S.T. Game 23. Yanks fall to Toronto, 5-2. Cortes’ first outing.

Because of a hamstring strain, Nestor Cortes is a little behind the other pitchers. He made his first spring training start today and the rust showed as he gave up five runs as the Yanks (9-13-1 in spring training) lost to Toronto 5-2.

I usually don’t pay too much attention to spring training results until the last 10 days or so. That time is coming up.

Today’s highlights:

Volpe 1 for 3, walk, run scored. #1 prospect. As far as I’m concerned, he should be starting SS.
Judge 1 for 4, double.
Stanton 2 for 3, RBI
Donaldson 0 for 3
Willie Calhoun 1 for 3. Doesn’t play all OF positions like Hicks or Ortega, but as far as LF goes, he has hit better this spring than Hicks, Cabrera, Florial or Ortega.
Kiner-Falefa 0 for 1, walk
Cabrera 0 for 2.
Ortega 0 for 3.
Chaparro 0 for 1
Sweeney 0 for 1 #7 prospect

Cortes (L) 3 1/3 IP, 5 R, 3 H, 3 W, 4 K. Gave up 2 HR.
King 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1 HBP
Loaisiga 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Holmes 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Hamilton 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K. 1 HBP

S.T. Game 19. Yanks hit 5 HR in 10-3 win.

The Yankees (9-9-1 in spring training) hit 5 HR, 3 in the first inning, in beating Toronto 10-3 Tuesday night.

Andres Chaparro is having a heck of a spring, and it makes me wonder. I’m not too sure about his defense at 3B, but could he be putting himself in the mix to be the 3B in 2024? Josh Donaldson is 37 and I don’t see the Yanks picking up his option for 2024. Of course the Yanks could go with LeMahieu or Cabrera at 3B in 2024, but what if they want them both in a super-utility role? What if they don’t want to move Torres or Volpe to 3B? In any case, Chaparro is making the Yanks take notice.

D.J. LeMahieu, Donaldson and Estevan Florial all homered in the first inning, and Oswald Peraza added one later on.

LeMahieu 2 for 4, solo HR leading off bottom of first.
Chaparro 3-run HR.
Donaldson 3-run HR.
Peraza solo HR.
Florial 2-run HR.

Cole (Winner) 4 2/3 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 0 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR.
King 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Peralta 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K.
Hamilton 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Danish 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K

In order to get more versatility out of their players (and be better prepared for injuries) the Yanks will try out IKF in CF in an upcoming spring training game. IKF already is a C (bet you didn’t know that), SS, 3B, 2B … so ….

S.T. Game 15 & 16. The Martian homers again, but Yanks lose both split squad games

You have to remember that Jasson Dominguez, aka as “The Martian”, is only 20 years old and has only played a handful of games in AA, where he will probably start out at in 2023.

But it is ok to dream of him being in the Bronx soon. He homered yet again today in one of the Yankees (8-8 in spring training) split squad games. He played in the home game, in which they lost to the Phillies, 6-3.

The Yanks only had four hits in this game.

LeMahieu 1 for 2 with a walk
Judge 0 for 2 with a walk.
Stanton 2 for 3, single and double.
Dominguez 1 for 3, 2-run HR #2 prospect
Volpe 0 for 1 with a walk, also was HBP #1 prospect

German 2 1/3 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 W, 3 K
M. Gomez 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Peralta 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K
Holmes 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K 1 HBP
King 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K.
Krook (L) 2 2/3 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 1 W, 3 K. 2 WP has shot at bullpen spot.
Keating 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1 WP

They lost the away game, 3-0 to the Pirates, getting just 5 hits.

Peraza 0 for 3 #3 prospect
Kiner-Falefa 1 for 3
Florial 0 for 2, 2 strikeouts. I expect him to be DFA’d soon.
Donaldson 0 for 3
McKinney 2 for 3
Jones 0 for 2, 2 strikeouts #5 prospect.

Weber (L) 2 2/3 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 2 W, 1 K. Gave up 2 HR 1 balk
Hamilton 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Ramirez 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Has shot at bullpen spot.
Santos 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 3 W, 1 K.

S.T. Game 11. Judge homers in Yanks’ 9-2 win.

Aaron Judge hit a 3-run HR and Domingo German looked sharp at the Yankees (7-4 in spring training) beat the Pirates 9-2 Monday night.

Highlights

LeMahieu 2 for 3, 2 RBI
Judge 1 for 2, 3-run HR
Florial 1 for 2, walk, 2 SB
Rizzo 1 for 3
Donaldson 1 for 3
Volpe 1 for 2, 2 walks, SB but also was picked off. Nice defensive play. #1 prospect.
Hicks 2 for 3 but an error in the field.
Calhoun 2 for 3. Interesting. Non-roster player hitting .571 this spring in trying to win LF job. Intriguing.
Pereira 1 for 2 #6 prospect
Trevino 1 for 2 RBI
Dominguez 1 for 2 #2 prospect.
Ortega 0 for 1, 2 walks. Also after LF job. (Along with Hicks (the favorite), Calhoun, Cabrera, Florial)

German (Winner) 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 4 K. Probably the favorite for the #5 rotation spot.
Cordero 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. Trying to win bullpen spot.
Hamilton 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Yoendrys Gomez 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. #11 prospect.
Norwood 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K
Bowman1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR.

S.T. Game 4. Yanks beat Tigers, 8-5.

The Yankees beat the Tigers 8-5 Monday night to go to 3-1 in spring training.

Some boxscore highlights:

Jesus Bastidas 2 RBI
Willie Calhoun 1 for 2, walk (trying to grab LF job)
Spencer Jones 0 for 1 struck out #7 prospect
Oswaldo Cabrera 1 for 3, RBI. Nice D play at 3B, but also an error.
Harrison Bader 1 for 1, RBI on SF
Anthony Volpe 0 for 2, GIDP both times #1 prospect
Jasson Dominguez “The Martian” 1 for 1, also walked, SB, scored 2 runs. #2 prospect.
Tayler Aguilar 2 RBI and threw a runner out at home from RF.

Luis Severino struggled in the first, giving up 3 runs, 2 on a HR.

Severino 2+ IP, 4 R, 3 H, 1 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR.
McGarity 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Peralta 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Cordero 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H. 0 W, 0 K. trying to get bullpen job.
Hamilton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.
Norwood (Winner) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.
Tully (H) 1 IP, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Hampton (S) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K.

Ex-Yankees P Jim Coates dies at age 87.

Jim Coates, a pitcher who won two WS rings with the Yankees in the early 1960’s, passed away Friday at the age of 87.

Coates was with the Yankees 1956, 1959-1962, then Washington 1963, Cincinnati 1963, and the California Angels 1965-1967.

A spot starter/long reliever, he was an All-Star in 1960 when he went 13-3, 4.28, ERA+84 for the Yanks (18 starts, 17 relief appearances), leading the majors in winning percentage, but his failure to cover first base on a play in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series helped lead to the Yanks loss in that game.

He won WS rings with the Yanks in 1961 and 1962. The righty went 11-5, 3.44 in 1961 (11 starts, 32 relief appearances), ERA+ 108 and 7-6, 4.44 (6 starts, 44 relief appearances) ERA+ 85 in 1962.

In April of 1963 he was traded to Washington for the long, lanky, lefty reliever Steve Hamilton.

Coates pitched in six WS games, all in relief, and went 0-1, 4.15 in 13 IP, losing Game 4 of the 1962 WS.

From Wikipedia:

With the Yankees ahead 7–5 with no outs (and one run in) in the eighth inning and Bill Virdon on second and Dick Groat on first, Coates relieved Bobby Shantz and got Bob Skinner out on a sacrifice bunt, which advanced the runners. Rocky Nelson then flew out to Roger Maris in right field, and Virdon declined to challenge Maris’ throwing arm. Coates then got to an 0–2 count on Roberto Clemente and was a strike away from getting the Yankees out of trouble.

However, a lapse by Coates allowed the Pirates to keep their inning alive. Clemente eventually chopped a ground ball toward first base, and Coates initially ran toward the ball instead of running directly to cover first base. First baseman Moose Skowron fielded the ball as Coates changed direction and ran to the first base bag. But the momentary delay enabled Clemente to reach the base right as Coates got there himself. Skowron was forced to hold on to the ball, and Virdon scored to cut the Yankee lead to 7–6. Coates then gave up a home run to Hal Smith to give the Pirates a 9–7 lead. Terry then relieved Coates and retired Don Hoak to finally end the inning. The Yankees got Coates off the hook by scoring twice in the top of the ninth to tie the game, only to lose on Mazeroski’s home run off Terry in the bottom of the 9th. The Pirates had hit four home runs in this Series; Coates had given up two of them.

1961 & 1962 Championships

In 1961, Coates went 11–5 as a spot starter. Led by the hitting of Maris, Skowron, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Elston Howard, the infield defense of Clete Boyer, Tony Kubek and Bobby Richardson, and Whitey Ford‘s 25–4 season, the now-Ralph Houk-led Yankees (Stengel had been fired immediately after the 1960 World Series) won the World Series over the Cincinnati Reds in five games. Coates relieved Ford in Game 4 of the Series and pitched four scoreless innings for the save in a 7–0 Yankee win; Ford had left the game with an injury, but not without first breaking Babe Ruth‘s World Series record of 29⅔ consecutive scoreless innings.

In 1962, Coates went 7–6 for a Yankee team that repeated as World Champions. Coates was the losing pitcher in Game 4 of this Series, which the Yankees won over the San Francisco Giants in seven games.

Legacy

In his career, Coates, whose nickname, “The Mummy”, came from his funereal visage on the mound, won 43 games against 22 losses, with a 4.00 ERA and 396 strikeouts in 683⅓ innings pitched. He was also well known for throwing at opposing batters. Jim Bouton, in his book, Ball Four, said Coates, after throwing at the opposing hitters, “would not get into the fights that followed.”

Coates was 43-22, ERA 4.00 in his MLB career, ERA+ 90. His 162 game average was 10-5, 4.00 (11 starts, 46 relief appearances).

As a hitter, he hit .131 with 0 HR and 7 RBI in 160 at bats.

Jack Hamilton, pitcher who beaned Tony C., dies at 79.

Jack Hamilton, a pitcher who pitched for the Phillies (1962-1963), Tigers (1964-1965), Mets (1966-1967), Angels (1967-1968), Indians (1969) and White Sox (1969) has passed away at the age of 79.

Hamilton, however, is best known for one pitch he threw that got away on August 18, 1967. That pitch beaned Red Sox OF Tony Conigliaro, breaking his cheekbone, dislocating his jaw and causing retinal damage that affected his vision. Conigliaro, who had hit 100 HR by the age of 22, and who won the AL HR title at age 20 in 1965, was never the same. Tony C. missed the rest of the 1967 season, the World Series (won by St. Louis over Boston in seven games) and all of the 1968 season. He made a comeback in 1969, had a good 1969 and 1970 but was dealt to the Angels. Vision problems recurred and Conigliaro was forced to retire after the 1971 season. He did have a brief comeback in 1975 for Boston. Later, Conigliaro had a debilitating heart attack that left him basically in a vegetative state for years before he died at the age of 45 in 1990.

What could have been.

Hamilton had his best season in that year of 1967, going 11-6, 3.35, ERA+ 95 between the Mets and Angels. He started 21 games and relieved in 22 more.

For his career, Hamilton was 32-40, 4.53, ERA+ 78. His 162 g. average was 8-10, 4.53, ERA+ 78. As a hitter he hit .107-1-7 in 150 at bats.

Game 70. Phils beat Yanks, 11-8.

Michael Pineda, 8-3 and pitching at an All-Star pace vs. a team that is 24-47, with a Team OPS+ of 79. (21% below league average). Mismatch, right? After all, didn’t this guy strike out 16 Orioles on Mother’s Day? Didn’t the Orioles just beat the Phillies 19-3?

It was a mismatch. But not the way we expected. You’d expect Pineda to dominate the Phillies, but it was the other way around last night as the Yanks lost, 11-8.

That’s baseball. You just don’t know.

The Yanks stay one game out of first in the AL East, at 38-32.

Pineda was knocked out in the fourth, giving up eight runs.

The Phils pounded out 18 hits, Maikel Franco getting 4 of them, hitting 2 HR and driving in 5 runs.

For the Yanks, Brett Gardner was 4 for 4 with a 3-run HR (8). Brian McCann also homered, his 11th of the season.

Diego Moreno made his MLB debut.

With the loss, the Yanks’ ERA+ dropped to 98, slightly below league average. Let’s hope the pitching gets better soon (the OPS+ is 109 for the hitters…. good). Of course, what has really hurt has been some recent outings where Eovaldi, Pineda and even Tanaka had short outings. Let’s hope CC rights the ship.

Ivan Nova will come off the DL and start Wednesday afternoon. He’ll be the 26th pitcher the Yanks will have used this year… .in less than 1/2 a season.

Pineda (L, 8-4, 4.25) 3 1/3 IP, 8 R, 11 H, 1 walk and 0 K.
Capuano 2 2/3 IP, 2 R,  3 H, 0 walks and 3 K. 5.32
Moreno 1 Ip, 0 R, 2 h, 0 walks and 2 K. 0.00.
Shreve 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks and 1 K. 1.88
Pinder 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 walks and 0 K. 2.61.

Sad news. Ex-major leaguer Darryl Hamilton the victim of a murder-suicide. Hamilton played for several teams, including for the Mets against the Yanks in the 2000 Subway Series.

…and in other news, apparently there is now evidence that in 1986, while still a player, Pete Rose bet on baseball. Before the evidence was only as a manager….

Better 3-4 combo?

So Josh Hamilton has now become an Angel. 5 yrs., $125 MM.

That leads me to now wonder… which is the better 3-4 combo?

Do you go with the Angels and Hamilton/Pujols?

Or the Tigers with Cabrera/Fielder?

Game 80. Teix rests.

The Yanks still have a six-game lead over the Orioles as they take on the Rays tonight. Teix gets a rest. Jack Curry of the YES network reports that Teix is 6 for 48 vs. Shields, while Granderson is 5 for 52. You don’t want to sit both.

Yanks 48-31, +6 in AL East. 1 1/2 games behind Texas for best record in baseball. Two games better than the Pythagorean record. OPS+ 109, ERA+ 115 (100 is average, higher the better).

BA / HR/ RBI     SB/total att.     OPS+    (italics: team leader & notes)

Jeter SS  .298-7-25    6/8    101    3187 hits
Granderson CF  .244-23–47    6/9      124
Rodriguez 3B .266-13-35  6/6    112    642 HR
Cano 2B .313-20-47    1/2     153      
Swisher RF  .265-12-46   1/2   114
Ibanez DH .232-11-35  3/3  94
Chavez 1B  .273-6-15   0/0  115
Martin C  .186-8-21   1/1   79     Awful year on the interstate for Russell
Wise LF .244-2-5    6/6  94   11 for 45

Nova RHP   9-2, 4.03   ERA+ 105

Other baseball news from Twitter: 

From last night, SWB announcer Mike Vander Woude : Ryan Howard …  I realize what he is coming back from but he looks very slow running…

Cincy’ Billy Hamilton (High A level) reached SB #100… and it’s not July 4th yet!

The Pirates sent one-time Yankees prospect Jose Tabata back to the minors.

Boston releases Bobby Jenks. Meanwhile bad news for the defending champs as Chris Carpenter needs season-ending surgery. Oakland DFA’s Brian Fuentes.