Yankees Ten Game Report – Games 22-31

Posted on by Charlie Ricker

The New York Yankees have blown through another ten game chunk of the 2021 season, so here we are again. The Bronx Bombers finished series vs. the Orioles, Tigers, and those lovable Houston Astros. The Yankees split a four-game set with the O’s, swept three against the Detroit and took two of three against Houston. All in all, they won seven of ten, so things are looking up in the Bronx.

Often the object of Yankees fans’ wrath, no one has been hotter than Giancarlo Stanton the past two weeks. His numbers for the past twelve games are mind-numbing. His slash line – .481/.509/.904 for an OPS of 1.413. Over that span, Stanton has gone 25-52, with 6 HR and 4 doubles. He sent another missile into the Yankees bullpen yesterday.

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Aaron Judge isn’t hitting at the same clip as Stanton (I mean, who can?), but he contributed three home runs of his own to go with ten RBI over the past ten games. By the same token, he played in nine of those games. Staying healthy is important.

Speaking of health, there’s cause for concern. Third baseman Gio Urshela came up gimpy in yesterday’s series finale against the Astros. Gio banged up his knee in on a diving play late in the game. The team is awaiting results of an MRI as of this writing. The timing is unfortunate, as Urshela went 12 for his last 33 AB’s while bringing home seven baserunners.

Second baseman Rougned Odor was fortunate to not have any structural damage in his left knee after a scary home plate collision with Astros catcher Martín Maldonado. Still, Odor went on the 10 day IL.

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Gleyber Torres has picked up the pace over these three series. He has 10 hits in his last 30 AB’s, with three doubles and seven RBI. Even better, he walked five times and only struck out three. His at bats have been quality. No HR’s yet, but this approach is better. Really, Gleyber doesn’t need to be a power bat. This is good.

Gerrit Cole and Corey Kluber each delivered a pair of strong starts. Kluber especially opened eyes with a dominating performance against the Tigers. In that game, he gave eight innings of two-hit shutout ball, punching tickets for ten Detroit hitters. Domingo Germán shut out the Orioles over seven innings and gave five effective innings vs. the Astros (2.25 ERA, 12 IP). In the second game, Jordan Montgomery ground out six innings of three-run ball against Houston, not having his best stuff. At the same time, he’s growing as a pitcher, and those games are character builders.

The bullpen has been lights out, and Aroldis Chapman is putting up video game numbers. Over his eleven appearances (11 innings), the Yankees closer has allowed five baserunners (two hits, 3 BB) and struck out 26. His FIP is -0.81 (yes, MINUS).

Chad Green has done his job well, but the Astros got to him yesterday with Jose Altuve hitting a three-run HR that was the difference in the game. These things happen. We don’t like it, but “that’s baseball, Suzyn”. Just have to turn the page and move on.

Darren O’Day went on the injured list with a right rotator cuff strain, necessitating Michael King‘s return from Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre. From the left side, Lucas Luetge and newcomer Wandy Peralta (obtained from the Giants for OF Mike Tauchman) have done the job. Justin Wilson has not pitched well in his return to the team, with an overall ERA of 7.04 – and 16.88 over his past three games. To be honest, the Yankees need more from him.

But reinforcements are coming. Luke Voit played a pair of games in Syracuse for Triple-A Scranton, scorching the ball. Him and Miguel Andújar had quite the game on May 6 against the Triple-A Mets.

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Voit was expected to play again in Syracuse last night, but when I scanned the field during batting practice, he was noticeably absent. Of course, given the uncertainty for the injury to Urshela, I suspect he was scratched and is on his way to New York. However, we’re still waiting for official word.

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Andújar DID play last night for and only went 4-5 with a pair of home-runs in a 17-11 win for the RailRiders. There was some confusion last night, after he was moved mid-game from first base to third. This created a false alarm, thinking he may have been pulled. He’s making his own case for a return to the Yankees.

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So that’s it for this Yankees Ten Game Report. The Bombers are looking better, more like the team we expect to see. See ya next time! 😎👋🏽

**UPDATE**

Luke Voit was not recalled from his rehab assignment, and yesterday was a scheduled day off as part of the plan. However, Miguel Andújar was called up after his big performance in Syracuse.

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Yankees 20 Game – Plus one – Report

Posted on by Charlie Ricker

The last time we covered the Yankees “Ten Game Report”, the team was 5-5 and they were coming off a pair of wins. They salvaged an 8-4 win in St. Petersburg against the Rays, and beat the Blue Jays in the first game of a three-game set in nearby Dunedin, FL. Things were beginning to look up, right?

Wrong. The Yankees proceeded to lose six of their next seven games, the wheels fell off and now the Yankees are 9-12 after twenty-one games. The offense continued to be offensive. Gerrit Cole has been himself (3-1, 1.71 ERA), but the rest of the starting rotation has continually came up short, leaving the bullpen to cover several innings most games. In the sixteen games Cole didn’t start, Yankees starters are averaging 4.25 innings. Jordan Montgomery has provided the most innings behind their ace, while Corey Kluber, Jameson Taillon and Domingo Germán have struggled to give length.

Yankees relief corps are still giving excellent innings, led by Chad Green and Jonathan Loaisiga. Lucas Luetge, who has been a wonderful story since spring training, notched his first win since 2013 in relief of Montgomery in a 5-3 win on April 23. The collective workload the bullpen has taken on in the early going is a concern, however. Green and Loaisiga have already appeared in ten and nine games, respectively. Luis Cessa and Darren O’Day have appeared in eight games each, and Luetge seven. This kind of workload isn’t conducive to success, and the overwork can lead to injuries. This is reason to worry, especially to a guy like Loaisiga, who’s had injury problems in the past.

On offense, the Yankees as a team are hitting .206 with a collective on base percentage of .302. Aaron Judge has overall been the team’s most reliable everyday hitter, with a slash-line of .246/.366/.449 and 4 HR’s. Giancarlo Stanton has been mostly cold, but did smoke a pair of blasts in the aforementioned 5-3 win in Cleveland. A positive spin – Stanton does lead the team with 14 RBI. Kyle Higashioka has seen increased playing time, a big reason is hitting almost 100 points higher than Gary Sánchez, with just as much pop in his bat. The other reason is his overall catching abilities, which frankly are much better than Sanchez. Yankees manager won’t say it, but Higgy is Cole’s personal catcher for most intents and purposes.

The last eleven games have been ugly. There’s no sugarcoating it. But the weather has been brutally cold, especially so in the game I went to at Yankee Stadium on April 21. The Atlanta Braves were in town for a two-game series and Wednesday’s game was frigid, with temperatures hovering in the low 40’s with sustained 20 mph winds. When the calendar turns to May in a few days, the weather should soon warm up. Getting Luke Voit back will only help, and he’s currently at the Alternate site in Scranton ramping up his rehab.

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It’s hard to stay patient, especially for Yankees fans who expect wins, runs and homers. Sensing fans frustrations, General Manager Brian Cashman called a Zoom meeting/press conference on Monday, April 19 to attempt to calm the masses. It didn’t really work, but the right thing to do is continue to stay the course. For now.

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Fans didn’t really buy it, but something had to be done even for the sake of doing something. Time will tell, but I feel confident the Yankees bats will warm up. Hopefully the rotation will pick things up and ease the burden on the relievers.

See ya next time! 😎👋🏽

Yankees 10 Game Report – 2021 Season

Posted on by Charlie Ricker

It’s that time again! Last year, I broke down the Yankees season in chunks, ten game increments. I am going to do the same thing in 2021, because it’s simply more manageable. I don’t want the reports to be super long, and I can better detail what’s happening with the team this way.

The Yankees are 5-5 after ten games. They lost two of three at home against the Blue Jays to kick things off. They followed that by taking two out of three against the Orioles. The Bronx Bombers went to St. Petersburg and promptly lost the first two of a three-game set against the Rays. The Yankees avoided the sweep by winning the final game of the series, and won again last night against the Blue Jays in Dunedin, FL.

  • Pitching

Gerrit Cole has been as-advertised, racking up 29 strikeouts over 18.1 innings. His ERA is a scant 1.47 and WHIP is 0.82. Cole is a pitching savant, and guys flock to him. On April 11, YES Network cameras captured Jordan Montgomery talking to Cole shortly after Monty was removed from the game. A reporter asked him about it after the game.

 

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Montgomery wasn’t as sharp in his start against Tampa Bay as he was in his first start, but kept his team in the game. In his two starts, “Gumby” has a 3.27 ERA in eleven innings. Corey Kluber‘s first pair of starts (7 runs, 6.1 innings) leave something to be desired, but he’s a professional. Despite early troubles, I think Kluber will be ok in the end. Domingo German stunk it up in his two starts (12 hits/7 runs over seven total innings) and was optioned to the Alternate site (AAA Scranton Wilkes Barre) account of several off days. Jameson Taillon‘s first start in Pinstripes went well. Despite not pitching in a major league game since 2019, he wasn’t rusty, giving up only two runs in 4.2 innings (he was on a pitch count).

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Yankees relievers have been very dependable in the early going. Aroldis Chapman, Darren O’Day, Luis Cessa and Jonathan Loaisiga have all provided valuable scoreless relief. Chad Green suffered a pair of “Rob Manfred runs” (including an extra-innings loss), thanks to his stupid extra innings runner on 2nd base rule. Otherwise, Green has been money. Youngster Nick Nelson was flogged by the Rays in a mop-up outing. Lucas Luetge gave up a few runs in his three appearances. Without a doubt, the bullpen has been valuable.

  • Position Players

The bats have been lagging, which isn’t unusual early in the year. It’s April and it’s cold. Yankees hitters have left a not-so-nice 69 runners on base. Overall, the team is hitting .232 with 41 runs scored in ten games. Gary Sanchez has hit quite well, with a pair of home runs, four RBI and a slash-line of .296/.406/.556. D.J. LeMahieu has been his usual steady self (.268/.362/.415), with at least one hit in eight of ten games. Aaron Hicks and Giancarlo Stanton struggled at times, but still have found a way to drive in a combined twelve runs. Gleyber Torres has an anemic slash-line of .205/.295/.231, and is also struggling in the field. He already has a pair of errors and just seems shaky out there. Also, Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge have contributed with their bats and outfield glovework. Clint Frazier has lagged, but I’m confident he will shake it.

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Rougned Odor made his Yankees debut at Tropicana Field and quickly made his mark, driving in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning.

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I like the move, trading for the 27 year old second baseman. No question, Odor has more upside than Tyler Wade (who was optioned to AAA Scranton). With his soft hands, I can eventually see him getting work at 3rd base and perhaps even shortstop.

Ok that’s it for the Yankees ten game report. We’ll see you again after the next set of 10 games!

 

What a Relief? Yankees Hurlers Looking for Roster Spots

Posted on by Charlie Ricker

A few days ago, we looked at position players looking to find a spot on the Yankees bench on the Opening Day roster. This time, we will focus on the back end of the starting rotation and relievers searching for spots in the team’s bullpen. Let’s get after it!

  • Rotation

The top four spots of the Yankees rotation are accounted for. Gerrit Cole, Corey Kluber, Jameson Taillon and Jordan Montgomery are cemented in the starting rotation. That leaves Deivi Garcia, Michael King and Domingo German to vie for the fifth spot until Luis Severino returns. All three are having very solid springs to this point. Based on performance in spring games so far, I would give Germán the early edge in this competition. However, with a full 162 game schedule on deck, the Yankees may go with a six-man rotation for the bulk of 2021. With a 60 game schedule, nobody reached close to 100 innings last year. The team will not overwork their valued arms. We will see if the team wants to hang on to the embattled Germán. He missed the 2020 season while suspended for a highly publicized domestic violence incident.

    • Bullpen

Aroldis Chapman, Chad Green, Darren O’Day and Justin Wilson have solid footing. Also established is Zack Britton, who will miss most, if not all, of the season’s first half while recovering from elbow surgery. This leaves three spots to fight for, plus Britton’s spot for the first few months. Let’s reveal the candidates.

Luis Cessa – The soon to be 29 year old Cessa is a nice guy most Yankees fans seem to hate. Not because he’s a bad guy, but because he always seems to give up runs. In reality, Cessa had a pretty good 2020 season. Over his sixteen appearances, he allowed runs in only four. But when he’s bad, he’s BAD. In his lousy four outings, he gave up a total of ten runs. He’s probably not going anywhere. Every team needs a guy to mop-up, and Cessa is out of options.

Jonathan Loaisiga – “Johnny Lasagna” is having himself a spring so far. Six scoreless innings, two hits allowed and 5 K’s. The stuff has always been there for the 26 year old Loaisiga. It’s been a matter of harnessing it. I have always seen a bit of 1996 Mariano Rivera in Loaisiga, especially with the rising fastball. I think it’s time to focus on keeping him in the bullpen because his stuff plays better in relief. He can give multiple innings, which gives him even more valuable.

Lucas Luetge – The lefthanded Luetge hasn’t pitched in the bigs since 2015, but seems to be opening eyes this spring. In four exhibition game appearances, the soon to be 34 year old, has struck out ten hitters over 4 innings. With Zack Britton sidelined, the Yankees could use another lefty to step in. Luetge is a guy to keep watch of.

Nestor Cortes, Jr. – I’ll admit it, I’m a fan of Nestor. His fastball MAYBE touches 90-91, but the life it has on it makes it look closer to 95. Cortes has proven himself in Triple-A, but the success hasn’t translated in the majors in any way. As a member of the Mariners, he was hammered to the tune of a 15.26 ERA (13 ER in 7.2 innings) in 2020. If the Yankees have him on their roster during the regular season, it’s not a good sign. He’s filler for Triple-A.

Albert Abreu – It’s hard to believe the 25 year old Abreu has only one option year remaining, and the Yankees are surely taking a long look at him this spring. It’s been rocky going so far (5 ER over 1.2 innings), but there’s still plenty of time to assess. I am guessing the Yankees will use that last option to let him get reps and stretched out in Scranton. If injuries hit like last year, he could be an option for the rotation.

Nick Nelson – Nelson, also 25 years old, made his big league debut in last year’s tire-fire of an abbreviated season. He made it into eleven games, mostly in mop-up duty. Still, these reps are valuable. Nelson posted a 4.79 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 20.2 innings. Like Abreu, Nelson are destined be a member of the RailRiders rotation to get experience and stretched-out as a starter.

Kyle Barraclough (R), Tyler Lyons (L), and Nick Goody (R) are options for the Yankees if everything goes to hell in a handbasket. All are better suited as Triple-A filler.

Thanks for reading, have a great day! 😎

 

National League Trade Deadline Winners/Losers

Posted on by Charlie Ricker

This past Tuesday, the MLB non-waiver trade deadline passed at 4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. Some teams added and some teams subtracted, and some teams didn’t do a thing! In our last entry, we took a look at the trade deadline winners and losers in the AL. This time around, we will assess the teams in the National League that loaded up and those who missed the boat. Let’s get started!

 

Winners

 

Los Angeles Dodgers – The Dodgers front office team of Pres. Andrew Friedman and GM Farhan Zaidi landed Manny Machado from the Orioles, pried Brian Dozier from the Twins, and still managed to keep three of MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects in their system, including #29 prospect Alex Verdugo. LA had a slew of young talent in their system, using them in trades to stack their team for a deep playoff run. In a lesser deal, reliever John Axford was brought in from Toronto for pitcher Corey Copping. The Dodger lineup is loaded, their pitching is more than solid and they dropped 21 runs on the Brewers last night. I think they will be okay.

 

Atlanta Braves – The Braves weren’t expected to be this good, this quick, but here they are a half-game behind the 1st place Philadelphia Phillies. General Manager Alex Anthopoulos was a busy man, bring in starter Kevin Gausman and relievers Darren O’Day and Brad Brach from the Baltimore Orioles for a handful of prospects and future considerations. On deadline day, the Braves landed LF Adam Duvall from Cincinnati in exchange for LF Preston Tucker, RHP Matt Wisler and RHP prospect Lucas Sims. And on July 27, Anthopoulous brought back lefty reliever Jonny Venters back to the Braves organization where he began his career eight years ago. Venters has very much been a feel good story in 2018, having returned to the major leagues for the first time since 2012, after many years of elbow problems. The Braves made these trades and still have a deep farm system. They addressed most of their needs, and should be a tough team to beat this season and for many seasons to come.

 

Losers

 

Washington Nationals – The Nationals did absolutely nothing to add to their team as the trade deadline came and went. The only deals made prior to the 4:00 EST deadline on July 31, was shipping righty reliever Brandon Kintzler to the Chicago Cubs for RHP Jhon Romero. Kintzler was reported to be a clubhouse snitch in an article published by Yahoo’s Jeff Passan, saying the Nationals’ clubhouse was “a mess”. On July 22, OF Brian Goodwin was shipped to Kansas City for a lower level RHP prospect. Back on June 18, Rizzo made a deal with the Royals, adding future free agent Kelvin Herrera in return for three low-level minor league prospects, but he’s been unreliable, pitching to the tune of a 4.30 ERA and a FIP of 6.58. There were rumblings on Twitter about GM Mike Rizzo making RF and soon-to-be free agent Bryce Harper available via trade, but Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post sent out a tweet that the Nats were holding on to Harper, saying “I believe in this team”.

 

Colorado Rockies – Owners Dick and Charlie Monfort invested heavily this past offseason, adding closer Wade Davis, reliever Bryan Shaw and signing OF Charlie Blackmon to a long-term contract extension. As of this writing, the Rockies are 58-51, two games out of first place in the NL West. They are winning games, but it’s only because the Rockies are hitting the dog-snot out of the ball. Davis and Shaw have ERA’s that better resemble long distance area codes, as does lefty reliever Jake McGee. GM Jeff Bridich would have done well to add another reliable reliever for the pen and another starter to help out the rotation, but all he came up with was 35 year old Seunghwan Oh from the Toronto Blue Jays. Even that move came at a cost, with the Jays getting 1B Chad Spanberger and 2B/OF Forrest Wall (2014 1st round pick) in return. With the aforementioned Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks making moves to improve their teams, it’s easy to see them distancing themselves from the Rockies in the next two months.