Game 47. Gleyber’s O and Judge’s D lead Yanks to a 2-1 Win.

The Yanks will be bringing up Greg Bird tomorrow. (Tommy Kahnle rejoined the Yanks today, replacing Ryan Bollinger, who was there for only one day). Tyler Austin is expected to be the move to go back to AAA. Tough call for Austin. Even though Austin is hitting just .231, he does have 8 HR, 23 RBI. His strikeout to walk ratio, however,  is only 7/43, and that isn’t good. Consider him trade bait if the Yanks are looking into a decent starting pitcher.

The Yanks (32-15) stayed 1 game back of Boston by beating the Angels 2-1 tonight. Luis Severino didn’t have his best stuff, but even without it, went 6 innings and only gave up 1 run. Time to consider him as one of the best pitchers in baseball.

In the first, with two on and one out, Seve got Albert Pujols to GIDP.

In the bottom of the second, Sanchez singled. Didi hit into what at the time, was thought to be a DP. The Yanks appealed, force out instead. This appeal would decide the game. After a walk to Hicks, and an Austin strikeout, Andujar walked (which he does not do often, as the rookie is a free-swinger). Bases loaded, two out for the wunderkind, Torres. He gets an infield single that drives in a run, but after some sloppy fielding, Hicks tries to score to and is nailed at the plate.

With two on and two out in the top of the third, Justin Upton singled to RF, but Aaron Judge fired a laser to home to nail the runner at the plate, preserving the Yanks’ one-run lead. Run Saved.

In the fifth, the player I consider the best player in baseball, Mike Trout, sliced one down the line into the upper deck in RF off of Severino to tie the game at 1. Severino has given up just three HR all year, and one is to Trout and another to Ohtani.

In the bottom of that inning, the Yanks loaded the bases with two out for Stanton, but he popped up.

In the top of the seventh, Judge threw out a runner trying for a double. What is fortunate about this is that, unlike the laser to the plate before, it seemed as if Judge did not throw this ball particularly hard to 2B for this out. The next batter singled, so this probably saved another run.

Bottom of the seventh. For the fourth consecutive game, Gleyber Torres homers (9) and it gives the Yanks a 2-1 lead. We heard the hype when the Yanks got him at the age of 19 two years ago. The hype is real. Torres also ranged far to his left to make a fine defensive play tonight.

With one on and two out in the top of the eighth, Chapman is called upon for a four-out save.  He comes on with a man on first, two out to face Ohtani, and he gets him (after a WP) on a groundout.

Judge 2 OF assists.
Wow. Didi’s slump has him down to .240
Torres 2 hits. Both RBI. HR.

Severino 6 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 4 W, 5 K. 2.28. Gave up 1 HR. Thanks to Judge.
Green (W, 3-0, 2.42) 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K.    Thanks to Judge.
Robertson (H, 7) 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K. 4.76
Chapman (S, 10) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1.33

Surprising: Boston DFAd Hanley Ramirez, a Yankee-killer.

Once again, time to strip the HOF ballot from some BBWAA members.

As the Baseball HOF ballots are being counted (and new, if any, members are to be announced January 24) once again we see that the BBWAA should seriously consider stripping voting privileges away from some of its members.

This year’s case in point (so far): Bill Livingston of the Cleveland Plain Dealer who only voted for two ex-players: former Indians Jim Thome and Omar Vizquel.

If he wants to skip over known and suspected steroid users like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Manny Ramirez, that is one thing.

But what about others who may need every vote they can in order to receive the 75% it takes to get in? Ex-players like Mike Mussina, Trevor Hoffman, Vladimir Guerrero or Edgar Martinez?

If someone like Mussina winds up with 74.7%, they don’t round up. Hoffman missed by only a handful of votes last year.

And, if someone like Mussina just misses, he has a legitimate gripe against voters like Livingston.

Voters like Livingston (and others who vote for candidates clearly not HOF worthy just to give them a vote—maybe they were drinking buddies with that player?) should have their voting privileges revoked.

Yanks get Gray from A’s for three prospects.

Brian Cashman got the Yanks their ace in Sonny Gray. It went almost down to the wire, but the Yanks got Gray for three prospects.

So let’s reassess what Cashman has done in the past few weeks. He got rid of the struggling Tyler Clippard and a bunch of prospects (but not the top tier ones) for the following: brought back David Robertson. Got Tommy Kahnle. Got Todd Frazier for 3b (if only for two months, rental), enabling Chase Headley to move to 1B to solve the season long 1B problem. Got Jaime Garcia (if only for a 2 month rental) to fill the Pineda spot that was being filled by Mitchell/Cessa and rookie Caleb Smith. Upgrades all around.

Now he got an ace pitcher to top it off. I’d say Cashman definitely earned his money.

Gray is under team control through 2019. He isn’t a two-month rental like Garcia is. He’s 27, in his prime.

Two years ago, Gray was an All-Star who finished third in CYA voting.

He had a rough 2016, missing 1/3 of the year with an injury, but even with that, is 44-36 in his career with an ERA of 3.42, ERA+ 114 (100 is average, so 14% above). His 162 G. average is 13-11, 3.42. With that ERA his record should be better, and with this offense and this bullpen, I expect that to happen.

This year, he has been 6-5, 3.43. Even though he was just 5-11, 5.69 last season, the ERAs for the other seasons were all 3.08 or lower. Great.

He is an ace, and in picking him up, the Yanks gave up three prospects, and two of them are currently on the DL. Who knows how they recover from those injuries?

James Kaprielian. RHP. 23. Considered their #1 pitching prospect, he has been surpassed. He has missed all of the 2017 season due to Tommy John surgery. He missed almost all of 2016. Not counting the Arizona Fall League, he has pitched in only seven minor league games. He basically has hardly pitched in the last two seasons.

Dustin Fowler. OF Lefty hitter. 22. The poor kid who suffered a major injury in his first MLB inning before he got his first MLB at bat. With people like Clint Frazier and Aaron Judge ahead of him, the Yanks deemed him expendable. As I recently wrote, a pecking order. You may have a lot of talent, but if you are blocked by someone better….

2016 AA .281-12-88, 15 triples, 25 SB
2017 AAA .293-13-43, 13 SB, 8 triples, 70 g.

 

Jorge Mateo. 22. Once a top Yankees prospect at SS, he was passed on the pecking order by Gleyber Torres. Not only that, the Yanks have Didi and Castro at SS and 2B right now. The Yanks moved him to CF, and apparently he has been picking it up well, and has been playing well at AA, but the Yanks apparently like 19 year old Estevan Florial (compared to Adam Jones (5x all star, 4x Gold Glove) as far as ability) better. Florial is currently at Low A Charleston. As I mentioned, ….. pecking order. Not only that, who knows what happens with the free agent market in a few years. Could the CF of the future be Bryce Harper or Mike Trout?

Gray fits the now. He is just 27. Under team control for this year and the next two. Team him with the 23 year old Severino and you have a nice young 1-2 punch.

Now let’s say Tanaka regains his old form in 2018. He’d be 29.

CC is 37, and I’m not looking at him right now, nor Garcia who is a two-month rental, but Jordan Montgomery is just 24. And the Yanks still have Chance Adams, Domingo Acevedo and Justus Sheffield in the wings.

A young and hopefully good rotation. And with a bullpen featuring Chapman, Betances, Robertson, Kahnle, Green, Warren…. I am excited.

Severino and Montgomery are young, haven’t gone too many innings in a season and could be hitting a “wall” soon. The additions of Garcia and Gray guard against that.

Montgomery could be bullpen bound.

Cashman also traded prospect Yefri Ramirez to the Orioles for $$$ to be used against international signings.

So the Yanks get an ace. Granted they gave up three prospects. It wasn’t Torres, Frazier, Sheffield, Acevedo or Adams.

Two of those prospects are on the DL with major injuries and won’t be ready until 2018.

Great job, Cashman.

Minor League Report.

AAA: SWB (65-39) lost 2-1, and only got one hit.

Mitchell 6 IP, 1 R, 7 H, 3 W, 7 K. 3.42
Mantiply (L, 4-4, 3.22) 2 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 4 K. Gave up HR.

AA: Trenton (70-33) won 5-4. 2B Thairo Estrada 2 hits, solo HR. 1B Ryan McBroom 2 hits, HR, 2 RBI. RF Devyn Bolasky 2 RBI.

Ramirez 6 IP, 4 R, 5 H, 0 W, 5 K. Gave up 2 HR. 3.41
Espinal (W, 1-0, 0.00) 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 4 K. 1st AA Game. Started year at Low A Charleston.
Coshow (S, 14) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 4.25

High A: Tampa (61-42) won 10-4. DH Jeff Hendrix 2 hits, RBI. SS Gosuke Katoh 3 hits, RBI. CF Trey Amburgey 3 hits, 2 doubles, 3 RBI. 1B Tim Lynch 3 hits, solo HR. LF Alexander Palma 2 hits, 2 RBI. 3B Daniel Barrios 2 hits, RBI.

Swanson (W, 4-2, 3.16) 7 IP, 3 R, 8 H, 0 W, 6 K.
Frawley 2 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 0 W, 1 K. 4.76

Low A: Charleston (56-46) won 5-2. C Donny Sands 3 RBI. CF Estevan Florial (hotly sought after in trade rumors) 2 hits.  2 hits for 3B Oswaldo Cabrera.

Perez (W, 7-3, 2.82) 5 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 4 W, 3 K.
Morris (H, 2) 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 3 K. 2.51
Cedeno (H, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. 0.93
Sosebee (S, 9) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 2.22

Saturday’s minors.

AAA: SWB (63-36) blew a 6-4 lead, giving up six in the top of the ninth to lose 10-6. 1B Mike Ford 2 hits, HR, 4 RBI. 3B Donovan Solano 2 hits. CF Jake Cave 3 hits, RBI.

Mitchell 6 1/3 IP, 3 R, 7 H, 1 W, 5 K. 3.70
Gallegos 1 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 4 K. Gave up 1 HR. 2.20
Jones (BS, 4; L, 6-3, 3.66) 1/3 IP, 4 R, 3 H, 1 W, 0 K. Gave up HR.
Heller 2/3 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. 3.18

AA: Trenton (66-32) won a rain shortened game 4-0. It was called with two out in the bottom of the sixth. C Jorge Saez solo HR. 3B Dante Bichette, Jr. 2 hits, RBI.

Ramirez (W, 10-3, 3.23) 6 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 3 W, 5 K.

High A: Tampa (56-42) won 3-2.  3B Angel Aguilar 2 RBI. SS Gosuke Katoh 2 hits. RF Austin Aune 2 doubles.

Swanson (W, 3-2, 3.08) 5 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 1 W, 3 K.
Mesa (H, 5) 2 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 3 K. 2.93
Frare (S, 1) 1 2/3 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 2 W, 2 K. 6.00

Low A: Charleston (53-45) lost 5-2. RF Isiah Gilliam 2 hits, RBI. CF Estevan Florial (a top prospect) 3 hits.

Garcia (L, 0-1, 1.99) 6 2/3 IP, 4 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 W, 3 K.
Diehl 2 1/3 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 0 W, 0 K. 4.04.

Florial, 19, is a lefty hitter. .292-11-40, 16 SB this year at Charleston. Scouts are watching and possibly asking for him if the Yanks want to make a deal right now.

Minor league report. Low A Charleston gets no-hit.

AAA: SWB rained out.

AA: Trenton (62-31) won 4-3. 2B Thairo Estrada 2 hits. 2 hits, 2 RBI for DH Devyn Bolasky.

Ramirez 4 2/3 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 W, 5 K. Gave up 1 HR.  3.47
Pinder (W, 1-0, 0.00) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 3 W, 0 K.
Carroll (H, 2) 2 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 W, 3 K. 1.63
McNamara (S, 1) 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K. 6.17

High A: Tampa (52-40) won 3-2. 1B Tim Lynch solo HR. Two hits each for CF Jeff Hendrix, DH Daniel Barrios & LF Trey Amburgey.

Swanson (W, 2-2, 3.36) 5 2/3 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 1 W, 6 K.
Reeves (H, 3) 2 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 4 K. 2.92
Pena (S, 1) 1 IP, 1 R, unearned, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. 3.28

Low A: Apparently Oakland scouts were at this game, fueling rumors of a possible trade.

Charleston (51-43) only gave up two hits, but got no-hit in losing 1-0. Lakewood’s Nick Fanti went all the way, walking one and striking out 12.

Vargas (L, 0-1, 1.50) 6 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 5 K. Gave up HR.
DeCarr 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K. 7.40
Mundell 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. 2.67

 

Minor League Report.

The Yankees are off until Friday.

AAA: All Star Game. The International League (SWB’s League) lost to the Pacific Coast League 6-4. It wasn’t a good outing for SWB’s Caleb Smith, who took the loss.

1 IP, 4 R, 5 H, 0 W, 0 K. Gave up a 3 -run HR.

AA: All Star Game. The Eastern League East (Trenton’s Division) beat the West 7-1.

SS Thairo Estrada 1 for 3, two walks. Scored 1 run.
RF Zack Zehner 2 for 3, scored 1 run, 2 RBI

Yefri Ramirez 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.

High A: Tampa (47-40) lost 4-2. 2-Run HR 1B Tim Lynch. SS Kyle Holder 2 for 2, 2 walks. 2 hits for CF Jeff Hendrix, 2 for C Austin Afenir.

Swanson 6 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 W, 5 K. Gave Up 1 HR. 3.73
Schwaab (L, 4-2. 3.53) 1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 2 W, 2 K.
Pena 1 2/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.38

Tampa was 39-31 in the first half (split season) and won the first half for their division by one game, so they already are guaranteed to be in the playoffs.

Low A: Charleston (47-42) won 6-3. 2b Hoy Jun Park 3 hits. RF Blake Rutherford 2 hits, rbi. C Donny Sands 2 hits, rbi. LF Isiah Gilliam 2 rbi.

DeCarr 1 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 3 W, 1 K. 7.78
Rosa (W, 3-2, 3.46) 7 Ip, 0 R, 4 H, 1 W, 8 K.
Sosebee (S, 4) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 2.47

Charleston was 34-36 in the first half, and didn’t qualify for the playoffs yet. They, like Tampa, play a split season.