River Avenue Blues

Game Ten: 2017 ALCS rematch, 2019 ALCS preview?

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(Rob Carr/Getty)

Good weekend? Good weekend. The Yankees swept the Orioles and thoroughly beat them down yesterday, so the flight to Houston was a good one. Things are going to get tougher now though. Three games against the Astros are on tap this week. It’s the first time this season the Yankees will play a legitimately good team.

“After a difficult homestand and to come in here and kind of bust out a little bit with the bats, obviously, and get some good pitching performances, that’s nice to see,” Aaron Boone told George King following yesterday’s game. The dingers and quality pitching performances might not be as easy to come by these next few days.

The Astros, as good as they are, have had an uneven start to the season (like the Yankees). In fact, they’ve only scored 33 runs in ten games thus far. Six times in those ten games they scored no more than three runs. Huh. Hopefully the offensive futility lasts at least another three days. Here are tonight’s lineups:

New York Yankees
1. CF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. DH Luke Voit
4. C Gary Sanchez
5. SS Gleyber Torres
6. 1B Greg Bird
7. 2B DJ LeMahieu
8. LF Clint Frazier
9. 3B Gio Urshela

RHP Masahiro Tanaka

Houston Astros
1. CF George Springer
2. 2B Jose Altuve
3. 3B Alex Bregman
4. LF Michael Brantley
5. SS Carlos Correa
6. 1B Yuli Gurriel
7. RF Josh Reddick
8. DH Tyler White
9. C Robinson Chirinos

RHP Justin Verlander

Clear skies and a warm night in Houston. Nice enough weather that the Minute Maid Park roof might be open. Either way, first pitch is scheduled for 7:10pm ET and you can watch on the YES Network locally and ESPN nationally. Enjoy the game.

Injury Updates: In case you missed it earlier, Luis Severino (shoulder) is going back to New York for tests. He’s not progressing as much as expected with his throwing program … CC Sabathia (knee, heart) will indeed make his next start with the Yankees. They haven’t picked a set date yet, but Sabathia is eligible to be activated off the injured list Saturday.

4/8 to 4/10 Series Preview: Houston Astros

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Verlander (Getty Images)

You’ve tried the rest, now try the best. The Yankees travel to Houston to face arguably the best team in baseball for an early-season showdown.

Their Story So Far

At 5-5, the Astros are off to an uneven start mirroring the Yankees. They dropped three of four in Tampa Bay and two of three to the Rangers before sweeping the Athletics.

On the position player side, Houston has a 114 wRC+ as a team, good for ninth in baseball after finishing right near the top a year ago. The Astros’ pitchers have been as advertised with a 2.49 ERA and MLB-best 23.7 percent K-BB rate before allowing eight runs in a thriller Sunday.

While their rotation has undergone significant upheaval, the team remains largely the same, albeit with the additions of OF Michael Brantley and SP Wade Miley.

Injury Report

The Astros are remarkably healthy. Lance McCullers (Tommy John) and Joe Smith (Achilles) went under the knife this offseason, and they’re the only injured players on the 40-man roster.

Pitching Matchups

Sometimes, you get lucky and you face a team’s worst starters: The Yankees had no such luck. The Astros are bringing their top pitchers into this series.

Monday (7:10 PM ET): Masahiro Tanaka (vs. Astros) vs. Justin Verlander (vs. Yankees)

Locked up for another two years before the season, the 36-year-old Verlander faces the Bombers in his third start of the season. He worked around a solo homer on Opening Day for a win but allowed 10 baserunners in four-plus innings of work in Texas.

The former Cy Young award winner averaged 94.5 mph on his fastball, down from 95.1 a year ago, and turned to his changeup more often in these early starts. However, he’s still a fastball-slider pitcher with the slow curve and only occasional change. The spin rates on his pitches remain close to last season’s pitches.

The Yankees can’t seem to get in good hacks against Verlander, who shut them down to the tune of one run, 19 strikeouts and no walks in 14 2/3 innings in two starts last May. Aaron Judge is 0-for-13 against the right-hander with seven strikeouts while Greg Bird and Brett Gardner each have a homer off him.

Verlander (Baseball Savant)

Tuesday (8:10 PM ET): Jonathan Loaisiga (yet to face ‘Stros) vs. Gerrit Cole (vs. Yankees)

While the Yankees are plenty familiar with Verlander, Cole is a different animal. The former New York first-round pick hasn’t faced the Yankees since 2014 and has a limited history against everyone but D.J. LeMahieu.

Cole is coming off a career year in Houston and has continued despite taking tough luck losses in his first two starts. His 19:3 K:BB ratio tells a different story as the right-hander can rack up strikeouts as much as any pitcher. He primarily works off an upper-90s fastball with a high-80s slider, reflecting Verlander with an occasional curve and changeup.

The spin rate on Cole’s four-seamer has been significantly higher this season (2542 rpm in 2019 vs. 2379 rpm in 2018) and he’s had a higher swing-and-miss rate in the small sample. Meanwhile, he’s yet to give up an extra-base hit on his slider after allowing just 12 a year ago.

Cole (Baseball Savant)

Wednesday (7:40 PM ET) James Paxton (vs. Astros) vs. Collin McHugh (vs. Yankees)

Not only did McHugh start a podcast this winter, but he also moved back into the Astros’ rotation. He was All-Star worthy — although not elected — in a one-year stint in Houston’s bullpen, sporting a 1.99 ERA and striking out 94 batters in 72 1/3 innings. He became a relief ace for the Astros, who needed him fully stretched out after letting Dallas Keuchel and Charlie Morton leave.

The 31-year-old Georgia native has put together two strong starts to begin the season with 13 strikeouts, four walks and six hits in 11 innings. His fastball velocity has gone back down to right around 90 mph (averaged 92.1 in the bullpen) and he’s responded by utilizing his slider nearly as much as his four-seamer and cutter combined.

His slider and curveball generally work as McHugh’s out-pitches, which has led to his career-low usage of his fastball. He also works in a changeup but primarily goes with the slider, curve, four-seamer and cutter.

McHugh (Baseball Savant)

McHugh is also just a good dude who grows peppers in his garden back home. That isn’t relevant to his pitching, but he is a good follow on social media.

Bregman and Brantley (Getty)

Potential Lineup

Safe to say, this is going to be a step up from the Orioles’ lineup.

  1. George Springer, CF (.300/.356/.550, 159 wRC+ in 45 PAs)
  2. Jose Altuve, 2B (.282/.349/.410, 124 wRC+ in 43 PAs)
  3. Alex Bregman, 3B (.343/.415/.486, 165 wRC+ in 41 PAs)
  4. Michael Brantley, LF (.250/.308/.455, 110 wRC+ in 39 PAs)
  5. Carlos Correa, SS (.259/.310/.481, 127 wRC+ in 29 PAs)
  6. Yuli Gurriel, 1B (.303/.361/.455, 138 wRC+ in 36 PAs)
  7. Josh Reddick, RF (.296/.367/.296, 102 wRC+ in 30 PAs)
  8. Robinson Chirinos, C (.190/.320/429, 119 wRC+ in 26 PAs)
  9. Tony Kemp, DH (.211/.318/.368, 105 wRC+ in 22 PAs)

On the bench, they have RHH Tyler White (94 wRC+), who plays first and DHs along with INF Aledmys Diaz (67 wRC+), OF Jake Marisnick (157 wRC+) and C Max Stassi (-76 wRC+).

Bullpen Status

Houston used closer Roberto Osuna and setup man Hector Rondon for an inning each Sunday while getting two innings from Josh James. James is likely unavailable Monday now having pitched consecutive days.

Osuna’s main setup man is usually the recently-extended Ryan Pressly while Will Harris and Chris Devenski work in middle relief. Framber Valdez and James can give Houston some length after working as starters up until this season.

Matchups to watch

Right-handed aces vs. Yankees’ righty-heavy lineup
The Yankees’ righty-laden nine was felled by the likes of Nathan Eovaldi and Rick Porcello last October and with Houston the overwhelming favorite to win the AL West, the Bombers likely have to go through the trio facing them this weekend. Can they finally catch up to Verlander? It remains to be seen, while their matchup with Cole will be a newer test.

Loaisiga against Houston’s gauntlet
Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton have each proven they can handle this Houston lineup. In fact, Paxton went 4-0 with a 2.05 ERA against a similar lineup a year ago. Loaisiga, however, has never had a start against an offense this potent. He surely won’t be facing them for that long, but whether he can even go two turns through is a question mark.

Gleyber Torres and closing up that hole at the top of the zone

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Elevate and celebrate. (Getty)

The Yankees swept the Orioles this past weekend and they did it because the players they need to pick up the slack during all these injuries picked up the slack. Gary Sanchez hit four homers in the series, including three yesterday, and Clint Frazier hit three homers in the span of six plate appearances. That includes the game-winner Saturday.

Gleyber Torres will also be leaned on offensively until the Yankees get healthy, and he carried them this weekend. Torres hit two homers Thursday, including the go-ahead three-run shot, and he added another homer yesterday. He went 7-for-11 (.636) with two doubles, three homers, three walks, and no strikeouts in the series, and is sitting on a .371/.436/.714 (227 wRC+) early season batting line.

“He can use the whole field and can use it with power,” Aaron Judge told Coley Harvey following Gleyber’s two-homer game Thursday. “Especially a guy that plays second or shortstop, for him to come up and he’ll hit homers to left field and all of a sudden he’s spraying doubles down the right-field line, it’s just impressive what he can do at such a young age.”

Here is the (approximate) point of contact for two of the three homers Torres hit this weekend. Thursday’s game-winner is on the left and yesterday’s homer to open the scoring is on the right.

The Thursday homer was pulled to left field and you can see Gleyber’s hips are wide open. He went after that pitch aggressively and yanked it to left. With yesterday’s homer, Torres did not fly open quite as much. He stayed back on the pitch a bit and drove it out to dead center field.

Anyway, I bring this up because look at the pitch locations. Those pitches are at the top of the strike zone. Those are great locations for swings and misses. In fact, Torres swung through an elevated fastball in the same spot as the homer pitch Thursday earlier in that at-bat. Gleyber missed it the first time but not the second time. He tomahawked two pitches at the top of the zone for home runs this weekend.

Last season Torres, like most players, didn’t do much damage against pitches at the top of the zone. He swung and missed a bunch, and, when he did put those pitches in play, he didn’t hit them all that hard. So far this season Torres is getting around on those pitches. Here are Gleyber’s numbers against pitches in the upper third of the strike zone:

2018 2019 MLB AVG for RHB
Exit Velocity 88.3 mph 103.7 mph 88.3 mph
wOBA .298 1.016 .304
xwOBA .232 .908 .298
Whiffs-per-Swing 33.8% 25.0% 21.7%

Torres hit three home runs on pitches in the upper third of the strike zone last season. He hit two in the span of seven plate appearances this weekend. Granted, the Orioles stink, and it’s not like Torres took Justin Verlander and Corey Kluber deep, but still. Homers on pitches way up in the zone are not common for Gleyber.

The sky high wOBA and expected wOBA numbers are a good reminder it is still insanely early in the season. We’re still in the “2-for-4 with a double can add 100 points to your OPS” days. Two homers this weekend is not evidence Torres has closed a hole in his swing at the top of the zone. They just caught my attention (because they don’t happen often) and it’s something worth tracking going forward.

With Torres, his natural talent and feel for the game is so obviously special, and that makes quick adjustments and big gains possible. It’s a small sample size, absolutely. This could all be nothing. I also would not be surprised if this weekend eventually proves to be an indication Torres is now a more dangerous hitter against pitches up in the strike zone, either because he’s made an adjustment or because he’s more experienced or both.

“He’s got a great approach at the plate. He goes up there with a plan. You don’t see him up there too many times just free swinging,” Judge said to Harvey. “He usually comes up there with a plan, a pitch he’s going to attack, and he usually comes away with a pretty good at-bat.”

Yankeemetrics: Bronx Bombers invade Baltimore (April 4-7)

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(AP)

April 4: Happy Gleyber Day
The Yankees kicked off their first road trip of the season in Baltimore with a 8-4 win (crazy, eh?), as Gleyber Torres produced a career-best performance that re-wrote the franchise record books.

A happy ending could hardly have been predicted after a horrible first inning in which James Paxton gave up a leadoff homer, two walks, an RBI single, a run-scoring balk and a run-scoring wild pitch, before finally striking out the final two batters to end the inning. 3-0 hole, 24 outs to go … no problem, right?

Yankees #FightingSpirit made its first appearance of the season as they rallied from that three-run deficit to get a much-needed victory. Last year the team won only one game — at Citi Field against the Mets on June 9 — when trailing by at least three runs at the end of the first frame.

Torres started his monster game with a solo homer in the third inning, the 25th of his career. At age 22 and 112 days old, he became the third-youngest Yankee to reach that milestone, behind only Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle.

But he was just getting warmed up …

Torres came to the plate in the sixth inning with the Yankees trailing 4-2 and two men on base, and did what he does best — smash a three-run dinger put the Yankees ahead for good. If there is such thing as a clutch gene, Torres might have it, and the numbers in “high leverage” pressure situations give us some data to back it up.

Following that homer, Torres had a .444/.479/.867 line with six homers and 31 RBI in 49 high-leverage plate appearances. That seems … good? Since the start of last year, 232 players (as of Friday) had at least 40 high-leverage plate appearances. Here’s where Torres’ numbers rank among those 232:

BA OBP SLG HR RBI wOBA wRC+
Torres .444 .479 .867 6 31 .560 266
MLB Rank 1st 11th 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st

His final boxscore stats of four hits (2 homers, 1 double, 1 single) and four RBI put him in the company of a couple pinstriped legends.

  • He is the second Yankee shortstop with at least four hits, including two or more homers, in a game on the road, joining Derek Jeter on May 8, 2011 at Texas.
  • It was his third career multi-homer game; the only Yankee with more before age 23 was Joe DiMaggio (8!)
  • He is the second-youngest Yankee to produce at least 11 total bases and drive in four-or-more runs in a game, behind only a 21-year-old DiMaggio (June 24, 1936).
(UPI)

April 6: Red Thunder is Rolling
The Yankees overcame a messy mix of bad baserunning, bad defense and bad bullpen management to put together their first win streak of the season. (Not)Shockingly, dingers saved the day in their 6-4 win on Saturday.

The most glaring wasted opportunity came in the sixth inning when the Yankees had the bases loaded with no outs … and scored zero runs. In that situation, based on recent historical numbers, a team is expected to score a run 86.1 percent of the time and score an average 2.3 runs after loading the bases with no outs.

Aaron Judge kept the Yankees in the game with his bat, socking two dingers for his eighth career multi-homer game. Did you forget that he loves to smash baseballs vs this team? Four of those eight two-homer games have come against the Orioles. They were also his 84th and 85th career homers, in his 302nd career game; the only player in MLB history to reach 85 homers quicker than Judge was Ryan Howard (283 games).

After the O’s rallied to take a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh, Clint Frazier put on the hero’s cape and saved the day with a ginormous three-run blast in the top of the eighth. Let’s celebrate with this #FunFact:

#TooManyHomers
The Yankees finally pushed above the .500 mark with a dinger-happy 15-3 win to sweep the Orioles in Baltimore. It was the first time since 2003 (at Toronto) that the Yankees swept their first road series of the season (h/t @CharlieRGa). And the win extended their win streak in Baltimore to eight games, their longest road win streak against the O’s since the franchise moved to the Charm City in 1954. But we’re burying the lead here …

The Bronx Bombers lived up to their nickname and put on a fun power show , slugging seven homers, one shy of the team record. Overall, its the fifth time they’ve gone deep at least seven times in a game and the first time since July 31, 2007 vs White Sox at Yankee Stadium. The last time they hit seven-or-more homers in a road game was May 30, 1961 against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The players with dingers that day: Mickey Mantle (2), Roger Maris (2), Yogi Berra and Bill Skowron (2).

Gleyber Torres got the home run derby started with a solo blast in the first inning to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. More than half (14) of his 27 career homers have either tied the game or put the Yankees ahead. That’s good, I think.

Clint Frazier was the next guy to join the home run party in the second inning, and then capped off his career-best four-hit day with a ninth-inning shot for his first career multi-homer game. Congrats Clint, you get our Obscure Yankeemetric of the Series: The last Yankee outfielder under age-25 with at least four hits, including two homers, in a game was Mickey Mantle on May 18, 1956 vs White Sox.

And we keep burying the lead …

(AP)

Gary Sanchez wins our Gold Star of the game thanks to his historic three-homer, six-RBI effort. This one deserves a bullet-point recap:

  • Youngest Yankee (26 years old) with at least three homers in a game since Bobby Murcer (24 years old) did it on June 24, 1970.
  • First Yankee with at least three homers in a game vs the Orioles since they moved to Baltimore in 1954. The only Yankees to homer three times in a game vs the Orioles/Browns franchise came back when they were known as the St. Louis Browns: Bill Dickey (July 26, 1939) and Joe DiMaggio (June 13, 1937).
  • Third player in Yankees history to hit six homers this early into the season (9 team games), joining Alex Rodriguez (2007) and Graig Nettles (1974).
  • Youngest player in franchise history with three homers and six-or-more RBI in a game on the road. The only player younger than Sanchez to do this in home pinstripes was Ben Chapman (23 years old) on July 9, 1932 vs the Tigers.

And our signature #FunFact of the game — six of his eight total hits this season have gone into the seats for souvenirs:

Fan Confidence Poll: April 8th, 2019

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Record Last Week: 4-2 (34 RS, 17 RA)
Season Record: 5-4 (49 RS, 17 RA, 6-3 expected record)
Scheduled This Week: Three games at Astros (Mon. to Weds.); Thursday OFF; Three games vs. White Sox (Fri. to Sun.)

Top stories from last week:

Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea how confident you are in the Yankees. You can view the interactive Fan Confidence Graph anytime via the Features tab in nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks in advance for voting.

Given the team's current roster construction, farm system, management, etc., how confident are you in the Yankees' overall future?
Total Votes: 1422 Started: April 7, 2019 Back to Vote Screen

Yankees 15, Orioles 3: Home Run Derby in Baltimore

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We’ve been waiting ALL DAMN SEASON for the Yankees to have a game like this. In all seriousness, what a great way to close out the weekend series. Clinch the sweep with the first stress-free blowout win of the year. The Yankees won Sunday’s game 15-3 and they’re back above .500 at 5-4.

(Getty)

Reverse Split
The Yankees stacked their lineup with right-handed batters against righty David Hess on Sunday. Why? Because Hess is “a little more of a reverse split kind of guy,” Aaron Boone told James Wagner before the game. Hess’s career splits:

  • vs. RHB: .255/.335/.433 (.331 wOBA and .315 xwOBA)
  • vs. LHB: .239/.310/.491 (.340 wOBA and .332 xwOBA)

The numbers say Hess has been more effective overall against righties, which doesn’t jibe with Boone’s comments about being a “reverse split kind of guy,” but remember, the Yankees don’t base matchups (solely) on batting average and slugging percentage. Their analytics allow them to design matchups based on pitch movement and swing paths and all that. The data said the righty bats matched up better against Hess than the lefties.

Sure enough, the righty bats did plenty of the damage against Hess. Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning — at that point, the Yankees had scored their last 16 (!) runs on homers, their longest such streak since 1977 — and Gary Sanchez swatted a two-run home run in the third inning. Please enjoy these dingers:

Cedric Mullins very nearly robbed Frazier’s home run. He didn’t miss it by much at all. Pretty cool that Gleyber and Frazier went back-to-back, no? It’s the first time they’ve gone deep in the same game, nevermind the same inning or back-to-back. Torres had two homers in the win Thursday, Frazier had the big home run Saturday, and they hit back-to-back homers Sunday. Pretty rad weekend for the two prized pickups of the 2016 trade deadline sell-off.

Brett Gardner, the only lefty hitter in the starting lineup, went 1-for-3 against Hess with a double to right field. The righties went a combined 5-for-16 (.313) with a double, two walks, and three run home runs. I’d call Sunday’s reverse split strategy a smashing success. Once Hess was out of the game, the Yankees really broke it open against the bullpen. Torres doubled and Frazier singled in the sixth to snap that string of consecutive runs on a homer and stretch the lead to 5-0.

Sanchez hit his second homer of the game in the seventh inning, another two-run shot, and DJ LeMahieu (double) and Gio Urshela (single) drove in runs the old fashioned way. With two outs in that seventh inning the Yankees went single, homer, walk, double, single, single to score four runs. Six consecutive two-out baserunners turned a comfortable 5-0 lead into a 9-0 blowout. In the eighth, Sanchez went deep again. Do your thing, Gary:

Two homers on elevated fastballs and one on a slider down in the zone. First three-homer game of Sanchez’s career and the first three-homer game by a Yankee since … Aaron Hicks against the Red Sox last July. Gary did have a chance at a fourth homer. He flew out against position player Hanser Alberto in the ninth. “I tried to do what everybody was thinking, but I got under it too much,” Sanchez said after the game. Alas.

Sanchez suddenly has six homers on the season, tying him with Cody Bellinger for the MLB lead, and the six runs driven in Sunday are a new career high. He already has 33.3% of his 2018 home run total in 9.4% of the plate appearances. In one afternoon, Gary’s batting line went from .192/.300/.538 (137 wRC+) to .250/.333/.813 (220 wRC+). Adding 83 wRC+ points and 308 OPS points to the ol’ batting line in one afternoon is a good day at the office.

Any Given Domingo
Man, what a start for Domingo German. Exactly what the Yankees needed after taxing the bullpen heavily Saturday night. German did not allow a baserunner until Rio Ruiz’s one-out walk in the fifth inning and he did not allow a hit until Alberto’s clean single to right with one out in the sixth inning. His pitching line (6 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) really doesn’t do his performance justice. It wasn’t until the Yankees were up 9-0 in the seventh that German wavered, but even then it was Stephen Tarpley who really made a mess of things.

German faced 22 batters Sunday. Six hit the ball out of the infield, seven fell behind in the count 0-2, two saw a three-ball count, and one saw a hitter friendly 2-0 or 3-1 count. After walking five batters in five innings last time out, German threw 60 of his 89 pitches for strikes, or 67%. He was in control all game. Look at the pitch selection:

  • Four-seamers: 29 (38 last start)
  • Sinkers: 13 (6 last start)
  • Breaking balls: 29 (29 last start)
  • Changeups: 18 (5 last start)

Fewer straight four-seamers and more moving sinkers and changeups. I’m curious to see whether German sticks with the changeup heavy approach. I don’t think the improved control stemmed from the pitch selection — throwing more pitches that move isn’t exactly conducive to throwing strikes — I think it was just a good control day, but more changeups could make a difference going forward.

On his best days, German can be as good as just about anyone. His stuff is so lively. When he’s around the zone and getting ahead in the count, he can dominate. I’m not sure even a good lineup does much damage against him with the way he threw Sunday. Given his career to date, we have no idea which German will show up next time out. It could be the guy who walks five in five innings again. On Sunday, the good version showed up, and German gave the Yankees much needed length and effectiveness.

(Getty)

Leftovers
Oh by the way, Frazier went 4-for-5 with two homers. Hard to do that and be only a footnote. Blame Sanchez and German. It is Clint’s first career four-hit game and first career multi-homer game. Going back to Saturday night’s game, Frazier has three home runs in his last six plate appearances. The Yankees as a team hit seven homers Sunday. Three for Sanchez, two for Frazier, one each for Torres and Austin Romine. This was the fifth time ever the Yankees hit seven homers in a nine-inning game. The previous four:

  • July 31st, 2007 vs. White Sox
  • May 30th, 1961 vs. Red Sox
  • June 28th, 1939 vs. Athletics
  • June 3rd, 1932 vs. Athletics

Gardner had a double and three walks, and went from a .273 OBP to a .333 OBP in one game. Torres went 2-for-5 with a double, a homer, and a walk. He’s hitting .371/.436/.714 (232 wRC+) on the young season. I’m starting to think that kid has a future in this game. Every starter had a hit except Aaron Judge, who drew a walk. Nine walks and three strikeouts for the Yankees in this game. Geez.

Rough outing for Tarpley, who allowed two hits and a walk, and the two runners he inherited from German to score. The first scored on a passed ball, the second on a wild pitch. Tarpley needed 26 pitches to get three outs with a 9-0 lead. In the eight-man bullpen era, the last guy in the bullpen has to be able to soak up (at least) two innings in a game like this, and Tarpley couldn’t do it. Luis Cessa pitched the final two innings without incident.

And finally, this was the 2,000th win of Brian Cashman’s career as general manager. I have no idea where that ranks historically, but I have to think it’s up there. Two-thousand games as a general manager seems nuts. Two-thousand wins? Good gravy.

Box Score, WPA Graph & Standings
For the box score and video highlights, go to MLB.com. For the updated standings, go to ESPN. For our Bullpen Workload page, go here. Here’s the win probability graph:


Source: FanGraphs

Up Next
Three games in Houston. The Astros are the first legitimately good team the Yankees will play this season. Masahiro Tanaka and Justin Verlander are the scheduled starting pitchers for Monday night’s series opener. That’s a 7pm ET game.

DotF: Sabathia makes rehab start in Tampa’s walk-off win

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I’ve had a number of folks ask where they can get their DotF fix once RAB shuts down. I recommend MLB.com’s Prospect Pipeline page. Scroll down, pick the Yankees, and they have the day’s box scores all on one page. There are no player comments like DotF, but all the stats are there.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (10-2 win over Buffalo)

  • RF Trey Amburgey: 1-5
  • 1B Mike Ford: 3-5, 3 R, 3 HR, 4 RBI — Gary Sanchez wasn’t the only player in the organization with a three-homer game today … this isn’t Ford’s first three-homer game either, he had a four-homer game a few years back
  • SS Thairo Estrada: 0-5, 2 K — due to the call-up and send down, this was his first game of the season
  • 2B Gosuke Katoh: 0-4, 3 K
  • 3B Cliff Pennington: 2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 K
  • RHP David Hale: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 HB, 12/1 GB/FB — 55 of 88 pitches were strikes (63%)
  • RHP Jake Barrett: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 2/1 GB/FB — 16 of 24 pitches were strikes (67%) … organizational debut after being claimed off waivers the other day

[Read more…]