Alex Rodriguez & David Aardsma Tampa Yankees Results

As you know both David Aardsma and Alex Rodriguez began their respected rehab assignments last night with the High A Tampa Yankees. The Tampa team ended up winning the game.... but that is not why we are here we want to check on our stars.

Alex grounded out in his first at bat, walked in his second at bat, and drew boo's in his third at bat with a strike out looking. He did score a run on a Tyler Austin double but we are not paying him to walk and run the bases. Alex struck out swinging in his fourth at bat and really heard it from the crowd.

David Aardsma was on the mound for the first time in what seems like forever after hip surgery and Tommy John surgery in that same game last night. Aardsma pitched to four batters, walking one, in his one scoreless inning. He has come a long way so I am not even worried about the results I am just glad he is back and working his way back to the majors.

Yankees Announce First Round Of September Call Ups

Welcome to September who will hopefully be good to the Yankees, unlike August. With September comes expanded rosters and September call ups. The Yankees announced their first round of September callups late yesterday and they include Francisco Cervelli, Eduardo Nunez, Chris Dickerson (finally). Cory Wade, Adam Warren, and Justin Thomas. The Yankees will need to make a 40 ma roster move to include Dickerson on the roster and I expect that to have something to do with Dellin Betances. Call it a hunch but that is what I expect.

Orioles @ Yankees 8/31/12

Yankees lose 6-1

The Yankees will begin a weekend series with AL East foe and wild card hopeful the Baltimore Orioles at Yankees Stadium tonight. On the mound for the Yankees will be Hiroki Kuroda looking for yet another quality start. On the mound for the Orioles will be Miguel Gonzalez who has not pitched in 11 days. The game will be televised at 7:05 pm ET on the YES Network.

Lineups

1. Jeter SS
2. Swish 1B
3. Cano 2B
4. Granderson CF
5. Chavez 3B
6. Ibanez LF
7. Martin C
8. Ichiro RF
9. Nix DH

Go Yankees!!

Mega Prediction Game


Do not forget to get your predictions in before first pitch. Here are mine:

8/31- 9/2 Baltimore Orioles Vs New York Yankees

Game 1 Win - 3 Pts (Gonzalez vs. Kuroda)
Game 2 Win - 1 Pt (Chen vs. Garcia)
Game 3 Win - 2 Pts (TBD vs. Phelps)

The Next 10 Days Will Make Or Break Our Season

The title says it all the next 10 games will absolutely make or break our season. We spend the next 10 days facing the only two threats to us winning the AL East division, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Baltimore Orioles. It starts tonight when the Yankees will host the second place Baltimore Orioles for a three game set at Yankees Stadium only three games ahead in the standings and includes a three game set with the Rays and another four game set with the O's.With just 4 games separating these three teams and with us playing each other a ton in the next month things should get all figured out, or more jumbled up.

We are set up as well as we could want for the Tampa Bay series as we have Phil Hughes, CC Sabathia, and Hiroki Kuroda set to pitch in the three game set. The series is down in Tropicana Field in Tampa where we have had some trouble as of late but this is a veteran team and this is officially crunch time. The best news of all is that we miss David Price so I want to feel good about this series, as hard as it has been lately to feel optimistic about anything to do with this team.

After the Tampa series we travel to Baltimore for a big four game set that will really determine the AL East in my opinion. The Yankees will have CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes, David Phelps/Freddy Garcia, and if everything goes well Ivan Nova will be eligible to come off the 15 day DL.

The Yankees basically control their own destiny. It is a pretty simple philosophy but it could not be more true... If we win, we are in. If we lose, things get interesting. I am getting older now and do not want even MORE years taken off my life with a division run down to the last weekend... so just win!!

Take A Stadium Journey Of George Steinbrenner Field

Our friends over at Stadium Journey are at it again and this time visiting George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida home of the High A Yankees affiliate the Tampa Yankees. The first line of the article I found amusing as it says "George Steinbrenner would not be amused" and it totally caught my attention. This will tell you everything you need to know about the stadium and a little bit of the history of the Yankees and their presence in Tampa, Florida. Check it out for a great read!

David Aardsma To Begin Rehab Assignment Tomorrow

This post feels eerily familiar. Earlier we reported that Alex Rodriguez would begin his rehab assignment tomorrow for the Tampa Yankees and he will have some company in David Aardsma. Aardsma has been shut down since June when he felt some fatigue in his surgically repaired arm. If he can make it back without any set backs he looks like he could be in the bullpen come late September. Do not expect him to come back and be Mariano though just be happy that he is back.

TGP's Mega Prediction Game

Starting with the series tomorrow against the Baltimore Orioles, 8/31, The Greedy Pinstripes will be test running something that we plan to implement EXCLUSIVELY on TGP next season... A Mega Prediction Game. We will be running this from tomorrow all the way to the end of the season to see who is the best at wagering and predicting the New York Yankees.

No game is without a prize. The winner will receive a New York Yankees keychain seen HERE!

 Now here are the rules for the game:

You will predict the outcome of every game one series at a time. You will predict whether the Yankees will win or lose the game but will also wager a point amount determined by how many games are in the series. If there is a three game series , like the one starting tomorrow, you will be able to wage a 3 Pt, a 2Pt, and a 1 Pt game. In a four game series you will see a 4 Pt game added. For example:

8/31- 9/2 Baltimore Orioles Vs New York Yankees

Game 1 Win - 3 Pts(Kuroda)
Game 2 Win - 1 Pt(Garcia)
Game 3 Win - 2 Pts (Phelps)

All predictions must be submitted in the comment box, on twitter @GreedyStripes, or via email at TheGreedyPinstripes@gmail.com BEFORE the first pitch of the game. If it is not predicted before the first pitch of the game then you are penalized your highest point game. If you were to miss the prediction tomorrow then you would only be allowed your two lowest wagers. See example:


8/31- 9/2 Baltimore Orioles Vs New York Yankees

Game 1 MISSED (Kuroda)
Game 2 Win - 1 Pt(Garcia)
Game 3 Win - 2 Pts (Phelps)

Tie breakers will be whoever predicts the most perfect series meaning who gets the most series predicted correctly. If there is still not a winner then we will use the playoffs as a tie breaker. You MUST be a registered user to use the comment box to play the game. No anonymous users will be counted in our tallies or be eligible for the prize, although you can still play for fun if you would like.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I encourage everyone reading this to participate because it is completely free and really fun. I have run this now for 5 seasons in the Yankees forum at DailySportsPages.com and it has always been a big hit. This, again, is a dry run so any comments or feedback is appreciated. Go Yankees!!

Alex Rodriguez To Begin Rehab Assignment Tomorrow

Hallelujah!!!

Alex Rodriguez will start his rehab assignment for a broken hand tomorrow when he plays DH for the High A Yankees affiliate the Tampa Yankees. If all goes well with the hand Alex will be available in the field Saturday for the Tampa squad. Getting Alex back in the middle of that lineup can really change things, whether he is producing or not, so let us hope he gets back soon.

Take A Stadium Journey Of The Home Of The Trenton Thunder

Our friends over at Stadium Journey have done another visit to a park and this time it is Mercer County Waterfront Park, home of the AA Yankees affiliate the Trenton Thunder! This site will tell you everything you need to know about the park down to the food, the bathrooms, the lines, the fans, the neighborhood around the stadium, and really much more then you ever would think. Go check them out as they have a stadium journey for about every team you can think of. Great site and great guys!

Playoff Predictions : The Teams

We are a little over a month away from the playoffs with almost half the teams fighting for a playoff spot. With MLB adding a second wild card it has definitely made these games more interesting and maybe a little more parity to Major League Baseball. If the season were to end today this is how the playoff teams would rank and stack up:

East - New York Yankees (3.5 game lead) 

 Central - Chicago White Sox (3) 

 West - Texas Rangers (4.5) 

Wild Card 1 - Oakland A's (0.5)

Wild Card 2 - Baltimore Orioles (0.5)

 East - Washington Nationals (5 game lead)

 Central - Cincinnati Reds (8) 

 West - San Francisco Giants (3.5)

 Wild Card 1 - Atlanta Braves (3)

 Wild Card 2 - St. Louis Cardinals (0.5)

If the playoffs started today this is how the first round of the playoffs, including the one game playoff for the wild card teams, would look according to records and such:

Baltimore Orioles vs  Oakland Athletics

Wild Card Winner vs Texas Rangers

Chicago White Sox vs New York Yankees

St. Louis Cardinals vs Atlanta Braves

Wild Card Winner vs Washington Nationals 

San Francisco Giants vs Cincinnati Reds

I fully do not expect these standings to look like this come October baseball. There are too many teams out there who would love to spoil a playoff run. Here are the changes that I think are going to happen this September and early October:

I do not buy the Oakland Athletics as real contenders. They walk off a lot of games and it is to the point where they almost expect to walk off, which is great for confidence, but it is almost like they are relying on the walk off too much. Are the Angels good enough to make a run?

I really see Detroit making yet another second half push behind Verlander, Fister, etc. The White Sox are dealing with a tired arm of Chris Sale and a rookie in Jose Quintana to name a few. I expect the young pitching, mixed with the second half's biggest spoilers the Minnesota Twins, to knock the White Sox off their throne and all the way out of the playoffs. Plus they have Baltimore in front of them for the 2nd Wild Card and I see them as a much better team then the Orioles.

I do not buy the Pittsburgh Pirates. I did until they just continued to fade away from the Reds. They have a scary pitching staff that I would not want to see in a 1 game or 3 game series but they have to get their first and the Dodgers are MUCH improved. I see the Dodgers finding a way to get in that second playoff wild card spot. How can they not when getting Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Nick Punto, and Carl Crawford (for next season).

I think we see 3 playoff teams come from the AL East this season and 2 each from the NL West and NL East to round out the playoff teams.