Minor League Report.

The Yankees released minor league pitcher Travis Hissong.

Lower level leagues, like the short-season and Dominican Summer League have started up but I don’t go down to those levels. Not enough time.

AAA: SwB (43-27) split a DH. They lost the reg. sched. game 4-3. Solo HR’s CF Dustin Fowler, LF Jake Cave and RF Mark Payton.

Mitchell 4 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 5K.  4.50
Webb 1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR.  3.24
Jones (BS, 3; L, 5-2, 3.93) 1 1/3 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K.

They won the makeup of a May 7 rainout 6-2. DH Tyler Austin a 3-run HR.  1B Ji-Man Choi triple, 3 RBI. 3b Miguel Andujar 2 hits. RF Payton 2 hits.

Mantiply 3 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.03
Wotherspoon (W, 1-0, 2.35) 3 IP 1 R, 3 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Graham 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.94

AA: Trenton (46-24) lost 14-4. 2B Abiatal Avelino 4 for 4, 2 doubles, RBI. 2 hits & an RBI for LF Devyn Bolasky.

Ramirez (L, 6-3, 3.47) 2 1/3 IP, 7 R, 8 H, 3 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Carter 2 1/3 IP, 4 R, 5 H, 0 W, 1 K. 15.43
Rumbelow 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. 0.00
Coshow 2 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 1 W, 2 K 4.71

High A: Tampa (38-31) won 6-0.  CF Jeff Hendrix 2 hits, 2 RBI. DH Tito Polo 2 hits. 2B Nick Solak 3 hits. 2 hits and rbi for 3B Kyle Holder.

Dillon Tate came off the DL (sore shoulder) for his first minor league game of the season.

Tate (W, 1-0, 0.00) 5 2/3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 W,  5 K.
Reeves 2 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 3 K. 4.26
Tarpley 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 0.00

Low A: The North and South for the South Atlantic League played to a 3-3 tie. It was played in rain which got worse after the seventh, when the game was stopped.

Charleston players (South): Blake Rutherford CF, 0 for 0; C Donny Sands 0 for 1.
SS Hoy Jun Park 0 for 1. LF Estevan Florial 0 for 2. 3B Angel Aguilar 0 for 2.

P Trevor Lane 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.

Minor League Report. Acevedo, Estrada continue to impress, Chapman rehab, FSL All Stars.

AAA: SWB (38-26) won 8-1. 2B Tyler Wade (.317) 2 hits, RBI. CF Dustin Fowler (who I thought they’d call up instead of Mason Williams, but apparently Fowler isn’t on the 40-man roster) 2 hits, 2 RBI. DH Tyler Austin 2 hits, RBI. RF Clint Frazier 3-run HR. SS Gleyber Torres 3 hits.

Domingo Acevedo promoted. First AAA game. Rapidly rising. Was 0-4, 4.57 at Tampa this year, then 2-0, 1.62 at AA, now this. Overall 3-4, 3.09.

Acevedo (W, 1-0, 1.29) 7 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 5 W, 4 K.
Layne 1 2/3 IP, 0 r, 0 H, 1 w, 2 K. 0.00   Sent here after DFA and not claimed.
Heller 1/3 IP, 0 r, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 2.57

AA: Trenton (43-22) won 4-2. Gleyber Torres gets all the attention, deservedly, but SS Thairo Estrada 2 hits, .323. Jorge Mateo at High A has been struggling and has already been passed on the SS depth chart by Torres, Wade and Estrada. Trade bait? Torres is 20, but Estrada is only 21.

1B Mike Ford solo HR. Aroldis Chapman put in a rehab appearance, hmmm…. Chapman is expected to rejoin the Yanks on Sunday.

Chapman 2/3 IP, 1 R, 0 H, 2 W, 2 K. 13.50. Threw two WP. Hit 102.
Pena 3 1/3 IP, 0 r, 1 H, 0 W, 4 K. 0.00. Just promoted, first AA game.
Mesa (BS, 1) 2 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 0 W, 3 K. 1.80. Just promoted, 2nd AA game.
Marsh (W, 2-2, 3.68) 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 5 K.
Rumbelow (S,1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 0.00

High A: Tampa off. The Florida State League All-Star Game is today. For the FSL North, from Tampa (and some of these players have already been promoted to AA Trenton): P Cody Carroll, P Zack Littell, P Dillon McNamara, P Jose Mesa (son of ex-MLB reliever Jose Mesa), P Josh Rogers, SS Jorge Mateo (even though he is struggling). OF Tito Polo.

Low A: Charleston (32-36) lost 4-1. LF Ben Ruta and 3B Mandy Alvarez 2 hits each. RBI for Ruta.

Nelson (L, 0-6, 6.34) 3 1/3 IP, 4 R, 5 H, 1 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR.
DeCarr 4 2/3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 W, 4 K. 2.16
Lane 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 0.84

Game 13. 8 in a row. Montgomery’s 1st MLB win. Holliday, Judge HR in 7-4 win.

Rookie Jordan Montgomery got his first MLB win, and the Yanks were powered by HRs by Matt Holliday and Aaron Judge as they won their eighth game in a row, 7-4, to go to 9-4 on the season.

Montgomery took a shutout into the seventh before faltering and giving up a 3-run HR. By that time, the Yanks had a 7-0 lead thanks to Holliday and Judge.

Holliday hit a 3-run bomb (2) in the second that went 459 feet. After the HR, Starlin Castro and Chase Headley each doubled to make it 4-0. Headley went to third on an error by Melky Cabrera, and scored on an Aaron Judge single to make it 5-0.

Judge hit a HR (4) in the fifth to make it 7-0.

Jacoby Ellsbury had 2 hits. Both Judge and Holliday had 3 RBI. Starlin Castro had 3 hits.

Montgomery (w, 1-0, 4.22) 6+ IP, 3 R, 7 H, 2 walks, 4 K. Gave up HR. 1st MLB win.
Warren 2 1/3 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 1 walk, 1 K. 1.00
Chapman (S, 4 ) 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks, 0 K. 0.00

Earlier in the day, the Yanks traded P Johnny Barbato to the Pirates for either cash or a player to be named later.

Game 11. Despite it all, Yanks win sixth in a row, 3-2.

Ok. The Yanks aren’t getting Didi back until May. They won’t get Sanchez back until mid-May as well. Bird is 1 for 26 with 13 strikeouts. Carter (who did have an RBI today) is 4 for 22, 8 strikeouts. So that is 5 for 48 between those two with 21 strikeouts.

Matt Holliday was a late scratch because of a stiff back.

Jacoby Ellsbury has been hitting cleanup (!)

The Yankees struck out 17x today.

They were 1 for 13 with RISP and left 12 men on base.

Tanaka has struggled.

And despite all that, they still managed to win their sixth straight game to improve to 7-4. Go figure.

Hey, we’ll take it.

CC Sabathia was great for 7 1/3 innings, leaving after he gave up a gopher ball that cut the Yankees’ lead to 3-1. The win was #225 of CC’s career, moving him past Catfish Hunter and Jim Bunning on the all-time list.

In the first, the Yanks got a run thanks to two walks (they drew 8 for the game), a passed ball and a wild pitch.

In the sixth, no one could find Ronald Torreyes’ popup in the sun and it fell in for a gift double. After a groundout moved him to third, a comebacker and error helped Torreyes score and put Aaron Hicks on second, and he scored on Chris Carter’s single to make it 3-0.

Thanks for the gifts, Cardinals.

CC gave up a HR in the eighth, and Tyler Clippard a HR in the ninth. Clippard had more trouble in the ninth but got the final out with the tying and go-ahead runs on base.

Ellsbury had 2 of the Yanks’ 5 hits.

Sabathia (W, 2-0, 1.47) 7 1/3 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 1 walk, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Warren (H, 2)  2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H,  0 walks, 1 K. 0.00
Clippard (S, 1) 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 walk, 3 K. 3.00 Gave up 1 HR.

Last night I got into a discussion with someone who called Roger Maris a one-year wonder. My rejoinder? How can a guy who won TWO MVP awards be a one-year wonder?

Game 5. Yanks blow another lead, lose game. Sanchez hurt.

Ouch. Ouch and Ouch.

For the second straight game, the Yanks blew a lead and lost by one run.

Even worse, two of the three rookies they are trying to build around are hurt, and the main one will be out a while.

Greg Bird got x-rays before the game on his sore ankle. It came up negative. A CT scan may still be done, but he was given Saturday off and will most likely get Sunday off too. He is day to day.

Gary Sanchez hurt his biceps in the middle of the game and had to come out immediately. He is now on the 10 Day DL. Kyle Higashioka will be coming up, but Austin Romine will now be the catcher. It’s the right arm, his throwing arm, so this could be more than 10 days.

Aaron Judge got the day off because he was slumping and because you do need to keep Aaron Hicks fresh and get him playing time.

The Yanks had a 4-1 lead after 4 1/2 only to lose 5-4. The bullpen let them down again.

Ronald Torreyes drove in 2 in the second to put the Yanks up 2-0. The Orioles got a run back in the fourth.

In the top of the fifth, the Yanks scored one run on a balk and another on an RBI single by Starlin Castro.

Up 4-1 with Tanaka on the mound, the Yanks couldn’t hold it.

The O’s got two in the fifth and two in the seventh to win.

With one out and two out in the ninth, Chris Carter’s drive was caught on the warning track to end it.

Matt Holliday got his 2000th hit in this game.

The Yanks fall to 1-4, but worrisome is the situation on Sanchez and Bird.

Also, the Yanks haven’t had a starter go more than 5 innings yet this year, and it’s not like Tanaka to walk 4 and hit 2 in 5 innings of work.

Tanaka 5 IP, 3 R, 6 hits, 4 walks, 2 HBP, 5 K.   11.74
Warren (H, 1) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks, 1 K. 0.00
Layne 0 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 walks, 0 K. 3.86  Faced one batter, gave up a double.
Betances (BS, 1; L, 0-1) 2/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 walks, 0 K. 6.75
Holder 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks, 1 K. 0.00

I do question some of Girardi’s bullpen decisions. Why remove Warren when he is doing well? Why use Layne only for one batter (LOOGY)? Iif he got his man (he didn’t today) then leave him in there.

Too many moves. As the saying goes, too many cooks spoil the soup.

If a guy is doing well, leave him in there. The hell with this lefty/lefty, righty/righty crap.

Go by what you see and feel.

Sanchez’ loss hurts. Him. Bird day to day. Didi out all month.

Ouch.

Torres wins award, Yanks cut 3.

The Yanks were off as far as playing today, but some Yankees news.

Gleyber Torres won the Jack Dawson award as the best rookie in camp.

The Yanks cut 3. Ruben Tejada, the former Met, Donovan Solano, and Wilkin Castillo.

3 make Hall of Fame. Posada one and done.

A few days ago, I wrote about how it was appearing that Jorge Posada would be one and done in the Hall of Fame balloting. Unfortunately, that came to pass as Posada only got 3.8% of the vote, short of the 5% needed to stay on the ballot for another year.

It amazes me how people like Posada, Bernie, Cone, Tino, Wells and O’Neill could fall off the ballot after only a year or two. I’m not saying they are Hall of Famers. I’m saying that I’m surprised they didn’t last longer on the ballot.

Here are the vote totals. 75% was needed for induction.

Some notes on some.

Jeff Bagwell, 381 votes, 86.2%
Tim Raines, 380 votes, 86.0%
Ivan Rodriguez, 336 votes, 76.0%
Trevor Hoffman, 327 votes, 74.0% Missed by 5 votes.
Vladimir Guerrero, 317 votes, 71.7% Just missed by 15 votes.
Edgar Martinez, 259 votes, 58.6%
Roger Clemens, 239 votes, 54.1% Picking up steam despite the PED allegations.
Barry Bonds, 238 votes, 53.8% See Clemens.
Mike Mussina, 229 votes, 51.8% Nice pickup in voting.
Curt Schilling, 199 votes, 45.0% Recent comments hurt him.
Lee Smith, 151 votes, 34.2%
Manny Ramirez, 105 votes, 23.8%
Larry Walker, 97 votes, 21.9%
Fred McGriff, 96 votes, 21.7% 493 HR, no steroids, no respect.
Jeff Kent, 74 votes, 16.7% One of best hitting 2B ever. 377 HR
Gary Sheffield, 59 votes, 13.3% 509 HR and ….
Billy Wagner, 45 votes, 10.2% Probably better stats than Hoffman
Sammy Sosa, 38 votes, 8.6%
—
Jorge Posada, 17 votes, 3.8% Too bad off ballot so soon.
Magglio Ordonez, 3 votes, 0.7%
Edgar Renteria, 2 votes, 0.5%
Jason Varitek, 2 votes, 0.5%
Tim Wakefield, 1 vote,0.2%
Casey Blake, 0 votes, 0.0%
Pat Burrell, 0 votes, 0.0%
Orlando Cabrera, 0 votes, 0.0%
Mike Cameron, 0 votes, 0.0%
J.D. Drew, 0 votes, 0.0%
Carlos Guillen, 0 votes, 0.0%
Derrek Lee, 0 votes, 0.0%
Melvin Mora, 0 votes, 0.0%
Arthur Rhodes, 0 votes, 0.0%
Freddy Sanchez, 0 votes, 0.0%
Matt Stairs, 0 votes, 0.0%

So Raines gets in. Long overdue in my opinion. 2605 hits. 808 SB. .294. OPS+ 123. One of the best leadoff hitters ever. 1979-2002. Expos, White Sox, Yankees, A’s, Expos again, Orioles and Marlins. Member of 1996 and 1998 Yankees, albeit as a part-timer then. 7x all star. 3x top 10 in MVP voting. Runnerup for 1981 ROY. Led league in runs scored 2x, batting average once, SB 4x. Doubles once. 162 g. average .294-11-63 with 52 SB.

Bagwell 1991-2005, all with Houston. 449 HR. .297. OPS+ 149 which is outstanding. ROY 1991. MVP 1994. Top 10 in MVP 5x, runnerup in 1999. 4x All Star. Led league in runs scored 3x, doubles once, RBI once. 100 or more RBI 8x, led league once, averaged 106 walks/yr. For a 1B, 202 steals, did 30/30 twice. Led league in walks once. Avg. `162 g. .297-34-115, 15 SB.

Rodriguez 1991-2011. Rangers, Tigers, Yankees (where he was lousy, just 3 RBI in 33 games) Astros, Rangers again, Nationals. 1999 MVP. 2844 hits. 14x All star. 13 Gold Gloves. 4x Top 10 MVP voting. For a catcher, 17 x had 100 or more games in a season. OPS+ 106. 162 g. ave: .296-20-85.

Ok. There are rumors about Bagwell and Rodriguez’ PED usage. Sosa didn’t pick up ground, but Bonds and Clemens did. Manny Ramirez came in low despite his 555 HR because of his two suspensions for PED usage. Where these voters stand on PED usage is anyone’s guess.

As for next year’s newcomers to the ballot, I expect Chipper Jones and Jim Thome to get in, and Andruw Jones to miss out.