Swisher Seeks Yankees Chance After Atlanta Release

Following his release from the Atlanta Braves less than a year after the Indians traded him and Michael Bourn for Chris Johnson, Nick Swisher is looking for another opportunity with the Yankees, having spent three years with the team previously. However, having so far only been selected for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, Swisher believes it is his time to shine once again for his beloved team.


Since rejoining the Yankees organization, Swisher has been in good form, hitting .357 with three homers, six RBI’s and .863 in 11 games, whilst playing from first base. Now with the Yankees preparing to face off against long standing rivals the Boston Red Sox this weekend, Swisher is determined to earn a chance at right field. Having played their during his four seasons with the Yankees, the thirty five year old firmly believes he can more than do a job there again if called upon. With little to choose between the two teams going into this weekend’s game, the Yankees are 1.83/1 on to secure victory with bookmakers Betway. Visit Betway’s sportsbook for full the full MLB schedule.


Despite the rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox perhaps not being what is was a decade ago, a trip to Fenway Park always attracts much attention from supporters and players alike. Manager Joe Girardi is one man who will certainly be hoping his players rise to the occasion this weekend, with the Yankees in a run of poor form. Having been five years since either side achieved ninety wins in a single season, the Yankees has missed out on the playoffs twice in the past three seasons, while the Red Sox have finished in last place three times in the past four seasons. It is little wonder Betway offer odds of 26/1 and 13/1 respectively for the two sides to win this year’s World Series.



The Red Sox are the form team going into the fixture having won their last four games, while the Yankees find themselves ranked fourteenth in runs scored so far this campaign.

Easy Ways to Fix the Yankees Struggling Offense

The New York Yankees offense is struggling in the worst way this season. Many key contributors have struggled or are currently struggling and the team’s issues with hitting with runners in scoring position are already well documented across the Yankees blogosphere. Brian Cashman won’t fix it. He’s already said as much as we learned earlier today. So how can the Yankees “kick start themselves” and turn this thing around without an addition or a trade?

You can start by benching Chase Headley. The Boston Red Sox had no problem telling Pablo Sandoval, who makes almost twice as much as Headley does before you make this about money, to ride the bench and earn his spot so why do the Yankees refuse to? Headley is hitting for zero power, he isn’t getting any extra-base hits and even his walks are negated by everything else. His defense is stellar at times and atrocious at others and his line drive percentages and other advanced metrics just aren’t giving anyone a warm and fuzzy feeling right now. Headley finished the month of April with a .150 slugging percentage. Let that sink in, only 12 players in MLB history have done that. Put in Ronald Torreyes, call up Robert Refsnyder, do what you have to do but it’s obvious that this experiment is not working.

Give Dustin Ackley more at bats. Ackley finished the month of April with just 16 at-bats after being donned the Yankees super utility player in the spring. Aaron Hicks has almost twice as many at-bats as Ackley and he has a pair of hits to show for it. Ackley gave the Yankees a spark and some good at-bats at the end of last season after coming off the disabled list and it bothers me to think he is rotting on the Yankees bench while Headley stinks up the joint.

Add chemistry. The Yankees 2015 squad was littered with team chemistry. You could see it on the field and you could see it in the dugout. They are painting a much different picture here thus far in 2016. Is Nick Swisher the answer for that? Is there a clear and concise answer for that? This I do not know but this team looks bored, complacent and lackadaisical right now and it’s showing not only on the field but in the wins and loss columns as well.

The final way to improve the offense is to fix the pitching. Send Luis Severino down, insert Ivan Nova into the starting rotation, move CC Sabathia to the bullpen, pitch Masahiro Tanaka every second or third day. Do what you have to do but desperate times call for desperate measures and the Yankees have to be feeling awfully desperate right about now, aren’t they?

Has Anyone Seen Mark Teixeira?

Extra! Extra! Read all about it. Yankees first baseman missing offensively for weeks now and no one has taken notice. If you’ve seen this man return him to Yankee Stadium and/or call Brian Cashman at 1-800-GoYanks1.

In all seriousness though while much of the attention has been on Alex Rodriguez, until recently, Chase Headley and guys like Jacoby Ellsbury and Aaron Hicks the real question that Yankees fans need to be asking themselves is where has Mark Teixeira been for the past couple of weeks?

The Yankees don’t have Greg Bird to fall back on if Teixeira cannot perform or gets hurt and the team is really banking on a huge contract season from their first baseman for a plethora of reasons. One being that the team wants to compete in 2016 and the other being the presumable qualifying offer coming his way after this season. If he has a huge season it’s unlikely, even as he inches towards 37-years old, that he accepts it where as if he struggles or has a mediocre season he may be back in the Bronx for one more go around to give Bird all the time he needs after offseason shoulder surgery.

I can tell you one thing though, Teixeira’s stats to date have been neither mediocre nor have they shown any inkling of a monster season. Sure Teixeira has three home runs and 11 RBI as he entered Camden Yards last night for the series with the Baltimore Orioles but one must remember the old adage of “what have you done for me lately?” Remember that Teixeira hit two of those three home runs in the opening series of the season against the Houston Astros and his third home run came on April 14^th of this year. Since that home run Teixeira has had just one extra-base hit and a whopping three RBI. This is not middle of the lineup caliber and this is not a great trending sign for a free agent to be whom wants to play for “four or five more years.”

Sure Teixeira is historically bad in April and he may just be priming up for a huge May, June, July etc. but until it happens I just can’t see it. The Yankees pitching staff has been inconsistent and horrible outside of the bullpen and Masahiro Tanaka for the most part and the pressure of being behind in almost every single game is spilling over to the offense. It’s obvious and it’s going to take a village to raise this child and at the head of that village has to be Mark Teixeira or the Yankees are in serious, serious trouble. 

Quick Hit: The USA Today Explains the Yankees Offensive Woes in One Picture

Photo: USA Today Yankees Page

If a picture is worth a thousand words what will the picture above be worth if the team doesn’t change their offensive ways in 2016 and beyond? When I say change their offensive ways I mean if the team doesn’t get away from the #TooManyDamnHrs mantra and move towards situational hitting, bunting, fundamental baseball and THEN sitting back and waiting for the three run home run. Here is the Yankees offensive problem in a nutshell.

The team’s batting average is well below league average. The team simply does not hit the ball for a base hit three times out of every ten at bats, a lot of the team struggles to even hit the ball in play for a base hit 2.5 times out of every ten at bats. The team is far below average in the average department but the team can knock the ball over the fence like there is no tomorrow. The team lost a step or three to the Toronto Blue Jays after losing Mark Teixeira in the home run department but has still lived and died by the long ball, a recipe that has historically not worked when the calendar changed to October.

The Yankees can score runs at an above average clip but it is how those runs come across the board that may once again haunt this team when they face above average pitching on any given night in the playoffs. 

The Yankees Are Putting Papa John's Out of Business

As you guys know and have seen many times this season we like to have a little fun when the Yankees are not playing a game this evening. With this being the last off day in the regular season I figured we'd have some fun with another post tonight, a post that details the number of times the New York Yankees have scored at least six runs in a game. As we all know by now and have heard Michael Kay say numerous times over the season if the Yankees score six or more runs you can get 50% off your online order at Papa Johns Pizza the next day with the coupon code "YANKEES." The Bronx Bombers have to be putting Papa Johns out of business by now, no?

Rk	Date		Opp	R	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance
6	Sunday, Apr 12		BOS	14	Tanaka	Buchholz		43,019
7	Monday, Apr 13	@	BAL	6	Pineda	Hunter	Miller	21,633
11	Saturday, Apr 18	@	TBR	9	Tanaka	Odorizzi		20,824
15	Wednesday, Apr 22	@	DET	13	Warren	Price		27,389
17	Friday, Apr 24		NYM	6	Pineda	deGrom		45,310
19	Sunday, Apr 26		NYM	6	Shreve	Niese	Miller	47,510
25	Sunday, May 3	@	BOS	8	Warren	Kelly	Miller	33,198
27	Tuesday, May 5	@	TOR	6	Pineda	Estrada	Miller	21,519
32	Sunday, May 10		BAL	6	Pineda	Norris		39,059
33	Monday, May 11	@	TBR	11	Sabathia	Colome		10,619
40	Tuesday, May 19	@	WSN	6	Grace	Miller		37,355
42	Friday, May 22		TEX	9	Lewis	Pineda	Ohlendorf	40,008
45	Monday, May 25		KCR	14	Eovaldi	Guthrie		36,031
52	Monday, Jun 1	@	SEA	7	Pineda	Hernandez		26,082
55	Friday, Jun 5		LAA	8	Eovaldi	Weaver	Betances	40,310
56	Saturday, Jun 6		LAA	8	Warren	Richards		40,096
57	Sunday, Jun 7		LAA	6	Sabathia	Wilson		43,178
58	Tuesday, Jun 9		WSN	6	Tanaka	Scherzer		36,613
66	Thursday, Jun 18		MIA	9	Shreve	Dunn		38,239
67	Friday, Jun 19		DET	7	Warren	Verlander		44,588
68	Saturday, Jun 20		DET	14	Eovaldi	Simon	Mitchell	48,092
70	Monday, Jun 22		PHI	8	Diekman	Pineda		36,883
71	Tuesday, Jun 23		PHI	6	Giles	Betances		36,198
72	Wednesday, Jun 24		PHI	10	Nova	Hamels		45,877
75	Saturday, Jun 27	@	HOU	9	Shreve	Neshek	Betances	41,133
80	Friday, Jul 3		TBR	7	Shreve	Geltz		43,141
85	Thursday, Jul 9		OAK	6	Tanaka	Chavez		40,084
88	Sunday, Jul 12	@	BOS	8	Eovaldi	Miley		37,283
94	Thursday, Jul 23		BAL	9	Tanaka	Jimenez		46,875
96	Saturday, Jul 25	@	MIN	8	Warren	Perkins	Miller	40,660
97	Sunday, Jul 26	@	MIN	7	Eovaldi	Gibson		37,391
98	Monday, Jul 27	@	TEX	6	Nova	Harrison		33,691
99	Tuesday, Jul 28	@	TEX	21	Moreno	Perez	Warren	28,403
101	Thursday, Jul 30	@	TEX	6	Tolleson	Miller		34,407
102	Friday, Jul 31	@	CHW	13	Eovaldi	Rodon		30,359
104	Sunday, Aug 2	@	CHW	12	Nova	Samardzija		38,840
105	Tuesday, Aug 4		BOS	13	Tanaka	Owens		48,522
113	Thursday, Aug 13	@	CLE	8	Eovaldi	Bauer	Miller	23,076
117	Monday, Aug 17		MIN	8	Miller	Perkins		38,493
118	Tuesday, Aug 18		MIN	8	Rumbelow	Graham	Miller	38,007
122	Saturday, Aug 22		CLE	6	Severino	Salazar		47,031
127	Friday, Aug 28	@	ATL	15	Tanaka	Perez		35,546
129	Sunday, Aug 30	@	ATL	20	Eovaldi	Teheran		33,093
132	Wednesday, Sep 2	@	BOS	13	Tanaka	Owens		34,416
135	Sunday, Sep 6		TBR	6	Nova	Archer	Miller	35,299
136	Monday, Sep 7		BAL	8	Wilson	Rondon	Miller	31,039
141	Saturday, Sep 12 (2)		TOR	7	Stroman	Nova	Lowe	46,278

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

As you can see the Yankees have reached that magical six runs in a game mark 47 times this season. That's a lot of pizza and that's a ton of savings. With all the competition in New York, and in my opinion the much better tasting pizza in the area, Papa Johns has to be hurting when they are giving away orders for 50% off, no? This was all in fun, Papa Johns isn't going anywhere, but it goes to show you just how good this offense can be.