Off Day Open Thread

Bernie Williams on 3/21 played the song "No Way Out" with the Allman Brothers Band at the Beacon Theater. Enjoy and talk about anything on this Spring Training Off Day.

Joba Chamberlain Update

From Buster Olney:

Joba Chamberlain is likely to speak to reporters later in the week, and he's expected to tell them his life was never in jeopardy after his accident last Thursday.

Making an Impression

I put very little stock into Spring Training numbers, as I've probably mentioned a time or two. However, that doesn't mean I'm not impressed with some of the young guys we've seen so far.

Jose Gil
In 16 at bats Jose has put up a line of .563/.526/.750, which includes 3 doubles. Gil is a 25 year old catcher that's been with the Yankee organization since 2005. He's struggled since his debut in rookie ball, but last season he did put up a triple-slash of .253/.344/.394 to go along with 6HR in 249 at bats. He could emerge from the shadow created by fellow catching prospects Austin Romine and Gary Sanchez.

Doug Bernier
Okay, he'll be 32 years old in June, so calling him "young" is a bit of a stretch. But this is a guy that's spent 10 years in the minor leagues, while only getting 4 MLB at bats in 2008 with the Rockies. I'm surprised that's all he got in MLB, as he put up a line of .310/.396/.407 with AAA Colorado Springs the season before. But I know very little about the Rockies, so perhaps it was simply a matter of not having a spot for him. Anyway, Doug has hit .385/.429/.538 with 4 doubles this spring, and he has plenty of experience at all four infield positions.

Justin Maxwell
It's too bad that Justin Maxwell is out of options, because I'd love to keep him in the organization. He's hit .429/.508/.607 this spring, to go along with 4 stolen bases. In 48 games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last year he hit .260/.358/.588 with 16 home runs and 11 stolen bases. Justin's had 260 MLB plate appearances, so there's no doubt that other teams are going to jump all over him if he hits waivers (looking at the projected Yankee bench, that seems to be an inevitability).

Cesar Cabral
Cesar has not played above AA ball, having spent his entire career up to this point in the Red Sox organization, but he's made a strong case for being one of 25 players that will go North. In 9.1 innings pitched Cabral has only give up 2 earned runs, while ringing up a very impressive 12 strikeouts while giving up only 1 walk. The .270 batting average against isn't great, but he looks like a Rule V pick well worth holding onto.

Clay Rapada
Rapada, like Bernier, is not exactly "young". Baltimore DFA'd Clay on February 15th, and the Yankees wasted little time in signing him to a minor-league deal 5 days later. His 10 Ks to go along with 3 BBs looks good this spring, along with the fact he's yet to give up any earned runs in 7.1 innings, but it's his .120 batting average against that really caught my eye. If he can keep his walks down he could be a nice addition to the Yankee bullpen.

David Phelps
David's walked a few more guys this spring than he has in his minor league career. In 4 seasons with the Yankees farm system his BB/9 is 2.0, while he's walked 4 batters in 11 innings this spring (a rate of 3.27 per 9IP). It's a very small sample size, so I expect that walk-rate to lower. His batting average against is only .200, so he's making a good case to get a call-up should the need for a starter arise during 2012. He's either going to be a good challenger for a rotation spot for the Yankees as soon as next season, or he's going to make another team pretty happy.

Flurry Of Roster Moves -- 3/25

Ramiro Pena was optioned to AAA today but he is not the only one on his way out of spring training. Players assigned to minor league camps today include:

Manny Delcarmen
Kevin Whelan
Jose Gil
Colin Curtis
Cole Garner

That roster just keeps shrinking...

Twitterview with Yankees prospect Hayden Sharp

Special thanks to our friend Greg at Evil Empire Prospects and now his new home over at Bronx Daily Baseball. Congratulations on the new job buddy and we hope you nothing but the best!

The New York Yankees selected Hayden Sharp out of high school with their 18th round draft pick in 2011. He hails from Oklahoma and was a three sport athlete in high school.

Now you will all get to meet him through the wonderful social network known as Twitter. Just to clarify, a Twitterview is an interview on Twitter. Not sure if that term has been coined already, but if not, I now own the copyright.

This particular Twitterview was done through direct messages, and both sides were limited by how much space is allowed in each message. Regardless, I got a chance to get in quite a few questions and get a feel for where Hayden is headed, and what kind of person he is. In this interview, he wasn’t a man of many words, but was able to succinctly get his point across within the limitations of twitter. He was really cooperative and helpful, and even put a picture up on twitter specifically for the article!

BBD: Hayden, I’m getting started with Bronx Baseball Daily and I was hoping to get an interview with you. You’d just have to answer a few questions.

Sharp: Ask away

BBD: Awesome. People are gonna love this. What was your initial reaction when you got the phone call that said you were drafted by the Yankees?

Sharp: I was extremely excited! I knew that all my hard work had finally paid off.

BBD: What made you decide to sign with the Yankees?

Sharp: The opportunity was something I just couldn’t pass up. I never thought I would get to be a professional baseball player.

BBD: What kinds of things did the coaches have you working on at instructs and has that helped you in the offseason and during spring training?

Sharp: Just staying balanced and working on the location of my pitches…

BBD: What player do you look up to most in the mlb and why?

Hayden: I don’t really have a single player I look up to. I just like to think that if I work as hard as they did i can be in that position one day.

BBD: What is your focus this season?

Hayden: I just want to pitch the best I can and get better on every outing I have. As long as I improve everyday I’ll be happy

BBD: What is your biggest strength as a player?

Hayden: I think my strength right now is being able to learn in a short amount of time. I feel like I’ve gotten so much better since I was drafted.

BBD: They tell you where you’ll start yet? GCL or Staten Island?

Hayden: I’ll definitely start in the GCL. I’m going to do my best to be in Staten Island by the end of the year.

BBD: Okay last one, make it good! What pitches do you throw? Which is your best, Which needs the most work?

Hayden: I throw a change slider and fastball. The slider is my best pitch and the change needs the most work. I need to work it down in the zone, and also stay consistent with my arm slot.

Click here for a video of Hayden working out before the velocity increase.

At 6’6 200 lbs, 19-year-old Sharp has a perfect body for pitching. Before May of 2011 Sharp didn’t even know he had a chance to be drafted. The video above is from an Under Armour Baseball Factory event in September 2010. As you can see he was throwing 85-88 in that workout. Then, all of a sudden, a scout’s radar gun clocked him about 10 mph higher in May 2011. He then possessed a 96-97 mph fastball, and all the scouts came a knockin’. Lo behold, Sharp was drafted in the 18th round of the MLB draft by the Yankees, and given a summer follow. After the summer follow, the Yankees went ahead and signed him.

Sharp is an athletic kid, as he was a three sport athlete in high school. He was planning on playing QB in college in addition to baseball before his sudden velo increase. He’s considered a relatively raw prospect, as professional baseball wasn’t on his radar until late in the game, but he’s got an extremely high ceiling.

He pitched all summer, working on his mechanics and trying to get his control where it needs to be. At instructs he was able to average low-mid 90′s while exhibiting much more control. He also worked on a slider at instructs. Now throwing three pitches, a fastball, slider, and changeup, he will test his stuff out in the GCL, and if he performs well there then he’ll end up at Staten Island. The changeup is traditionally a very difficult pitch to master, but if he can harness the fastball slider combo this year, while maintaining his mechanics and continuing to improve his control, he could be in for a big year.

Before being drafted, Sharp could not have focused on baseball, as he was busy playing football and basketball during the other sports seasons. Now that he can focus on baseball, it’s safe to say there will be a rapid improvement. The athleticism he must have from playing QB and basketball will help matters even more. At 6’6, some players will struggle with repeating their delivery. I think with time, this will not be an issue for Sharp due to his athleticism.

The velocity was down a bit this summer, but at his age, and with better mechanics, there is no reason it won’t come back up. For the record, 92-94 mph is nothing to scoff at coming from a 19 year old. The velocity should come up for a multitude of reasons. First being the fact that the new arm motion will at some point become second nature to him, and secondly because he’s athletic, and will no doubt gain strength over the years.

It is too early to make any kind of projection, but Sharp will begin his career as a starting pitcher. Depending on the development of his secondary pitches, including the slider and the changeup, he could either remain a starter or he could end up in the bullpen. If the slider is truly his best pitch as he believes it is, then he’s already got a great secondary offering to work with.

Wherever he ends up, Sharp has a ton of potential and I wouldn’t bet against him. With a big season, he could quickly make it into the Yankees top 15-20 prospects. His ceiling is that of a front end starter, although it’s important to be realistic in our expectations of such a young and raw player.

Sharp is one of six high school drafted pitchers this year, the first time in a long time the Yankees have drafted this many. Jordan Cote (3rd round), Rookie Davis (14th round), Daniel Camarena (20th round), Chaz Hebert (27th round), and Joey Maher (38th round) will all join Sharp in the lower minors this year. It will be interesting to watch them all come up together, and to see how they all develop as time goes by.

Special thanks to Hayden for granting me my very first player interview, and as I told him, he will have one blogger rooting for him in a big way this season.

Injury Updates For 3/25/12

Joba Chamberlain went for tests on his ankle and the tests came back with no micro fractures, which is about the best news that he could have gotten at this point. Now the infection watch is on but he is still in the hospital at the time of the post so he is in good hands.

Francisco Cervelli left yesterdays game after being hit by a pitch in the left leg. This was nothing more then a precautionary move and after some ice and rest for a day or two he should be back on the field. Like I said it was precautionary but you can never be too cautious with Cervelli with his (freak) injury history.

Three More Players Assigned To Minor League Camps

Dellin Betances, Mike O'Connor, and Juan Cedeno were all assigned to minor league camps thus making the last roster spot competition a little bit clearer. Clay Rapada and Cesar Cabral will use these last couple of weeks to battle it out for the LOOGY spot.

Spring Training 3/25/12

Here is today's lineup courtesy of Lohud and it has Eduardo Nunez in Right Field... interesting.

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2012/03/25/nunez-in-right-vs-tigers/

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Russell Martin C
Andruw Jones DH
Eduardo Nunez RF
Brett Gardner LF

RHP Michael Pineda

Spring Training 3/24/12

Today the Yankees and Sweaty Freddy Garcia took on Max Scherzer and the Detroit Tigers down in Detroit's Joker Marchant Stadium.

This game was quite the pitchers duel with both teams being held scoreless going into the 7th inning when Raul Ibanez hit a two run home run off of Scherzer to break the tie. Freddy Garcia finished the day with 4.1 IP with four K's and 2 BB's. DJ Mitchell allowed a home run and a sac fly to tie the game up in the 9th and DeWayne Wise walked off the game with a 2 run home run in the 10th inning. The Yankees win 4-2.

Next on the schedule for the Yanks is tomorrow against this same Detroit Tigers team, but this time at George Steinbrenner Field. Michael Pineda will make the start and Derek Jeter is expected to make the start. The game will be on at 1:05 pm ET on MLB TV.

Joba's Loss Is Not Massive

I haven't heard anybody say they're worried about David Robertson since he suffered a bone bruise on his right/push-off foot about 2 weeks ago. Not that they should have been. However, just in case, I wanted to pass along a report from ESPN.com that David Robertson threw 29 pitches in a simulated inning Friday morning. And he'll apparently throw in a Spring Training game sometime next week.

With the loss of Joba Chamberlain, possibly forever, I'll be keeping a close eye on David Robertson. Although I'm not really worried about the bullpen (read my post about the Joba news here), there is a small chance Rafael Soriano opts out of his contract after this season, Rivera retires, leaving Robertson as the top reliever.

I may not be a prospect hugger like our good friend, Burch, but I believe the minors offers somebody that could take over a key roll in the 'pen. Whether or not that's Dellin Betances, who some believe is a future reliever rather than a future starter, or somebody else, there's a lot of talent to choose from.

CC Sabathia is signed through 2016 (with an option for 2017), Michael Pineda is under team control through 2016, Ivan Nova is under team control through 2016, and Manny Banuelos looks like he could help the Yankee rotation right now (even if he started this season in New York, he'd be under team control through 2017). So there may only be one rotation spot for Dellin Betances, Adam Warren, David Phelps, DJ Mitchell, Jose Campos, etc. So the bullpen will have a number of options to fill in where needed.

Strange seeing me talk about prospects helping the big club in the future, huh? Just don't expect me to talk like that when it comes to starters or everyday hitters.