THE YANKEES BE CLAIMING LEFTIES

The New York Yankees are freaking busy.

The Yanks made 2 moves today. I found them interesting but our team are clearly looking to upgrade and so they are going for it.

First off, the Yanks designated Branden Pinder for assignment. That's 1. The second move is that they claimed lefty Joe Mantiply off waivers from the Tigers.  According to SNY:

"The Yankees have claimed LHP Joe Mantiply off waivers from Detroit and have designated RHP Branden Pinder for assignment, the team announced on Tuesday.

Mantiply earned a 16.88 ERA in 2.2 innings for the Tigers in 2016. The lefty pitcher spent most of the season in the minors, going 4-2 with a 2.73 ERA and 1.062 WHIP in 59.1 innings between Detroit's AA and AAA affiliates."

The ERA means nothing. Don't panic.  The story isn't that but instead the fact that the Yanks are looking to make moves to improve. This kid's a stud.

Moves are happen... more to come.

NOW TYLER OLSON WAS SENT BACK DOWN...

The never ending saga when it comes to young pitching and a major league baseball team's needs.

We just wrote about how Luis Cessa was sent down to the minors for Tyler Olson.  That was in a piece  titled CESSA SENT DOWN. Now comes word from Joel Sherman of the New York Post that something else just happened...

To get fresh arm for pen #Yankees optioned Tyler Olson to AAA, recalled Braden Pinder

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) April 16, 2016

And there you go, Olson is down, and now Branden Pinder is up. 

And life goes on...

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THE YANKEES SHOULD SNATCH UP STEVE DELABAR

Not sure if you know Steve Delabar and his story.  If you don't, be sure to check out DON'T STOP BELIEVING...EVER.  Bottom line, after injury and pretty much thinking his baseball career may have been over, he stumbled into the fact that maybe he could actually pitch again.  The Mariners took a chance on him and eventually he was traded to the Blue Jays. He became an All-Star with the Blue Jays in 2013.  He was a fighter.  But now it seems, he was released by the Blue Jays.

Bluebird Banter writes:

"The Blue Jays released Steve Delabar...For Delabar, it's the end of his time with the Jays. He didn't have a bad spring. 7.2 innings, 5 hits, 1 home run, 3 walks and 8 strikeouts, but he would have had to be almost perfect to make the Jays."

Look, you're looking at those numbers and thinking that my title is utterly ridiculous.  Think of it as you in a Yankee meeting.  We offer Delabar a minor league deal, we see what's up and see if we can work with the guy and if he is someone we can use to bolster our middle rotation.  Let's not forget, BYB just wrote a piece about exactly that in THE BRIDGE OF HEYMAN COUNTY... OR SOMETHING:

"MLBTradeRumors.com makes a another very interesting point; Those selections for the middle part of the rotation don't have much experience either: 

"Current options include pitchers such as right-handers Bryan Mitchell, Johnny Barbato, and Branden Pinder and lefties Chasen Shreve, Tyler Olson, and James Pazos — most of whom have quite limited experience in the majors. While it’s easy to imagine these and other arms all spending time at the big league level, it also makes sense for the club to pursue a veteran addition or two."
And so, here we are.  Let's see what the Yankees do next."

Bryan Mitchell has since made the team as a reliever, but no question, Delabar has the experience.  All I'm saying is this is a guy that busts his ass.  Maybe alittle change of scenery will motivate him in the Bronx.  Who knows... I'm spitballing here, but not a bad investment and someone we can get on the cheap and get some eyes on. You know what I mean?

Just a thought... let's see how it goes.

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THE BRIDGE OF HEYMAN COUNTY... OR SOMETHING

I found this very interesting tweet from Jon Heyman of CBS Sports and I wanted to bring it to your attention. God I love the BYB audience... anyway.

It has to do with the Yankees, their bullpen and what the Yankees might be thinking about as they embark on the regular season.  Check this out:

Nobody is better on back-end of the pen than yanks, but they may look to add a veteran reliever or 2 to fill middle innings

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 25, 2016

Now, it's very interesting, but it also makes perfect sense.  I can't believe Heyman and I agree... I think I hear the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse running down my hallway...

The Yankees are always looking to improve, this makes sense, but I also feel as though the Yankees are not 100% jazzed about their starting rotation.

Ivan Nova is sucking the life out of me.  CC Sabathia hasn't been spectacular.  We're not seeing dazzling from anyone else... improvement, and yes the others are getting stronger as Spring Training progresses, but you know what I mean. That's why the Yankees have 2 closers in the back end of the bridge.  That's why there are a lot of relief pitcher pickups and plenty more in the minor leagues. But the concern is if these starters can only go 5 innings every game during the regular season, which, many believe will be the case, the combination of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman (who we miss for 30 games due to suspension, read HERE) will burn out quickly.

Sure, you can throw a few arms in there to fill the void once in a while, but MLBTradeRumors.com makes a another very interesting point; Those selections for the middle part of the rotation don't have much experience either:

"Current options include pitchers such as right-handers Bryan Mitchell, Johnny Barbato, and Branden Pinder and lefties Chasen Shreve, Tyler Olson, and James Pazos — most of whom have quite limited experience in the majors. While it’s easy to imagine these and other arms all spending time at the big league level, it also makes sense for the club to pursue a veteran addition or two."

And so, here we are.  Let's see what the Yankees do next.

Hey Heyman, nice tweet. Makes sense. We never, ever agree... but things change.



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THE YANKEE MIDDLE RELIEF IS SHAPING UP

Almost all of the splash in the offseason has had to do with the bullpen, specifically the closer role. With the acquisition of Aroldis Chapman, the back end of the Yankees bullpen is the best in baseball bar none. Despite the Chapman suspension, presumed interim closer Andrew Miller and 8th inning guy Dellin Betances still present a formidable presence late in games. It's a sharp contrast to the starting rotation, where a lot of attention - the wrong kind - has been paid over the winter. Whatever happens with the starters, there is still that bridge to the closer that looks a little curious to me right now.

Ivan Nova looks to be the Yankees most reliable pitcher not originally slated to be in the rotation. He threw three scoreless innings against the Mets to follow a decent performance against Philly the week before. He could be a good setup man, if not for Joe Girardi's statement that CC Sabathia will have to earn his spot in the rotation. I love CC, but he is the only starter not performing well this spring. You don't make a statement like Girardi did without having a plan as to who would replace him. To me, Nova would be the obvious choice. Not to mention that he's first in line in case someone gets hurt, and that seems to be an eventuality.

The bullpen starts to degrade once you look past Nova. Chasen Shreve is the probably the last left-handed reliever left after the recent cuts. He is having a spectacular spring so far. Nevertheless, he gave the Yankees reason to question his ability last year, so he is a question mark. James Pazos was seen as a good replacement for Justin Wilson after the trade, be he has not looked good and was cut. I had high hopes for Jacob Lindgren as a lefty bullpen power guy. After needing surgery last year, he had a dreadful first start to his spring. He looked decent in his next two starts before being cut, and he may be an option later this season if he can get better control of his pitches.

The right-handed side of the bullpen looks a little better, with Nick Rumbelow, Nick Goody, and Branden Pinder presenting as good options. I should include Bryan Mitchell on this list, but I see him as more of a 7th starter. See my comments above about Ivan Nova. With this rotation, it's not so crazy to plan for seven. Nevertheless, they all had a good spring. If they can keep up this level of performance throughout 2016, they should provide some stability to the pitching staff.

To me, this bullpen reminds of a team in a developing year. You have some very talented but very young players who are going to get their feet wet this season. Getting their feet wet is a euphemism for "they will be terrible at times but they will learn and they will become great." So I expect some turbulence in this space, but if you're looking long-term, this should be a good pen.

--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Senior Staff Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row







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BLOODBATH IN ATLANTA

It was a rout, and it was big for the Yankees.  Not only that, it's 3 in a row... that's a winning streak. Boo ya.

The Yankees scored 20 runs today.  They had 21 hits.  They were literally on fire today.  It started with Nate Eovaldi on the mound.  He went 5 innings, gave up 8 hits and 5 runs and he struck out 7.  Not exactly his best performance this year, but the good news is no one noticed.  20 runs allows you to forget something like that.

The rout went like this:

In the second, Jacoby Ellsbury homered.  It was a 3 run shot.  Next, in the 3rd, Chase Headley hit a 2 run homer.  After that, Stephen Drew cranked on out... another 2 run shot.  By now it was 7-0 Yanks.

In the top of the 5th, Drew walked with the bases loaded. Another run scored right there.  Then, in the 7th, Alex Rodriguez singled and knocked in 2. Brett Gardner then singled knocking in Drew.

Brian McCann then singled and Young and Gardner.  After that, it was Greg Bird doubling knocking in Beltran.  Headley then doubled and knocked in 2.

Drew then singled and yet another run scored.  By then, it was 17-5.

When the 8th came, Bird sacrificed in a run.  Pitcher Branden Pinder then doubled and knocked in Gardner.  Shortly after that, Didi Gregorius singled and knocked in McCann.

And that's your 20.  Unbelievable.

Yankees won.  Stephen Drew is batting .201.  Bad news? Blue Jays beat the Tigers 9-2.  Damn.

No matter... Yanks just need to keep going!

Final: Yankees 20 - Braves 6

   

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PETTITTE'S DAY SPOILED BY LOUSY PLAY

It's not supposed to be this way. The Yanks shouldn't lose when we honor our guys‎.

Today I ventured out with my old man to Andy Pettitte Day. It was a gift, and the ceremony was lot of fun. I was touched by the way Andy Pettitte spoke and was humbled. He's bashful, not used to the attention and I found that ironic considering he was one of the terrific Core Four. They were always in the spotlight. Always on display. But Andy said it best today. He said when he played, he went out there and did his job and he was thrilled with his team and support over the years. 

I was pleased with his family. I observe alot and watched Josh and his gorgeous wife and Jared and the rest of his family and loved their poise and maturity. It speaks volumes to me. They were raised right. Andy's wife Laura was a huge part of that. Andy said as much today in his speech. I Love that.

I love that Scott Brosius was there. That the Core Four was there again. That Bernie was there. And I was blown away that yet another Yankee great had a plaque and number retired. This is Andy's plaque in the Yankee Muesum today:

The game itself was just not fun. ‎ The Yankee bats appeared lifeless and hey, there will be games where that happens. Even coaching Little League, you have your days. But the Yankees can't have this now. Not with the Astros coming in. Not with the Blue Jays breathing down their neck.

CC was not the guy I love watching He was off. His knee was clearly barking and that's an issue. He may go on the DL.  At the time, we didn't know that. In fact, some guy said behind me, "You can't have this guy pitching for you in the playoffs." Makes sense, he no longer has it. ‎ CC went 2.2 innings, giving up 4 hits and 2 runs. He walked 4.

He was followed by Rumbelow, Pinder and Shreve and it felt like a brutal game. Watching it killed me. 

The Yanks left 8 on base and were 1-8 with runners in scoring position. Not great. ‎ Put it this way, the Yankees had no "Suzyn Star" of the game. That's when you know it's bad.

The Yankees scored 3 runs to the Indians 4.  It happened like this.

The Indians scored 2 in the first.  The Yankees responded in the 3rd when, with Brian McCann at bat, Brett Gardner stole second, the catcher overthrew and Jacoby Ellsbury scored.  The Indians made it 3-1 shortly after that.  Then in the 7th, Beltran hit a ground rule double and 2 runs scored.  3-3. Nice.  I was sure the Yanks would rally after that.  Nope. I was wrong.

Dellin Betances gave up an Indians home run to make it 4-3... and the Yanks died after that.  

Now look, there's a ton of baseball to be played still, but Yankeeland is getting restless.  We want consistency and wins. We're going into September... it's kind of important now, ain't it?

Anyway... Congrats to Andy Pettitte and his family.  I tweeted his boys today:

@jaredp46 @JPettitte21 here today and the ceremony was electric. Congrats to the Old Man. #BYB

— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) August 23, 2015

 It was a good day... spoiled by a loss, but damn it was great seeing Andy and his family.

Final: Indians 4 - Yankees 3

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FRUSTRATION IN THE BRONX

No lie - this loss is hard to swallow. A weekend series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays, the clear winner of the trade deadline sweepstakes, and the biggest threat in the division. Add to that the fact that they got a brilliant start from their pitcher. This was one game that the Yankees needed to win.

Nathan Eovaldi looked superb. In fact, this outing was his best start of the season. Facing the hottest hitting team in baseball right now, Eovaldi pitched into the 7th inning for only the second time in his last eight starts. His splitter was biting, and there were plenty of weak swings by the Blur Jays hitters. Eovaldi recorded 3 strikeouts and 10 ground outs compared to only 3 flyouts. Dellin Betances came in and held the line. With the bases loaded, he induced an inning-ending grounder from clutch hitter Josh Donaldson.

R.A. Dickey did his part keeping the Yankees bats quiet. Except for a Mark Teixeira home run which required a four-minute replay review, the Yankees were quiet for most of the night. Teixeira's home run was number 30 on the season. It gives Tex his 9th 30-HR season, only the fourth active player to reach that mark.

It was a 1-1 tie going into the 10th inning. Branden Pinder was brought in to face the heart of the Blue Jays order. He retired Josh Donaldson before Jose Bautista came to the plate. He hung a 1-2 off-speed pitch on the outside corner, right in the heart of Joey Bats' hot-hot zone, sending it almost 400 feet over the left field fence. That was the game, and now Toronto is 3.5 games behind the games.

The pressure rises on the Yankees, who send Ivan Nova tomorrow to face David Price tomorrow afternoon.

Final: Blue Jays 2 - Yankees 1

--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Senior Staff Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row






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YANKEES SWEPT O'S LIKE A SHARKNADO...

Yup... a Sharknado or something.  I had to work in Sharknado somehow... I did... I'm adorable.

Anyway... It was a great day in the Bronx.  We swept the Baltimore Orioles.  Hey, that's hard to do, but when a team's hot, as the Yankees are... anything is possible.

Masahiro Tanaka went 7.2 innings, gave up 5 hits and 3 runs.  He struck out 7.  I'm not worried about this guy anymore.  I mean, I don't love him giving up home runs, but I really liked what I saw from him.  He looks like the old Tanaka. 

The Orioles only scored 3 runs today. All were off Tanaka.  The pen was made up of Chris Capuano and Branden Pinder.  They did their job.

The Yankee Sharknado went like this...

In the first, Chase Headley doubled knocking in 3 runs.  Didi Gregorius then singled knocking in Headley. 

In the second, Jacoby Ellsbury homered. It was a solo shot.  In the 3rd, Stephen Drew doubled, knocking in Didi.  Then Ellsbury sacrificed home John Ryan Murphy. 

In the 5th, Ellsbury doubled and 2 more runs scored. 

We hammered the O's pretty good today.  More importantly, we swept them.  Life's good right now if you're a Yankee fan...

Hey... remember that first week and a half the season when the Mets actually won games? Where the hell are those fans these days?

Just saying.

Final:  Yankees 9 - Orioles 3


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AN UGLY GAME AGAINST A BEATABLE TEAM

The hot-cold streaks just keep coming. Unfortunately, we pulled a snow cone from the freezer instead of a nice hot plate of arroz con gandules from the stove top. It was another pitching failure as the Yankees dropped a bad one against the last-place Phillies. To make matters worse, Michael Pineda who at one point in the season was considered the ace of the staff, had what was easily his worst start of the season.

Let's look at some stats to show how streaky the Yankees have been of late. For the fifth consecutive time and the sixth time in seven games, Yankees have either scored or allowed 7 runs in a game, though not necessarily in the same game. In 19 games played in June, the Yankees have scored two or fewer or scored seven or more in 11 of those 19 games. The worst stat of the night: the Yankees are now 1-4 against teams ranked as worst in their respective league. At least we're headed to Houston after this series.

Maikel Franco was clearly the star of the night for the Philadelphia Phillies. He had four hits on the night including two home runs and five runs batted in. With Ben Revere and Cesar Hernandez, the top 3 in the order went 9 for 16 with 8 runs scored and eight runs batted in. As a team, they scored 11 runs on 18 hits. They began their scoring against Pineda, continued it with Chris Capuano, and got one more run in the ninth against Branden Pinder. It didn't matter that Kevin Correia couldn't make it to the 5th inning, or that Jake Diekman couldn't find home plate on most of his pitches. It's tough to win when the other team scores in double-digits.

The Yankees were not without their honorable mentions. One was Brett Gardner and his 3-run home run to go with an opposite field hit and two bunt singles. I've often wondered why the Yankees don't bunt more when opposing teams put on the shift. Brett Gardner showed how it's done. Carlos Beltran also continued his hot streak with a pair of doubles tonight. It's nice being able to use Beltran's name in the same sentence as "hot streak". Another nice moment, Diego Moreno made his major league debut, becoming the third player in three days to wear number 65. He showed some impressive velocities in the upper 90's with his fastball. He did hit the first batter he faced and proceeded to load the bases, but then he struck out Maikel Franco to get out of the inning.

All in all, this was not the Yankees night. The Phillies are a team that the Yankees should be beating. They did make a nice stand in the ninth inning and hopefully that will carry over to tomorrow night's game. It'll be CC Sabathia's turn to straighten this out.

I need some arroz con gandules.

Final: Phillies 11 - Yankees 8

--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Senior Staff Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row







You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!  Also, don't forget to check out the BYB Hub!