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.

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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

Game 31. Torres stars in Yanks’ comeback. 6-5 win.

The Yanks took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh, squandered it, but scored 3 in the top of the 9th to beat Houston 6-5.

The win is the Yanks 12th in their last 13 games and puts them at 21-10. As I write this, Boston is down 11-5 in the eighth so Boston’s lead over the Yanks looks like it will drop to one game.

The Yanks struck first. In the second, Sanchez walked, Walker was HBP, and Andujar singled. Torreyes singled in a run and Torres got a SF.

In the third, with one out, Gregorius doubled. With two out, Sanchez walked and Walker singled in a run, 3-0.

Tanaka was solid through six, but he and Chad Green faltered in the seventh, giving up 4 runs.

Green gave up a HR in the eighth, and the Yanks entered the ninth down 5-3.

Walker walked. Andujar singled and Hicks, pinch-hitting for Torreyes, singled. Bases loaded and no one out. Torres singled in two, and with one out, Judge hit into a FC (Altuve messed up trying to throw for the DP) and the run scored to make it 6-5.

In came Chapman. Two easy outs and then a strikeout but a WP let the runner on when the game should have been over. A single. Things getting scary but Chapman then struck out Altuve to end the game.

Didi 2 hits.
Andujar 2 hits.
Torres 3 RBI.

Tanaka 6+ IP, 3 R, 5 H, 0 W, 5 K. 4.39
Green (BS, 1) 1 1/3 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1 HR given up. 2.35
Shreve (W, 1-0, 0.75) 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Chapman (S, 7) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. 1.29

Bird should start some rehab games on Monday.

He didn’t announce his retirement, but Ichiro goes into Seattle’s front office and could come back next year (Spoiler alert: Seattle opens next year against the A’s in Japan. A couple of games (the last ones) in Japan then the official retirement?)

 

Game 23. 5 in a row. Yanks win 7-4.

Some observations, good and bad.

Good: Didi is hot. 29 RBI in 23 games, and even after homering in his fourth straight game, he still has the presence of mind to beat the shift with a bunt for a hit later on.

Gleyber. 2 hits.

Tyler Austin: 3 R HR, When Bird is ready, are they platooned? What happens to Neil Walker then? 

Bad: Sonny Gray wasn’t really that good again.

The Yanks won their fifth straight, 7-4, to go to 14-9 on the season.

In the top of the first, Gray gave up a walk and a 2-run HR. Down 2-0 before the Yanks came to bat.

Three consecutive singles, by Gardner, Judge and Didi, cut the gap to 2-1 in the bottom of the first. Didi entered the game with a MLB leading 27 RBI.

In the bottom of the third, Didi homered (9) to tie the game. 29 RBI. Wow. After Stanton singled and Sanchez walked, Austin hit a 3-run HR (5) to put the Yanks up 5-2.

When Bird comes back, it’ll be interesting. Right now, Austin is at .305-5-16. How can you send him down? I can see the Yanks platooning him and Bird, but where does that leave Walker?

And at 3B, Andujar. Only 1 for 4 tonight, but a double, and he is at .292. Where does that leave Drury?

You can’t have 33 players on a 25 man roster. Some interesting decisions will be made soon.

So the Yanks are up 5-2 after three innings. Gray didn’t give any confidence and didn’t even get the win. He gave up a run in the fourth that made it 5-3.

A walk to Romine, double by Torres, fielder’s choice out, and SF by Judge put the Yanks up 6-3 after four.

The Twins knocked out Gray after 4 2/3 by loading the bases with two out in the fifth. Chad Green got out of it.

But Gray, 4 2/3 and see the line below. He couldn’t get the win, and another disappointing start. Could the Yanks package him, Betances and some infield overflow (after all, infielders include Austin, Walker, Bird, Torreyes, Torres, Wade, Didi, Avelino, Estrada, Drury, Lind and Andujar) and maybe an OF overflow (hoping but not expecting Ellsbury to go, but there is no room for him, and what of Clint Frazier or so far, a subpar Brett Gardner) for someone like Michael Fulmer of the Tigers?

So after five, 6-3 Yanks, and Gray out of there.

The Twins cut it to 6-4 with a run in the seventh. The Yanks made it 7-4 in the eighth on a single by Torres, sac bunt by Gardner, and Judge was intentionally walked. Unintentional walk to Didi loads the bases for a SF by Stanton. Sanchez walked to reload the bases, but Austin flied out.

Judge 1 for 2, RBI. 2 walks.
Didi 3 for 3. HR for 4th straight game. 2 RBI, 2 walks.
Austin 2 hits, 3-run HR.
Torres 2 hits.

Gray 4 2/3 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 5 W, 4 K. Gave up 1 HR. 7.71.  ERA actually dropped from 8.27
Green (W, 2-0, 2.25) 1 2/3 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 1 W, 2 K.
Shreve (H,1) 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 0.87
Robertson (H, 5) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 3.38
Chapman (S, 4) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1.80

Great job by the bullpen picking up for Gray. 4 1/3 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 1 W, 5 K.

But another subpar outing from Gray. Come the trading deadline, could he be packaged in a deal with others for a killer starter?

Thursday is an afternoon game. Getaway day to go to Anaheim and Pujols, Ohtani, and Trout.

 

Game 11. Yanks embarrassed, 14-1.

Before the game, a couple of moves. The Yanks brought up OF Shane Robinson and DFA’d Jace Peterson.

They also made a minor league move, trading with the Mets and getting L.J. Mazzilli, Lee’s kid, for OF Kendall Coleman. A righty bat, Mazzilli, 27, has mostly played 2B, and spent most of last year in AA. In 110 games between AA/AAA last year, he hit .254-5-40. He was suspended a few years back for 50 games for a drug violation. Coleman, 22, a lefty hitting OF, has barely made it up to low A Charleston, and has struggled to a .207 average in his minor league career.

The pitching duel was between the CYA runnerup last year, Chris Sale, and Luis Severino, who finished third.

Seve didn’t have it (a friend told me that Rick Sutcliffe on ESPN suggested that Severino was tipping his pitches) and the bullpen was horrible, giving up nine in the sixth, in a 14-1 Yankees’ loss that dropped them under .500 to 5-6 on the season.

Meanwhile, after an Opening Day loss, Boston has won nine in a row and are 4 1/2 up on the Yanks.

An Aaron Judge HR (3) was the only highlight of the night. He had 3 hits. Didi had 2.

After two strikeouts, Giancarlo Stanton had a single and double, hopefully signs he is snapping out of it. One article I read yesterday suggested that Stanton is like Teixeira in that both would always get off to slow starts, then heat up.

But you have to wonder when Gary Sanchez will be dropped in the lineup or when he’ll wake up. Batting fourth or fifth all year, Sanchez is now 2 for 36.

Tyler Wade is only at .136. If Gleyber Torres heats up, you have to wonder if there could be a switch there. Miguel Andujar is struggling at .125. An Andujar error led to six unearned runs. The kid’s aren’t alright.

Too many grand slams given up. I can remember Robertson gave one up in Toronto, Holder in the extra inning loss at home to Baltimore, and now Shreve last night.

Severino (L, 2-1, 3.50) 5 IP, 5 R, 8 H, 3 W, 6 K.
Kahnle 2/3 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 H, 3 W, 0 K. 7.11
Shreve 1 1/3 IP, 4 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 W, 3 K. 0.00. Gave up grand slam.
Cessa 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 0.00

Not much more to say about this game. It was a stinker.

 

 

 

 

S.T. Games 29 and 30. Yanks take both Split-Squad games, but Bird hurt.

Here we go again…. we hope not. Greg Bird was pulled before his game today, complaining of a sore foot. It is the same foot that had the ankle problem last year. Did one thing lead to another? He had a CT scan and an MRI and will be seeing a specialist. GM Brian Cashman is concerned.

The Yanks announced, as I hoped they would, that Jonathan Holder is the 13th pitcher on the team and that Domingo German will be sent to AAA to stretch out and get ready to be an emergency starter should they need one.

A couple of Rule 5 picks were returned to the Yankees—P Anyelo Gomez and 1B Mike Ford. Ford will go to AAA and he and Billy McKinney could now come into play if Bird’s situation is serious. Miguel Andujar is also working out at 1B. You also have Neil Walker and Tyler Austin in case Bird has to be DL’d. As one person wrote or said, maybe Adam Lind left too soon.

As for today’s games, the Yanks had a split squad and won both games. 13-6 over Toronto at home and 8-3 over the Braves on the road. I’ll try to be brief.

The home game:

The Yanks got three two-run homers in the game, and they were hit by Didi, Stanton, and minor leaguer Zach Zehner. Rashad Crawford and Erik Kratz each had 2 hits, Kratz driving in 3 runs.

Hale 3 IP, 3 R, 7 H, 0 W, 3 K. Gave up HR.
Gallegos 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Feyereisen (H) 1 2/3 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 1 W, 0 K. Gave up HR.
Rogers (S) 2 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.

In the road game, the Yanks scored six in the top of the ninth to win. Their spring training record is 17-12-1.

Aaron Hicks had 2 hits, inc. a HR. Ryan McBroom had two hits, 2 RBI and homered. Gleyber Torres had two hits and an RBI.

Luis Severino pitched well in his last tuneup before Opening day.

Severino 5 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 2 W, 7 K. Gave up HR.
Green 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Warren 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K.
Heller 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.
Carroll 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.

 

S.T. Game 21. Yanks are shut out, 2-0 by Astros. Yanks trade Cave to Twins.

Sorry for a bit of a late report. Feeling achy and my neck, shoulders and back are killing me. My one shoulder especially. I didn’t do anything but wonder if there is some tendonitis. The last time it felt like this there was a hairline fracture in it. I don’t have the $$$ or time for a massage, but boy could I use one.

The Yankees only got two hits on Friday night in losing to Houston 2-0. Jordan Montgomery gave up a solo HR in the first and another in the fourth. The loss drops the Yanks’ spring training record to 12-8-1.

The Yanks traded OF Jake Cave to the Twins for RHP Luis Gil. Gil, 19, has pitched only in the Dominican Summer League.

Montgomery (L) 4 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 W, 4 K. Gave up 2 HR.
Robertson 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K.
Green 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 4 K.
Gallegos 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Lail 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.

On an aside, wow. For the first time ever, a #16 seed has knocked off a #1 seed (Virginia) in the first round of the NCAA tournament. March Madness indeed! and by 20 points!