spring Training and has a 2.400 WHIP for Trenton after being demoted from Scranton after posting a 2.250 WHIP this season.

There's always Cesar Cabral too.. no, never mind, there isn't.

One man that will not be in the plans is Jeff Francis who was released after being designated for assignment last week. Who ya got? Personally, I'm going with Lindgren in September but Tyler Webb now. He can get batters out and is ready for the Bronx now. Make the move Cash.

Four Thunder Players Named EL All-Stars

Tracy, Gamel, O'Brien and Sanchez Named
Eastern League All-Stars
Tony Franklin & Staff To Manage The Game

The Trenton Thunder, in conjunction with the Eastern League, announced today that four players, LHP Matt Tracy, LF Ben Gamel, OF/1B/C Peter O’Brien and C Gary Sanchez have been selected to play in the 2014 Eastern League All-Star Game on Wednesday, July 16 at Peoples Natural Gas Field in Altoona, PA. LHP Matt Tracy is in his second season with the Thunder and has a 8-2 record and a 3.28 ERA. The former-24th round draft pick leads the Thunder with 82.1 IP and has made a team-high 14 starts. His 3.28 ERA ranks 10th best amongst qualified starting pitchers in the Eastern League. LF Ben Gamel, a former 10th round draft pick in 2010 out of Bishop Kenney HS (FL), has primarily hit second in the Thunder batting order and has compiled a .284 batting average in 85 games during the 2014 season. Gamel leads the Thunder in doubles (23) and hits (102) while those totals rank him second (doubles) and tied for fourth (hits) in the Eastern League.  OF/1B/C Peter O’Brien currently ranks third in all of Minor League Baseball with 25 home runs. In 53 games with the Thunder this season, O’Brien has hit 15 home runs, which is tied for the fourth most amongst league hitters, and driven in 39 runs; tied for second most on the team. The former 2nd round pick in 2012 played the first 30 games of his season with Single-A Tampa where he hit 10 home runs. C Gary Sanchez entered the season as the top prospect in the Yankees system according toBaseball America. In the first six games of the season, Sanchez drove in 10 runs. Overall in 60 games, Sanchez leads the Thunder with 44 runs driven in and is tied for the second on the team with nine home runs. Peter O’Brien and Matt Tracy were chosen via fan voting. At least one position player, and one pitcher, from each team were selected by fans through online and stadium balloting. The remaining selections were made through voting by league media, managers and officials. Trenton Thunder skipper Tony Franklin and his staff will manage the Eastern Division squad after representing the Eastern Division in last year’s Eastern League Championship (which they won). Host team Altoona Curve will have their manager Carlos Garcia and his staff manage the Western Division squad in the game. The Eastern Division is comprised of the Binghamton Mets, New Britain Rock Cats, New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Portland Sea Dogs, Reading Fightin’ Phils and Trenton Thunder while the teams in the Western Division include the Akron RubberDucks, Altoona Curve, Bowie Baysox, Erie SeaWolves, Harrisburg Senators and Richmond Flying Squirrels. For the full roster for each team, please CLICK HERE.

Starting Pitcher Matt Tracy Activated From DL

The Trenton Thunder, Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, announced Thursday that left-handed pitcher Matt Tracy has been activated from the team's disabled list.  He is expected to start Thursday night's contest against the Harrisburg Senators.  LHP Fred Lewis has been placed on the DL (retroactive to 7/30) with a finger blister.

Tracy, rated as the 26th-best prospect in the Yankees system before the season byBaseball America, has been out since June 13th with a lower body injury.  The southpaw has made 13 appearances (12 starts) with the Thunder this season and gone 4-4 with a 5.49 ERA.  

--THUNDER--

Being posted with permission from the Trenton Thunder organization. Here is the Trenton Thunder roster. 

Corey Black Promoted To AA Trenton Thunder

Corey Black was drafted in last years ML First Year Players Draft and has been bumped up to AA Trenton to play for the Thunder today. Corey has a 4.08 ERA this season in 57.1 IP while striking out over ten guys per nine innings. Corey will be inserted into a Trenton rotation that is already log jammed with Nik Turley, Jose Ramirez, Zach Nuding, Mikey O'Brien, and Matt Tracy so I do not believe this will be the end of the Yankees minor league roster shake up for the week.

Trenton Thunder Roster Finalized

With not many surprises here and an "All Prospect" kind of outfield the Yankees Double A affiliate the Trenton Thunder's roster has been finalized. Check it out!

C - J.R. Murphy
C - Kyle Higashioka
C - Tyson Blaser

1B - Kyle Roller
2B - Jose Pirela
SS - Walter Ibarra
3B/LF - Rob Segedin
INF - Kevin Mahoney
INF - Reegie Corona

OF - Tyler Austin
OF - Slade Heathcott
OF - Ramon Flores
OF - Neil Medchill
OF - Shane Brown

SP - Nik Turley
SP- Francisco Rondon
SP - Matt Tracy
SP - Caleb Cotham
SP - Zach Nuding

P - Jeremy Bleich
P - Aaron Dott
P - Shaeffer Hall
P - Tommy Kahnle
P - Kelvin Perez
P - Josh Romanski
P - Graham Stoneburner
P - Branden Pinder
P - Ryan Pope

Trenton Thunder Name Starting Rotation

The Trenton Thunder have named their starting rotation. Spoiler alert it will not, initially anyway, include Jose Ramirez after a stellar spring. He is dinged up a little and is expected to be held back and make sure everything is okay. Here is the rotation:

1. Nik Turley
2. Matt Tracy
3. Zach Nuding
4. Francisco Rondon
5. Caleb Cotham

Matt Tracy & Mark Montgomery Cut From Spring Camp

The Yankees have sent down Matt Tracy and Mark Montgomery to minor league camps and cut them spring training camp. Neither had a shot at making the big league roster but I will say I will miss seeing the future in Mark Montgomery out there for the Yankees.

Meet A Prospect : Matt Tracy

Matthew J. Tracy was born on November 26th, 1988 in St. Louis Missouri. Matt Tracy was drafted in the 24th round of the 2011 MLB First Year Players Draft out of Ole Miss University. Tracy spent most of his time playing in the outfield for the Rebels but the Yankees announced that they would be drafting him as a pitcher after signing him for a $2,000 draft bonus. He has a great pitchers frame at 6'3" and 212 lbs while hitting 94-95 mph on the gun with his two seam fastball.

In his first professional season for the short season Staten Island Yankees Matt pitched 47.1 IP between the bullpen and starting while striking out 48 batters for a 9.13 K/9 and only walking 16 for a 3.14 BB/9 ratio. Matt helped the Staten Island Yankees win the New York Penn League title in 2011. While pitching out of the pen Tracy had a .108 batting average against in 22.3 IP before being moved to the starting rotation. Combined Tracy finished with a 3-2 record with a 2.43 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. Matt split his time between Low A Charleston and the Tampa Yankees as a full time starter in 2012 and had a combined 6-7 record with a 3.20 ERA in 19 starts and 104 IP while compiling 68 K's and a 1.29 WHIP.

ETA Late 2015 - Mid 2016