Gregorio Petit Archives - Page 3 of 3

Game 28: Chance To Win Another Series

May 6, 2015 by Mike 809 Comments

The Yankees and Blue Jays have split the first two games of this series at Rogers Centre — the Yankees aren’t fans of the new turf, by the way — so tonight’s rubber game will determine the series winner. New York has won each of their last five series and they haven’t won six straight since the middle of the 2011 season, when they won seven straight. Would be nice to get over that hump, no?

Tonight’s pitching matchup would have been great about five years ago: CC Sabathia vs. Mark Buehrle. Now they’re both in the latter phases of their careers trying to figure out how to pitch with reduced stuff. (Yes, even Buehrle’s trying to learn how to pitch with lost velocity even though he had little to begin win.) The Yankees have historically owned Buehrle but I don’t really think that means much. This Yankees team is different than last year’s and the all the other ones before it. Here is Toronto’s lineup and here is New York’s lineup:

CF Jacoby Ellsbury
LF Chris Young
DH Alex Rodriguez
1B Mark Teixeira
C Brian McCann
RF Carlos Beltran
3B Chase Headley
SS Stephen Drew
2B Jose Pirela
LHP CC Sabathia

It’s been a real nice day in Toronto, with a clear sky and temperatures in the 70s. I’m guessing the roof will be open tonight. First pitch for tonight’s game is scheduled for 7:07pm ET. You can watch on YES. Enjoy.

Injury Update: Brett Gardner is out with a stiff neck, Joe Girardi told reporters this afternoon. He hurt himself on a head-first slide last night. Seems like it’s only a day-to-day thing, thankfully.

Roster Move: As you can tell from the lineup, Pirela (concussion) has been activated off the DL. Gregorio Petit was placed on the 15-day DL with a right hand contusion in a corresponding move, the Yankees announced. Petit took a pitch to the hand last night and the various reporters say it was pretty swollen today. Timing worked out well.

Game 22: Big Mike for the Sweep

April 29, 2015 by Mike 1,646 Comments

Usually Michael Pineda starts are a reason to celebrate. Big Mike is awesome. Today is a little different though. Pineda is starting this afternoon because Masahiro Tanaka is out with a wrist/forearm issue that will “conservatively” keep him out about a month. Like I said, Big Mike is awesome. But Big Mike and a healthy Tanaka would be even more awesome.

Anyway, the Yankees are on a roll right now, winning three straight and ten of their last 12 games overall. I wouldn’t say they’re firing on all cylinders, but I do think it’s fair to say the Yankees appear to be playing as well as they did at any point from 2013-14. Maybe better. Things are going pretty well despite Tanaka’s injury. Here is Tampa Bay’s lineup and here is New York’s lineup as the Yankees go for the sweep:

CF Jacoby Ellsbury
LF Chris Young
DH Alex Rodriguez
1B Mark Teixeira
RF Carlos Beltran
3B Chase Headley
C John Ryan Murphy
2B Gregorio Petit
SS Didi Gregorius
RHP Michael Pineda

It’s a glorious day in New York. Bright blue sky, temperatures in the low-70s, just a perfect afternoon for baseball. This afternoon’s game is set to begin at 1:05pm ET and can be seen on YES locally and, depending where you live, MLB Network nationally. Enjoy the game.

Roster Move: As expected, Tanaka was placed on the 15-day DL with “right wrist tendinitis and a right forearm strain,” the Yankees announced. Petit was recalled from Triple-A Scranton in a corresponding move. The Yankees didn’t have to wait the ten days to bring him back because of Tanaka’s injury.

Game 21: Spot Start

April 28, 2015 by Mike 1,025 Comments

The return of Ace Whitley. (Joe Robbins/Getty)

The Yankees have won 12 of their first 20 games for the first time since, well, last season. They went 12-8 to start the 2014 season too. But wait! Last year’s team scored 84 runs and allowed 87 runs in those first 20 games. This year’s team has scored 103 runs and allowed only 79 runs. That’s much better. That matches what my eyes are telling me, that the 2015 Yankees are different and more well-rounded than the 2014 Yankees.

Anyway, for the first time this season the Yankees are turning to a spot sixth starter to give the regular members of their rotation an extra day of rest. Chase Whitley has been called up from Triple-A to make the spot start and I was surprised when he didn’t make the team out of Spring Training. He was awesome in camp. Apparently the plan all along was the keep Whitley stretched out in Triple-A for this exact reason though, to make occasional spot starts. Hopefully it pays off. Here is the Rays’ lineup and here is the Yankees’ lineup:

CF Jacoby Ellsbury
LF Brett Gardner
1B Mark Teixeira
C Brian McCann
RF Carlos Beltran
DH Garrett Jones
3B Chase Headley
2B Stephen Drew
SS Didi Gregorius
RHP Chase Whitley

It’s been a damn near perfect weather day in New York today and it’ll continue tonight. Great night for baseball. Tonight’s game is set to begin at 7:05pm ET and can be seen on YES locally and, depending on where you live, MLB Network nationally. Enjoy the game.

Roster Move: Gregorio Petit was optioned to Triple-A Scranton to clear a spot for Whitley, the team announced. So no backup infielder tonight. I guess this means Whitley will be sent down tomorrow and Jose Pirela (concussion) will be activated off the DL. Pirela’s been on a minor league rehab assignment these last few days and, for what it’s worth, he told Dan Pfeiffer he doesn’t feel his swing is all the way back yet. We’ll see.

Yankees finalize Opening Day roster with latest round of roster moves

April 5, 2015 by Mike 132 Comments

3:25pm: The Yankees have officially announced their Opening Day roster. It is exactly as presented below. No surprises.

10:00am: The Opening Day roster has been slowly coming together over the last several weeks, and yesterday afternoon the Yankees made the roster all but official with their latest round of moves, including Austin Romine being designated for assignment. Here is the 25-man roster the Yankees will take into the regular season tomorrow:

CATCHERS (2)
Brian McCann
John Ryan Murphy

INFIELDERS (7)
Stephen Drew
Didi Gregorius
Chase Headley
Garrett Jones
Gregorio Petit
Alex Rodriguez
Mark Teixeira

OUTFIELDERS (4)
Carlos Beltran
Brett Gardner
Jacoby Ellsbury
Chris Young

STARTERS (5)
Nathan Eovaldi
Michael Pineda
CC Sabathia
Masahiro Tanaka
Adam Warren

RELIEVERS (7)
Dellin Betances
David Carpenter
Chris Martin
Andrew Miller
Esmil Rogers
Chasen Shreve
Justin Wilson

DISABLED LIST (4)
Chris Capuano (quad) — retroactive to March 27th
Ivan Nova (Tommy John surgery) — retroactive to March 27th
Jose Pirela (concussion) — retroactive to April 2nd
Brendan Ryan (calf) — retroactive to April 1st

Pirela was placed on the 7-day concussion DL while Capuano, Nova, and Ryan were all placed on the regular old 15-day DL. Petit takes Romine’s spot on the 40-man roster, which is full. The Yankees can transfer Nova to the 60-day DL whenever they need another 40-man spot since he’s not expected to return until June. Romine, Petit, and the DL assignments were the moves announced yesterday.

Despite those injuries, the Yankees made it through Spring Training as the healthiest team in the AL East, just as we all expected. The rest of the roster is pretty straight forward. Warren was named the fifth starter a few days ago and it was clear Shreve and Martin were going to make the Opening Day roster once Chase Whitley was optioned to Triple-A. Joe Girardi is planning to use Betances and Miller as co-closers to start the season, which is pretty cool. Hopefully it works as planned. Carpenter and Wilson figure to be the sixth and seventh inning guys.

As always, the 25-man roster is going to change throughout the course of the season. Quite a bit too. Petit figures to be replaced by Pirela or Ryan, whoever gets healthy first, and those bullpen spots belonging to Shreve and Martin could be revolving doors given the team’s relief pitcher depth. That includes Capuano, who could wind up working in relief if Warren fares well as the fifth starter. For now, this is the group of Yankees to start the new season.

Latest roster cuts clarify Opening Day bullpen and bench pictures

April 2, 2015 by Mike 73 Comments

The Yankees announced their latest round of roster cuts earlier today, optioning Chase Whitley to Triple-A Scranton and reassigning non-roster invitees Rob Refsnyder, Nick Noonan, and Eddy Rodriguez to minor league camp. By my count there are still 32 players in big league camp, four of whom are injured (Brendan Ryan, Chris Capuano, Ivan Nova, Vicente Campos).

Today’s roster cuts clarify if not finalize the Opening Day bullpen and bench pictures. Whitley was one of four candidates left for the final two bullpen spots along with Andrew Bailey, Chasen Shreve, and Chris Martin. Bailey told Mark Feinsand today he will stay behind when the team heads north tomorrow and continue working his way back from shoulder surgery with High-A Tampa when the minor league season begins. That leaves Shreve and Martin for the last two bullpen spots.

Ryan’s calf injury opened up the backup infielder’s spot, and while Joe Girardi hinted at Refsnyder being a candidate for the job, his reassignment to minor league camp today confirms he won’t make the team. Same with Noonan. Fellow reserve infielder candidate Cole Figueroa was sent to minor league camp last week, leaving the recently acquired Gregorio Petit as the front-runner for the backup infielder’s job. That makes sense, he can play defense all around the infield (unlike Refsnyder) and is right-handed hitter (unlike Didi Gregorius, Stephen Drew, Noonan, and Figueroa).

I’m very surprised Whitley was sent down. He’s pitched very well in camp. I guess the Yankees feel Whitley is more valuable as the sixth starter in Triple-A than as the second long man in MLB. The backup infielder situation is whatever. As I said this morning, sitting on bench does Refsnyder no good, and picking between Petit, Noonan, and Figueroa is a toss-up. There’s no right or wrong answer. There’s just an answer, and it appears the answer is Petit.

Adam Warren has officially been named the fifth starter, and with Shreve, Martin, and Petit now looking like safe bets for the Opening Day roster, the only position battle left in camp is for the backup catcher’s job. All signs from the last 12 months point to John Ryan Murphy being the guy, but Austin Romine is out of minor league options and Brian Cashman admitted that will play a role in the decision. We’ll see.

Yankees acquire infielder Gregorio Petit from Astros

April 1, 2015 by Mike 83 Comments

8:39pm: Done deal, both teams have announced the trade. Petit for a player to be named or cash, as Ortiz reported.

8:38pm: According to Jose de Jesus Ortiz, the Yankees have acquired infielder Gregorio Petit from the Astros. He was with Houston as a non-roster player and was recently reassigned to minor league camp, so he’s not on the 40-man roster. The Yankees are sending a player to be named later or cash to the Astros in the swap.

Petit, 30, hit .278/.300/.423 (102 OPS+) in exactly 100 plate appearances with the Astros last year. It was his first MLB action since 2009. Petit is a right-handed hitter and a career .269/.323/.373 career hitter in over 2,800 (!) Triple-A plate appearances. He has experience all over the infield and is considered a sound defender.

The Yankees lost Brendan Ryan to a calf injury earlier today and are still without Jose Pirela (concussion), so Petit helps replenish their infield depth. I wouldn’t assume he’s automatically the favorite to be the backup infielder during Ryan’s absence, however. He’s just an extra body.