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Game 27: Looking for another win by the Bay

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(Presswire)

The Yankees have won nine times in their last eleven games and, incredibly, they remain a top ten offensive team despite all the injuries. They are ninth in runs per game (5.31), ninth in AVG (.258), eighth in OBP (.340), eighth in SLG (.458), and tenth in wRC+ (108). The replacements have been great.

“It’s fun, man. No one thinks we should be winning these games,” Luke Voit told Coley Harvey after last night’s win. “And everyone in our clubhouse, before the game, after the game, it’s just like everyone’s cheering for each other and happy. And you know what, the confidence is through the roof, too.”

Of course, the pitching has been pretty good too. The Yankees as a team have a 3.86 ERA, ninth best in baseball, and their starters are seventh in baseball with a 3.57 ERA. Hopefully a weak Giants lineup and a homer unfriendly park allows J.A. Happ to dominate today. Here are today’s lineups:

New York Yankees
1. 2B DJ LeMahieu
2. 1B Luke Voit
3. C Gary Sanchez
4. SS Gleyber Torres
5. 3B Gio Urshela
6. CF Brett Gardner
7. RF Cameron Maybin
8. LF Thairo Estrada
9. LHP J.A. Happ

San Francisco Giants
1. CF Kevin Pillar
2. LF Tyler Austin
3. 1B Brandon Belt
4. C Buster Posey
5. 3B Evan Longoria
6. 2B Yangervis Solarte
7. SS Brandon Crawford
8. RF Gerardo Parra
9. LHP Derek Holland

It is partly cloudy and cool in San Francisco today. Not a bad day to spend at the ballpark. This afternoon’s game will begin at 4:05pm ET and you can watch on the YES Network. Enjoy the game.

Injury Updates: Miguel Andujar (shoulder) went 3-for-5 as the DH in an Extended Spring Training game today. He is going to rest tomorrow and play third base in an ExST game Monday, and if all goes well, he’ll begin an official minor league rehab assignment with High-A Tampa on Tuesday … Troy Tulowitzki (calf) played a simulated game yesterday and will play in an ExST on Monday … Aaron Hicks (back) is tentatively scheduled to begin playing in ExST games next Wednesday … Clint Frazier (ankle) played catch today and is expected to return right when his ten days on the injured list are up, or shortly thereafter. He is eligible to be activated Friday … Jacoby Ellsbury (hip) is coming along slowly with his rehab because “little things” keep popping up, Aaron Boone said.

Rotation Update: Domingo German starts tomorrow, Monday is an off-day, Masahiro Tanaka starts Tuesday, and CC Sabathia starts Wednesday. The Yankees flipped Tanaka and Sabathia. Tanaka will start Tuesday on normal rest and Sabathia gets an extra day. Disregard, Aaron Boone misspoke this morning. The Yankees are not flipping Tanaka and Sabathia. German tomorrow, off-day Monday, Sabathia on Tuesday, Tanaka on Wednesday. Everyone stays on turn.

Game 24: Milestone Night?

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(Mark Brown/Getty)

Are they playing crisp and clean baseball right now? No, but the Yankees are racking up wins and they go into tonight one game behind the Rays in the loss column. Imagine if the roles were reversed and the Rays were closing in on the Yankees despite all the injuries? They’d write scripture about them.

Anyway, CC Sabathia has a chance to make history tonight. Six more strikeouts and he’ll become the 17th member of the 3,000-strikeout club. Sabathia isn’t a big strikeout pitcher anymore, plus the Angels rarely strike out, but six strikeouts is definitely doable. The milestone is within reach.

“Getting it out of the way early would be great,” Sabathia told George King about the milestone. “It’s not something I am focusing on. I making sure I stay healthy enough to help the team win.”

The milestone would be cool. Another win would be even cooler. The Yankees have won five straight games and seven of their last eight games. They haven’t all been pretty, but who cares. They are wins in the bank. Here are tonight’s starting lineups:

New York Yankees
1. 2B DJ LeMahieu
2. DH Luke Voit
3. CF Brett Gardner
4. C Gary Sanchez
5. SS Gleyber Torres
6. 1B Mike Ford
7. 3B Gio Urshela
8. RF Mike Tauchman
9. LF Tyler Wade

LHP CC Sabathia

Los Angeles Angels
1. 2B David Fletcher
2. CF Mike Trout
3. SS Andrelton Simmons
4. 1B Albert Pujols
5. LF Brian Goodwin
6. C Jonathan Lucroy
7. DH Kevan Smith
8. RF Kole Calhoun
9. 3B Zack Cozart

RHP Cam Bedrosian (opener for RHP Felix Pena)

Safe to assume it is another great night for baseball in Anaheim. Pretty great weather in New York too. Tonight’s game will begin at 10:07pm ET and you can watch on the YES Network locally and MLB Network nationally. Enjoy the game.

Injury Updates: Clint Frazier (ankle) went for an MRI today and the Yankees are waiting for the results. His ankle is still swollen and black and blue … Giancarlo Stanton (biceps) had to get a cortisone shot in his shoulder recently. The biceps is healed, but now his shoulder is barking. He’ll resume his work in a few days and won’t return before the end of the road trip … Miguel Andujar (shoulder) took live batting practice and could play in Extended Spring Training games soon. It should be noted he is not out of the woods yet with regards to potential season-ending surgery, but so far, so good … Aaron Hicks (back) took live batting practice as well and has ramped up all his baseball activities. He took could play in ExST games soon … Troy Tulowitzki (calf) also took live batting practice and could play in ExST games soon … Didi Gregorius (Tommy John surgery) is continuing to stretch out his throwing. All is going well.

Roster Moves: In case you missed it earlier, the Yankees sent down the struggling Chad Green. Bummer, but it had to be done. On the bright side, Sanchez is back! Hooray! Kyle Higashioka was sent down to clear a spot for Sanchez and Stephen Tarpley was called up to replace Green.

Game 19: Get a lead before the rain

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(Elsa/Getty)

The Yankees crashed back to reality last night. They followed that thrilling two-game series sweep against the Red Sox with a clunker of a series opener against the Royals. The Yankees are now 3-7 in ten home games against the Orioles, Tigers, White Sox, and Royals. That is impressively terrible.

“It’s our job to win every day, no matter what other teams are doing to win,” Brett Gardner told Ken Davidoff following last night’s loss. “If we do what we’re supposed to do, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing, or where we’re at. Obviously some guys are going to be out longer than others, but we’ve got depth to weather a storm like that. We’ll be good.”

The Yankees have talk a lot about weathering the storm and being close to going on a roll this season, but we’ve yet to see it. When you have to keep reminding folks you’re close to doing something, you’re not close to doing it. Get a win, please. Here are tonight’s lineups:

New York Yankees
1. CF Brett Gardner
2. DH Aaron Judge
3. 1B Luke Voit
4. SS Gleyber Torres
5. 3B DJ LeMahieu
6. RF Clint Frazier
7. LF Mike Tauchman
8. C Kyle Higashioka
9. 2B Tyler Wade

LHP CC Sabathia

Kansas City Royals
1. 1B Whit Merrifield
2. CF Billy Hamilton
3. SS Adalberto Mondesi
4. 3B Hunter Dozier
5. LF Alex Gordon
6. DH Jorge Soler
7. 2B Chris Owings
8. C Martin Maldonado
9. RF Terrance Gore

RHP Jake Junis

It has been warm and sticky today in New York, and it is supposed to rain tonight. The internet tells me the rain is due to arrive around 9pm ET, and once it starts, it won’t stop until tomorrow morning. So make sure you have a lead after the top of the fifth tonight, fellas. Tonight’s game will begin at 7:05pm ET and WPIX will have the broadcast. Enjoy the game.

Injury Updates: Gary Sanchez (calf) hit, ran, played catch, and caught J.A. Happ’s bullpen session this afternoon. Once the doctors give him the thumb’s up, Sanchez will play a minor league rehab game or two, then join the Yankees during next week’s West Coast trip … Miguel Andujar (shoulder) threw to the bases today and everything went well. “I was really encouraged. At this point we kinda still remain optimistic,” Aaron Boone told Sweeny Murti … Aaron Hicks (back) hit in the batting cage today. He’s going to Tampa to continue his rehab following Sunday’s series finale with the Royals. Andujar and Troy Tulowitzki (calf) are going to Tampa as well.

Game 16: Just a game between two sub-.500 teams

by

(Presswire)

So, who had the Yankees and Red Sox being a combined eight games under .500 when they met for the first time this season? Not me, certainly. The Yankees are 6-9 and the Red Sox are 6-11. This is the first time the Yankees and Red Sox have met with sub-.500 records this deep into the season (at least 15 games) since 1992. Neither team’s season has gone according to plan.

“I don’t really get caught up in what (the rivalry) means. I certainly understand it. I’m doing everything I can to get us in the right place to go out and get a W,” Aaron Boone said this afternoon. “… I know we’re up against a good team that’s off to a tough start, similar to us. We know what they’re capable of and we know we have to play well to beat them.”

There would be no better way to snap out of this early-season slump than a quick little two-game sweep over an AL East rival. That applies to both teams. The Yankees want to keep burying the Red Sox and start climbing up the standings. You know Boston wants to do the same. One game at a time though. Gotta win the first one before you can win both. Here are tonight’s lineups:

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

LHP James Paxton

Boston Red Sox
1. RF Mookie Betts
2. SS Xander Bogaerts
3. LF J.D. Martinez
4. DH Steve Pearce
5. 1B Mitch Moreland
6. 2B Eduardo Nunez
7. 3B Rafael Devers
8. C Sandy Leon
9. CF Jackie Bradley Jr.

LHP Chris Sale

It has been a beautiful day in New York. A little on the chilly side, but the sky is clear. It won’t last. There is rain in the forecast later tonight, around 11pm ET or so. Hopefully the game is over before the rain starts. Tonight’s game will begin at 6:35pm ET and you can watch on WPIX locally and MLB Network nationally. Enjoy the ballgame.

Injury Updates: In case you missed it earlier, Greg Bird has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a torn plantar fascia. He will be in a walking boot for two weeks, then be reevaluated. The Yankees expect him to miss at least a month. Saturday was the first time it really became a problem, apparently … Aaron Hicks (back) will remain with the Yankees through the end of the homestand before heading back to Tampa. He feels 100% and did more running, throwing, and hitting today. He’s a day or two away from taking batting practice … Miguel Andujar (shoulder) has increased his hitting and throwing. He’s still early in the process and they aren’t much closer to answering the “surgery or no surgery?” question than they were two weeks ago … Dellin Betances (shoulder) is no longer stuck in Tampa. He’s with the Yankees in New York. Nothing new to report though. He’s still early in the shutdown phase following last week’s cortisone shot … Troy Tulowitzki (calf) hit in the cage and did some running on the field today. It’s the first time he’s done any real baseball activities since landing on the injured list.

The injury bug and a flashback to 2007

by

(Presswire)

Twelve Yankees currently reside on the injured list. Twelve! It’s put a pretty big damper on the start of the regular season, to say the least. Sure, a few players on the shelf aren’t surprises: Didi Gregorius and Jordan Montgomery, to name a couple. The Yankees had time to plan for their absences. However, they could have never anticipated the myriad of injuries that have happened since spring training began. It’s a bit reminiscent of 2007, when a handful of Yankees suffered hamstring strains early in the season. This year, there have been various health issues, but a fair amount of them have been muscle strains, stiffness, or soreness.

Prior to 2007, the Yankees hired Marty Miller as the team’s director of performance enhancement. He lost his job by early May. Injuries piled up within a month of the season beginning and it proved to be Miller’s undoing. Hideki Matsui, Mike Mussina, Chien-Ming Wang, and Phil Hughes all suffered hamstring strains. Johnny Damon played through a calf strain and Andy Pettitte powered through back soreness from a weight lifting mishap. This season, there have been two calf strains (Troy Tulowitzki and Gary Sanchez), Giancarlo Stanton’s biceps strain, Aaron Hicks’s back stiffness, and Luis Severino’s lat strain. Those seem to be related to strength and conditioning issues. To add insult to injury, there have been some bad luck and pitchers break issues too. Miguel Andujar tore his labrum sliding back into third, Severino had shoulder inflammation before his lat strain, and Dellin Betances has a shoulder impingement and bone spurs.

Aside from the litany of maladies, communication has been a problem as well. Hicks, Betances, and Severino have all had setbacks. How many times have we heard that Aaron Hicks is close to ramping up baseball activities? He was suppose to get back into the swing of things before camp ended. The Yankees downplayed Betances’s velocity in spring training, and now we find out that he’s had a bone spur for years. There was no mention of that when he was initially diagnosed with an impingement. Severino, somehow, suffered a new injury (lat strain) while trying to recover from shoulder soreness.

Matt Krause has been the team’s director of strength and conditioning since the 2014 season. Are all of these muscle injuries his and his team’s fault? Who knows. One thing’s for sure: the optics are bad. Back in 2007, the way things looked almost certainly contributed to the team cutting Miller lose. Even so, Cashman declined to blame Miller for the parade to the disabled list:

Last month, when a rash of muscle-related injuries felled five key players in four weeks, Cashman did not blame Miller or his assistant, Dana Cavalea.

“I’m constantly evaluating everything we do,” Cashman said in a telephone interview at the time. “But do I blame Marty and Dana for this? No.”

Cashman had said there were many reasons the injuries to key Yankees could have occurred, apart from Miller’s new strength and conditioning program, in which some players had declined to participate.

That last sentence is telling, though. Players declining to participate in a team’s strength and conditioning program is not a good look! If that wasn’t the final straw, it was definitely alarming.

This year, Cashman hasn’t placed blame on the training staff. Nonetheless, his reaction to Severino’s lat strain makes it easy to wonder if its starting to become the subject of his ire.

Cashman certainly sounds annoyed that the team has no idea how the ace succumbed to a new injury. On one hand, I could see him questioning if Severino did something extraneous to the “protocol” that caused the injury. That would be a hefty and damning accusation to make, though. On the flip side, it’s the training staff’s responsibility to get players back on the field as soon as possible. The fact that they’re in the dark about how this happened, or perhaps the idea that it was never caught in the first place, is significant. Not only is it a physical issue, but it is also a communication deficiency. These kind of mistakes can (and already have) throw the season way off course.

To give the conditioning team the benefit of the doubt, a few of the players who have gotten hurt have a reputation for being injury prone. Tulowitzki and Hicks, in particular. Further, maybe Severino’s ailments are just a symptom of being a pitcher. Whoever or whatever is to blame, it’s been nothing but bad news all around. Fortunately, like that 2007 team, all of these instances have happened very early on in the season. That squad still won 94 games when it was all said and done. For this team to accomplish that, it needs to get its house in order. Part of that is some better fortune moving forward, but also identifying the source of the numerous muscle strains, setbacks, and communication breakdowns.

Game 15: Looking for the first series win at home

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(Al Bello/Getty)

The Yankees have a chance to do something today they have done only once this season: Win a series. In fact, they’ve yet to win a series at home. Granted, this is only the third home series and fifth series overall, but still. Winning only one of the first four series and dropping series to the Orioles at Tigers at home was a big letdown. Adding a home series loss to the White Sox on top of that? Yikes.

This afternoon the Yankees have their best pitcher on the mound as they go for the sweep, and, in theory, the White Sox are a good matchup for Masahiro Tanaka. They have one of the highest chase rates in the league (31.9%) and he excels at getting hitters to swing at pitches out of the zone. Tanaka still has execute, of course, but if he does, it should be a good day. Here is the new look lineup:

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

RHP Masahiro Tanaka

Chicago White Sox
1. CF Leury Garcia
2. 3B Yoan Moncada
3. DH Jose Abreu
4. 1B Yonder Alonso
5. LF Eloy Jimenez
6. SS Tim Anderson
7. C James McCann
8. RF Daniel Palka
9. 2B Yolmer Sanchez

LHP Carlos Rodon

It is warm and a bit cloudy in the Bronx this afternoon. There is some rain in the forecast later today, though it shouldn’t interrupt the game unless it goes deep into extra innings. Today’s series finale will begin at 1:05pm ET and you can watch on the YES Network locally and MLB Network nationally.

Injury Updates: Aaron Hicks (back) is with the Yankees in New York, but only temporarily. He’s in town to get his apartment situated. His rehab work is going well and he could graduate to on-field batting practice this coming week. The Yankees aren’t giving a firm timetable for his return because, well, they keep getting these things wrong … Austin Romine is available today. He got beat up a little bit Friday night and he was going to get the day game after the night game off yesterday anyway, so, with the off-day tomorrow, the Yankees are taking the opportunity to give him three straight days off to feel better.

Game 13: The Yankees just got swept and everyone’s hurt, but at least it’s going to rain tonight

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(Presswire)

Somehow the Yankees got even more injured today. Gary Sanchez was placed on the injured list with a calf strain and Dellin Betances suffered a setback during yesterday’s simulated game. The Yankees have 12 players on the injured list — that includes five of their nine starting position players — and I count no more than four with a realistic chance to return this month. Everyone else is further away.

“It’s our reality right now. The bottom line is we feel like — unlike any other team, maybe — we are equipped to be able to still have success through this. That’s our expectations. It is next guy up,” Aaron Boone said this afternoon. “… Even though we’re in a little bit of a storm right now and have some adversity with these injuries, the expectation doesn’t change because the guys we still have in that room are capable of getting it done. That’s our focus.”

Ultimately, injuries are part of the game, and the Yankees have more resources to cover for those injuries than any other team. I mean, how many teams will field a lineup worse than what the Yankees are running out there tonight? Has to be at least half the league given how many teams are tanking. Well, whatever. Here are tonight’s lineups:

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

LHP J.A. Happ

Chicago White Sox
1. RF Leury Garcia
2. SS Tim Anderson
3. 1B Jose Abreu
4. DH Yonder Alonso
5. 3B Yoan Moncada
6. LF Eloy Jimenez
7. C James McCann
8. 2B Jose Rondon
9. CF Adam Engel

RHP Lucas Giolito

As the headline says, it’s supposed to rain tonight. There are on-and-off showers in the forecast throughout the game window, and the heaviest stuff is supposed to arrive around 10pm ET. Once it arrives, it’s not supposed to stop raining until sometime tomorrow morning. Make sure you have a lead after five innings, guys. Tonight’s game will begin at 7:05pm ET and you can watch on WPIX. This is the first WPIX game of the season, right? I think so. Enjoy the game.

Injury Updates: Sanchez (calf) has a “slight” strain and the Yankees considered keeping him active this weekend (there’s an off-day Monday), but decided to play it safe with the injured list. He’ll be shut down this weekend and resume baseball activities Monday … Miguel Andujar (shoulder) swung a bat today for the first time since being placed on the injured list. He took 25 dry swings and 25 swings off a tee with 50% effort. Andujar also played light catch again. Throwing is the primary concern. Apparently the injury won’t impact his swing much … Giancarlo Stanton (biceps) hit off a tee and soft toss again today, and everything went well … Aaron Hicks (back) is close to ramping up his baseball activities. He’s hitting off a tee and soft toss right now, and could start hitting in the cage and on the field next week … Troy Tulowitzki (calf) took swings today and is feeling better. There’s no word yet on when he could be activated. He’s eligible to be activated Sunday, though that’s not going to happen.

Misc. Notes: CC Sabathia starts tomorrow and Masahiro Tanaka starts Sunday with an extra day of rest. That lines up James Paxton and J.A. Happ for the two-game Red Sox series next week. Domingo German is available out of the bullpen this weekend and will start the Royals series opener next Thursday … Boone indicated this afternoon that Joe Harvey will get a chance to carve out a role in the bullpen, though he might’ve been speaking in general. Who knows, maybe Harvey won’t be the guy sent down when Sabathia returns tomorrow.