Midseason “acquistions.”

A lot is made, has been made and will be made of the Yankees’ moves this offseason and what may be coming later in spring training and later yet, at the trade deadline this summer.

But let’s not forget two Yankee “acquisitions” that will be coming this summer.

The returns of Jordan Montgomery and Didi Gregorius.

Hopefully both would be healthy and ready to contribute. If so, both would be a big lift and could give a jolt to the team mid-season.

If so, no trade is necessary.

Let’s not think about Jacoby Ellsbury also being in that mix for now. That’s more a case of I’ll believe it when I see it.

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Game 156. Yanks win “bullpen” game, 4-1. Use 8 pitchers who 2-hit Rays.

In order to give some starters more rest, and to set up a playoff rotation, manager Aaron Boone went to a “bullpen” game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night, using 8 pitchers who two-hit the Rays in a 4-1 Yankees’ victory. They walked six but struck out 13.

The win improved the Yanks’ record to 96-60 and kept them 1 1/2 games ahead of the A’s for the top wild card spot. The Yanks’ magic # for getting that wild card game against Oakland at home is 4.

One reason Boone did this is that it appears more and more likely that the games in Boston this upcoming weekend will mean a lot to the Yankees as far as holding off Oakland to secure home field advantage for the wild card game. It could come down to the final game.

Boone will have a lot of decisions to make, and one that has been made is controversial. He has said that Gary Sanchez will be the catcher in the wild card game, despite Sanchez committing two more passed balls yesterday and hitting .180. He might be hoping for lightning in a bottle, since a normal Sanchez could give you a 2-HR, 5 RBI game. But the Sanchez of this season has many thinking that Boone should start Austin Romine instead.

Didi Gregorius felt better but it remains to be seen whether that torn cartillage in his wrist will allow Didi to play anymore this season. Meanwhile a tight hamstring forced Aaron Hicks out of last night’s game. His replacement, Brett Gardner, got an RBI and made a game-saving catch.

The Yanks scored first when Andrew McCutchen homered in the third inning. It was his 20th of the season, and fifth as a Yankee.

Tampa Bay, who was eliminated from the playoffs with the loss, scored in the fourth to tie the game. They were helped by one of the two passed balls Sanchez had on the night.

In the fifth, Aaron Judge walked, moved to second on a passed ball, and scored on Gardner’s single. 2-1 Yanks. Giancarlo Stanton doubled Gardner home, 3-1, but was thrown out at third on the play.

The Yanks got the final run of the game in the seventh when McCutchen and Judge hit back-to-back doubles.

There has been a considerable number of likes on the Lehigh Valley Yankee Fan Club Facebook page recently, and a lot are from people outside of the Lehigh Valley. I don’t know how you heard of us, but welcome. Check out the website, http://lvyankeefanclub.org/ for information about our 2019 bus trips.

McCutchen 2 hits, HR.

Now for the pitching, this is going to look like a spring training game.

Holder 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 W, 1 K.  2.92
Tarpley 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.  4.50
Gray (W, 11-9, 4.98) 2 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 W, 2 K.
Green (H, 13) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K.   2.57
Robertson (H, 21) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 W, 1 K.  2.88
Chapman (H, 1 ) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K.   2.54
Betances (H, 20) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.  2.60
Britton (S, 7) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K.  3.18 (Balt/NYY)

Game 151. Yanks rout Boston, 10-1.

 

Not yet, Boston.

The Yankees once again delayed Boston’s clinching of the AL East (Boston’s magic number is 2 over the Yanks) with a 10-1 win over the Red Sox Wednesday evening.

Before the game, the Yanks activated Aroldis Chapman off of the DL. During the game, Justus Sheffield made his MLB debut.

Luis Severino pitched like the Severino we saw in the first half of the season, when he got off to a 13-2, 1.98 start. Good news since he has been slumping lately.

Miguel Andujar got the scoring started in the second inning with his 25th HR of the season. The Yanks later loaded the bases and with two out, Aaron Judge’s grounder went through Eduardo Nunez’ legs for an two-base error and two runs. Yankee fans used to call Nunez Noon-E when he was with the Yanks. 3-0 Yankees.

Luke Voit, who had 4 hits and two HR in the game, hit his first HR of the game in the fourth to make it 4-0 Yanks.

Boston got their only run in the game in the fifth on when Nunez doubled and came around to score on a single.

The Yanks got four in the sixth to break  the game open. Gary Sanchez walked and Voit hit his second HR of the game to make it 6-1. This HR was Voit’s 10th of the season, and ninth as a Yankee. If he can hit one more homer as a Yankee before the season ends, he will become the twelfth Yankee with 10 or more HR this season, and that would set a MLB record.

Voit’s HR was the Yanks’ 245th of the season, tying their all-time team record, set in 2012.

Later that inning, Andrew McCutchen and Aaron Judge singled, and Aaron Hicks tripled them both in to make it 8-1.

The Yanks got more insurance runs in the eighth. Voit got his fourth hit of the game, Gleyber Torres singled, and after a groundout that moved both runners up, Greg Bird, pinch-hitting for Judge since the Yanks had a big lead, got an RBI groundout to make it 9-1. Hicks then got an RBI single to make it 10-1, the final score.

The win puts the Yanks at 93-58. There are 11 games left in the season. They remain 2 1/2 games up on Oakland for the top wild card spot. The Yanks’ magic numbers are 8 over Oakland (since the Yanks own the tiebreaker) for the top wild card spot, and 4 (Over Tampa Bay, 2 over Seattle) to clinch any playoff spot.

Hicks 2 hits, 3 RBI
Andujar 2 hits, solo HR
Voit 4 hits (4 for 4), 2 HR, 3 RBI, 4 runs scored.

Severino (W, 18-8, 3.38) 7 IP, 1 R, 6 H, 1 W, 6 K.
Holder 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  3.03
Sheffield 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 W, 0 K.  0.00   MLB DEBUT

 

 

 

Game 147. Yanks blow out Jays, 11-0.

The Yanks blew out the Toronto Blue Jays, 11-0, to match last year’s win total of 91.

Masahiro Tanaka continued his recent run of great pitching. As of now, it looks like J.A. Happ would start that wild card game. Some maneuvering would have to be done to have Tanaka start it instead of Happ. We’ll see what happens.

Aaron Judge was activated off the DL. He isn’t cleared to hit yet, but just play D and PR. He got into the last two innings as a defensive replacement. We’ve missed him and the fans let him know that by giving him a resounding ovation when he took the field.

The Yanks got five runs in the first inning. McCutchen doubled, Stanton walked and Hicks singled in a run, with Stanton taking third and Hicks moving up on the throw. After Andujar popped up, Didi hit a groundout moving both runners up, scoring Stanton. 2-0. Torres singled in Hicks. 3-0. Sanchez singled. Voit doubled in two. 5-0.

Three runs in the third basically salted the game away. Didi was HBP, and two batters and two outs later, Voit walked. Gardner singled in a run to make it 6-0. McCutchen walked to load the bases and Stanton singled in two to make it 8-0.

McCutchen homered in the fifth. #18 and #3 as a Yankee. 9-0.

To the eighth. Didi homered (24) 10-0. Sanchez doubled, Voit reached on an error, moving Sanchez to third and Gardner got a SF. Voit must have thought there were two outs because he got doubled off of first, but after Sanchez had scored.

McCutchen 3 for 3 with 2 walks.
Stanton 2 RBI
Gregorius HR, 2 RBI
Torres 2 hits, RBI
Sanchez 3 hits
Voit 2 RBI
Gardner 2 RBI

Nice offense night. 2 HR, 14 hits, 7 walks, scored 11 runs.

Tanaka (W, 12-5, 3.47) 6 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 2 W, 8 K.
Cessa (S, 2) 3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 W, 4 K.  4.93

Funny to see Cessa get a save in a 11-0 blowout, but he pitched 3 innings, so…

With the win the Yanks go to 91-56.

Oakland won, so the Yanks stay just 1 1/2 up on Oakland for the top WC spot.

(Forget the division, the Yanks are 9 1/2 out with 15 to go. Boston’s tragic # for getting the AL East is 6).

But as for getting the top WC spot, the Yanks magic # is 14, and probably just 13. As of now, the Yanks would win the tiebreaker.

The Yanks’ magic # for just getting in as the 2nd WC is 6.

Game 146. Yanks don’t get a hit until 8th in 3-1 loss. WC lead down to 1 game.

Some people are blaming Aaron Boone. It isn’t Aaron Boone. Boone isn’t the reason Giancarlo Stanton’s batting average has dropped 20-25 points in the past few weeks, and he isn’t the reason Sanchez and Bird are hitting under .200.

The players have to look in the mirror.

Maybe hitting coach Marcus Thames shares some blame but it is the players who need to get it done.

The good news tonight is that Luis Severino started to resemble again the Severino we saw at the beginning of the year.

The bad news is that the Yanks (90-56) didn’t get a hit until the eighth inning, and that any chance the Yanks might pull the game out late was flushed away by David Robertson.

The last time the Yanks were no-hit was in 2003, but it took six pitchers by Houston to do it after starter Roy Oswalt left with an injury. The last time a single pitcher no-hit the Yanks was almost sixty years ago to the day, 9-20-1958, by Hoyt Wilhelm of Baltimore.

Entering the bottom of the sixth, there was one hit in the whole game, and that was by the Twins.

Severino gave up a run in the sixth.

Robertson gave up two in the seventh.

Meanwhile, the Yanks were getting no-hit. With one out in the eighth, Voit walked, Bird doubled and the no-hitter and shutout were both gone.

But that was it. Andujar got a hit in the ninth, but two hits all game. Very tired bats.

Sad to say, but Stanton looks tired and lost right now. Down to .264.

The failures of Sanchez (.186) and Bird (.196) aren’t on Boone right now. The only thing Boone can do is drop them in the lineup or not play them at all. He cannot hit for them.

They have to look at themselves in the mirror and get pissed off at what they are seeing.

The Yanks’ lead for the top WC spot is down to just one game because Oakland beat the Bad News Bears (AKA the 41-104 Baltimore Orioles) tonight. If the Yanks have to rely on a 41-104 team to help them out…. well, you get the picture. Get things done yourself.

Severino (L, 17-8, 3.46) 5 2/ 3 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 0 W, 5 K.
Robertson 1 1/3 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 W, 2 K.  2.98. Poor job keeping the Yanks in the game.
Britton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.  3.71 (Balt/NYY).

Chance Adams up from SWB.

 

Could the rotation be already set up for the postseason? Could this be it?

Ok, there are 17 games to go, and you wonder about the playoff rotation. In taking a look at the rest of the schedule, could the rotation now be set up?

Yes, Sonny Gray pitched last night and lost, but in starting Gray, was the battle (last night’s game) lost in order to try to win the war?

Anyway, here is how I see the rotation possibly setting itself up right through a possible ALDS game 5. Note I also will give the # of days off a pitcher would have for some crucial starts.

Hopefully all stay healthy and no monkey wrench is thrown into anything.

Tonight, Sept. 12  Severino … and the
Yanks are off 9/13
9/14 Tanaka 6 days rest
9/15 CC  5 days rest
9/16 Lynn 7 days rest
9/17 OFF

9/18 vs. Boston at Home Happ 7 days rest.
9/19 vs. Boston at Home Severino 6 days rest
9/20 vs. Boston at Home Tanaka 5 days rest (I don’t think the series will mean anything as far as the division, but with the A’s just two games back for the WC, these games will still be important as far as the Yanks securing the home field for the WC game).

9/21 CC 5 days rest
9/22 Lynn 5 days rest
9/23 Happ normal 4 days rest
9/24 Severino normal 4 days rest
9/25 Tanaka normal 4 days rest
9/26 CC Normal 4 days rest
9/27 Lynn Normal 4 days rest

9/28 at Boston Happ normal 4 days rest
9/29 at Boston Severino normal 4 days rest
9/30 at Boston Tanaka normal 4 days rest (so both at home and at Boston, you have Happ-Severino-Tanaka to try to beat Boston and stay ahead of Oakland)

10/1 and 10/2 OFF

10/3 WILD CARD PLAYOFF GAME  Happ on normal 4 days rest.
If the Yanks win that, then

10/5 ALDS Game 1 in Boston. Severino on 5 days rest
10/6 ALDS Game 2 in Boston. Tanaka on 5 days rest
10/8 ALDS Game 3 in NY. Back with lefty at the Stadium. CC. He’d be on 11 days rest. My guess is that to keep him sharp, he’d probably pitch an inning or two in relief, maybe 9/30, the last game of season on 3 days rest just to keep him fresh.
10/9 ALDS Game 4 in NY. At Stadium, back with another lefty. Happ on 5 days rest.
10/11 ALDS Deciding Game 5 in Boston. Severino on 5 days rest.

Note the rotation if they play Boston in the ALDS. You avoid lefty starters in Fenway, both CC and Happ pitch in NY, while the righties (Severino and Tanaka) pitch in Boston.

What do you think? Have I nailed it?

Game 137. Pitching disappoints in 11-7 loss.

I was up at the Stadium to see the pitching disappoint in a 11-7 loss to the Tigers on Sunday.

Giancarlo Stanton was given the day off. He didn’t PH in situations that may have called for it. After the game the Yanks brought up Jonathan Loaisiga, who’ll join them in Oakland, as the Yanks now start a west coast swing.

Lance Lynn was awful, and in the second inning I was wondering already why no one was warming up. It was obvious from the start he had nothing. He gave up a run in the first, and another in the second, and was finally pulled by manager-for-the-day Josh Bard in the fourth. Aaron Boone was serving a suspension for his antics and ejection on Friday night.

The Yanks did get two runs in the bottom of the first to go up 2-1. Aaron Hicks homered (24), Miguel Andujar doubled and Gary Sanchez singled. But as mentioned, Detroit tied it in the second and scored five in the fourth. I would have had Sonny Gray warming up in the second already. Not that Gray has had a great year (he hasn’t) but if Lynn needs to be pulled that early, you need someone to provide length. Instead, Lynn gave up three runs in the fourth, and was pulled with two outs and a man on. Instead of going to Gray right away (I guess Bard wanted Gray to start an inning, not come into the middle of one), Bard went to Tommy Kahnle for one out. Wrong. Kahnle’s first pitch was hit for a two-run HR and the Tigers now had five runs in the inning and a 7-2 lead. Kahnle struck out the next guy to close the inning but the damage was done.

Luke Voit homered (6) in the bottom of the fourth to make it 7-3. He has 5 HR with the Yanks.

Gray kept the Yanks in the game, going four innings, giving up one run on a HR.

In the bottom of the eighth, down 8-3, the Yanks almost came back to take the lead. McCutchen led off the inning with a HBP and Hicks walked. Andujar singled to make it 8-4 and Sanchez hit into a force out. Torres walked to load the bases but Voit struck out. Neil Walker PH and got an infield single to make it 8-5. Greg Bird PH and just missed a grand slam that would have put the Yanks up 9-8. The ball was caught at the fence.

Stephen Tarpley made his MLB debut and gave up 3 runs in the top of the ninth to the Tigers.

In the ninth, with two out, Hicks walked, Andujar singled. Sanchez walked to load the bases. Torres singled in 2 runs to cut it to 11-7 but Voit struck out to end it.

Not a good day when your best pitcher was Sonny Gray out of the bullpen.

The loss puts the Yanks at 86-51, keeps them 7 1/2 back of Boston in the AL East with 25 games to go. The tragic # for Boston winning the East is 18.

The Yanks are 4 1/2 up on Oakland for the top wild card spot and the magic # for that is 21.

The Yanks are 10 up on Seattle for the last wild card spot. The magic # to just get into the playoffs is 16.

Hicks solo HR (24)
Andujar 3 hits, RBI
Torres 2 RBI
Voit 2 hits, HR, RBI
Walker 1 for 1, PH, RBI

Lynn (L, 8-10, 5.10 (Min/NYY)) 3 2/3 IP, 6 R, 9 H, 1 W, 6 K.  Gave up 1 HR.
Kahnle 1/3 IP 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  6.06
Gray 4 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 1 W, 3 K.  4.96  Gave up 1 HR .
Tarpley 1 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 2 W, 1 K.  27.00   MLB DEBUT