S.T. Games 8 and 9. Yanks win both Split Squad Games. Gleyber homers. Concerns over Judge?

The Yankees improved to 6-2-1 in Spring Training by winning both split squad games today. Both Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery pitched well.

First, the home game, an 8-2 win over the Tigers. Gerrit Cole started this game. Good job. Same goes for the bullpen.

SS Gleyber Torres hit a 3-run HR. DH Chris Iannetta 2 hits. RF Trey Amburgey 2 for 2 w/an RBI. CF Zack Granite 2 RBI.

Pitching line:

Cole 2 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K   0.00
Cessa 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K.  0.00
Ottavino (W, 1-0) 1 iP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K. 0.00
Britton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.   0.00
Kahnle 1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 W, 0 K.  0.00
Green 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.   4.50
Holder 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  0.00

Most of the pitchers you would normally see. Maybe Holder is battling Avelin for the last spot in the bullpen along with maybe Ben Heller. If carrying 8 relievers,

Chapman, Britton, Cessa, Green, Ottavino, Kahnle … that is six.

Holder and Avilan make 8. That leaves out Heller, or anyone who loses the #5 rotation slot like Tropeano, Schmidt, Garcia or King. Or even a Kriske, Acevedo, Abreu, etc.

In the away game, the Yanks beat Boston 5-2 and Jordan Montgomery looked good again.

C Erik Kratz had 2 hits and an RBI. RF Clint Frazier had a double and an RBI.

Montgomery 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 4 K.  0.00
Tropeano 1 2/3 IP, 2 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K.  5.79  Hurt his cause, here.
Alvarez (W, 1-0; BS, 1) 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K.  0.00
Medina (H, 1) 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 k.  0.00
Gil (H, 1) 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 W, 3 K.  3.00
Acevedo (S, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 R, 3 W, 1 K.   0.00

Acevedo walked the bases loaded with no one out in the ninth but got out of it.

More concerns about Aaron Judge and that shoulder. Could the Yanks start the season w/out German, Severino, Judge, Stanton and Hicks?

Thank goodness for depth.

 

 

S.T. Game 4. Yanks win game 4-1, but find out Seve done for year, needs TJ surgery.

The Yankees (1-2-1) won their first spring training game on Tuesday, but suffered a much greater loss.

Luis Severino, who missed almost all of 2019 with shoulder issues (save for three games at the end of the season and two postseason starts), will need Tommy John surgery. This will force him to miss all of 2020 and a good portion of 2021.

For 2017 and 2018, Seve averaged 16-7, 3.18. Now just about nothing last year and now nothing at all this year.

We’ll get to how that affects the rotation in a bit.

As for the game today, the Yanks won 4-1 over Toronto.

The bats still haven’t come alive, as the Yanks struck out 17x. The pitchers did strike out 13. The hitters are behind the pitchers right now.

DH Chris Iannetta had two hits, one a double, and scored a run. OF Rosell Herrera had 2 RBI.

Aaron Judge is expected to be ready to go in the middle of next week (Shoulder).

Pitching line:

Tropeano 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  0.00
Cessa (H, 1) 1 IP, 0 R 1 H, 0 W, 2 K.  0.00
Avilan (H, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.  5.40
Lyons (H, 1 ) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.  0.00
Kriske (W, 1-0; BS, 1) 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K.  4.50    Gave up solo HR.
Acevedo (H, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K  0.00
Keller (H, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K  0.00
Alvarez (S, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  0.00

Tropeano (12-14, 4.51 MLB career) has an outside shot at the #5 spot in the rotation, along with others I will list.

As of now, the rotation is

Cole
Tanaka
Happ
Montgomery
Take your pick: Tropeano, Cessa, Clarke Schmidt, Mike King, Loaisiga, Deivi Garcia.

The early part of the Yanks’ schedule isn’t too bad. Good.

Hopefully when Paxton and German come back in May and June things straighten out a bit. Hopefully Paxton is OK physically and German both physically but also mentally and emotionally from that domestic abuse incident.

When they come back, barring more injuries (please, no) then

Cole
Paxton
Tanaka
Happ
Montgomery OR German

Now that isn’t too bad, even WITH the loss of Severino. Not as good, obviously, but until then,

someone from that group of Tropeano, Cessa, Clarke Schmidt, Mike King, Loaisiga, Deivi Garcia has to just hold the fort for two months.

We will see who does.

 

 

 

 

WS Game 5. Scherzer scratched, Houston goes up 3-2 with 7-1 win.

Washington ace Max Scherzer was scratched because of neck pain, and Houston took advantage of it for a 7-1 win in Game 5 of the World Series Sunday night.

The win means that the road  team has won each game of the WS so far and that Houston heads back to Texas with a 3 games to 2 lead in the series after having been down 0-2.

Scherzer got shots for the neck pain, and the Nats are hopeful that he can go in Game 7 if there is a Game 7. Sot

Gerrit Cole pitched 7 innings, giving up 1 run (Juan Soto HR), 3 hits, 9 K for the win.

Yordan Alvarez, Carlos Correa and George Springer each had 2-run HRs.

Game 6 is Tuesday night in Houston.

Minor League Report: Trenton wins Eastern League Championship, 3 games to 1, with a 5-2 win.

The Yankees’ AA affiliate, the Trenton Thunder, won the Eastern League Championship over Bowie with a 5-2 win. The win clinches the finals, three games to one for Trenton. Rony Garcia pitched five no-hit innings. Dellin Betances got in rehab work.

1B Chris Gittens 3 hits, RBI. Solo HR.
C Kellin Deglan Solo HR. (Series MVP)
SS Kyle Holder 2 hits.

Rony Garcia (Winner) 5 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 6 K.
Dellin Betances 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Greg Weissert 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Trevor Lane 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Daniel Alvarez 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K. Gave up 1 HR.

 

 

Minor league report. AA Trenton goes up 2-0 in best of 5 and his heading home.

Yanks off today.

AAA SWB @ Durham. PPD. Rain. Hurricane Dorian.

AA: Trenton took a 2 games to none lead in their best of 5 series and now head home to Trenton after winning 3-0 in 10 innings.

DH Isaiah Gilliam 2 hits. SS Kyle Holder solo HR.

Rony Garcia 3 1/3 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 1 W, 2 K.
Reeves 3 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 6 K.  Great Job!
Lane (Winner) 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 4 K.
D. Alvarez (SAVE) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.

A combined 5 hit shutout, 13 K.

 

 

Minor League Report. SWB has to play a tiebreaking game to see if playoff bound. All FSL games were cancelled after Aug. 29.

AAA: SWB (75-65) lost 5-3 while Syracuse (Mets) won, so both teams finished tied for the International North lead what was supposed to be the end of the regular season. A one-game playoff for the division title will be tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon (1:05) at SWB. It is sudden-death. The loser does NOT qualify for a wild card. The winner will face Durham (Rays) at Durham in the first playoff round on Wednesday night.

1B Edwin Encarnacion 0 for 4 on rehab. He packed his bags after the game to head to the Bronx and rejoin the Yankees.

3B Mandy Alvarez solo HR. 2B/1B Gosuke Katoh 2 hits.

AA: Trenton (76-62) scored in the bottom of the ninth to beat Reading 8-7. CF Ben Ruta 2 hits, RBI. RF Alexander Palma GW RBI single. 1B Chris Gittens solo HR. LF Isiah Gilliam 2 HR, 4 RBI. 3B Angel Aguilar 2 hits, solo HR. 2B Max Burt 2 hits.

Reading will be Trenton’s opponent in the first round of the Eastern League playoffs. Game 1 will be at Reading on Wednesday night.

High A: Tampa finished their season 63-71. Because of Hurricane Dorian, all games, including the playoffs, have been cancelled. The last games played were on August 29.

Low A: Charleston (73-66) finished their season. The season finale, scheduled for Labor Day, was cancelled due to rain, as Hurricane Dorian affected this too. Charleston didn’t make the playoffs.

Minor League Report. Severino, Encarnacion rehab. SWB’s magic # is 1.

AAA: SWB (75-64) won 15-12 to reduce their magic number to 1. A SWB win today in the regular season finale or a loss by Syracuse would give the International League North Division title to SWB.

Luis Severino started the game in his first rehab start after missing all season long. In one inning, he gave up two runs on three hits, one a HR, and struck out two.

DH Edwin Encarnacion, in his first rehab game after suffering a broken wrist, was 1 for 4 with an RBI.

RF Trey Amburgey 3 hits, 2 RBI. SS Breyvic Valera 2 hits, RBI. C Erik Kratz 3 hits, 2 RBI.
3B Mandy Alvarez 4 RBI, a 3-run HR. 1B Gosuke Katoh, a 2-run HR. CF Billy Burns 3 hits, RBI.

AA: Trenton (75-62) lost 3-2. 1B Chris Gittens 2 hits.

High A: Tampa cancelled, rain.

Low A: Charleston (73-66) won 8-0. DH Josh Breaux 2-run HR. 3B Welfrin Mateo 3-run HR. C Eduardo Navas 2 RBI. 2B Eduardo Torrealba 2 hits.

Rony Contreras (W, 12-5, 3.33) 6 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 8 K.
Ramos 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  0.90
Espinal 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 3 K.  2.41
The Yanks traded 1B/DH/OF Ryan McBroom off of SWB to the KC Royals in exchange for international signing bonus pool money and a player to be named later or cash considerations. McBroom, 27, hit .315 with 26 HR for SWB but the 1B/OF/ DH is blocked by the likes of Luke Voit, Edwin Encarnacion, Greg Bird (yeah, I know…), even D.J. LeMahieu when D.J. plays 1B. Guys like McBroom have to be given 40 man roster spots or you may lose them for nothing in the Rule 5 draft. So the Yanks got something for him.

The Yanks apparently have other guys they want to protect more so than McBroom.