New York Yankees Game Preview vs. Baltimore Orioles 7/11

Tonight the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles will start a three game set at Oriole Park in Camden Yards that will take us all the way to the All Star break. The Yankees will start the series off by sending Hiroki Kuroda to the mound to face off with the Orioles Ubaldo Jimenez Miguel Gonzalez. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN.

Kuroda has pitched well against the Baltimore Orioles twice already this season and looks to make it three in a row tonight in Baltimore. Kuroda beat the Orioles on April 7th and took a no decision on June 20th. Kuroda allowed two runs over six innings in June and looks to build on that tonight in a Yankees victory. 

Jimenez has not pitched well in his career against the New York Yankees, a trend that hopefully continues tonight in Camden Yards. Jimenez has pitched better at home than he has at Yankee Stadium so he has that going for him but the patient Yankee bats will look to wait him out and turn on a mistake tonight in Oriole Park.  Jimenez was added to the disabled list today, Miguel Gonzalez will start in his place. 

Get your Yankees tickets for tonight's game right HERE on the blog through our friends and partners at Ticket Monster. TM offers cheap tickets second hand without all the annoying shipping costs or fees we have unfortunately become accustomed to. Get your tonight for the Oriole series or have them ready for when the Yankees come home after the All Star break.

Go Yankees!!

Tanaka Apologizes For Injury - What A Class Act

Straight from Masahiro Tanaka's lips to your ears:

“As recently announced from the team, I will be going through some treatment and rehab on my injured elbow over the next several weeks. I give everything I have every time I take the ball. With that, I also know that there will always be a risk of injury when playing this game that I love. Right now I feel that the most important thing for me is to keep my head up, remain focused on the task at hand and devote all my energy into healing the injury in order to come back strong.

“I want to apologize to the Yankees organization, my teammates and our fans for not being able to help during this time. I accept this injury as a challenge, but I promise to do everything I can to overcome this setback and return to the mound as soon as possible.”

Yankees Acquire LHP Francis From A's

The Yankees have acquired Left-handed Pitcher Jeff Francis from the A's in exchange for a player to be named later, MLB.com's Joey Nowak reports. 

In 13 1/3 innings of relief so far this season, Francis has posted a tough-to-look-at 6.08 ERA, the main reason why he was designated for assignment last week.

Still, it's arguable that those numbers are better than Jim Miller's, the pitcher the Bombers cut today in order to make room for their new acquisition.

Francis, 33, won 10+ games for the Rockies from 2005-2007, the last time he really had success, as the veteran hasn't done anything meaningful since then.

In 2009, he never played after undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgury, before struggling in 2010 and recording an above-five ERA with the Royals in 2011.

Despite those bad stats, we do have to remember that this move could work out, something that doesn't actually need to happen anyway, as it's unlikely Francis will appear often for the Pinstripes much less start due to the sudden re-emergence of Chase Whitley.

In other words, while this trade is news it's not exactly Brian Cashman's solution to the team's rotation crisis, but rather a quick-fix to its need for another bullpen arm. 

Imagining A Yankees Lineup w/ Troy Tulowitzki

Yesterday I wrote, seen HERE, that the Yankees should empty the farm for the Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, I won't spend too much time on it as you can easily click the link and read the article for yourself but just for fun I wanted to take a look at a lineup this season and next with Tulo in the middle of it. That right handed power and presence really changes this lineup dramatically, doesn't it?

*note this is what I think the Yankees lineup would be, not what I would personally send out there

2014:

Jacoby Ellsbury
Derek Jeter
Carlos Beltran
Troy Tulowitzki (3B/2B)
Mark Teixeira
Brian McCann
Brian Roberts
Yangervis Solarte/Ichiro Suzuki
Brett Gardner

2015:

Brett Gardner
Jacoby Ellsbury
Troy Tulowitzki
Mark Teixieira
Alex Rodriguez (remember me?)
Carlos Beltran
Brian McCann
Yangervis Solarte
Robert Refsnyder

Can The Yankees Survive Without Tanaka?

The short answer and immediate answer that comes to mind is no, they can't. Consider this though Yankees family, maybe they can and maybe they will. Tanaka's been great this season despite the fact that I have been terribly tough on the guy but he hasn't been great lately and like I said early this morning, New York keeps on keeping on.

In the last 10 starts for Tanaka he has compiled a 6-4 record and has seen his ERA start at 2.39 before becoming a league leading 1.99 before jumping to what it is today at 2.51. Again that's great but not necessarily irreplaceable. Now Tanaka's eight starts where he compiled a 6-0 record with a 2.17 ERA, that's pretty damn irreplaceable.

Tanaka will miss his first start this Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles but after that face some lesser competition than we've been accustomed to seeing. Assuming the Yankees don't reset their rotation with the All Star break Tanaka would miss starts against the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, and Boston Red Sox before the games get tough again in early August.

If the Yankees can Tanaka back before we start playing the Red Sox, the Detroit Tigers, and Tampa Bay Rays (who despite their record always plays us tough) I think they can survive it. Granted, they won't run away with anything without Tanaka but right now it's all about surviving and that's something I think the Yankees can do.

ANY setback and this season is over and Tanaka's season probably is too.

Derek Jeter #1 In Jersey Sales at Halfway Mark

The New York Yankees #2 jersey that is currently being worn by Derek Jeter is the top selling jersey in all of Major League Baseball as we head into the All Star break. Based on sales from MLB.com the captain has sold more jerseys this season than any other player, an impressive feat for the 40 year old.

Here are 14 other jersey sales that I found notable and interesting:

1. Derek Jeter, New York Yankees
2. Buster Posey,  San Francisco Giants
3. Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
4. David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox
5. Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox
6. Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals
7. Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
8. David Wright, New York Mets
9. Yasiel Puig, Los Angeles Dodgers
10. Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
11. Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Piratesd
12. Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves
13. Robinson Cano, Seattle Mariners
14. Masahiro Tanaka, New York Yankees

Quick Hit: The Schedule Got Soft Right At Right Time

Thank goodness the New York Yankees schedule softened up a little right before the All Star break or the Yankees would be in a world of hurt. The Yankees have acquired Brandon McCarthy from the Arizona Diamondbacks, have cut Alfonso Soriano, lost Brett Gardner, Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran, and Brian McCann among others for varying times due to various injuries and the Yankees just keep on keeping on. The Yankees are still hanging around in both the American League East and the second Wild Card despite all the injuries and struggling players.

The Yankees started out the end of June and early July unexpectedly going 1-5 against the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays but have since gone on a tear on the road. The Yankees have taken three of four from the Minnesota Twins and played well in Cleveland for four games and are one Masahiro Tanaka dominant start away from really putting the pressure on the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays in the division.

After the break the Yankees host the struggling Cincinnati Reds and Texas Rangers followed up by a series with the Toronto Blue Jays, who New York has owned at home of late, and another series in Texas to end July. The Yankees can keep on keeping on and maybe make up some games in the division with this weak of a schedule.

Have a great Friday everyone and keep those optimistic sunglasses on, it's not over yet.

The Daily Dozen - July 10, 2014

THE DAILY DOZEN
(Twelve Takeaways from Tonight's Game - July 10th, 2014 Edition)

I must preface this edition with the fact that I just got home from the game and it's 1:45 am Eastern Time.  Good thing I take notes during the games!  No pictures tonight to speed up my entry into bed hopefully by 2:00 am to get up in 5 hours to start it all over again.

1. Michael Brantley does not strike out much.  I failed to mention it in last night's game but his streak of plate appearances without a K ended at 64 in his 1 for 6 performance on Wednesday.  Well he rebounded tonight and went 2 for 4 getting robbed of a base hit by Ellsbury in the 7th.  Brantley was nowhere close to the league record of which Joe Sewell of the same Cleveland Indians went 115 GAMES without a strikeout from May 17 through September 19, 1929.

2. Speaking of Jacoby, I officially nominate him to be the next Yankees Captain.  I know, it's only his first year of a 7 year contract, but seriously I think this guy has what it takes to drive and lead the Yankees for the next decade.  Call me crazy, but I've been called worse.

3. Mustard should be banned from stadiums.  During the first inning my buddy who shall not be named since he is an Indians, sorry...Native Americans...fan proceeded to drop his hot dog through his #DollarDogNight bun onto his lap.  His shorts were promptly covered with mustard, not ketchup mind you, but mustard.  Since there were no females with us, there were not any napkins amongst the four of us.  Here is a snippet of what was going on at that time via twitter:

4. Dollar Dog Nights are a good yet bad idea.  I ate 6 hot dogs before the end of the 4th inning.  My son had 5, which he says is a record.  Consequently, once we stopped eating hot dogs, the Yankees also stopped scoring runs.  #KneppersFault  They announced in the 7th inning that over 36,000 hot dogs had been sold, which was approximately 8,000 more than the fans in attendance.

5. Asdrubal Cabrera's antics on the basepath last night were hilarious.  Jeter got a kick out of it but also probably realized how old he was since he could barely bend over to tag him out on his 2nd slide within the basepath to avoid the tag.

6. Cervelli has got to have a magnet in his knee or something?  Did he say something bad about the Native Americans or post something awful on twitter...twice in 4 days now.

7. How is Chris Dickerson an above .400 hitter against the Yankees?  For real, I want to know...this is just ridiculous.

8. I saw a lot of LeBron jerseys at the game tonight.  Almost more than I saw for Michael Brantley.  I thought everyone in Cleveland burned their jerseys 4 years ago?  Anyways, I had a great time yelling out updates about the #LebronWatch2014...obviously everything I was saying to people were lies, but I found it hilarious.

9. McKKKKan...he tried to join the Golden Sombrero ranks last night with Brendan Ryan and he did!  Great job on the accomplishment Brian...I wonder what his stats are as a DH.  I believe that Jorge Posada was the only catcher in recent memory that did well when not planted behind the dish...I could be wrong, but that doesn't happen often.

10. I saw a shirt outside of Jacobs Field (I refuse to call it Progressive since I'm a Libertarian) that angered me.  It read "Lonnie Baseball".  Are you serious?  Hit well for 2 months and they are already calling you the next Don Mattingly!?! Get right out of town.  Not funny.

11. In a span of 10 minutes my night was ruined.  Word about Tanaka's partially torn UCL was released and then the Yankees promptly gave up 4 runs via a bases-clearing triple to Asdrubal that hit the University of Toledo logo (my alma mater, golden and blue) on the right field wall and a sac line drive to knock in another run by Brantley.  The game was basically over by then, because we all know that THE YANKEES CANNOT SCORE AFTER THE 5TH INNING!

12. Derek Jeter has now amassed 1,000 multi-hit games.  Unbelievable.  That's a lot of freaking gift baskets El Capitan!

Why Tanaka's Injury Won't Ruin the Yankees' Season

While Masahiro Tanaka's recent injury obviously doesn't improve the Yankees, in many ways I still don't see it ending their season. 

Yes, Tanaka's been great this year, but in the time he'll be gone Chase Whitley will likely take his spot, a move that does give us reason to feel confident after the latter dominated the Indians out of the bullpen Wednesday night. 

Add the facts that David Phelps has a 1.42 ERA in his last three starts, Shane Greene's been great everywhere he's thrown recently, and Brandon McCarthy showed a lot of potential in his recent team debut, the Yanks' rotation looks pretty good for the next 1 1/2 months, or at least decent enough to stay competitive in the Wild Card standings.

Speaking of those, after the Mariners fell to the Twins earlier tonight, the Bombers are just 2 1/2 games out of the second and final spot, something that shouldn't be too hard to get considering the only clubs in between them are the Royals and Blue Jays, a duo with practically no recent playoff experience.

So yeah Yankee fans, don't get too down on things right now. They may not look that great, but in the end, there is simply no reason to say anything's over. 

This Day In New York Yankees History 7/11: Cano Wins Home Run Derby

The New York Yankees have not been well represented over the years at the Home Run Derby but in 2011 they had Robinson Cano donning the pinstripes. Cano chose his father to throw his pitches to him in what turned out to be a great decision. Cano would hit 12 home runs in the final round of the derby to beat Adrian Gonzalez to become the fourth straight left handed swinging player to win the derby. What a moment for all families and baseball fans alike as Cano and his father shared an amazing moment.

Also on this day in 2010 the legendary Bob Sheppard died at age 99 as the "Voice of God" returned to God. Sheppard earned the nickname from former Yankee Reggie Jackson and announced over 4,500 games during his 56 years behind the microphone in Yankee Stadium.

On this day in 1999 Major League Baseball held it's first Future's Game and the Yankees Alfonso Soriano made the best of it going 2 for 3 hitting two home runs. The World would beat the USA 7-0 at Fenway Park and Soriano would be named the game's MVP.