Kevin Youkilis vs. David Adams

When it comes to the question of what position the Yankees should put Kevin Youkilis at upon his return, it's pretty clear. With Mark Teixeira at 1B (more on Tex and 1B here), Youk's only position is 3B. Kevin has played 134 innings in left field, but that was back in 2006. Since that time he only has 22.2 innings in the outfield (8.2 innings in RF in 2008).

"I do this at the hot corner, buddy!"

Most Yankee fans have come to really like David Adams. David's move to the Majors hasn't seemed a tough one at all, as many have commented on the fact that he doesn't seem overwhelmed in the least. So what can be done? Well, one idea in order to get Adams at bats is to use Youkilis as the designated hitter some times, opening up 3B for David. That makes sense since Travis Hafner is not that good against lefties, whereas Youkilis has hit them well. While Hafner has been getting on base at a good clip against left-handed pitching (.382 OBP), and hitting for some power (.502 SLG), his problem in that area is that he doesn't "hit" left-handers much at all (.222 batting average). Then there's Youk, who has hit .293/.413/.502 against LHP in his career, including .275/.386/.492 last season. So it looks as though Kevin should be the DH against lefites, while Hafner sits, thus giving Adams the start at third.

Before we pencil Adams into that spot, though, I have to ask... is he so good that the team should really try to get him more at bats in MLB?

So far this season David Adams has hit .265/.280/.449 (.314 wOBA). Mind you, 50 plate appearances is hardly a large sample size, but never-the-less those numbers don't scream "rookie of the year" either. Here are a few other statistics that I like to look at...

Line Driver Percentage - 15% That's not horrible, but a little low (the league average is 21%)
Batting Average on Balls in Play - .289 Although saying a player is lucky or unlucky based on his BABIP alone is not right to do, that number doesn't make me look deeper to see if Adams has simply run into bad luck.
Home Run Percentage - 4% (1.6% in minors) Looking at the number in the minors, I don't think Adams is going to keep up that 4%.
Walk Percentage - 0% (10.3% in minors) This is awful. Adams has yet to take a walk, and has actually only seen 6 three ball counts out of 50 plate appearances (Brennan Boesch, who has also had 50 PA, has seen 9 such counts).
Strikeout Percentage - 18% (16% in minors) That number is pretty good, as the league average SO% is 20%. Seeing that lower minor league strikeout rate, I think there's a chance he could keep this up.

To sum things up here, along with not taking any walks, Adams' only real issue is that he hasn't hit right-handed pitchers (.194/.216/.389). David is crushing lefties to the tune of .462/.462/.616, but the problem with that is the Yankees have only faced lefties in 33% of their total plate appearances.

"Are we facing a lefty today?"

On the other side of the coin, Kevin Youkilis is hitting .266/.347/.422 (.336 wOBA) so far in 2013. Over the last three years, Youk has hit .264/.372/.472, which tells me the Youkilis we've seen when healthy this season is pretty close to what we can expect from here on out. But what about his other numbers?

Line Driver Percentage - 20% (21% career) Youkilis has not only hit more balls hard this year, but throughout his career. And what we've seen so far in 2013 is normal.
Batting Average on Balls in Play - .341 (.322 career). Perhaps Youk has been a little lucky this season, but not enough to suggest a big regression.
Home Run Percentage - 2.8% (3.4% career) Kevin is actually hitting fewer home runs than normal. Now, I don't mean to imply that it's by a lot, but by year's end I think he'll hit more bombs than Adams would for sure.
Walk Percentage - 5.6% (12.2% career) Need I remind you of Youk's nickname? You know, the "Greek God of Walks"? Not only will Youkilis reach base more often thanks to bases on balls than David, but it's not by just a few.
Strikeout Percentage - 25% (18.6% career) It's not hard to see Youkilis' strikeout rate come down a bit. I don't see it getting down to the 18% that Adams currently sits at, but in the end those two will be fairly close.

In all, Kevin Youkilis is clearly the better hitter, and should absolutely not lose at bats to David Adams. But due to those lefty/righty splits, I can see Adams in every lineup against lefty starters. Not only that, but he could be a good bat off the bench in case Girardi needs someone to face a lefty reliever. My real qualm with the idea of Adams only playing part time is in regards to his development. Is starting around 25% of games, and getting another pinch-hit at bat here or there worth it? Some people feel that a player's development isn't necessarily stunted due to not playing every day, meaning that they can learn quite a bit just by observing games. Talking with MLB veterans and coaches, and seeing MLB pitchers up close, is certainly a big help. And allow me to ask another question... What's more valuable? 600 AAA plate appearances, or 300 MLB plate appearances?

Those 300 MLB plate appearances I just mentioned is not a number I grabbed out of thin air. You see, David Adams already has 163 PA this season. As a regular vs. lefty starters, Adams will get around 110 more plate appearances, based on 110 more games and around 25% of them against lefty starters. And at that point he could still get a few more plate appearances as a pinch-hitter, for around 300 total. And that's assuming Youkilis and Hafner don't miss any more time this season, which in and of itself is quite a stretch.

"Mr. Hafner, and Mr. Youkilis, have put my kids through college... both undergraduate and graduate!"

So while I'm okay with David Adams being sent to the minors to play everyday, I would be perfectly happy if these were the regular lineups for the Yankees until Granderson, Jeter, and Cervelli return...

vs. RHP
C- Stewart/Romine
1B-Teixeira
2B-Cano
3B-Youkilis
SS-Nix (Nunez can get back in there when he returns)
LF-Wells
CF-Gardner
RF-Ichiro
DH-Hafner

vs. LHP
C- Stewart/Romine
1B-Teixeira
2B-Cano
3B-Adams
SS-Nix (again... Nunez can get back in there when he returns)
LF-Wells
CF-Gardner
RF-Ichiro
DH-Youkilis

By the way, going these ways not only strengthens the Yankees' lineups, but also strengthens their bench due to Overbay and Adams being there in games started by a righty, while Overbay and Hafner will be there in games started by a lefty.

"That's great, but we still have 5 more games in NL parks, meaning no DHs then." - Girardi

"Dammit, Joe, quit your bitchin'." - Cashman

Remembering The 2000 World Series - Game 5

The 2000 World Series featured the New York Yankees and the New York Mets facing off in the World Series for the first time in their history. This was the first Subway Series since 1956 when the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees faced off. Let's take the time to remember Game 5 of the 2000 World Series.

In a rematch of the Game 1 pitchers duel Andy Pettitte took the mound for the Yankees and faced off against the Mets ace Al Leiter. Bernie Williams would get the scoring going with a solo home run in the top of the 2nd inning giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead. The Mets would respond by getting two unearned runs across the board in the bottom of the 2nd and would keep that lead until the 6th inning when Derek Jeter hit a game tying home run. Heading into the 9th inning the game was tied a 2-2 each when Luis Sojo hit an RBI single off of Al Leiter to give the Yankees the lead and an errant throw that ended up in the Yankees dugout allowed a 4th run to score giving the Yankees a 4-2 lead going to the bottom of the 9th. Mike Piazza would come up in the 9th as the tying run in the 9th and hit a deep fly ball to center field that would find Bernie Williams glove and that would get the Yankees their third consecutive World Series victory. Mike Stanton would get the victory and Al Leiter would take the loss while Mariano Rivera notched his second save of the World Series in the clinching game.

This would be the Yankees 26th World Series victory overall and fourth in five years cementing the dynasty.

Game 53 Lineup: Mets vs. Yankees

I'm desperate for a Yankees win here. Come on. If we can take at least this game, I'd be satisfied. Here's the lineup.

Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells LF
Travis Hafner DH
Lyle Overbay 1B
Brennan Boesch RF
David Adams 3B
Reid Brignac SS
Austin Romine C

LHP Vidal Nuno

This Day In Yankees History 5/30

On this day in 2001 Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez claims that someone should wake up the Yankees legend Babe Ruth so he could bean him with a pitch in response to a question about the Curse of the Bambino. The Red Sox would not beat the Yankees again this season... what curse right?

On this day in 2007 Alex Rodriguez ran behind the Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Howie Clark and yelled that he had the play made causing the ball to drop. This was widely considered a bush league play and angered many around the league.

Game Thread NYM @ NYY 5/29

The Yankees have lost three games in a row for the first time all season, the last team to do so in the majors, and look to stop the skid tonight at home against the cross town rival New York Mets. The Yankees will send David Phelps to the mound to test out that right forearm after taking a line drive off the bat off of it last start. The Yankees will send six lefties in a row and seven of the nine batters tonight to the plate which is either going to make us or break us in the later innings so stay tuned for that on YES and on MLB TV.

Here is the Yankees lineup

1. Gardner CF
2. Cano 2B
3. Hafner DH
4. Overbay 1B
5. Boesch RF
6. Suzuki LF
7. Nix 3B
8. Brignac SS
9. Stewart C

Follow us on Twitter @GreedyStripes to chat during the game and keep track of the Yankees all season long.

Yankees Daily Injury Updates

Andy Pettitte is expected to return to the New York Yankees rotation next week when his turn comes up in Cleveland according to GM Brian Cashman.

Curtis Granderson has surgery on his left pinky yesterday even though originally he was not set to. This is not expected to hurt his four to six week return timetable. If anything this may be the best option for Granderson and the Yankees in the end.

Both Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis went 0-2 with a walk each in their rehab games with the Trenton Thunder. Both players expect to be back with the Yankees when they play the first place Boston Red Sox this Friday.

Derek Jeter is on the field playing catch. Not much of an update but it's Derek Jeter and that's all you need to know.

New York Mets @ New York Yankees 5/29

The Subway Series shifts to Yankees Stadium tonight as the Yankees and the Mets play their third game in this four game Subway Series. The Yankees will send David Phelps to the mound to test out that forearm that took a line drive off the bat in his last start. The Mets will send Jeremy Hefner to the mound looking for his first victory of the season. The game will be televised at 7:05 pm ET on YES and MLB TV.

Mark Teixeira vs. Lyle Overbay

When Mark Teixeira returns, he will surely be the primary first baseman. Mark hasn't played at third base since his rookie season back in 2003, and hasn't play in the outfield since 2004. One might believe that a Gold Glove first baseman would be just fine playing at third or the outfield, but one look at his Fangraphs page tells me that that's not true, seeing as how his UZR/150 was -18.9 and -33.2 at those respective positions.

He's coming back, and bringing ugly faces like this with him.

Meanwhile, Lyle Overbay has not played anywhere except for first base in his 12+ MLB seasons. There was some talk about Overbay trying to play some right field, but Brian Cashman clarified things by saying it simply wasn't something the team would reject without giving it a thought. Furthermore, Lyle himself laughed at the notion, but went on to say "I’ll do whatever. If they want me to catch, I’ll catch."

And if there's anymore doubt about whether or not Mark Teixeira will be the Yankees' regular first baseman, then there's the words of Brian Cashman... "Mark is our first baseman."

When it comes to facing lefties Teixeira's return is very welcome. So far this season Overbay is doing little to nothing against same-sided pitchers, posting a batting line of .157/.200/.275 against them this season. If you want to blame the small sample size (55 plate appearances) that's fine, but allow me to point at his career line vs. LHP of .253/.302/.390.

On the other hand, Mark Teixeira hit lefties to the tune of .269/.333/.531 last season, and .301/.389/.541 throughout his MLB career.

The problem arises when the Yankees face a right-hander, which happens a lot more often. So far this season Overbay his hitting .289/.333/.545 against righties, which is better across the board than the .239/.331/.438 Teixeira put up in 2012 against them. But can that amount of production continue? I'm not so sure.

"Yes, Joe Blanton, you're a right-hander, but nobody is afraid of facing you."

While it's true that Lyle hit .265/.339/.412 against right-handers last season, he did put up a poor triple-slash vs. RHP of .231/.314/.364 two seasons ago. His strikeout rate is lower this season than it's been over the previous three years (18.5% vs. 21.5%), while his line-drive rate is also a bit out of whack (20% between 2010 and 2012, and 22% this season). So there's a chance that Yankees fans should just be happy with what Overbay has done up to this point, and not expect that it would have continued for the rest of the season. 

The main reason a lot of Yankees fans want Lyle Overbay to continue to get at bats has to do with his "clutchiness". Lyle does have an OPS of 1.122 in late and close situations according to Baseball Reference. They would have a fine point if it wasn't for the fact that Tex's OPS in late and close situations last season was 1.398. And let's keep in mind that those "clutch" situations have only arisen in 27 of Overbay's 184 plate apperances, or 15% of the time. 

So the fact of the matter is this... Mark Teixeira should be the regular starting first baseman upon his return.

That doesn't mean I believe Overbay should simply be let go. If he can be dealt for help at catcher, shortstop, or right field, then Cashman and Co. should definitely pull the trigger. But Lyle's bat could be a nice weapon off the bench should Girardi need to make a late-inning move. And let's not forget that Mark DeRosa's career was never the same after injuring a wrist tendon sheath, although his injury was apparently worse than Teixiera's. Jose Bautista did have a similar injury to Mark's last season, and after trying to return in August without having surgery he ended up going under the knife the next month. So Overbay sticking around would be nice insurance should Teixeira suffer a setback.

One final thing, and that has to do with Lyle Overbay possibly seeing regular at bats as the team's designated hitter... It's not going to happen. Travis Hafner, who was told not to bring anything to camp but batting gloves, has hit .258/.378/.508 this season, with no discernible righty-lefty split (152 wRC+ vs. LHP, and 134 wRC+ vs. RHP). 

"Yeah, you want me."

Remembering The 2000 World Series - Game 4

The 2000 World Series featured the New York Yankees and the New York Mets facing off in the World Series for the first time in their history. This was the first Subway Series since 1956 when the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees faced off. Let's take the time to remember Game 4 of the 2000 World Series.

The New York Yankees sent Denny Neagle to the mound to face off with the Mets Bobby Jones in Game 4 of the Subway World Series. Derek Jeter led off the game and blasted a home run over the left field fence giving the Yankees a lead that they would never relinquish in this game. This would extend Derek Jeter's World Series hitting streak to 13 games and would be only the 16th lead off home run in World Series history. The Yankees would win the game 3-2 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the Subway World Series. Jeff Nelson would take the victory and  Bobby Jones would take the loss with Mariano Rivera notching the save for the pinstripers.

Game 52 Lineup: Mets vs. Yankees

Oh how good it feels to play a game with American League rules. Here is your lineup as the Yankees attempt to break a three game losing streak  in their home ballpark. 

Lineup vs. Mets:

Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Travis Hafner DH
Lyle Overbay 1B
Brennan Boesch RF
Ichiro Suzuki LF
Jayson Nix 3B
Reid Brignac SS
Chris Stewart C

David Phelps RHP