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River Ave. Blues » Gary Sanchez

Yankees option Chad Green to Triple-A Scranton

April 24, 2019 by Mike

(Sean M. Haffey/Getty)

Chad Green has reached the end of his leash. The Yankees optioned Green to Triple-A Scranton this afternoon, the team announced. Stephen Tarpley was called up in a corresponding move. Also, Gary Sanchez was activated off the injured list and Kyle Higashioka was sent down, as expected.

Last night Green loaded the bases with no outs and allowed a grand slam to Justin Bour. He’s been tagged for 14 runs and four homers in 7.2 innings this season, matching his 2017 totals in 61.1 fewer innings. Green has a 16.43 ERA (10.03 FIP) and opponents are hitting .395/.465/.763 against him.

“Just frustrated,” Green told Kristie Ackert following last night’s game. “I feel good. Everybody goes through a point where they battle mechanics a little bit, but we’re at a point where we have to fight through that and still perform to get guys out. I’m not doing that.”

Aaron Boone indicated the Yankees were not ready to send Green down after last night’s game — “We’ll keep working at it and try and come alongside him and figure it out together,” he told Ackert — though these decisions get made above the manager’s head. Clearly, something had to be done.

If you’re curious, Green needs to spend 63 days in the minors to delay his free agency, though I would not worry about that at all. Once he gets things straightened out and is ready to help, call him right back up. How long will it take to get right? I have no idea. Hopefully it happens quick.

Tommy Kahnle and Luis Cessa jumped Green in the bullpen pecking order recently, so I imagine they’ll see some higher leverage work going forward, especially Kahnle. Tarpley was on the Opening Day roster but barely used earlier this year. He’s more of a lower leverage option.

Filed Under: Transactions Tagged With: Chad Green, Gary Sanchez, Kyle Higashioka, Stephen Tarpley

Game 21: Win it for Judge

April 21, 2019 by Mike

(Elsa/Getty)

Another day, another injury. And it was maybe the worst injury of all. The Yankees lost Aaron Judge to a “pretty significant” left oblique strain yesterday. Obliques are rarely “spend ten days on the injured list and come back good as new” injuries. It’s going to take some time for Judge and his massive oblique to heal up, and then get up to game speed.

“I truly feel it will make it sweeter after going through all of this,” Aaron Boone told Joel Sherman following yesterday’s win. “We have a resilient group. We are getting plenty of good news with players making progress working their way back. We will find our way through this. As I told Aaron before he left, this will make it all sweeter when we get to where we want to go.”

The injuries are getting comical at this point, but what can you do? Just cross your fingers and hope no one else gets hurt. On the bright side, the Yankees have won four of their last five games and five of their last seven games. Keep it going, next man up, etc. etc. Here are today’s split squad lineups:

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

LHP James Paxton

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

RHP Jorge Lopez


It is a bit cloudy in New York, but otherwise it’s a pleasant afternoon for a ballgame. Today’s homestand finale will begin at 1:05pm ET and the YES Network will have the broadcast. Enjoy the game.

Injury Update: Gary Sanchez (calf) will play his rehab game with Low-A Charleston tomorrow and, as long as everything goes well, he’ll join the Yankees on Tuesday and be activated Wednesday. Triple-A Scranton and Double-A Trenton are both on the road tomorrow. Charleston’s the closest affiliate for a warm weather game … Jacoby Ellsbury (hip) has “had some things” pop up that have slowed his rehab. He’s yet to ramp up baseball activities. Congrats to the Steinbrenners on the insurance money … Gleyber Torres is fine. Just a rest day.

Roster Move: In case you missed it earlier, Thairo Estrada was called up to replace Judge on the roster. Wade is the backup outfielder right now. Also, the Thairo call-up announcement was kinda weird yesterday. “The Yankees expect INF Thairo Estrada to replace OF Aaron Judge on the roster tomorrow,” is how they announced it. Usually they explicitly say this player will be called up, not they “expect” this player to be called up. That leads me to believe Brian Cashman was working the phones hard looking for another outfielder after the Judge injury.

Filed Under: Game Threads Tagged With: Gary Sanchez, Jacoby Ellsbury

Game 20: Getting back to .500

April 20, 2019 by Mike

(Presswire)

Even though the 2019 Yankees have been mostly frustrating, they have won three of their last four games and four of their last six games, and that ain’t bad. Could be better, obviously, but it could be worse too. The Yankees will try to continue their little roll this afternoon and get back to .500.

“When we get our guys back, I think we’ll start rolling,” CC Sabathia told Dan Martin following last night’s win. “It’s the attitude you take as you go through adversity. When you get back to full strength, you’re that much better.”

Like Homer Bailey two days ago and Jake Junis last night, the Yankees are facing a pitcher they should get to today. Bailey shut them down. Junis definitely did not. Heath Fillmyer? Let’s hope we’re not talking about the Yankees looking lifeless six innings into this one. Here are today’s lineups:

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

RHP Masahiro Tanaka

Kansas City Royals
1. 2B Whit Merrifield
2. SS Adalberto Mondesi
3. LF Alex Gordon
4. 3B Hunter Dozier
5. 1B Ryan O’Hearn
6. RF Jorge Soler
7. DH Lucas Duda
8. C Cam Gallagher
9. CF Billy Hamilton

RHP Heath Fillmyer


It is a dreary and rainy day in New York. The rain stopped earlier this morning and it’s not coming back, so they should have no trouble playing today. It just won’t be the most picturesque afternoon. Today’s game will begin at 1:05pm ET and you can watch on the YES Network locally and MLB Network nationally. Enjoy the game.

Injury Update: Gary Sanchez (calf) will play a minor league rehab game Monday, and if all goes well, he’ll rejoin the Yankees in Anaheim on Wednesday. Triple-A Scranton will be in Rochester and Double-A Trenton will be in New Hampshire, so Gary’s going to get stuck traveling somewhere for that rehab game Monday … Brett Gardner is fine. Just a veteran getting a day game after a night game off … I looked it up and in case you’re wondering, Torres is the only Yankee to play every inning of every game this year. (Judge got a few innings off at the end of the blowout win in Baltimore.)

Filed Under: Game Threads Tagged With: Gary Sanchez

Game 19: Get a lead before the rain

April 19, 2019 by Mike

(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.

Filed Under: Game Threads Tagged With: Aaron Hicks, Gary Sanchez, Miguel Andujar

Game 18: Another series against a bad team

April 18, 2019 by Mike

(Al Bello/Getty)

One bad team leaves town and another one comes in. The Yankees wrapped up their fun little two-game sweep of the Red Sox last night, and tonight they welcome the Royals to the Bronx for the start of a four-game series. As fun as the Red Sox series was, the Yankees have to turn the page quickly and focus on tonight’s game and opponent.

“To come through in a spot like that, that felt good. All around, we played a (great) game,” Brett Gardner said following last night’s win. “… Dealing with injuries and roster moves it’s been a challenge. Those guys will be back. Until then we will keep plugging along.”

The Royals are, as expected, pretty bad. They’re 6-12 with a -13 run differential, and their starting pitcher tonight owns a 6.19 ERA (5.05 FIP) in 248.2 innings since 2015 (!). The Yankees did not take care of business against the Orioles, Tigers, or White Sox at home. Time to build off the Red Sox sweep tonight. Here are today’s lineups:

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

RHP Domingo German

Kansas City Royals
1. 2B Whit Merrifield
2. SS Adalberto Mondesi
3. LF Alex Gordon
4. 3B Hunter Dozier
5. 1B Ryan O’Hearn
6. RF Jorge Soler
7. DH Lucas Duda
8. C Martin Maldonado
9. CF Billy Hamilton

RHP Homer Bailey


It is a bit cloudy and cool in the Bronx this evening. Also weirdly humid. Tonight’s game is another 6:35pm ET start and the YES Network will have the broadcast. Enjoy the game.

Injury Updates: Miguel Andujar (shoulder) took batting practice this afternoon and swung pretty hard. Here’s video. Doesn’t look like he held back much, if at all. Andujar also increased his throwing distance and intensity. Here’s video … Gary Sanchez (calf) took batting practice and ran the bases. Here’s video. Gary said he hopes to be activated when eligible Saturday … Didi Gregorius (Tommy John surgery) has stretched out his throwing to 120 feet. “He’s been doing really well. It’s gone as planned the whole way,” Aaron Boone said to Bryan Hoch … Troy Tulowitzki (calf) took batting practice this afternoon in addition to some running and fielding work. He hopes to rejoin the Yankees at some point next week.

Filed Under: Game Threads Tagged With: Didi Gregorius, Gary Sanchez, Miguel Andujar, Troy Tulowitzki

The injury bug and a flashback to 2007

April 16, 2019 by Derek Albin

(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.

Severino just lost force on flat ground throws one day to next. Cashman: “There’s nothing that I can provide to you that can explain how he wound up with a Grade 2 lat strain. The protocols that he was going through would not provide that. We are trying to piece that together.”

— James Wagner (@ByJamesWagner) April 13, 2019

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.

Filed Under: Injuries Tagged With: Aaron Hicks, Dellin Betances, Gary Sanchez, Giancarlo Stanton, Luis Severino, Miguel Andujar, Troy Tulowitzki

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

April 12, 2019 by Mike

(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.

Filed Under: Game Threads Tagged With: Aaron Hicks, Gary Sanchez, Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Andujar, Troy Tulowitzki

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