Midseason Report Card Time.

Tonight is Game 81. Meaning that after today’s game, 1/2 the season will be over, so it’s time for the “Mid-Term” Grades.

 

 

Average OPS+ is 100, ERA+ 100. Team OPS+ 110 (A-), ERA+ 124 (A).

C. Gary Sanchez C-. OPS+ 94. Before he got hurt, was on course for 30 HR, 90 RBI but batting average just .190. He’s better than that. Defense doesn’t seem to have improved from last year. Disappointing. Now there aren’t that many 30 HR/90 RBI catchers out there, but he can be so much better.

 

C. Austin Romine A. Slumping, 4 for his last 37 but needed to step up his offense and is at .274-4-20, OPS+ 119 so he’s done that. Trying to straighten out Sonny Gray has got to be tough on him, too.
1B. Neil Walker. F. .185. Just 8 of his 30 hits for extra bases.   OPS+ 43. Should be gone. Has stayed (and like Chris Carter last year, too long) because he plays 1B and Bird not ready. On borrowed time, esp. if Drury is up to stay and proves he can play 1B. 1B a problem since Bird has been hurt or under producing.

1B. Tyler Austin. C.  Only .223 but had 8 HR, 23 RBI. OPS+ 99. But 8 walks, 53 strikeouts. But still the best of what we’ve seen so far.

1B. Greg Bird. D. OPS+ 106, but .204. 5 HR (2 Friday night), just 8 RBI in 93 AB. Hopefully he picks it up.

2B. Gleyber Torres. A. OPS+ 136. Favorite for Rookie of the Year. 14 HR. 39 RBI. .288, some rookie mistakes, great range. Yanks 43-18 since they brought him up. Should get MVP consideration.

SS. Didi Gregorius. B. Great April, lousy May. On course to break his own Yankees record for HR in a season by a SS (25). Just .255 but 15 HR, 43 RBI and an OPS+ of 113.

3B. Miguel Andujar. A. .280-12-38. Extra base machine. Defense better than expected. OPS+ 118. If not for Torres & Ohtani, would be considered ROY himself.

INF. Ronald Torreyes. A. .323 batting average, OPS+ 106. But Yanks had to send him down due to other needs. If he was taller, had more power and could play 1B, probably would have stayed and Walker would be gone.
INF. Tyler Wade. F. 3 for 35 before being sent down. 12 for 93 in his MLB career so far.

OF. Brett Gardner C. 5 HR, hasn’t shown last year’s power. .255 is meh for a leadoff hitter. Still superb D in LF, doesn’t run much anymore. OPS+ 97. Average. Could Yanks be looking to deal him soon to make room for Clint Frazier (if Frazier doesn’t have to go in a deal for a starting pitcher)?

 

OF. Aaron Hicks. B. Only .249 but good defense, OPS+ 114.

 

OF. Aaron Judge A. Back to back 50 HR seasons tough, but on pace for 44 HR, 112 RBI. Yes, strikes out a lot, but still hitting over .270, great D, great arm. A 153 OPS+ is MVP material.

 

OF/DH. Giancarlo Stanton B. Heating up. A bit disappointing, but still on pace for 38 HR and 90 RBI. OPS+ 125.
Clint Frazier and all other hitters, like Drury, X. Incomplete. Not enough at bats to judge.

 

Pitchers:

 

Severino. A. 12-2, 2.10 as I write this before he faces Boston Sunday night. Should be in consideration to start the All-Star Game as well as in Cy Young Award conversation. The ace. ERA+ 202.

 

Sabathia A. 5-3, 3.02. ERA+ 140. Stopper. At age 38, giving more than you expected. Reinvented himself after having a few lousy years both on and off (alcoholism) the field.

 

Tanaka C. 7-2, but a 4.58 ERA. Still prone to the gopher ball. ERA+ 92.

 

Gray D. 5-6, 5.44. Was very tempted to give him an F. A big problem. Can’t beat Boston, lousy at home. Would anyone take him? Yanks would be selling low.

 

Montgomery B. Was pitching well (2-0, 3.62, ERA+ 118) before getting hurt and needing TJ surgery. Back in 2020.

 

Loaisiga. A. 2-0, 1.93, ERA+ 224 in just 3 starts. Only has pitched 45 innings above Low A ball. Hasn’t pitched much recently due to injury so probably on innings limit. Shows great poise, calm, collectiveness, more so than, say Gray. Very impressed with him. Hard to judge after only 3 outings, but I’ll give him an A, esp. given his circumstances and lack of experience.

 

German. C. 2-4, 5.32, ERA+ 80. Can’t seem to shake that one bad inning. Love his stuff, hate his inconsistency. Needs more seasoning.

 

Chapman A. A 1.29 ERA, 23 saves, ERA+ 331. Scares you sometimes, not efficient, but has been effective.

 

Green A. 2.11 ERA.  4-1. Note the bullpen ERAs and grades.  ERA+ 201.

 

Robertson B. 5-2, 3.47. 3.47 isn’t bad, but high when compared to the rest of THIS bullpen. ERA +123.

 

Betances B+. 1-2, 2.83. Started slow, coming on lately. ERA+ 150.

 

Shreve D. Weakest link to bullpen, making you wonder if trade for Brad Hand is imminent or if a guy like Caleb Frare could be coming up from the minors.  2-2, 4.97,  ERA+ 86. Ugh.

 

Holder A. Pleasant surprise. 1-1, 2.01. Boone showing greater trust in him. ERA+ 212.

 

Warren A.  Not as many high leverage spots, was hurt, but 0-1, 1.35, ERA+ 318.

 

Kahnle F.  1-0, ERA 7.00 and down at SWB. ERA+ 63.

 

Cole A. Surprising grade because he stunk with the Nats. But came up huge in one big game for Yanks and has pitched well for them. Rehab not going well right now (DL b/c of pinched nerve in neck). But 0.69 ERA in 7 games as Yankee, so an A.

 

Cessa C. I am not a big fan of Cessa, who was hurt for most of this year. My concerns over him were proven in his loss to the Phillies. 0-1, 5.00, ERA+ 88. A “meh” pitcher.

 

Hale and Gallegos. X. Incomplete. Not really a lot to go by.

 

Then there’s Ellsbury, who “hasn’t shown up for class yet”   !!!!

 

Boone: A. I haven’t had too many issues with him this year. Maybe sticks with some guys too long, but showing good patience (too much?) with guys like Walker and Gray, but for all the concerns about his lack of coaching/managerial experience, he hasn’t screwed anything up.

 

Cashman B+. Of course, the real grade for him is coming over the next couple of weeks. Who can he get at the trade deadline? A starting pitcher? A lefty reliever better than Shreve? Catching depth better than Higashioka and Castillo? Yes, we can knock him for the Gray deal, and yes, he didn’t get a starter last offseason, but you have to also give him credit for NOT going after and overpaying some free agent pitchers and paying them the $$$ they are currently NOT earning (Darvish, Cobb, Lynn, Garcia, Cashner…). Arrieta has been OK, but the best of last year’s bunch seems to be Milos Mikolas, who signed with St. Louis.

 

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Game 80. Ugly loss. Boston 11, Yanks 0.

The Yanks ran up against their nemesis, Chris Sale, last night and lost to Boston 11-0. Sale has the lowest ERA against the Yanks of any pitcher in the past 100 years.

The loss drops the 53-27 Yanks one game behind 56-28 Boston. Tonight is game 81, meaning the last game of the first half of the season.

Since the Yanks only got two hits in the game, one against Sale and one against a reliever, it probably would not have mattered if the Yanks threw Ford, Gomez, Ruffing, Guidry, or Pettitte on the mound against Sale. It probably wouldn’t have mattered because Sale was that dominant.

But it wasn’t any of those Yankees legends on the mound. It was Sonny Gray. And Gray’s struggles against Boston (and not just as a Yankee) continued.

I give Gray a lot of credit for standing up to the interviewers after the game and in answering all their questions honestly instead of cowering in the trainer’s room. But in watching that interview on the post game YES show, I also had the feeling I was listening to a lost soul who had that deer in the headlights look.

Gray is 1-6, 6.98 in his career vs. Boston. When you feel more confident in maybe starting Jonathan Loaisiga, in what would have been his fourth MLB start, against Boston than Gray, well ….  at least Boston hasn’t seen Loaisiga and maybe you catch lightning in a bottle. And remember, “Johnny Lasagna” had only as 45 IP above Low A before pitching in the majors.

But in watching body language, doesn’t it seem like Loaisiga is more calm and collected and that Gray is scared to throw a pitch?

Gray got the first two hitters out, then gave up a single, walk, single, and with two strikes, a grand slam. The Yanks didn’t even come up to bat yet, and were down 4-0 to Sale. Game effectively over at that point. Then Gray gave up two more runs in the second and was knocked out in the third.

Gray is 5-6, 5.44. Here is a damning stat. Of all pitchers with a dozen or more starts as a Yankee at Yankee Stadium, Gray has the worst ERA, 7.10. That’s worse than Pavano, Jeff Johnson, Tim Leary, Scott Sanderson…. worse than anyone, even Ed Whitson. In 14 starts at Yankee Stadium, including as a member of the Oakland A’s facing the Yankees, Gray is 4-6, 6.78.

He’s getting booed, and as long as he is pitching like this, the boos will get more merciless.

We have a problem.

One reporter from Newsday suggested Cashman “work his magic” and trade Gray. Of course, the Yanks have to get a starter first, then trade Gray, and right now, you are trading low on Gray.

I hope he can get straightened out. But it could be that Gray is better suited for a small market team like Oakland and that he can’t handle NY. We’ve seen it before. One scout a few weeks ago suggested that that wasn’t going to be the case, and said the Yanks have and will continue to have a problem with Gray.

One thing we do know. This isn’t good with Gray. It has to improve or Gray and the Yankees would be better suited if he pitches elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Austin Romine, with a tight hamstring, was removed early from last night’s game for precautionary reasons. Hopefully it’s just a day-to-day thing and Romine doesn’t have to go on the DL. But Gary Sanchez already is on the DL and won’t be back for a month. Losing Romine would be a crippling blow. The lack of Yankees’ catching depth was proven in this year’s MLB draft when they took catchers in BOTH the first and second rounds.

The Yanks sent Giovanny Gallegos down to AAA and haven’t made a move yet, pending Romine’s leg. Kyle Higashioka is Romine’s backup right now, and Higashioka is 0 for 21 now in his MLB career. If Romine has to go down, Wilkin Castillo would be coming up from SWB. Castillo, 34, last played in the majors in 2009, and has just 22 games of MLB experience. A switch-hitter, he was an OF/IF back then before being converted to a catcher. He started this year in independent league baseball. He only hit .218 last year for SWB, .244 now.

One guy the Yanks did have was 38 year old Erik Kratz, but they traded him to Milwaukee a few weeks ago when they re-signed Castillo. In 14 games for the Brewers, Kratz has hit 3 HR. Go figure. In his brief Yankees’ career, Kratz was 2 for 2 last year.

Not much to say about last night’s game. As mentioned, Gray put the Yanks into an early 6-0 hole, they couldn’t do anything against Sale, and Boston dominated.

With the ace, Severino, on the mound tonight, let’s hope Seve is as dominant tonight against Boston as Sale was against the Yanks last night.

The offense has been sluggish lately as well, with a couple of shutouts. Let’s hope they awaken.

Gleyber Torres hit cleanup last night, the youngest Yankee to do so since Mickey Mantle in 1953.

Brandon Drury was called up and played 1b last night.

Gray (5-6, 5.44) 2 1/3 IP, 6 R, 7 H, 2 W, 0 K. Gave up Grand Slam.
Warren 2 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 4 K.  1.35
Gallegos 2 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 1 W, 3 K.  3.86    Gave up 1 HR. Sent down to AAA
Holder 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K.  2.01
Shreve 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K.  4.97

 

Games 55 & 56. Yanks split DH with Tigers.

The Yanks split a DH with Detroit, winning the first game behind 3 HRs and Luis Severino 7-4, but losing the second game 4-2.

Clint Frazier was the 26th man for the DH today. Between games, Adam Warren was brought up and Tommy Kahnle was sent down.

It was an awful day for Aaron Judge, who went 0 for 9 for the day with 8 strikeouts.

Game 1:  Detroit got a run in the first on an RBI double by future HOF Miguel Cabrera. In the third, Gleyber Torres 10th HR of the season tied the game. Torres is the youngest Yankee to 10 career HR since Mickey Mantle.

The Yanks got six runs in the fourth inning. Greg Bird made it 2-1 with his second HR of the season. After that, Stanton and Didi singled, and Andujar singled to drive in a run. Frazier singled to make it 4-1. Romine hit a 3-run HR (4), 7-1. Frazier was sent back down after the DH (no room on the roster).

Detroit got an unearned run in the fifth off Severino, and two unearned runs in the ninth.

Bird solo HR
Torres solo HR
Romine 3-run HR.

Severino (W, 9-1, 2.20) 8 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 W, 10 K.
Holder 2/3 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K. 2.75
Chapman (S, 14) 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1.46

Game 2: Lost 4-2. The Yanks struck out 14x. Judge with the platinum sombrero, 0 for 5, 5 strikeouts. It seems as if Domingo German pitches just well enough to lose. He’s still looking for his first MLB win. He didn’t pitch that badly, but it seems he really needs a game where the Yanks give him a lot of run support to get him off the zero-win schneid. Tanaka can give up 4 runs in 7 IP, and win 10-4, but it seems German can do it and is unlucky, and will lose 4-2 as he did tonight.

Detroit got one in the second. German reached for a ball and it went off his hand into LF for a double. Lucky he wasn’t hurt. A passed ball, walk, SF and Detroit was up 1-0.

The Yanks tied it in the third on a single by Frazier and triple by Gardner. They had the bases loaded with two out but Torres bounced back to the pitcher. In this inning, Stanton was HBP, and some hard feelings ensued. Stanton was hit in the face by the same pitcher a few years ago.

The Tigers got two in the fourth to go up 3-1. Stanton got his revenge in the sixth with HR #13 to make it 3-2.

But in the seventh, the Tigers got a run for the final of 4-2. Adam Warren relieved German with two out and a runner on second, but gave up a double and a couple of walks before getting out of the inning.

The Yanks were 0 for 10 w/RISP in this game.

German (L, 0-4, 5.44) 6 2/3 IP, 4 R, 7 H, 2 W, 3 K. The kid needs a break where he gets lots of run support.

Warren 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 3 W, 1 K. 2.79

So the 38-18 Yanks stay 1 game back of idle Boston.

In the first round of the MLB draft, the Yanks selected a switch-hitting and switch-throwing (!) catcher, high-schooler Anthony Siegler.

 

Game 48. Bird back, Toe sent down, Gray bombed in Yanks’ 11-4 loss.

Sonny Gray was bombed, and there were surprising and questionable decisions made yesterday before and during the Yanks’ 11-4 loss to the Angels Saturday night.

Greg Bird came off the DL and made his season debut, going 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts. But the expected move, sending Tyler Austin down to AAA, didn’t happen. Instead, it was Ronald Torreyes, the supersub who was hitting .339, who went down to AAA. It was a tough, difficult decision to make, and one that shook up the team. Manager Aaron Boone even said it was undeserved, but the Yanks have a numbers crunch. You can only have so many players on a team, and as a result, some deserving players who could be starting for other teams are playing for SWB right now.

Which means, as an article in the NY Post states, that the Yanks really need to establish their identity. What is the roster of this team? And as for the guys at AAA who could be starting elsewhere, maybe the Yanks should look into dealing these guys. Especially for starting pitching help. And maybe include Sonny Gray in the deal for other starting pitchers.

In order to catch Boston in the AL East (the Yanks are now 32-16 and two games back. Still a great record but we are thinking ahead here) and/or to deal with Boston and Houston and maybe others in the postseason, the Yanks will need for Tanaka (5-2, but with a 4.95 ERA, ERA+ 88) and Gray (3-4, 5.98, ERA+ 73) to step it up or they need to trade for someone to bolster the rotation. CC turns 38 in July. Montgomery is on the DL. Maybe Justus Sheffield in the future comes up, but he isn’t ready yet and just came off the DL himself. The Yanks need another starter (Severino can’t do it himself) and they have the prospects to get one. Especially with guys like Torreyes, Drury and Clint Frazier. Also with guys like Estrada, Avelino and Tyler Wade, all infielders who are stuck behind Didi and Gleyber Torres.

They also, surprisingly, could use bullpen help. The bullpen, hyped as maybe the best ever, right now has guys with ERAs of 4.76 (Robertson), 4.71 (Betances), 4.82 (Shreve) and 7.88 (Kahnle).

How soon will Cashman pull the trigger?

As for Sonny Gray, he was bad again, getting knocked out in the fourth, and failing to hold a 4-1 lead. After Gray gave up a run in the top of the first, courtesy of a Mike Trout RBI double (Trout went 5 for 5, HR, 3 doubles, scored 3 runs and had 4 RBI), the Yanks took the lead back on back-to-back homers by Gardner (2) and Judge (14). For Gardner, it was his first HR since Opening Day.

Austin Romine sliced a 2-run HR (3) off the right-field foul pole in the bottom of the second to put the Yanks up 4-1. Then the roof fell in.

Gray gave up two runs in the third as the Angels cut the Yanks’ lead to 4-3.

In the fourth, Boone made a decision that I disagreed with. With two out and a man on third, he elected to pitch to Trout, who already had two doubles. You don’t let the big guy beat you. I was mentioning to a friend that I’d walk him. Now Boone did say that Trout would probably have stolen second anyway, taking the force away, and that you weren’t throwing through with the runner on third, and he didn’t want to put the go-ahead run on second. Fair enough. But Trout already had two doubles, and was the go-ahead run in the batter’s box. You guessed it. 2-run HR to give the Angels a 5-4 lead.

The Angels got four runs, two of them unearned, in the sixth off of Tommy Kahnle, and here I wonder about Kahnle being back with the team off of the DL. I don’t know if he had more time to be on the DL, but it seemed as if he was rushed back. (You wonder that about Bird, too). Kahnle had a couple of rehab stints before being reactivated on Friday, but he didn’t exactly put up impressive numbers in those rehab minor league games and he didn’t look good last night.

Chasen Shreve gave up a 2-run HR in the seventh to close out the scoring.

Judge 2 for 2 with 2 walks, solo HR.
Didi’s slump continues. Down to .234. We need him to snap out of it.
Andujar 2 hits.
Romine 2 hits, a 2-run HR

Gray (L, 3-4, 5.98) 3 2/3 IP, 5 R, 7 H, 3 W, 7 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Holder 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 3 K. 3.31
Kahnle 2/3 IP, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 H, 2 W, 0 K. 7.88
Shreve 1 1/3 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 1 W, 0 K. 4.82 Gave up 1 HR.
Cole 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 7.11 (but 0.00 as a Yankee)

Minor League Report. (Also, some Yankees news).

For the second time this month, the Yanks had to spend overnight at an airport. Last night, after taking off, it was discovered that there was a malfunction, the plane had to return to Dallas and the Yanks once again had to wait hours at the airport before leaving. This happened last week in Washington, now again. Luckily both occurrences were before off-days, but the Yanks came out flat in KC after it happened. What about tomorrow vs. the Angels? At least tomorrow (Friday) the ace, Severino, is pitching.

Some interesting tidbits about Old-Timer’s Day this year. Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi will be there. Jim Leyritz is pissed because he didn’t get an invite.

Boston lost, so the lead Boston has over the Yanks is down to one. Boston is 34-16, the Yanks 31-15. So the Yanks are actually one up in the loss column, having played four less games. So if the Yanks, in those four extra games they have, go 3-1, they would be even with Boston.

He was not there long. Ryan Bollinger, brought up yesterday, was immediately sent back down. Reason? Tommy Kahnle is expected to be reactivated tomorrow.

Now for Saturday, it gets interesting, because Greg Bird is expected back on Saturday. But who does he replace? Tyler Austin? In 28 games, 101 at bats, Austin is hitting only .238, but has 8 HR, 23 RBI and has an OPS+ of 118, 18% above league average. The walk/k ratio isn’t good at 7/41, and the average isn’t hot, but it would be a tough send-down for someone with an 118 OPS+, 8 HR and 23 RBI.

Nick Swisher is with the Yanks, basically as a “scout”.

AAA: SWB (21-24) won 3-1. SS Tyler Wade (.228) 2 hits. 1B Greg Bird 1 for 5, RBI. 2B Billy Fleming 2 hits. RF L.J. Mazzilli 2 hits.

Keep an eye on Josh Rogers. If the Yanks need an emergency starter, he may be called up before Justus Sheffield. LHP, 23, 24 in July.

Rogers (W, 4-3, 2.80) 6 1/3, 1 R, 4 H, 3 W, 6 K.
Feyereisen (H, 1) 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 2.18
Coshow (S, 2) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 2.21

AA: Trenton (27-19) lost 1-0, getting just three hits.

Keller (L, 4-3, 3.11) 6 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 2 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Frawley 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. 2.45

High A: Tampa (24-21) lost 9-1.

3B Angel Aguilar HR. RF Alexander Palma and CF Dom Thompson-Williams 2 hits each.

Nelson (L, 1-2 6.89) 2 2/3 IP, 7 R, 4 H, 4 W, 3 K
Trieglaff 2 1/3 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 1 W, 3 K. Gave up 1 HR. 2.70
Young 3 IP,  1 R, 3 H, 4 W, 3 K.    5.63

Low A: Charleston (20-25) rained out.

 

 

Yanks’ game suspended, meanwhile, Seattle’s Cano suspended, too.

The Yankees game vs. the Nationals was suspended after 5 1/2 innings with the score tied at 3. The game will be resumed Wednesday at 5 PM, before the regularly scheduled game.

I hate inter-league games at NL parks where the Yanks lose the DH. Masahiro Tanaka started tonight and batted 8th in the lineup.

My grammy beating a rug had a better swing than most pitchers. I am a traditionalist when it comes to baseball except for the DH. Watching a pitcher hit is like enduring Chinese water torture.

Because of inter-league, and the possible need for another PH on the bench, Clint Frazier was called up from SWB and David Hale was DFA’d (again… the Yanks DFA’d him earlier this year, he went to the Twins, THEY DFA’d him and he came back to the Yanks. Some spring for Hale). How long Frazier’s call up lasts, who knows. It could be just for these 2 inter-league games vs. the Nationals.

Robbie Cano was suspended for 80 games by MLB. A couple things about this. When asked if he knew about PED use by Cano, and if that was why the Yanks didn’t re-sign Cano when Robbie became a free agent, Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman stated that he had no knowledge, because knowledge requires you to report it and if not reported, it is a $1MM fine. But, Cashman stated, knowledge is one thing and suspicions another. A very telling line by Cashman.

Maybe there were suspicions. The Yanks did offer 7 years and $180MM, but were blown away by Seattle’s $240MM, 10 yr offer.

Maybe the suspicions made the Yanks low-ball Cano.

The suspicions would be this: Cano’s two best friends on the Yankees were A-Rod and Melky, both of whom were busted. His charity was run by someone whose name became linked to Biogenesis. It could be Robbie was getting away with it for years but finally was caught.

What he was caught for was furosemide, the generic of Lasix, a diuretic. Furosemide in and of itself is not a PED, or steroid. But it can be used as a masking agent to hide steroids. Cano denies that it was used for that purpose, but MLB apparently had evidence that it was.

So Cano is suspended for 80 games, and is ineligible for the postseason should Seattle make it.

But here is the rub. The suspension begins immediately. Cano was appealing the suspension until he had his hand broken while hit by a pitch the other day. So he’d have been out 6-8 weeks anyway because of the break. So the suspension runs concurrently with his time on the DL.

This is wrong. MLB should change the rules so that any suspension like this starts AFTER THE PLAYER COMES OFF THE DL. That is why Cano dropped the appeal, because he knew that because of the broken finger, he would miss only a few weeks of REAL time.

Cano is listed as one of the top 10 2B of ALL TIME. His HOF credentials just took a serious hit today. Because of this, he may never make the HOF.

Minor League Report. Clint Frazier forcing tough Yanks’ decision.

You can’t carry 30 players on a 25-man roster. Even though the Yankees are off today and Thursday (with two games in Washington in between), they have a difficult decision to make soon.

AAA: CF Clint Frazier will be forcing the Yanks to make a difficult decision soon (not to mention the same goes for Jacoby Ellsbury and Brandon Drury whenever they may be ready for MLB play again). Frazier went 3 for 5 with a solo HR in SWB’s (16-19) 3-1 loss on Sunday. Since coming off the DL for his concussion, Frazier is hitting .323 in 16 games. 4 doubles, 2 triples, 4 HR, 5 RBI. 20 for 62. Meanwhile, at the MLB level, you have no room for him right now. Also in this game, SS Tyler Wade 1 for 4. 3B Drury 1 for 4. 1B Adam Lind 1 for 3.

It’s worth noting that Frazier 1) has been playing CF and 2) has been leading off for SWB. Brett Gardner has been hot lately, but Gardner 1) has just one HR, and that was hit on Opening Day and 2) despite 2 hits yesterday, is still hitting just .227. As for Aaron Hicks, he had two RBI yesterday, but he is still hitting just .215. It’s fair to say that both could be looking over their shoulders at Frazier. But how to make room for him?

Camarena (L, 2-2, 4.72) 5 1/3 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 3 W, 8 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Lail 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 1.89
Feyereisen 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.00
Espinal 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K.  2.16

AA:  Trenton (22-13) won 3-2. 1B Chris Gittens 2-run HR. RF Jhalen Jackson 2 hits, RBI.

Keller (W, 3-2, 4.18) 7 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 2 W, 6 K.
Tarpley (H, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 2.40
Foley (S, 5) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K. 1.65

High A: Tampa off.

Low A: Charleston (17-19) won 12-9. SS Wilkerman Garcia 2 hits, 2 RBI. DH Dom Thompson-Williams 4 hits, double, 2 HR, 5 RBI. 2B Oswaldo Cabrera HR, 2 RBI. RF Steven Sensley 3 hits. CF Pablo Olivares 2 hits.

R. Garcia (W, 1-2, 4.50) 5 IP, 5 R, 3 ER,  5 H, 2 W, 3 K.
Weissert 1 2/3 IP, 2 R, 1 H, 3 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.60
Cedeno 2/3 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 W, 0 K. 0.90
Martin (S, 1) 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 0.00