THE YANKEES, GARY SANCHEZ & NO TEST FOR CORONAVIRUS? WHY?

Source: SNY

Spring training is for working out the kinks, taking some pre-cautions and planning for the season.  Now, with the coronavirus scare plaguing the US and beyond, you can't be too careful.  With locker rooms and dugouts offering close quarters and stands packing in crowds, the threat is heightened. And with Gary Sanchez down with the flu, concerns continue to mount for the Yankees.

"Sanchez said he was feeling a "little tight, a little uncomfortable" in the lower and middle parts of his back on Sunday, as he sat out both split squad matchups the Yankees had. The catcher also missed Monday's game against the Phillies," reported SNY.

Source: USA Today

According to the Lindsey Adler, a writer for the Athletic, "Gary Sánchez tested positive for the flu, Aaron Boone said. He wasn't tested for coronavirus. Will be away from the team until Friday."  Why not test him for COVID-19?  I mean, if the team is trying to be cautious and keep guys off the IL, why aren't the Yankees testing one of their players for a virus that is spreading rampantly after he tested positive for the flu?

"Because coronavirus testing kits are in limited supply, patients are first tested for the flu, and if that comes back negative, they go for additional testing. Since Sanchez tested positive for the flu, he was not tested for coronavirus," reported CBS Sports. This case will be monitored, but it seems a bit worrisome.

Since coming up for his first season back in 2016, Sanchez has never played a full season.  He has made multiple trips to the IL, five to be exact.  He has had calf and groin pulls.  He had a terrible shoulder injury in 2018. And the Yankees need him to be healthy in 2020.  There is no Austin Romine to back him up and although the Yankees are hopeful that Kyle Higashioka can fill that void, but that remains to be determined.  This is either going to be Higgy's year or it's not. And if it is not, are the Yankees done for?

So, although the Yankees have another issue to monitor with Sanchez out for the flu, the bigger picture is that Sanchez can't stay healthy for an entire season.  This is more of the issue.  I know the Yankees have gone all in for Sanchez, but there needs to be a contingency plan.

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof

AWESOME VIDEO! CORREA DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO PLAY BASEBALL ANYMORE

Has anyone seen loser Carlos Correa lately? He can't make plays in the field and he sure as hell is worried about getting clocked in the batter's box. This is gold, folks.  It's gonna be a long season for these turds. They probably wish they were punished, because not just the Yankees and the Yankee fans are hating on them... but ALL of the Major leagues and their team's fans are in on it. The Astros are the most hated team in the league.  Good F them.

Check these videos out:

I honestly haven’t seen a player do that on a breaking ball in a long time. Makes you realize how reliant the Astros players were on the trash can bangs. pic.twitter.com/kesDGEEvB7

— Marc Luino @ Cactus League (@GiraffeNeckMarc) March 8, 2020

Astros fans: “We drink the tears of Yankees fans.”

Also Astros fans: *Ignores their rotation issues and that Carlos Correa is afraid of the baseball all of a sudden* pic.twitter.com/FRuW5TnfqK

— Joe Randazzo🗽(Bronx Pinstripes crew) (@Yankeelibrarian) March 9, 2020

A guy in the crowd *whistles* mid-delivery and Correa goes down swinging pic.twitter.com/j5tHByOyvj

— 2020 Astros Shame Tour (@AsteriskTour) March 7, 2020

Classic. And it's not just Correa. None of the Astros know what to do in the batter's box. It's amazing how much they depending on someone telling them what to look for when they were in the box.

I honestly haven’t seen a player do that on a breaking ball in a long time. Makes you realize how reliant the Astros players were on the trash can bangs. pic.twitter.com/kesDGEEvB7

— Marc Luino @ Cactus League (@GiraffeNeckMarc) March 8, 2020

They are really pathetic. I had to post!

PITIFUL EX-ASTRO PLAYS THE VICTIM CARD AFTER CHEATING

One thing that I really haven't liked about this Astros cheating scandal is that ex-Astros who are now playing for news teams are getting off easier than others who are still playing in Houston since 2017. I mean, sure we are watching Jose Altuve get booed everyday and George Springer is being humiliated at the plate as he strikes out...but ex-Asstros need to face the humiliation too, and they aren't.

Guys like Ken Giles, Dallas Keuchel, Marwin Gonzalez and now Collin McHugh get off easy...and they shouldn't!

We've covered what the other ex-Asstros have said but now Collin McHugh is finally talking and he sounds like he is playing the victim card, and that isn't going to fly.

"Looking back, I don't know what we could have done as pitchers," McHugh said. "It wasn't really our territory. Maybe we could've gotten together and somehow tried to stop it. Yeah, it was tough watching that. You feel for guys out there who are working their tails off, whether they're on
 your team or against you."

That's a load of bullshit. Your "territory" is to protect the integrity of the game and play it the right way....and you didn't. You knew what was going on and you still kept quiet. That's not a leader or a person with integrity.

This is 100% NOT a quote. It's BYB mocking the crappy Astros team.

"You've got to be willing to stick up for what you believe in and what you believe is right and what you believe is wrong.  And I think a lot of the guys on that team, including myself, are looking back now and wishing we had been as brave in the moment as we thought we were beforehand."

So the guy also has no balls, great. What a fantastic rolemodel!

Newflash: If you don't try to fix the problem, YOU ARE THE PROBLEM! McHugh is full of crap.
He had no moral dilemma in any of this. I'm sure the pitching staff was heartbroken over getting more run support too, right?

He should've reported the cheating, but he couldn't because he didn't have the power to stop anything. Gimme a break. He wants us to believe that he is a victim, just like all of these guys do. All of these guys who played for the Asstros in 2017 are insufferable and I am sick of it. McHugh could've
reported the cheating, but he didn't....and since he CHOSE not to then he is no less guilty than Carlos Beltran is for his mastermind scheme. It's called guilty by association....not powerless victim. You do
not get a "pass" and a giant bowl of sympathy for this.

Now McHugh can try and move on with another cheating team, the Red Sox. Because that's another good place to try and move past a cheating legacy. No one is buying your "victim" speech McHugh, you should've had the balls to come forward.

I am tired of this. These are the guys that disgraced the game and made a ton of money in the process. They've also disrespected you and I as fans and they just continue to get away with it. Especially guys like McHugh who now play for new teams so they can hide in the background. NO! They may not get booed everyday but we will remind them of what they did.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj

AARON JUDGE FELT A “CRACK” AND “POP”

Source: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.

Casey said it Friday in AARON JUDGE OUT!

"...the bigger question for me is how in the world does it take this long to find this out? I mean, who's in charge in the Yankees medical office that can't diagnose this correctly until now?"

I am just as baffled as you as I read this line in Newsday on Saturday morning.  So, if Aaron Judge felt this "crack and pop" back in September, why did it take the Yankees medical staff six months to diagnose their star right-fielder's nagging injury.  Is this malpractice?  Negligence? Or are these doctors just not the best that the most storied franchise sports team can get?

Source: Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

"Judge knew there was damage back then, but he did what players do at that time of year on playoff-bound teams. He got whatever pain-dulling, anti-inflammatory shots he could get and gutted his way through the end of the ALCS," reported Newsday.  But when the Yankees didn't cross over to the World Series, Judge went home to "rest"?

“I think the consistent swinging and weightlifting throughout the whole offseason really didn’t give it the chance to [heal],” Judge said Friday. “If somebody breaks their leg and they’re in a cast, they’re immobilized for a couple of weeks or months .  .  .   You give the bone a chance to heal,” said Judge.

Source: CBS Sports

And you can't ignore the fact that if Judge did in fact get the correct diagnosis after experiencing the "crack and pop," he likely would have rested, recovered and he would not be sitting around waiting to see if he needs to have surgery or worse, sit out 2020.

Here's the question I have, is it a coincidence that three of the Yankees best are all down with injuries ahead of spring training?  I mean first it was James Paxton, then it was Luis Severino and now Aaron Judge?  Coincidence?  I don't think so.

Source: NJ.com

"Why not just do all these other super-tests from the jump, like back in November, when Judge and Severino still were hurting for unknown reasons? The winter is the time to get this stuff taken care of so you don’t have to sweat Opening Day or the first half or maybe wiping out an entire season. Instead, the Yankees let this stuff snowball right into spring training," reported Newsday.

Fans expect more from the Yankee medical staff but even beyond that, if something doesn't feel right, listen to your body.  Don't keep pushing yourself harder when in fact, your body is telling you it needs a break.  I get that everyone wants to be bigger and stronger than last season.  I want the same for my own running game, but the fact of the matter is that rest and recovery is just as important as hard work as the image above represents.  Let's hope the Yankees get that kind of medical counsel as well as pedigree this season so we can all avoid taking "crack and pop" for granted.

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof

HOT VIDEO! THE ASTROS ARE GONNA WISH THEY GOT PUNISHED

A fun little nugget, because these Asstros need to get verbally abused every chance they get.  This video surfaced on Twitter the other day of a fan ripping into Jose Altuve asking where his buzzer is.  Clearly Jose hears him and clearly he is wishing he never cheated at this very moment. What a turd. Jose needs to go away.

I love the fans...

Mets v Astros, 20 minutes ago

(Via @JJ_TGOD) pic.twitter.com/Jrwvbb5fF3

— 2020 Astros Shame Tour (@AsteriskTour) March 7, 2020

Now look, people will ask, "When is enough, enough when it comes to ripping on these assholes?"  The answer? Never.

We want to make them all as uncomfortable as possible. They should get beamed. They should be verbally abused like opposing fans SHOULD do. But now there's a bigger and better reason.  It's not because they are great athletes that we can rip them... no. It's because they are cheaters and won a championship doing it that makes us want to lay into them.

Liars and cheaters never win. I mean sure, the Asstros got away with it, definitely in 2017 and probably in '18 and '19 too. But ultimately the avalanche of crushing these guys with beam balls and mocks will hopefully make them all feel like they probably should have been punished by "Manfred the Clown" in the first place.

They're all dumb in this scandal. They all need to pay.

I HOPE YOU FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOUR DECISION, MR. MANFRED!

Astros fans love this, but I don't understand why. They understand it, right? So what, no one cares that cheating got you a ring? And that's OK? That's what good role models are? This is what getting away with lying looks like? What's the point?

This is from a company called Baseball.Club, which actually appears to be a fake Facebook page, but my point is simply this. In a world where you're supposed to know right from wrong. In a world where cheating and lying are supposed to have consequences... Major League Baseball does not and this is what it gets you... saying F you to everyone out there that isn't an Astros fan, because they got a ring... CHEATING... and the others were too stupid no too, I guess.

The Astros need to get beamed every time they enter the batter's box.  They deserve it, they are cheaters and pathetic. And this shirt? It's garbage and any Astros fan that thinks that siding with this is smart? I have one piece of advice... distance yourself.  Like your team all you want, but that scandal... it tainted that Astros franchise... definitely this season... possibly forever.

AARON JUDGE OUT!

Frustrating is not exactly the word I'd like to use here. I'M PISSED.

The New York Post has this...

"...the Yankees outfielder officially diagnosed with a stress fracture in his first right rib on Friday. Judge will take two weeks to heal and the Yankees will reassess the injury at that point. Surgery is an option for the 27-year-old..."

But the bigger question for me is how in the world does it take this long to find this out? I mean, who's in charge in the Yankees medical office that can't diagnose this correctly until now?

Judge is still talking about being there for Opening Day. I think the real question is CAN he be.  We shall see. Of course, this is awful news.

Right now the entire Houston Astros team is breathing a sigh of relief because all Yankee fans are fixated on the Judge injury. We're not here at BYB. We will continue to bring you every nugget of anger toward the Astros as possible. That's because they are terrible people.

Here's a great one about moron George Springer who suddenly doesn't know how to hit a baseball because he has no prompt ahead of time. Too bad loser!  Check this out:

Some guy in the crowd goes “curveball!” and Springer goes down looking on a fastball pic.twitter.com/5WvvLOxAPD

— 2020 Astros Shame Tour (@AsteriskTour) March 3, 2020

Nice!

THE SPRING'S FOR WORKING ON THINGS. EVERYBODY CALM DOWN

When Gerrit Cole was tagged with a couple homers in a Spring Training game that no one should care about, I didn't think twice about it.  Then you read the New York media and you'd think we made a bad investment in the offseason getting this guy.  SHUT UP... ALL OF YOU!

Spring Training is for working through stuff. You wanna try a new stance? A new approach? You do it then. You want to shake the rust... that's where it should happen. You want to work on your fastball, your change up... it's spring... do it.  That's what Gerrit Cole was doing. If anyone thinks otherwise you need to just go away. You don't know baseball.

The New York Post has this:

"Cole gave up four homers that were helped by a stiff wind blowing to center at Joker Marchant Stadium, but the breeze wasn’t the only reason Travis Demeritte and Miguel Cabrera hit back-to-back pitches for home runs in the first and second innings. 

Four pitches, four homers. Despite the ugly numbers, the outing wasn’t a complete loss. “I felt pretty good physically. Overall pleased with more pitches than not,’’ Cole said. “Made a couple of bad pitches I would really like to have back. Like I said, pleased with most of the pitches, just got blistered on a handful.’’ 

“It is spring training. There is probably an element to we are going to continue to push the fastball, especially this early in spring. They are trying to get timed up on the fastball. That is probably their priority, too. We will have a more normal routine coming off this start. You take it for what it is, learn from it and get better.’’

If this is August and this crap is happening? I'm losing my mind. March? It doesn't even count.  No one cares. Let me rephrase that... NO ONE SHOULD CARE, unless you have money on a Spring Training game that means absolutely nothing.

TREVOR BAUER IS SPOUTING ALOT ABOUT THE CHEATING ASTROS & GERRIT COLE

What can I say, Trevor Bauer is doing a lot of talking lately. It's actually quite fascinating. It's like a good book or movie that you just can't walk away from. He's an interesting study...that's the best way I can put it.

The Astros cheating scandal isn't going away. We're still talking about it at BYB, fans are talking about it and so are the players. Spring Training hasn't been a distraction for this at all. I'm sure the Astros would like it to just go away so they can turn the page and get back to baseball but....as long as guys like Bauer keep talking and saying some crazy things it will just keep the cheating scandal in the headlines.

Have you heard Bauer's latest comments? Check them out HERE. He has an interesting idea to try and combat another cheating scandal. I guess if you are just going to TELL the batter what is coming he figures there will be no need for buzzers, trash can banging or electronics at all. So, here's the intentional tipped pitch....let the best man win.

Sounds crazy to me, but what do I know. He's looking for a formula for success I guess. He didn't find it last year when he pitched to a 6.39 ERA in 10 games with Cleveland before getting traded to Cincinnati. Now he's starting the season with the Reds and looking for a bounce back year before he hits free agency at the end of the season. I can't imagine how TELLING the opposing batter what pitch is coming will help improve his ERA but....he did it with Matt Beaty on Monday and still managed to strike him out. I guess give him points for trying to be innovative. It's still crazy though.

Before the Astros sign-stealing scandal rocked the baseball world, Bauer was already pretty critical about Astros pitchers using foreign substances to increase spin rate on their pitches in 2018. He wrote a piece on Derek Jeter's Players Tribune HERE that basically said he had studied spin rates for many years and no matter what he tried he was not able to improve it without the use of any "foreign substances." He also went on to say that he estimates 70% of pitchers use some sort of illegal substance to do it.

But does his estimate apply to him? Bauer's own spin rate increased last season so maybe he is speaking from experience? And if he is one of the 70% he also isn't denying it. He also isn't mincing words about the Astros pitching staff including Gerrit Cole who had his own increase in spin rate and then he tried to throw Cole under the bus, who happens to be his old UCLA college teammate and someone he has bad blood with. He didn't directly implicate Cole, but history shows they have a lot of history with each other and both drafted in the 2011 draft...so possible shots fired?

"When I see a guy go from being a good pitcher for one team and spinning the ball at 2,200 rpm, to spinning the ball at 2,600 or 2,700 in Houston, I know exactly what happened." - Bauer

So the drama of the Astros cheating scandal goes on and current and former Astros continue to take the heat. I think Bauer has a lot of balls. I admire that he wants a fair game and isn't afraid to be creative to play a fair game. I admire that if he is going to get beat that he wants to do so on a fair playing field. All admirable things right now in an era where baseball's integrity is lost.

We may never know the whole story between Cole and Bauer. It was strained to begin with and this doesn't help. What do you think about Bauer's piece on the Players Tribune? And do you think Bauer was talking about Cole? It's just another chapter in baseball's bruised history now that we will have to watch.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj 

AROD RIPS THE ASTROS A NEW ONE

Source: NY Post

Taking ownership for one's actions is one of the most responsible moves one can make as an individual. It shows that you value the rules and the rule makers and you made a mistake.  It shows authenticity.  It shows remorse.  But the Houston Astros' players decided something entirely different.  They remained smug and cocky and even blamed the leadership for their actions.

Source: Twitter 

On Tuesday while calling the Yankees-Red Sox game for ESPN, one of the biggest cheaters of the game, Alex Rodriguez, spoke up about the scandal and the Astros' players' failure to own their actions.

"I served the longest suspension in MLB history. It cost me well over $35M. And you know what? I deserved that," said Rodriguez.  He went on to say that they deserve all of the fans' and opposing players' reactions to their lack of remorse for what they did. They will have to endure all the boos, the posters, the shirts and negative commentary.  Because they earned it.

Source: NY Times

Rodriguez continued,  "I owned it after acting like a buffoon for a long time. I had my apologies, and then I went dark. I wanted my next move to be contrite, but I also wanted to go out and play good baseball and change my narrative. … You have to be accountable. You’ve earned all this negative talk. You’ve earned whatever comes your way, including whether it’s hit by a pitch or negative press.”

Source: USA Today

I am so relieved to hear these words from ARod.  It is like I needed him to speak up, because coming from him, it means something more. I was so disappointed in him when I learned about his cheating due to PEDs and ties to  Biogenesis.  I booed him from some really good seats during his appeal.  But, you know what?  He turned things around.  He owned his mistakes and more than that he was remorseful.  He has come out ahead and we as fans are forgiving.  We know players make mistakes and they are not perfect.

Source: WFAN

The Astros deserve every ounce of taunting they receive for what they did to the game of baseball.  They should all be ashamed. ARod sat out 162 games and endured more pain than the Astros will every feel. They won't ever feel that kind of pain; the pain of disappointing fans, of hurting people's careers, of stealing championships.  They won't feel that pain because they aren't sorry for their actions.  The difference between the Astros' players and Alex Rodriguez: He said he was sorry and he meant it.  Thank you, Alex, for speaking up and speaking your mind.

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof

TINY ALTUVE HUMILIATED BY ANGRY BASEBALL FAN

This isn't going away, the Asstros don't get to move past their cheating, especially if the fans won't let them.

It's only Spring Training and there are early signs that the cheating Asstros are crumbling under pressure and I LOVE it. The Astros knew they would have the face the consequences from both fans and other teams all season. They should've prepared for this the same way they prepared and planned to CHEAT, but they didn't. Grab a front row seat because this is only going to get better.

A week ago today, Jose Altuve made his spring training debut and it probably went exactly how he expected it. He was booed by fans at a road game against the Tigers and in his third plate appearance he was hit by a pitch that didn't appear to be intentional but, Asstro haters of course loved it. But now, the ASSTROS have been heckled at the Astros Spring Training complex and the really didn't like it....at all. Have you seen THIS video? The wheels are falling off folks, you gotta watch it.

"ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE BACK THE WORLD SERIES TROPHY?"

We'd all love to see that happen. We want that title stripped. The Asstros know we want that title stripped so they should be able to handle this heckling. They knew this was coming. But no....they can't because SOMEONE in that dugout took the bait and decided to fight back. A voice shouted back with "AS LONG AS YOU KEEP PAYING TO COME SEE US...JUST KEEP PAYING TO SEE US!"

Now keep in mind this outburst happened during a long rain delay that eventually postponed the game. If baseball fans are willing to stand in the pouring rain to taunt the ASSTROS during a Spring Training game can you imagine what will happen during the long season? We are barely over a week into Spring Training! The games don't matter yet. The fans will only get louder when the Asstros are on the road. If the Astros can't block out the noise when there's literally NOTHING important going on it's going to be a free-for-all during games and it will be MUST SEE tv.

I'm not 100% certain who that is that yelled back at the fan, I was told it was Jose Altuve but either way this is awesome. I don't care who it is, it's still awesome to hear. The games right now are a much more laid back atmosphere than what the Astros will see when the regular season starts. More importantly, if THAT is what gets under the Asstros skin you can only imagine what their 81 road games will be like this season....and I can't wait to watch every minute of it.

It's not going to be a fun season for the Astros, but it will be for the rest of us. I can't wait to see what sets the Astros off next!

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj 

GERRIT COLE FITS THE ROLE HE'S BEEN ASKED TO PLAY

Source: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Two starts in and Gerrit Cole is doing what is not only expected but he is taking on a bigger role than anticipated.  With James Paxton out likely for three months (anticipated back in June) and Luis Severino out for the season, Cole will be asked to start on two opening days, with the first less than a month away.

"Weather permitting, Opening Day in Baltimore is set for March 26, and there is nobody else but Cole who will be on the Camden Yards mound for his Yankees debut," reported the New York Post.  Cole pitched on Saturday in the 8-2 win against the Detroit Tigers.  He threw 2 ²/₃ shutout innings and 30 pitches of which 21 were strikes.  This is the Cole we need. He needs to perform at his highest, not just because he can, but because this is the part he is being asked to play, with two of our best out of commission.

Source: Frank Franklin II/AP

Cole said that he and catcher Gary Sanchez had a good routine before and during the game on Saturday.  This is a rhythm that not only has to be in place at the start of the season but has to endure through the tough days of spring and summer ball into the fall.

And besides taking on the role of ace from the standpoint of starting pitching, he will have to be a leader absent of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton who are already being bitten by the injury bug.

Source: AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

According to NJ.com on Saturday just before 5:00 p.m., "Yankees manager Aaron Boone said right fielder Aaron Judge underwent more tests Friday — including an MRI — that didn’t reveal the cause of the right shoulder soreness he has been feeling. Judge will go for another test Monday, said Boone, who didn’t specify what the test was. '“We’re just kind of in a holding pattern with it, trying to figure out what exactly’s going on there,”' Boone said." This is not the news anyone wants to hear.

Yet on the bright side, Cole is stepping into March with confidence and poise despite the injuries.  He is becoming the Yankee we need him to be.  I think the Daily News said it best, "Saturday, though, with so much uncertainty in the Yankees rotation and now with injuries to Judge and Stanton, Cole was not just the ace, but a reassuring presence." And this will not only help the team build momentum but get them through these tough days.

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof