Nestor Cortes. because of a hamstring strain, is a little behind the other pitchers and as a result, today was only his second start of spring training.
But Nasty Nestor was in midseason form, tossing four scoreless innings with seven strikeouts in what turned out to be a 1-1 tie game with the Cardinals.
The Yanks are 10-15-2 in spring training.
Both teams only got three hits apiece, and the Yankees run was on a HR by Oswaldo Cabrera.
Notes:
Volpe 0 for 4 #1 prospect. Stanton 1 for 3 Cabrera 1 for 3, the HR Peraza 0 for 3, #3 prospect. So neither Volpe or Peraza was outdoing the other today in the SS competition battle. Trevino 1 for 3.
The Yanks (8-8-1 in spring training) tied Boston Sunday, 3-3, but once again, the show was the kids.
#1 prospect Anthony Volpe went 2 for 4 with a double and HR, and #2 prospect Jasson “The Martian” Dominguez was 1 for 2.
Others:
Aaron Hicks 1 for 3, but I have noticed in spring training that a bad habit of his is continuing. He gets his hits with no one one, but continues to struggle with RISP.
Rafael Ortega 1 for 3 as he fights for an OF spot.
Isaiah Kiner-Falefa, who could be on the trade block, especially if Volpe wins that SS job, 1 for 2. I read where IKF, who made a lot of soft contact last year, put on 18 pounds of muscle in the offseason. Nice, but hope it doesn’t affect flexibility.
Andres Chaparro 1 for 3, RBI. Hmm. Donaldson is 37, and I don’t expect his option to be picked up after this season. Could Chaparro play himself into a 3B spot for 2024?
Jake Bauers 2 for 2, RBI.
Yoendrys Gomez 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 3 W, 4 K. 1 HBP. #11 prospect. Cordero (BS) 1 1/3 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 1 W, 1 K. gave up HR. Hurt himself today in trying for bullpen spot. Abreu 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K Marinaccio 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K. Weissert 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K. Evans 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K
It’s one thing to give these Yankees reports, another to follow the World Baseball Classic. So unless I hear something specific about Kyle Higashioka (USA), Gleyber Torres (Venezuela) or Jonathan Loaisiga (Nicaraugua) and how they are doing in the WBC, I won’t say anything about that.
With three catchers injured, the Yanks signed a catcher to a minor league deal. Nick Ciuffo has played in 21 MLB games and is regarded as a fine defensive catcher. He has just gone 9 for 48, .188 as a hitter, though.
Aaron Judge got the start in LF today and Giancarlo Stanton was in RF.
Gerrit Cole looked sharp, but Wandy Peralta ran into problems, giving up a 3-run HR. The Yanks (7-5 in spring training) got only 4 hits in losing to St. Louis 4-0. The starting lineup today was very “Opening Day-ish”.
Cole 3 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 7 K Weissert (L) 1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 0 H, 2 W, 3 K. McGarity 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K Holmes 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. Peralta 1 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 0 W, 2 K. Gave up a 3-run HR Tully 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K.
The Yankees (5-4 in spring training) lost a slugfest to Tampa Bay, 14-10 Saturday afternoon.
Five Yankees hit homers, and the interesting thing is that four of them were hit by guys trying to win the LF job.
#1 prospect Anthony Volpe 1 for 4, double in trying to win SS job. Oswaldo Cabrera 3-run HR trying for LF job. Yanks probably will use him as utility man. Oswald Peraza 0 for 3 in trying to win SS job. (#3 prospect). Trey Sweeney 2-run HR (#7 prospect and yet another SS) Aaron Hicks solo HR in trying to keep LF job. Jasson Dominguez 2 for 3 (#2 prospect) Esteven Florial 1 for 3 tying for LF job and out of options. Willie Calhoun 2 hits, 2 RBI. HR trying for LF job Rafael Ortega 2-run HR and he too is aiming for LF job.
Not a good day for the pitchers.
Severino 2 2/3 IP, 3 R, 2 H, 1 W, 6 K. 1 HBP Both hits back-to-back HR McGarity 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K. 1 WP Loaisiga (BS) 1 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 0 W, 2 K. Weissert (H) 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. Gave up HR. Aiming for bullpen job. Ramirez (BS, L) 1 IP, 4 R, 2 H, 2 W, 1 K. 1 balk. Gave up HR. Aiming for bullpen job. Brito 2 2/3 IP, 4 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 W, 2 K. #27 prospect. Vrieling 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. #17 prospect.
C Carlos Narvaez hit a two-out, two-run HR in the bottom of the ninth to give the Yankees (4-2 in spring training) a 4-2 win over Washington Wednesday afternoon.
Before the game, #4 prospect C Austin Wells found out his rib problem was actually a fractured rib. He will be out 6-8 weeks.
The Yanks had a lot of regulars in this game, and the starting lineup resembled a regular season lineup.
LeMahieu 2B 1 for 2 Judge RF 0 for 2 Rizzo 1b 1 for 2 Stanton DH 0 for 2 Donaldson 3B 0 for 1, walk, run Bader CF 1 for 2, RBI triple, run Hicks LF 1 for 2 Higashioka C 0 for 2 going soon to WBC (World Baseball Classic) for games Kiner-Falefa SS 0 for 2
Key reserves:
Volpe (#1 prospect) 0 for 2 1 strikeout. Trying to grab SS job. Florial 0 for 2, 2 strikeouts. Out of options. If doesn’t make team, would be DFA’d Cabrera 1 for 2 Calhoun 0 for 1, walk (trying to win LF job) Dominguez (#2 prospect) 0 for 1, walked in front of Narvaez HR, struck out.earlier. Narvaez 1 for 2. 2-run GW HR in bottom of 9th.
Pitchers
German 2 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. 1 HBP (competing with Schmidt for #5 rotation spot with Montas out) Weissert 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Let inherited runner score (Charged to German) fighting for bullpen spot Loaisiga 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. going soon to WBC Yoendrys Gomez 3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. 2 HBP #11 prospect Ryan Weber 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. Longshot for a bullpen spot.
Gleyber Torres and Jasson “The Martian” Dominguez homered, and Oswaldo Cabrera had a 2-run RBI bloop single, but the Yanks fell to the Phillies 7-4 yesterday in their first spring training game.
Torres will soon be leaving the Yanks to join Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. Also leaving the Yanks soon will be Kyle Higashioka (USA) and Jonathan Loaisiga (Nicaragua).
Dominguez, who turned 20 just a few weeks ago, is the youngest player in Yankees camp. He will probably begin the season at AA. He hit a hard (102.7 MPH off the bat) as he grounded out his first time up batting lefty, homered (about 110 MPH and 420 ft) batting righty his second time up, and popped up batting lefty his last time up.
Of the nine Yankees pitchers used, Ryan Weber pitched in five games last year for the Yanks, being on the shuttle and DFA’d a few times. Greg Weisssert was up and along with Nick Ramirez, is looking to make the Yanks’ bullpen. Randy Vasquez is a top pitching prospect who struggled yesterday. Alex Mauricio looked good, as did Ramirez.
Highlights:
Kiner-Falefa 1 for 3, double. Torres 2 for 3, double and solo HR. Cabrera 2 RBI but misplayed a ball in LF Dominguez solo HR (#2 prospect)
Weber 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. Vasquez 1 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 1 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. #14 prospect Mauricio 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K. Weissert 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K Danish (BS) 1 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. Ramirez 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. Snelten (L) 2/3 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 H, 3 W, 1 K. Pestana 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. Fitts 1 IP, 1 H, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. #29 prospect.
These rule changes could cause problems. I don’t like a lot of them. I understand Manfred is trying to speed up the game, but the beauty of baseball is that it doesn’t have a clock. Now there is one. And imagine if this happened in the regular season:
In the Red Sox/Braves exhibition game yesterday, it was tied in the bottom of the ninth. Two outs, full count on the batter, and since the batter wasn’t ready in time, strike three was called ending the inning (and since it was just a spring training game, it ended the game as well). Can you imagine that happening in a regular season, or worse, a postseason game? What a travesty!
I understand the desire, but is the time to get ready too short? You know I hate the extra innings rule with that “man starts the inning on second” rule. I understand the desire to speed the game along and save pitchers arms, but…. and I wonder if the clock—by not allowing pitchers to compose themselves—will hurt more pitcher’s arms.
I can live with the bigger bags. I like banning the shift. And those, along with another change I don’t like which I’ll mentioned next, are going to make the speed game more important. I understand (again) the desire not to turn baseball into a beer-league softball game where HRs decide everything, and to put speed and athleticism back into the game. But limiting the pitcher to only two step-offs or pickoffs, then giving the runner the base if the third try is unsuccessful is too much. Maybe after five, ok. But this is another rule I don’t like. And how will records be affected? Will someone steal 100 bases in a season in which 15 of those are actually bases he was given because of a third unsuccessful attempt at a pickoff? Will a pitcher lead the league with 250 strikeouts in which 15 are because of the batter not being ready in time? What about consistency of records over time? How will those records stack up against these new rules?
I see the intent. But with all these changes will it still be baseball or morph into something unrecognizable and unlikeable?
Before the ALCS began, a couple of moves. Off the roster are Hicks (injured, done for year), Luetge and Gonzalez. On go Peraza, Montas and Weissert.
For those wanting Giancarlo Stanton in the OF and Matt Carpenter DH-ing, they got their wish. But you know the old saying. Be careful what you wish for.
Carpenter’s story is a nice one. He fought to come back from a fractured foot. But it is clear he should not be on the roster (although, to be fair, with injuries to Hicks, Benintendi and LeMahieu, who could they put on?). He’s 0 for 6 in the postseason, all strikeouts. He’s 36 years old. He was 0 for 4 last night. All strikeouts.
Another 36-year-old, Josh Donaldson, also disappointed, going 0 for 3 last night with a walk in the Yankees’ 4-2 loss to Houston. The few chances the Yanks had came down to Donaldson and/or Carpenter needing to come up with a big hit. They didn’t even put the ball in play. I was not a fan of getting Donaldson, who is 37 soon and who earns almost $22MM a season. I didn’t want to let Gio Urshela, who is six years younger than Donaldson, go. Urshela hit .285-13-64 this year, OPS+ 121. He cost $6.55MM. Donaldson showed serious signs of slippage due to age. He hit .222-15-62, OPS+ 94. Donaldson’s defensive metrics seem to have been much better than Urshela’s, though. You’d have to weigh the cost, and the decline of Donaldson’s offense against the better defense he supposedly provided. But the way Donaldson has declined, you have to worry about 2023 and even 2024. He has a $21.75MM deal for 2023 with up to $550K award bonus available. There is a team option of $16MM for 2024 (I can’t see that being picked up) with a $8MM buyout option that may increase to $12MM based on 2023 awards. So, it looks like the Yanks are stuck with him for 2023 and will have to cough up a lot of money via a buyout to be rid of him in 2024. Terrible contract the Yanks took on.
Anyway, it’s apparent that Donaldson should not be hitting fifth. Nor should Carpenter be in the lineup. But what are the solutions? Let me get into the game recap and I will try to find one.
The same old, same old. For those sick of losing to Tom Brady (45 years old) year after year and want him to go home to his money and supermodel wife (or ex-wife? Marital issues), we feel the same about 39-year-old Justin Verlander, who apparently wants to pitch until he is 45. Take your money and go home to your beautiful supermodel wife. We are tired of losing to you. Ugh. 2006, 2011, 2012 (those years with Tigers), 2017, 2019 and maybe 2022? The Yanks have to find a way to beat this guy. He is 5-1, 2.62 vs. the Yanks in the postseason.
Just kidding about the go home already regarding Brady and Verlander, but you get the drift. You get tired of losing to them. Although, truth be told, a lot of people have been tired of losing to the Yankees since 1921.
Verlander is a future first ballot Hall-of-Famer. The history on pitchers like that is to get them early or you won’t get them at all. That is what happened last night.
Top 1st: Donaldson struck out with 2 men on base to end the inning. Bottom 1st: Judge saves two runs with a diving catch.
Top 2nd. Bader homers (again!) to put Yanks up 1-0. I would move the red-hot Bader up to first in the lineup and drop Torres to fifth, which enables me to drop Donaldson down. Bottom 2nd. Taillon is one strike away from getting out of the inning when he gives up a game-tying double.
Taillon did all we could ask for. 4 1/3 innings, only one run. He struggled but kept the Yanks in the game.
Top 3rd. With runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out, both Donaldson and Carpenter struck out. This was the ballgame right there. They left Verlander off the hook and he then settled in. A big hit by Donaldson in the first or either Donaldson or Carpenter here and you have Verlander on the ropes. Instead, he became unhittable.
The Yanks got only 5 hits in the game and struck out 17 times. Once again this postseason, the runs came on homers and the Yanks did not string hits together.
Bottom 4. Stanton makes a great play in LF to rob a batter of a double.
Bottom 5. Schmidt in for Taillon after a one-out double. An intentional walk and another walk load the bases, but Schmidt gets a DP to get out of it. BUT …
Bottom 6. Schmidt gives up 2 HR and Houston goes up 3-1.
Bottom 7. Frankie Montas comes in. Montas?! Ugh. And he gives up a HR. 4-1, Houston.
Anthony Rizzo homered for the Yanks in the top of the 8th to make it 4-2 but that was it.
Jose Trevino looks like he ran out of gas around Labor Day. Great first half, but he hit .177 in September/October and is now 1 for 15 in the postseason.
Most losses to the Astros are just like this. Pitching OK but not good enough. Bats silent. We have seen this in the 2015 wild card game (a 3-0 loss), the 2017 ALCS (losses of 2-1, 2-1 and 4-0) and the 2019 ALCS (3-2 in 11 innings, 4-1).
Between losing to Verlander and losing to Houston in a close game, same old script.
Severino starts for the Yanks tonight in Game 2. It’s time to flip the script.
Rizzo solo HR Stanton 2 hits Bader solo HR.
Taillon 4 1/3 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 3 W, 0 K. Schmidt (LOSS) 1 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 2 W, 0 K. Gave up 2 HR. Trivino 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. Montas 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. Castro 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.
One last thing. Some players have physical gifts, but you question their mental acumen. Those Yankees’ teams of the late 1990’s had players who were not only gifted physically, but also mentally. Pettitte, Jeter, Rivera, O’Neill, Tino, etc. You usually didn’t see them do anything mentally wrong or boneheaded. The same can’t be said for some players today. The Yanks need some more players with the mental toughness of those past players. Just saying.
San Diego came back from an early 4-0 hole to even up the NLCS at a game apiece with an 8-5 win over the Phillies.
Aaron Judge was 1 for 5 with a single in the first game of a day/night DH, a game the Yankees (99-61) won 5-4. He is now hitting .310 after that game.
The Yanks have just the night game tonight and an afternoon game tomorrow left in their season before their postseason begins with Game 1 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium on October 11.
The Yanks did hit three HR in the game, including the first MLB HR by Oswald Peraza.
Oswaldo Cabrera got the scoring started with a HR in the top of the first inning (6).
Yanks’ starter Jameson Taillon gave two runs back in the bottom of the first and had to get out of a bases-loaded jam or else he would have given up more than that. Texas up 2-1 after one inning.
Peraza hit his HR in the top of the second to tie the game.
The Yanks went up 3-2 in the top of the fifth. Peraza (who has been playing great since he has been called up, as has Cabrera) singled and stole second. After a popup, Marwin Gonzalez singled in Peraza.
But Taillon gave up a 2-run HR in the bottom of the fifth and Texas took a 4-3 lead.
The Yanks’ winning rally came in the top of the eighth. Kyle Higashioka, hot lately, led off the inning with a HR (10) to tie the game. Judge singled and Anthony Rizzo was HBP. Cabrera sacrificed both runners over, and Harrison Bader singled to give the Yanks the eventual winning run.
Cabrera solo HR (6) Peraza 2 hits, solo HR (1) FIRST MLB HR Higashioka solo HR (10)
Taillon 6 IP, 4 R, 7 H, 2 W, 5 K. 1 HBP Gave up 1 HR. 3.91 Chapman (W, 4-4) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 4.46 The Chapman we need to see. Weissert (H, 2) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 5.56 Loaisiga (S, 2) 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. 4.13
Ron Marinaccio to the IL. He will miss the ALDS. Albert Abreu back off the IL.
AAA: SWB (82-67) lost 8-1 in the next-to-last day of the season to be eliminated from the playoffs. Even had they won last night, Durham’s win would have eliminated them anyway.
SS Anthony Volpe 2 hits. #1 prospect .250-21-65, 49 SB
Banda (L, 0-3) 2 1/3 IP, 3 R, 2 H, 1 W, 2 K. 1 HBP. 6.14 Zach Greene 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. 1 balk. 3.42 Miguel Castro 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 3 K. 0.00 REHAB Duffey 1 2/3 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 0 W, 4 K. 10.50 Brito 1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.31 Rich Rodriguez 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 1 HBP 3.86 Weissert 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 1.69
The Yanks picked up guys like Banda, Duffey and Barnes because of depth and prior MLB experience. None impressed while with SWB.
AA: Somerset evened up their Eastern League finals series with a 9-2 win. The third and deciding game will be tonight for the Eastern League Championship.
Yoendrys Gomez (WIN) 5 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 1 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR. #12 prospect. Loseke 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 4 K. Ramirez 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. Espinal 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Although not announced, my guess is that Somerset’s starter for the deciding game tonight will be Clayton Beeter, the Yanks’ #9 prospect, who they got in the Gallo trade.
The Sommer Frieze 
