THE YANKEES & THE LONG, SAD ROAD OF INJURY

When will we catch a break?

I miss having Luis Severino on the rotation, but it doesn't seem like this guys coming back any time soon.  If you didn't know already, Severino has been place on the 60 day IR.

For the rotation and for the team, this is a big deal, a blow to the rotation without question... and more wonder as to why the Yankees let a guy like Gio Gonzalez walk, and why the idea of Dallas Keuchel isn't on their radar. A mystery of mysteries for me for sure.

Plus then you have Clint Frazier.  Frazier was our saving grace but now he's on the 10 day IR because of that ankle twist.  This is a guy that was contributing big time.

Feeling blessed for this new journey with the @Yankees 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/1IHrWTs6FT

— Cameron Maybin (@CameronMaybin) April 26, 2019

The Yankees made some moves to keep the line moving.  Cameron Maybin was recently signed. A good move and I told Jack Curry that on Twitter the other day.  They also have reliver Joe Harvey now.

But look, I've never seen a Yankee injury list this bad before ever.  You can blame it on bad luck if you want. I think a very small percentage is that. But strength and condition is a big one... and there's one more thing and the more I'm reading about it, Joe Girardi makes a ton of sense.  Read this Tweet:

Joe Girardi seems to think the players don't train enough for explosive movements, just slow and steady weight lifting but says it's a hard mindset to change.

— Joanie G (@Joangyankee) April 26, 2019

Thank you Joanie, love you! Yeah, that is very interesting to me. Something Yankee brass needs to start thinking about whether they like Joe or not.  I have no doubt there is a lot of truth to that.  I don't think all of it is this, I think a lot of it is.  Also, if you haven't already read Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa's THE REAL PROBLEM THAT NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT , do it! It's great.

But look, the best thing this Yankee team is doing is rallying. They are taking whatever personnel is in front of them and they are working to win. That's the goal no matter what. You still have to focus on the goal. You still need to try your best no matter what your team is.  The Yankees are doing that, and you need to respect that.

Maybe one day soon the injury tide will turn. For now however, it's historic and insane.

EVEN HARDCORE YANKEE FANS DON'T KNOW THIS PROSPECT!

Photo: Times Leader

Do you know who this is? It's OK if you don't. A lot of Yankee fans don't....but after this story you won't be able to say that anymore.

It's an exciting time to be a Yankee fan! We have a lot of promising young kids that could potentially form the NEW Core 4 and that makes it hard to keep up to date on all of these guys. Not everyone has fiery hair and a matching personality like Clint Frazier. Some guys lay low for awhile and then suddenly seem to appear out of nowhere!

Photo: MiLB.com / Wotherspoon, left- Joe Harvey, right

There are some guys that just naturally make their way in the spotlight. They have the skills and the personality, like Frazier. On Tuesday, Chance Adams and Justus Sheffield showed why they are two of the best pitching prospects in the system. You know their names but then there are other guys that also pitched that day like Matt Wotherspoon.....wait WHO?! Yeah, maybe you are asking that same question. No, we didn't just make up a random name. Matt Wotherspoon is a legit pitching prospect who has been flying under the radar until now.

Photo: Augusta Chronicle

Wotherspoon was just a kid who pitched between Adams and Sheffield at Tuesday's split squad game against the Red Sox that walked lead off hitter Brock Holt. That would be his only blip because after that he retired the rest of the order. Baseball's number one prospect Andrew Benintendi lined out to left, Holt was caught stealing on his way to second and Hanley Ramirez flied out to center to end the inning.

One inning is all it took to get everyone asking....who is this kid?! The Yankees have an exciting pitching prospect with a successful track record but they almost didn't get him. Back in 2013, the Detroit Tigers drafted him in the 20th round during his junior year at the University of Pittsburgh. He was 9-3 with a 3.70 ERA at the time but elected to return to university to finish his senior year of college. His last year his record slipped to 5-6 with a 4.44 ERA when the Yankees drafted him in the 34th round of the 2014 draft. His last year of college had some growing pains, but now he is pitching at Spring Training. That counts as a win in my book!

(Kim Klement | USA TODAY Sports)

Last year we were not talking about Wotherspoon, but he had good numbers. At Double-A he was   4-2 with a 2.66 ERA in 26 games. Two of those games he started. He was eventually promoted to Triple-A and went 2-0 with a 2.01 ERA in 10 games, and one of those he was the starter. The numbers at Triple-A may be a small sample but if he continues to pitch this successfully he may look back at the end of his season and be able to say he started the spring in big league camp and was eventually called up to the Bronx.

There's a lot of hype surrounding Wotherspoon right now. As the Yankees continue to think about their options to add more depth to their pitching the fans have another pitcher to watch closely. Even the biggest farm fanatics out there may have overlooked this kid....but after Tuesday's game I really don't think people will ask "WHO?!" when they hear his name.

The future just keeps getting brighter. We have another pitcher to watch closely down in Triple-A and I bet there will be many more stories to come on this kid, especially on Bleeding Yankee Blue. Next stop, Yankee stadium?

Stay tuned!

--Jeana Bellezza
BYB Managing Editor
Follow me on Twitter: @NYPrincessJ