Friday’s minors.

AAA: SWB lost 4-1. Like the big club, they don’t hit much either, getting just four hits last night. Jose Ramirez, just up from AA, 2 R in 4 IP. 3 H, 4 walks and 5 K. Injury for Mustelier. Haven’t heard what it could be or how bad. Solo HR DH Josh Bell.

AA:  Trenton lost 8-4. Nik Turley 5 IP, 6 R. RF Tyler Austin 2 hits. 1B Kyle Roller 3 hits. 3B Reegie Corona 2 h, rbi.  

High A: Tampa off.

Low A: Charleston lost 4-1. Jose Campos 4 r in 4 IP. 2 hits each for CF Jake Cave, DH Greg Bird (rbi), 1B Rey Nunez & RF Danny Oh.

The minors today.

AAA: SWB swept a DH.

Game 1: 6-5 win. Ivan Nova 3 R in 5 IP. Thomas Neal 3 for 4 with an rbi. Dan Johnson 2-run HR, Melky Mesa solo HR. Ronnier Mustelier 2 rbi. 2 hits Zoilo Almonte.

Game 2; makeup of 6/10. 6-2 win. David Huff (re-signed after he cleared waivers) 4 IP, 2 R, 5 K. Dellin Betances two scoreless (W, 4-3, 5.13). Thomas Neal continues to hit and the Yanks continue not to call him up. Why?  .339. Dan Johnson another 2-run HR.

AA: Trenton lost 6-5. Mikey O’Brien 4 R, 3 ER in 4 IP. 1B Kyle Roller 3 H, 2 HR, 3 RBI. DH Neil Medchill 2 h, rbi.

High A: Tampa won 6-2. Shane Greene 1 r in 3 IP. Joel De La Cruz 1 unearned run in 4 IP. LF Ben Gamel 3 h, rbi. 2-run HR Gary Sanchez. (.276-10-44). DH Saxon Butler 2 h, hr, 2 rbi.

Low A: Charleston split a DH.

Game 1: 6-3 loss. Cesar Vargas 5 R, 4 ER in 4 IP. SS Cito Culver 2-run HR, solo shot for 1B Greg Bird.

Game 2: 8-4 win. CF Jake Cave 3 h, solo HR. DH Greg Bird 2 rbi. 2 h each for 1B Rey Nunez, LF Kelvin De Leon (HR, 4 rbi) and C Jackson Valera (rbi).

The minors.

Friday night’s games. I am heading up to Moosic (between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre) for the AAA game tonight (Sat).. I’m crossing my fingers b/c the weather forecast isn’t the best. I’m hoping to see players like Mustelier and Neal for myself.

Wang opted out of his contract to sign a major league deal with Toronto.

AAA: 4-2 loss by SWB. Betances blew a 2-1 lead in the 8th. Vidal Nuno only went 1 2/3, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks and 4 K. He was starting in place of Wang, who was originally scheduled. Hopefully nothing is wrong with Nuno. Maybe a rain delay where he then got pulled. It appears so. SWB got just three hits. RF Ronnier Mustelier double, 2 rbi.  Melky Mesa, 57 games: 6 walks. 90 K.

AA:  Trenton ppd.

High A: Tampa lost 2-0. Scottie Allen 1 R in 5 2/3. (5-3. 4.11). LF Ben Gamel 2 hits.

Low A: Charleston lost 3-2 in 13. Rafael De Paula 1 R in 5 IP, 8 k. 2.43. 3 hits, solo HR for C Pete O’Brien. (.323-9-36). DH Rey Nunez solo HR.

One person the Yanks drafted yesterday was Mike O’Neill of Michigan. The OF is the nephew of Paul O’Neill.

Game 58. Lineup, stats, comments.

Eduardo Nunez had a setback. No timetable for return, and he’s been out a month.

Gardner gets a day off. Cano DH’s to get some rest. Adams goes to 2B. Hafner out of the lineup.

Yanks 32-25, tied for 2d, 2 1/2 out. 3 games separate 1st and 4th place in the A.L. East. Yanks 3 games better than their Pythagorean record. OPS+ 91, ERA+ 111. 100 is average. The last time the Yanks finished a season with an OPS+ under 100 was 1991 (Stump Merrill mgr.)

BA/HR/RBI   SB/total attempts    OPS+    Comments    Team leader
Bold italic = under 100 (average)

1. Suzuki CF .261-2-9  5/7  75    OBP just .298
2. Nix SS .245-1-14  5/5  69   OBP just .313
3. Teixeira 1B  2 for 12 this year, 1 HR, 4 RBI   OPS+ 88   Four games. 339 career HR is tied with Tino, Boog Powell & Dave Parker.  1 behind Jack Clark.
4. Cano DH .288-14-36  2/2  132   highest ave. on team among those qualifying for batting title, at just .288
5. Wells LF .250-10-24  4/6  96
6. Youkilis 3B .247-2-8   0/0  94    73 at bats
7. Adams 2B .242-2-5  75    17 games, 62 at bats 
8. Overbay RF .249-8-29  0/0  101
9. Stewart C .262-3-8  2/2  84

Phelps P  3-3, 4.65   ERA+ 89

The minors.

AAA: SWB lost 7-4. Brett Marshall (2-4, 7.27) 7 R, 5 ER in 3 2/3. C Bobby Wilson (.211) 2 doubles, solo HR.

AA: Trenton lost 6-2. Nik Turley (5-3, 4.14) 3 R in 6 IP. 3B Kevin Mahoney (.229) 2 doubles. Triple, rbi for SS Walt Ibarra (.324).

High A: 4-1 rain-shortened win for Tampa (called in 7th). Scottie Allen (5-2, 4.37) five scoreless IP. 2B Rob Refsnyder (.283, cooled off after scorching April) 2 hits, RBI. SS Carmen Angelini 3 h, 2 doubles, 2 rbi, .340. 2 h, double, CF Mason Williams (.237).

Low A: Charleston won 8-2. Jose Campos (4.21) 2 R, 1 ER in 4 IP. Brett Gerritse (5-3, 4.76) three scoreless IP. Alex Smith (0.93) two scoreless. SS Claudio Custodio 3 h, triple, rbi (.248). C Wes Wilson 3 h, 2 doubles, 3 RBI (.286). 2B Jose Rosario (.200) 2 h, rbi. 2 h, triple, rbi 1B Rey Nunez (.274).

The minors today. Wang great.

AAA: Great game for Wang. 7 shutout innings, 2 H as SWB wins 8-0. (3-4, 2.65). Thomas Neal 2 H, rbi, .348. Instead of carrying 13 pitchers (why Huff? They really don’t need him and he isn’t that good; see the game post), they could have had Neal as a righty OF bat off the bench to PH for Hughes in the 7th tonight. Really. 3 Hits, 2 RBI Zoilo Almonte. Ronnier Mustelier 3 H, rbi.

AA:  7-4 win for Trenton. Jose Ramirez 3 R in 5 2/3, 6 K. (1-2, 2.59). RF Tyler Austin 3 H, double, HR, 3 RBI. 3B Kevin Mahoney 2 H, HR, 2 RBI. 2 H, RBI CF Slade Heathcott.

High A: Tampa off.

Low A: 11-5 win for Charleston. Evan Rutckyj 3 R in 6 IP. 1B Rey Nunez 3 H double, HR, 4 rbi.

Game 47. Yanks win 9-4, but Grandy breaks a bone… again

Are you kidding me? Curtis Granderson must feel jinxed. On his first at bat of a spring training game, he is hit by a pitch, breaks a bone, and misses the first 38 games of this season.

Now, in Game #47, he gets hit by a pitch again, and this time breaks a finger.

Another 4 weeks or more on the DL.

Like I mentioned, are you kidding me?

The Yanks did win 9-4 as David Phelps was brilliant for five innings before faltering.

Even he almost went on the DL. A liner caught Phelps on the forearm in the eighth inning, but fortunately it was just a bruise.

It looks like Boesch will be back to replace Granderson (they should also bring up Neal to replace Francisco while they are at it).

Meanwhile, Teix could be back in a week (what that does for Overbay is anyone’s guess. It’s hard to have Teix, Overbay AND Hafner all on the same team. One could DH, one could play 1B, but as for #3? And Hafner is NOT going to play the field).

It seems like Youk could be back soon too. Since Youk plays 1B and 3B, you also wonder about Overbay (27 RBI) (and for that matter, David Adams, who has been great since his callup, .323).

Nova has been activated but will be in relief until further notice. Betances (who didn’t get into a MLB game) was sent down.

Also, Nunez and Joba are about ready.

There will be VERY interesting roster decisions to be made in the next two weeks or so.

I do hope Phil Hughes was closely observing Phelps tonight. For often, Hughes, who most likely has better stuff, gets less out of an outing than Phelps does.

Phelps retired the first thirteen men he faced.

He went 7 2/3, 4 R, 6 H, 0 walks, 3 K. (W, 3-2, 3.96).

Logan 1/3, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks and 1 K, 1.88.

Kelley finished up. 1 R, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks and 0 K. 5.03.

The Yanks jumped out in front with 3 in the 2nd. Overbay doubled in two and Nix singled in Overbay.

Brett Gardner HR’d (4, surprising) in the 4th to make it 5-0.

In the fifth, Granderson got his injury on the HBP, and Adams and Overbay singled. A walk to Nix forced home a run, Stewart singled in another. Even CANO was plunked, forcing in another run. Thank goodness Robbie was OK.

Phelps struggled after the five and the 8-0 lead, but the Yanks did a run in the 7th on a triple by Nix and a WP.

 

The minors today.

AAA: SWB lost 4-3. Jim Miller, 1 R in 2/3 IP the loss. 0-4, 5.68. Corban Joseph, 2B, double, HR, 2 RBI. Thomas Neal (please bring him up to replace Ben Francisco. Are you reading, Cashman?) 1 for 2, 2 walks, .326.

AA: 6-1 win for Trenton. Nik Turley 6 Ip, 1 R, 1 H, 2 walks and 6 K. 2 H, rbi 2B Jose Pirela.

High A: Tampa won 5-4 in 10. DH Angelo Gumbs 3 H, rbi. 2 H, 2 RBI SS Carmen Angelini.

Low A: Charleston won 10-8. Jose Campos 1 r in 3 IP. 1B Rey Nunez 3 H and 3 RBI. 2 H, 2 RBI for 2B Claudio Custodio.

The minors today.

AAA: SWB lost 12-11. Chris Bootcheck 8 R in 3 IP. Iineffective relief from Josh Spence, Cody Eppley and Jim Miller. RF Thomas Neal 3 for 4, .329, and I hope he replaces Ben Francisco (.100) NOW! 1B Dan Johnson 2 H, HR, 2 RBI. 2 hits each for LF Zoilo Almonte (3 RBI), 3B Ronnier Mustelier (3 RBI), and C Bobby Wilson (1 RBI).

AA: 6-4 win for Trenton. Mikey O’Brien 2 R in 5 IP. 2 H, 2 RBI RF Tyler Austin. SS Ali Castillo 2 RBI. CF Slade Heathcott 2 h, rbi.

High A: 7-2 loss for Tampa. Shane Greene 5 R in 5 IP.

Low A: 6-3 win for Charleston. CF Jake Cave 4 for 5. C Pete O’Brien 1 for 2, HR, 3 RBI. 2 H, solo HR DH Rey Nunez. 3B Dante Bichette Jr. 2 h and an rbi, but he’s hitting just .177.

The minors today.

AAA: SWB lost 3-2. Nik Turley 1 R, 2 H in 6 IP. Granderson LF, 1 for 3. He could be activated tomorrow to join the Yanks. Two hits, HR, 2 RBI CF Melky Mesa.

AA: Trenton off.

High A: Tampa gave up 5 in the top of the 9th to blow it, 8-7. 3 H, HR, 3 RBI C Gary Sanchez. 3 h RF Eduardo Sosa. 2 H apiece for CF Mason Williams, LF Ben Gamel, DH Jose Toussen.

Low A: 5-3 win for Charleston. Jose Campos 4 scoreless IP, 1 H, 3 K.  C  Pete O’Brien 3 for 3, double and a solo HR. RF Yeicok Calderon 2 run HR. DH Rey Nunez 2-run HR.