Ty Hensley Had Tommy John Surgery

So here I was checking Facebook before I went to take a shower and I read a post from my friend Marci Hensley, the mother of Yankees prospect Ty Hensley. Marci broke the news that Ty went under the knife last Tuesday to get Tommy John surgery performed by Dr. James Andrews. 

Another setback and another season lost for Ty. A damn shame, it's always the good ones that get the short straw in life and Ty is definitely one of the good guys. 

Most Popular Article of the Week: New York Yankees Pitching Totem Pole Depth Chart

With the Opening Day roster all but finalized for the New York Yankees the team now has a much clearer picture of what they have heading into next Monday’s first game and what they have in the minors if things were to go wrong. The Yankees held a camp long competition for the fifth starter’s spot since Chris Capuano injured his oblique muscle and had so much depth in the bullpen that almost everyone got an extended look this spring. Today we will focus on those two positions, the pitching side of things, when we look at the totem pole and the depth charts the team has.

As far as starting pitching goes Capuano should be back no later than a month into the season bumping (presumably) Adam Warren back to the pen. Warren, just like Esmil Rogers, came to camp as starters this season after spending the 2014 season in the bullpen and could easily slot back into the rotation in that order followed by Chase Whitley, Scott Baker and Bryan Mitchell in that order. Luis Severino is always a dark horse as well for the rotation heading into the season while players like Jose A. Ramirez have also started in the minor leagues and could be called upon in an emergency situation.

For the bullpen it is looking more and more like Justin Wilson and Chasen Shreve will start the season in the Bronx leaving Jacob Lindgren at the door knocking heading into 2015. Following Lindgren is an impressive list of potential relief pitchers including Andrew Bailey, Tyler Webb, Nick Rumbelow, Nick Goody, James Pazos and Mark Montgomery bringing up the rear.

The Yankees have an incredible amount of underrated depth heading into the 2015 season which leads me to believe that even if the injury bug hits the team once again this season, the team will be just fine. 

Opening Day Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays 4/6

Welcome to Opening Day 2015 Yankees family as the New York Yankees play host to the Toronto Blue Jays. On the mound for the Yankees is their ace Masahiro Tanaka making his first career Opening Day start. Opposing him on the mound for Toronto will be Drew Hutchison who is also making his first Opening Day start of his career. The game is being played right now and can be seen on ESPN, the YES Network and of course MLB TV. Enjoy the game Yankees family.

We try and live tweet and comment every single game so be sure to join us in the comments section on the site or on Twitter by following @GreedyStripes. If you'd rather see the game live then you can click on our YANKEES TICKETS tab and buy your own with a TGP discount.

Enjoy the game Yankees family and as always, Go Yankees!!!

Things To Think About Regarding The 2015 Yankees

While "winning" is certainly the most important thing about the season, it would be a bald-faced lie to say it was the only important thing about this season.

"I could tell a better lie."

Hold on a second. "Bald-faced lie"? What the hell does that mean?

Most sources agree that the original expression, coined in the late 1600s, was actually barefaced lie. At that time, bare meant brazen or bold. At that time in history, almost all men sported a full set of whiskers, and it was considered quite daring or even audacious for a male to be clean-shaven, or barefaced. Eventually, the word for “hairless” went from bare to bald, and so did the description of a blatant fib.

Why, thank you MentalFloss.com.

So, anyway, what could possibly be nearly as important as winning? This is the Yankees we're talking about. This team doesn't use the term "maybe next year" until the final out of their season is over with. 

And that's the problem... the final out of their past two seasons has occurred before the postseason. So while I'll be rooting for the Pinstripers to win ever single game, there are a few things I'll be keeping in mind...

1. The development of Refsnyder, Judge, Bird, Severino. I'm not expecting those guys to lead the team in another dynasty, but they could very well be the next version of the Core Four. In the past I've skipped over the posts about minor league games, but this year I'll be checking those results with a passion.
2. I made a comment in today's game thread about the health of Tanaka's elbow. I said that I'll be holding my breath on every pitch, as it could very well be his last of the season (and beyond). As sad as it would be, it would not be surprising for the camera to pan back to Masahiro after the pitch to see him holding his elbow in pain, with the name "Tommy John" being uttered over and over again in the post-game conference.
3. Tanaka's elbow is one of many reasons the word "health" will likely be said more times this season than at any point in the history of mankind. It's not like Michael Pineda's starts will be any easier to watch, as he too could come up lame after he throws his next pitch. Hell, ARod's legs could simply fall off of his hips after his next practice swing. Mark Teixeira? He could trim his toenails too short and need a few days to recover from the pain.
4. Speaking of possible injuries, there's a very good chance the Yankees have to make a big move in order to compete this season. If Masahiro Tanaka, or Michael Pineda, go down only a couple of weeks into the season, I fully expect them to ramp up talks with the Philadelphia Phillies about Cole Hamels. While that would be an interesting development, it would also be pretty darn scary too, as that could mean the Yankees trade away one of the four players I mentioned a few paragraphs earlier.

I'm sorry if some of those things bring you down, but you can't tell me this is the first time you've read or thought about them. 

And I can't stop saying that this is bound to be the craziest season I've seen for the Yankees. If someone were to ask me what I think of the 2015 season for them I'd simply shrug my shoulders, because expectations for them are all over the place. 

Opening Day Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays 4/6

Welcome to Opening Day 2015 Yankees family as the New York Yankees welcome their American League East rivals to Yankee Stadium when the team plays host to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees finished in front of Toronto once again in 2014 and both teams added to their offense looking to improve in 2015. It should be a fun season and at sometimes a long season for both clubs in the AL East as the division looks wide open for the first time in a long time.

On the mound for the Yankees will be Masahiro Tanaka who draws his first career Opening Day start of his MLB career. In 2014 Tanaka went 13-5 with a 2.77 ERA in 20 starts during his rookie season. His season was cut short due to a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament that he rested and rehabbed rather than undergoing surgery. Tanaka came back at the end of 2014 and made two starts for the Yankees and looked sharp overall this spring with a slightly altered delivery and repertoire.

On the mound for the Blue Jays will be Drew Hutchison who will also be making his first career Opening Day start of his career. Hutchison, 24 years old, returned from Tommy John surgery in 2014 and posted an 11-13 record with a 4.48 ERA. While those stats are less than impressive for an Opening Day starter his 184 K's in 184.2 IP and the rest of his peripherals tell the rest of the story. Hutchison has a career 4.80 ERA at Yankee Stadium and may be faced with the Mark Buehrle type demons in his head if he doesn't pitch well against the Bronx Bombers soon.

The game will be played at 1:05 pm ET and can be seen on ESPN, the YES Network and on MLB TV all season long.

Yankees Complete History on Opening Day

The New York Yankees had their first Opening Day on 4/26/1901 and will play their 115th Opening Day this afternoon at Yankee Stadium. Masahiro Tanaka will be on the mound for the Yankees as he plays host to Drew Hutcison and the Toronto Blue Jays looking to improve their 79-37-1 all-time record on Opening Day.

The Yankees sole tie in their history on Opening Day came on Opening Day 1910 when the team tied the Boston Red Sox 4-4. The Yankees have an all-time record of 14-10 against the Red Sox while the team owns a perfect 3-0 record against the Boston Americans in their history. The Toronto Blue Jays, the Yankees opponents today, have only played against New York once on Opening Day in a game that the Bronx Bombers won by the final score of 3-2 in 2008. As far as the rest of the American League East goes New York has Opening Day records of 2-0 against the Tampa Bay Rays and 4-1 against the Baltimore Orioles. Long story short, the Yankees dominate the rest of the AL East on Opening Day in their history which means bad luck for the Blue Jays this afternoon.

The Yankees have never lost on Opening Day against the California Angels (1-0), Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2-0), Kansas City Royals (5-0) and the Texas Rangers (4-0). The biggest blowouts in Yankees Opening Day history include a 14-7 victory over the Washington Senators in 1950, a 19-1 victory over the Washington Senators in 1955, 11-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins in 1976, a 10-3 victory over the Texas Rangers in 1981, a 11-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians in 1987, an 8-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins in 1988, a 17-13 victory over the Oakland Athletics in 1998 and a 12-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers in 1999.

New York has 14 shutout victories on Opening Day in their history with eight shutout losses with 16 one run victories and 12 one run losses all-time. The Yankees do not have a losing record against any team on Opening Day in their history but they do have .500 record against the Cleveland Indians (3-3), Detroit Tigers (3-3), Milwaukee Brewers (2-2) and the Oakland Athletics (1-1).

The Yankees are on a one year Opening Day winning streak after beating the Baltimore Orioles last season and have won four of their last five and 20 of their last 23 Opening Days including 11 straight Opening Day victories from 1998-2008. What does all this mean in terms of Opening Day 2015? I guess you're just going to have to watch to find out.

TGP Daily Poll: Yankees Win on Opening Day

Pretty straight forward, simple and to the point. It's Opening Day 2015 and the New York Yankees are going to win with Masahiro Tanaka on the mound.

Vote in our prediction poll on Knoda.com

Join The Greedy Pinstripes on Tap Sports Baseball 2015

Many of you took advantage of this in 2014 but now that it's Opening Day 2015 I offer the same to you all this year. I love the game Tap Sports Baseball because it's pretty simple, it's free and it's fun and addictive. The best part about it is you can play against your Facebook friends, other friends if you know their team names and just random opponents and AI. You can spend a ton of time playing this game because it's well done, polished and pretty legit for a free game.

Last year more than a few of you joined us on the 2014 version when we were pretty established and dominant but this time around I have played a total of four games before posting this. I'm a noob now so the teams will be equal this time around so jump on the game, search for an opponent, and join us by searching for our team name "GreedyPinstripes."

We look forward to seeing you all there and dominating you once again in 2015.

ICYMI: Spring Training News & Final Roster Decisions

The New York Yankees spring training is over and the roster decisions have finally been made.

Austin Romine has been designated for assignment and will likely be traded. I can't see him clearing waivers. John Ryan Murphy will be the team's backup catcher as expected.

Gregorio Petit won the last bench job before he played a single inning with the club and the decision was made official today.

Jose Pirela has been added to the seven day concussion DL retroactive to 4/2. He will be eligible to come off the DL on 4/9.

Chris Capuano has been placed on the 15 day DL retro active to 3/27 with a right quad strain.

Brendan Ryan has been placed on the 15 day DL retro active to 4/1 with a Grade II right calf strain.

Ivan Nova has been placed on the 15 day DL retro active to 3/27 with his Tommy John surgery.

This Day in New York Yankees History 4/6: Ron Blomberg

In 1973 the Yankees Ron Blomberg became the first designated hitter in major league history. In his first plate appearance the DH drew a walk off of Luis Tiant in a 15-5 loss at the hands of the bitter rival Boston
Red Sox.

Happy Opening Day 2015 ladies and gentleman!