When are the Yankees injured players coming back?

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Rob Abruzzese
alex-rodriguez

Back in Spring Training, when the Yankees first had their run of injuries, which is now up to 11, it wasn’t supposed to be until the middle of May when we would start to see some of these players return.

Well, the middle of May is just a week away so when can we expect them to start coming back? Let’s run down the list.

Curtis Granderson, broken forearm, is definitely the closest to a return. He’s played in four extended spring training games and could be as little as a week or two away from the Bronx depending on how many at bats they want to get him before letting him loose. I think it’s safe to say that he’s at most two to three more weeks away so start expecting him back toward the end of this month.

Mark Teixeira, torn tendon sheath in his wrist, has finally begun to make some real progression during his rehab. He took live batting practice in the cage yesterday and should be on the field for BP within the next ..read more

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BBDP May 6th: Tracy and Campos shine

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Greg Corcoran
Matt Tracy5

BBD MVP: Matt Tracy: 6.1 IP, 0 ER, 9 K

Triple-A RailRiders: L 0-5 vs Indianapolis. L: Wang (2-2)

Corban Joseph: 0/4, BB, K (.265) David Adams: 2/4, 2 2B (.325) He’s a beast. 12 for his last 36 (.333) OBP of .398. OPS of .877. I don’t care if he only has 2 HR, a .877 OPS is downright impressive and if he could come close to replicating that in the majors he’ll be a valuable player. He played 1B today. Zoilo “Zee”Almonte: 1/3, BB, K (.294) Ronnier Mustelier: 0/3, BB, 2 K, E (1) (.198) Played 3B again today. Melky Mesa: 0/4, K (.245) Chien-Ming Wang: 5 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, HR (2.63 ERA) He’s human. Kelvin “KelP” Perez: 2.0 IP, 2 H, BB, 4 K (0.00 ERA) I think he’s a legitimate part of the future bullpen picture in NY. Clay Rapada: 1.0 IP, H, 0 ER, BB (0.00 ERA) I bet Joe Girardi is salivating over having two lefties in the bullpen again.

Double-A Trenton: W 5-0 vs Binghamton. W: Tracy (3-2)

Ramon “Ray-Flo” Flores: 2/3, 2B, R, BB (.273) Nice day for him, he needed one. Six for his last 34 before that. Jose Pirela: 1/3, R, 2B, K ..read more

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Andy Pettitte and the case of the missing cutter

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Larry Fleisher
Andy+Pettitte

(Originally syndicated from Gotham Hub Baseball).

Data for determining the amount of pitches thrown by a starter has been available since 2008 and finding out the amount of cut fastballs thrown by Andy Pettitte is readily available for anyone.

In the last two starts, Pettitte’s cutter has not been effective. He had thrown it 111 times in his first four starts but just 27 times in the last two. In the last two starts, Pettitte has not made it past five innings and has allowed 11 runs and 14 hits in 9 1/3 innings while only getting five strikeouts.

Against the Astros in a 9-1 loss on Monday, Pettitte, gave up three hits on the pitch which he threw 17 times. Five days later against Oakland, Pettitte didn’t give up any hits on the pitch but only threw it 10 times.

When he gave up the home run to Yoenis Cespedes, Pettitte seemed intent on getting the fastball to move. Instead the ball drifted over the plate and the result was a long two-run ..read more

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Looking at how the Yankees have done position by position

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Rob Abruzzese
Vernon+Wells

Entering the season a lot of people predicted doom and gloom, but here we are a little more than a month into the season and the plane has not crashed into the mountain even with 11 players on the DL.

Things are going well for the Yankees, for the most part. They are six games over .500 and Curtis Granderson should be back followed by a long list of his teammates. Let’s take a look at how the Yankees fair at each position in relation to the rest of the league.

CATCHER (.341 wOBA, 9th in the MLB)

This was the position that got a lot of attention in the offseason, but it hasn’t been as bad as expected. Yes, Russell Martin is tearing it up in Pittsburgh (he’s hitting .272/.362/.543 in 27 games), but Francisco Cervelli and Chris Stewart have held their own. With Cervelli out for two months Austin Romine has to step up for the Yankees to keep this up though.

FIRST BASE (.334 wOBA, 17th ..read more

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BBDP May 5th: Zoilo and Musty homer, Betances see saws again

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Greg Corcoran
Zoilo Almonte

BBDP MVP: Zoilo Almonte: 3/8, HR (3)

Triple-A RailRiders: Double Header

Game One: W 5-1 at Gwinnett. W: Betances (2-2) They finally got a game in.

Corban Joseph: 1/3, 2 R, BB, K, E (3) (.274) It’s too bad for him he didn’t get any at bats in the majors, but he really didn’t fit their needs at this point. David Adams: 1/3, R, 3B, 2 RBI (.314) He would fit the Yanks needs perfectly right now, but can’t be called up until May 15th. If Chris Nelson is still sucking by then, he has a shot to get called up. Zoilo “Zee” Almonte: 2/4, R, HR (3), 2 RBI, K (.295) 13 for his last 34 (.382) with two homeruns. Good to see him rolling in Triple-A. He could be a useful piece in the outfield next season. Ronnier Mustelier: 1/4, K (.182) Good to see him back in the lineup. Melky Mesa: 1/4, 2 K (.253) Addison Maruszak: 0/4 (.254) Dellin Betances: 5.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 3 K (6.00 ERA) No hits through five innings of work. Such an enigma.

Game 2: W 2-1 at Gwinnett. W: Bootcheck (4-0) S: Miller (2)

Corban Joseph: 1/3, BB (.276) David Adams: 1/3, BB (.315) Zoilo Almonte: ..read more

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Yankees lose weekend series to Oakland Athletics

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Rob Abruzzese
boone-logan

In three close games, the Yankees dropped two out of three to the Athletics at Yankee Stadium over the weekend.

FRIDAY (2-0 Loss)

CC Sabathia held the Athletics to just two runs over six innings and Adam Warren pitched three shutout innings after that, but the Yankees offense was shutout for the second time this season.

A.J. Griffin shut the Yankees down over seven innings and the bullpen handled the final two innings. Only Robinson Cano and Jayson Nix had extra base hits.

SATURDAY (4-2 Win)

Saturday was all about Phil Hughes who dominated over eight innings. His line: 8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 0 HR. That makes three homerless starts in a row, something he did just once last year.

Chris Stewart and Lyle Overbay each hit solo homers and Travis Hafner and Brett Gardner had RBI-singles that made it 4-0. ..read more

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Yankees call up Preston Claiborne to replace Joba in the bullpen

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Rob Abruzzese
Preston-Claiborne

With Joba Chamberlain on the disabled list with an oblique injury, the Yankees have called up righty reliever Preston Claiborne from Triple-A to take his place in the bullpen, per Sweeny Murti of WFAN.

To make room for Claiborne on the 40-man roster the Yankees have designated Cody Eppley for assignment.

It was a little surprising to hear that Claiborne got the call. I would have expected it to be either Eppley, because of his spot on the 40-man roster, or Mark Montgomery, because of his prospect status, instead. However, the Yankees have obviously run out of patience with Eppley and Montgomery looked a little nervous during Spring Training when Claiborne was pitching more like a veteran.

Claiborne was actually left off our Top 50 Prospects list from this preseason. However, he has carved out a decent career for himself with a 3.00 ERA, a 8.8 K/9, and a 3.5 BB/9 over four seasons and 204.1 innings in the minors.

Montgomery has better numbers than Claiborne in ..read more

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Yankees put Joba Chamberlain on the DL with an oblique strain, and other injury updates

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Rob Abruzzese
joba-chamberlain

The Yankees announced today that they have placed Joba Chamberlain on the disabled list after he suffered a strained oblique while warming up Tuesday.

No word yet on whom they’ll call up to replace Joba, but Brian Cashman later told reporters that it won’t be either Clay Rapada or Chien-Ming Wang. Since the Yankees don’t play tonight they don’t have to make an official move until tomorrow.

Oblique injuries can be tricky. The Yankees have called it mild and it sounds like he could be back when the 15-days are up, but if you remember back to last season David Robertson had one that lingered for a while and even once he came back he wasn’t 100 percent for quite some time. For all of the times Joba has been hurt, he’s always bounced back quickly so hopefully this will be another example of that.

After an initial rough few appearances to start the season, Joba has had a 0.00 ERA, struck out three, but walked none over 6.2 innings. A small stretch, but ..read more

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Yankees take the series from the Astros, trade for Chris Nelson

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Rob Abruzzese
david-phelps

This game looked like it would be a blowout early on, but the Astros made it interesting scoring four runs in the fourth to tie the game. The Yankees would eventually prevail 5-4 to take the two out of three to win the series.

The Yankees opened up the game with a quick 4-0 lead while David Phelps, starting in place of the injured Ivan Nova, faced the minimum through three innings using just 34 pitches. That ended abruptly in the fourth as the Astros tagged him for four runs on four hits and two hit by pitches (one was a RBI-HBP).

The Yankees did eventually take the lead in the sixth inning when Eduardo Nunez scored on a double play. The bullpen made that stand up as Boone Logan, David Robertson, and Mariano Rivera pitched three shutout innings.

• After the game the Yankees announced that third baseman Chris Nelson was acquired from the Colorado Rockies for a player to be named ..read more

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Heathcott opens up about 2011 altercation in exclusive BBD interview

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Greg Corcoran
Slade Heathcott

Slade Heathcott hit a homerun in yesterday’s game for the Trenton Thunder. It was his first homerun of the season after being the recipient of tons of hype and attention during spring training. The hype was deserving, as he looked like a player who had really progressed over the past year. He still looks like that player, but needs some time to adjust after a slow start to the season in Double-A. After his big day yesterday his season line stands at .191/.282/.294/.576.

A fierce competitor, Slade will undoubtedly work tirelessly until he finds his way again. Yesterday was a step in the right direction. Heathcott is not going to be held down for long, and if history is any indication he can explode at any moment during the season and the slow start will be long forgotten. We’re talking about a guy who has improved every aspect of his game every season so far as a pro. Don’t expect him to stop now.

Most know about Heathcott and his fantastic tools and top 100 prospect status, but there’s a lot more to him than just baseball.

BBD: ..read more

Posted in BBDP, Interview | 3 Comments