Game Thread: NYY @ COL 5/8

The Yankees and the Rockies will play game two of their three game set with the Yankees trying to even the series up at one game a piece. The Yankees are desperately trying to get the offense going and that is obvious with Yankees pitcher David Phelps batting 8th tonight and pitching. Feel free to use this thread to talk about the game or to tell us how much Joe Girardi is not Tony LaRussa. Also give us a follow on twitter, @GreedyStripes, and tweet with us there.

Here is the Yankees lineup

Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells LF
Lyle Overbay 1B
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Jayson Nix SS
Chris Nelson 3B
David Phelps P
Austin Romine C

This Day In Yankees History 5/8

On this day in 2009 Alex Rodriguez wasted no time getting back into the groove of things as he hit the first pitch he saw that season for a three run home run. Alex missed the first month and a half of the season after his first hip surgery. The Yankees would beat the Orioles 4-0 t snap a five game losing streak.

Yankees Prospects Injury Updates

Manny Banuelos, who had Tommy John surgery, is throwing at 120 feet and doing long toss. It is a matter of weeks before ManBan is back on a mound according to Mark Newman.

Chase Whitley, who suffered an oblique injury in spring training, is throwing in extended spring training games and is a week to 10 days from returning to Scranton or Trenton.

Angelo Gumbs, who has a sprained right middle finger, is also playing in extended spring training games. Newman says that it is probably going to be a couple more weeks before Angelo is back with the Charleston Riverdogs.

Adonis Garcia, who had his hamate bone in his right hand broken this spring, is finally taking batting practice. He is not in extended spring training yet but expects to be soon.

Ravel Santana, who is still nursing a 2011 devastating ankle injury, is being brought along slowly here in 2013. He came back in 2012 but was never really right with that ankle. Ravel is now playing in extended spring training games but there is no time table on when he will be back.

Curtis Granderson To Start Rehab Tomorrow

Sources tell me Curtis Granderson will open a rehab stint with SWB on Thursday night. bit.ly/17Mw7pK

— Donnie Collins (@RailRidersTT) May 8, 2013

According to Donnie Collins on twitter Yankees injured center fielder Curtis Granderson is going to start his 30 day minor league rehab assignment tomorrow with the Scranton Railriders. Granderson does not necessarily have to use all 30 days, and probably won't, but that is the max that he can use. He should be with the team as early as next week but probably not before next weekend.

New York Yankees @ Colorado Rockies 5/8

The Yankees and the Rockies will play their second game of their three game set at Coors Field tonight. The Yankees will be sending David Phelps to the mound to face off with Juan Nicasio looking to hand Nicasio his first loss of the season. Phelps will be making his second start for injured pitcher Ivan Nova. The game will be televised at 8:40 pm ET on YES and MLB TV.

Ivan Nova Will Possibly Return On Monday

As long as Ivan Nova gets through his Extended Spring Training start today without any problems, Joe Girardi said that he'd likely start one half of the doubleheader on Monday against the Indians.

Although there are other Yankees currently suffering from injuries that I'd like to see return instead, it's good to see somebody coming off the DL instead of being put on it.

Looking at Nova's Batting Average on Balls In Play against of .458, which is well above his career average BABIP of .313, there's reason to be optimistic. But Ivan clearly has some work to do, as evidenced by his Line Drive percentage of 30% (his career average is 20%).

Let's hope that he and the Yankee coaches were able to figure something out during his time away.

Ty Hensley Likely To Miss 2013

Back in February I was lucky enough to speak with Ty Hensley over the phone. I wanted to ask questions that haven't already been answered by Ty during other interviews, and therefore we talked about his chances of playing college football, his very athletic brother, playing video games, along with a few other things. Looking back I wish I asked more, but I was happy to get through the few questions I did without sounding like a total fool.

One of the things we didn't talk about was his shoulder "abnormality", which cost Hensley $400,000 in signing bonus money (he was originally set to be signed for $1.6 million, but after the Yankees found the "abnormality" that bonus was knocked down to $1.2 million). So when I heard that Tyler would likely miss all of 2013 due to injury, I assumed his shoulder was the problem. That wasn't the case though, but unfortunately the real issue isn't much better.

Chad Jennings reported that, according to VP of Baseball Operations Mark Newman, Ty Hensley had surgery on his hip to repair labrum damage. And when Newman was asked about Hensley's target return date, he answered "Spring Training".

I am still, and forever will be, grateful that Ty took the time to speak with me. He's an incredible person, and we here at The Greedy Pinstripes wish him the best.

Game 34 Lineup: Yankees @ Rockies

No, what you're seeing isn't a typo. David Phelps is actually hitting 8th...before the catcher. Here's the lineup.

Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells LF
Lyle Overbay 1B
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Jayson Nix SS
Chris Nelson 3B
David Phelps P
Austin Romine C

Game Thread NYY @ COL 5/7

The Yankees play their first interleague game in over a year as they travel to Coors Field tonight to play the Rockies. Hiroki Kuroda will be on the mound as he has once again been the Yankees best pitcher this year and not getting any of the recognition for it. Feel free to use this thread to talk during the game, if you feel like staying up till midnight to see the end of this game, or tweet with us on twitter by following @GreedyStripes. 

Here is the Yankees lineup

Ichiro Suzuki CF
Jayson Nix SS
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells LF
Ben Francisco RF
Lyle Overbay 1B
Chris Nelson 3B
Chris Stewart C

Hiroki Kuroda 

Daily Yankees Injury Updates From Tampa

Michael Pineda pitched in an extended spring training game today and came through everything as planned. Michael is still rehabbing on a right throwing shoulder surgery that he got last season. Pineda is reportedly throwing in the mid 90's as he continues to try and get back from the majors. Pineda is expected back some time in June for the Yankees.

Cesar Cabral has been pitching in extended spring games as well and looks good and healthy. With Cabral only being a reliever and not having to build up as many innings as Pineda he is expected to be back in early June. The Yankees still have a 30 day rehab window clock that they can use to allow him to get some AA and AAA innings before coming up to the majors.

Francisco Cervelli told Anthony McCarron that he is still about five or six weeks away from any kind of baseball activities after breaking his right hand and getting surgery on the hand. This would make the original time table of six weeks missed obviously unrealistic. With Cervelli on the 60 day DL I guess some of kind of wondered if this was going to take longer than the original six weeks but I think we were all afraid to say it out loud, I know I was.

Ivan Nova is expected to pitch in an extended spring training game tomorrow and is lined up to pitch one of the game against the Cleveland Indians next Monday when we have a straight double header. Girardi said that it is a definite possibility that Nova could be activated off the DL to make this start even without any starts in the minors.

I think tampa climatized me.. Lil chilly here in Scranton
— Clay Rapada (@pada5something) May 7, 2013

Clay Rapada is in Scranton with the Railriders after rehabbing his shoulder bursitis in his left throwing shoulder. Just as a reminder Clay is not on the DL and can join the Scranton team any time following an obvious roster move. Clay signed a minor league deal with the Yankees after being designated for assignment late in the spring.

Curtis Granderson got five more at bats down in extended spring training working towards his goal of 50-75 at bats before returning to the majors. I do not have an official or unofficial count on his at bats but we have to be in the double digits by now.

David Robertson is expected to throw before the game and make the decision on whether he is available or not then. Both Joe Girardi and David Robertson expect for David to be ready for tonight but at this point we cannot take anything for granted with anyone. The Yankees desperately need the bullpen help so let's hope for the best for David.