BCB's Danny Rockett with a few thoughts on why Yankees fans have got it better than Cubs fans. With lots of pics and disturbing video!

One of my favorite comedians, Doug Stanhope, describes rooting for the Yankees as like going to a casino and rooting for the house. If you haven't seen the full bit, it's well worth it, unless you're squeamish about foul language. And what can you say about a team that has had so much success buying themselves talented players, and that currently sports a payroll more than twice that of the Cubs? It's easy to be jealous as a Cubs fan, not only of the Yankees' annual success, but of the fact that their front office provides fans with top notch proven talent and cheaper beer than at Wrigley Field. Yet, even with all of these feathers in their caps and a bought team, Yankees fans felt the need to yell and shout at me as I walked around their shrine like stadium that the "Cubs suck." My answer: "Yes, and?"

I'll never understand why people pick on the Cubs and their fans. We stink! You should be happy we came to your town to lose two of three, or in the case in the rain-forced doubleheader Wednesday, lose two of two and not even bother to score any runs. Honestly, the Cubs would have been better off simply skipping NYC altogether or playing against the little league teams that play across the street where the old stadium used to be. Yet, our team's baseball futility didn't stop fans from spewing vitriolic confidence my way at every turn.

I hadn't even entered the stadium yet, when I heard a chorus of boos from this lovable crew.

The old blurry finger salute….(the female in the group doesn't quite get the whole "give the finger" thing I guess)

It wasn't just these charming specimens either. My Cubs hat and jacket acted as a lightning rod from the moment I stepped on the 4 train, with a natively accented fellow remarking, "You know you're going to lose today, right?". I honestly told him, it was likely, but I still had hope we'd at least split the double dip. He laughed, and proceeded to complain about Mark Teixeira's constant injuries.

Two younger fellows wearing green wigs also informed me of the Cubs' suckiness as I stood in line for beer, which, I'll re-mention, is cheaper than at Wrigley. And then there was this rowdy crew.

These crazy clowns were actually a bunch of Irish dudes who sang Rugby songs the entire time. They cheered and shouted and sang for almost the entire game, so I walked up the stairs to ask them if they had any advice for Cubs fans on how we could cheer better. I get the words…"Do you…" out, and then mayhem breaks loose. They weren't even New Yorkers, yet their intense vitriolic fury fit right in with the general vibe I felt from everyone. Which was basically, "you are the enemy, you suck, prepare to die."

Even their version of Billy Cub shook me down for a dollar!

But even with all this hatred spewed at me, I admired the passion these fans have. They still clap for a strikeout when a an opposing teams batter has two strikes on him. The chants of "Let's Go Yankees!" are ubiquitous throughout the stadium. And did I mention their beer is cheaper than at Wrigley? Yes. Yes, I did…

Don't let the $12 fool you! You get 24 ounces for $!2, where as the Cubs charge $8.50 for 16 ounces. And look at the selection! They have real Becks on tap, not that horrible Beck's Sapphire that tastes like Old English Malt liquor drunk from Billy Cubs' sweaty bear head. I only bring this up to point out that we are getting screwed. Not only do I have to explain to my mom who half the"I never heard of this guy" Cubs players are, even though she watches a lot of games, but Yankees fans enjoy a formidable team AND cheaper beer. Shame.

Yup. Besides our beautiful old ballpark, Yanks fans have it better all around. Better food, better beer, bigger bobble heads...

The Yankees are just better at almost everything… and it's so amazingly annoying because they constantly let you know it. They have a deep history and a bought team, yet their passionately vocal fans always let you know about it to your face. And did I mention cheaper better beer than at Wrigley? But rooting for them is still akin to rooting for the dealer at a casino, or Darth Vader while watching Star Wars.

I remarked to my friends who joined me at the nightcap that sometimes, I'm embarrassed to cheer at Wrigley. It just feels wrong, like I'm the weird one for thinking the Cubs can actually win with my cheering. My girlfriend agreed with that assessment, and many of you who have already attended a game this year can attest to the lack of passion as well. The magic is gone. No longer do people just come down to Wrigley because it's a socially fun thing to cheer the Cubs to victory. Even for the casual fan. Now, most games feel like a family funeral, I've forgotten the order of the verses to "Go Cubs Go," and we are always waiting to lose. It's been that way for awhile now. We've got to do something about it.

I'm not suggesting we become like Yankees fans and go around flipping the bird to opposing teams fans, or boo violently. I'm just saying, we used to clap with two strikes, we used to chant "Let's Go Cubbies" when we had the tying run on second in the eighth inning, and the beer used to be cheaper. Somethings gotta give.

*Here are a few more pics of my day at "Bankee" Stadium!

How will the Yankees make room on the roster for the players ready to come off the DL?

With Mark Teixeira and David Robertson set to return in the next few days, the Yankees are going to need to make room on the roster in order to activate them from the DL. The guys who are the most likely candidates for packing their bags are Scott Sizemore, Dean Anna, Yangervis Solarte, Vidal Nunoor Cesar Cabral.

After seriously struggling in last night's game against the Rays, where he hit three batters and had zero command, Cabral was almost immediately designated for assignment. It happened within forty minutes of the game ending. That clears up one spot, possibly. Apparently they chose to DFA Cabral in order to bring up Matt Daley, who was not on the 40-man roster. It could be that Daley would be sent back down when Robertson is activated. Chad Jennings speculated that Vidal Nuno is the likely starter for Sunday's game, which may make him the odd man out, because he probably wouldn't be available to pitch again until Thursday. Nuno could be sent down leaving Matt Thornton as the only lefty reliever in the bullpen.

Scott Sizemore was called up most recently, as he got the nod after Francisco Cervell's injury. He has an opt out clause, so the Yankees probably won't risk losing him. Anna and Sizemore are both versatile, but Sizemore has more experience in the majors (if that counts for anything), and it seems like Sizemore could also be a decent backup option at first base. Participate in a triple-play during your first base debut? No big deal.

Brendan Ryan played in a sim game yesterday, and said he's hoping to be activated in about two weeks, though he still needs to get 40-50 at-bats in. The Yankees will also need to clear a spot on the roster to make room for him. Since Dean Anna has been filling the role of backup shortstop, which is supposed to be Ryan's job, it makes even more sense that Anna would be sent down. Yangervis Solarte seems as though he's here to stay, at least for the time being, since he's hitting .373/.448/.569 with an OPS of 1.017.

Since we already know that Cabral has been DFA'd, I would think that Anna, Nuno and possibly Daley, are most likely to be sent down in order to make room for Robertson, Tex, and eventually Ryan. Solarte has hit his way on to the team, and the Yankees probably wouldn't want to risk losing Sizemore. Who do you think the Yankees will move to make room for all the players set to come off of the DL? Are you surprised that Cabral was DFA'd so quickly after the one bad outing?

The bullpen and the bats overcome an early horror show.

The Bad

For the first three and a half innings, it really seemed like this was going to be just another lost game in a soon-to-be-lost season, where nothing went right for the Rays and everything went wrong. In the bottom of the first inning, Ben Zobrist hit the ball reasonably hard the other way but Brett Gardner was able to run it down on the warning track. Next, Matt Joyce smacked a grounder very hard and up the middle, but of course Derek Jeter was shifted that way, and he barely had to move on what would have been a sure hit just a few years ago (before the shift ruined the game).

In the top of the second inning, the pitching and defense failed. After two singles to lead off, Kelly Johnson grounded hard to James Loney, who went to the dirt to field. Now sitting on the infield, Loney decided to try for the middle runner at second, and threw softly and straight into the back of Yangervis Solarte. I wasn't sure that Erik Bedard would have beaten Johnson to first, so second base may have been Loney's only play, but still, it was not a good throw. Bases loaded. Next, Bedard left a curve too high in the middle of the zone. and Scott Sizemore flied it into the left-center gap. David DeJesus, tried to make a diving play, but it came off his glove and three runs scored.

On the next pitch, Ichiro Suzuki laid a bunt down the third base line, and while Evan Longoria made a good play, and while it was called an out originally, replay correctly reversed the call. Gardner hit a double play ball, hard to second base, but it got caught a bit in Zobrist's body, perhaps throwing off the timing, and some weird footwork by Yunel Escobar lead to one of the slowest turns I've ever seen from him. The speedy Gardner beat it out. Jeter grounded to third, and the Rays got the double play on their second attempt, but four runs had already scored. Four has been a nearly insurmountable number for the Rays this year.

Now trying to work out of the hole, Longoria lead off the bottom of the second with a line drive up the middle for a single. That was followed up by a Loney ground ball up the middle, but once again the Yankee defense was positioned perfectly, and the result was -- you could have guessed -- a double play. In the bottom of the third, Logan Forsythe worked a walk, But Escobar immediately erased him with another double play.

When the Rays defense got another double play opportunity in the top of the fourth, though, they botched it. Zobrist had some trouble handling the grounder, and then his throw was a little bit low. Escobar failed to catch it. For my money, both middle infielders were at fault, but the error was applied to Escobar. Erik Bedard struck out the next batter, but rather than let him face Jeter once more, Maddon pulled Bedard after 73 pitches.

Then, in the bottom of the fourth, with one out, this happened.

Don't worry. That's the low point. It gets better from here.

The Good

At this point, I was upset. Were I not supposed to write a recap, I might have turned the game off. The Rays, however, did not panic. They worked their process. For Joyce, that meant taking pitches and accepting a walk.  For Longoria, that meant pulling a hard ground ball past third base. And for Loney that meant lining an outside fastball the other way, and this time finding the gap. Two runs scored.

Brad Boxburger and Jake McGee kept the Yankees off the board until the sixth, when the Rays offense chipped into the New York lead once more. Joyce grounded an outside pitch to the left of and under the glove of Jeter, and the Rays continued their opposite field ways with a Longoria line drive single. After Loney let Kuroda off the hook by swinging at ball four, Myers pulled a ground ball past Jeter to score another, ending Kuroda's day.

All that hitting was dandy, but the Rays hadn't quite exorcized the Devil yet. Jacoby Ellsbury singled, stole second, and then scored from second on a Soriano single, to nudge the deficit back to two, and while the Rays bats continued to hit, their luck seemed to have left them. Escobar singled, but while Ryan Hanigan lined the ball hard up the middle, he hit new pitcher David Phelps in the side, and was thrown out at first.

Phelps was forced to leave the game with what I'm sure had turned into a nasty welt, and Matt Thornton entered, so Maddon called on Sean Rodriguez to hit for DeJesus. S-Rod grounded to shortstop, but Escobar had to hold up to let the grounder pass in front of him, and by the time he started running again, he was easy pickings at third base. The lead runner was erased.

Once again, though, no panic. Ben Zobrist singled, and Maddon sent in Desmond Jennings (on the bench with a mysterious ailment -- seriously, I don't know what it is; has anyone heard?) to hit for Matt Joyce. Joe Girardi swapped his pitchers for the righty Adam Warren. Now, Warren has a fairly nasty hard slider (or big cutter), so this was a tough job for for Jennings. He watched one slider nick the bottom of the zone for a strike, and then sat on that pitch. When he got the same pitch again, he went down with it, and flipped it over Jeter's head to score the run. Brandon Guyer immediately pinch ran for Jennings.

Longoria hung tough against Warren, and won himself a walk, bringing up the lefty, Loney. Warren presented him with a fastball over the middle of the plate, and Loney said "Thank you," lining over the second baseman's head to score two runs and put the Rays ahead for the first time all night.

One inning later, they would tack on, and put the game beyond doubt.

Bedard

Much of the hand-wringing going into this game centered on how injury-replacement Erik Bedard would fare. He had his lively, moving fastball working. He collected a whiff on 25% the swings against his fastball, an impressive number. Bedard's curve was working too, and it was easy to squint and see the strikeout machine he once was. On the other hand, it's tough to blow major league hitters away at 89 mph, and his command of his fastball was inconsistent. Many times during the game, he would miss up and arm-side, when Hanigan was calling for the ball low and gloveside. While the vaunted Rays defense did Bedard no favors, if a few of those misses were to have caught more of the plate rather than being off or above it, defense wouldn't have been an issue. In the final accounting, I think that six hits, one walk, and three strikeouts over 3.2 innings is a reasonably fair assessment of Bedard's work last night. In his next appearance, he may perform better, or he may perform worse.

Baseball is rarely a sport of absolutes. If you think Bedard is horrible and will get shelled every time he pitches, you'll probably end up wrong. If you think he's an acceptable starting pitcher on a playoff-bound team, you'll almost surely be disappointed.  He's not going to give either of us -- the haters or the fans -- much satisfaction. Rather, he'll give us a few innings, a few too many runs, and a chance for the offense and bullpen to make something out of it.

Some other notes:

• The YES Network broudcast is unwatchable. Everything about the Yankees is the best, apparently. In the bottom of the fourth inning, during the DeJesus at bat, I was treated to a long conversation about how good the Yankee pitchers are at hitting.
• I am tired of TV broadcasts giving sponsored "scouting reports" that aren't scouting reports. For instance, the "Jeep Scouting Report" told me that Ben Zobrist is the longest tenured Ray.
• Someone, please educate a non-baseball man. Why are Ryan Hannigan's fingernails bright yellow?
• Very good outing by Joel Peralta today. It was Peralta at his best. I don't think he gave the Yankees hitters in the eighth inning a single good pitch to hit, but nearly everything was a strike or too close to take in a two-strike count.
• I've already mentioned that Adam Warren has the makings of a tough matchup for righties. Well, in the bottom of the eighth inning, Logan Forsythe was robbed of a double against him, and Sean Rodriguez hit one out of the park. Neither looked particularly troubled.
  
• Relieving Warren n the bottom of the eighth inning, Cesar Cabral had no idea at all where his pitches were going. He hit Longoria in the leg, then hit Loney in the arms as Loney tried to get out of the way. A few batters later, Cabral hit Logan Forsythe, also with a pitch up and in. Home plate umpire "Cowboy" Joe West decided it was a dangerous (or tiresome) situation, and threw Cabral out of the game (drawing Joe Girardi's ire, and forcing the Yankee's to use their closer, Sean Kelly).
• I also want to give Joe West props for his balls and strikes tonight. There were a lot of times last night where the pitcher missed the catcher's mitt by a wide margin, but had his pitch still end up in the strike zone. West, to my eye, got most of those right. The Yankees broadcast team (have I mentioned yet that I think they're bad?), was complaining about his strike zone, but if there was a problem with West's zone, it was in the Yanks' favor.

via www.brooksbaseball.net

Well...yesterday happened. Nothing else to do but brush the dust off their shoulders and move on. Nova starts tonight for the Yankees.

There's no much that needs to be discussed about last night's implosion. Bullpen sucked. Yankees lost. That's all there really is to it.

4/17/14 Daily Prediction Answers

Much like the Yankees last night, there were no winners. It only would've taken 2,000 points from someone to win, but alas here we are. The bullpen implosion just threw everything out of proportion. Jerks.

4/18/14 Daily Predictions & Fun Questions

Favorite type of Sushi?

The Beach: Relaxing fun for everyone or hot sandy waste of time?

Photography: Do you like to be in photos or be the one taking them so that you're never in photos?

Do you like to dance? More importantly, do you like to dance in public?

Ivan Nova will start the game tonight against the Rays. In his last outing, Nova only allowed two runs over 7.1 innings to the Red Sox. I'll happily take that again tonight, especially considering that the bullpen needs some rest. Vidal Nuno is most likely unavailable since he's the probably starter for Sunday's game. You know what, Nova? How about a complete game shutout? Yes. Yes, I like that idea.

Tonight Ivan Nova surrendered eight runs on eight hits, four of them being home runs, in four innings and it was not pretty. The Yankees replaced him with Matt Daley in the fifth inning when Nova shook out his arm in the middle of an Evan Longoria at-bat in the fifth inning. Nova tried to stay in, but Girardi was having no part of it.

Unfortunately, Daley wasn't any good either, allowing another six runs (four earned) on five hits and two walks. Dellin Betances allowed an inherited runner to score when he walked a man in with the bases loaded. Even Dean Anna got in on the action as the noted position player gave up two runs on three hits on a 60 mph heater.

Originally, I thought they were only saying he was injured in order to get Nova out of the game and give someone time to warm up, but it turns out that Nova was taken out for a reason:

Ivan Nova left the game with right elbow soreness. He is scheduled to undergo tests.

— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) April 20, 2014

Nova has been pretty terrible so far this year. He came into tonight's game with a 5.94 ERA and 4.93 FIP and it only got worse from there. Similarly, the right-hander struggled in 2013 with a 5.06 ERA and 3.05 FIP over his first six starts before being placed on the disabled list with an arm injury. He returned in June a new pitcher and won Pitcher of the Month in August. If Nova has to go on the disabled list again, we can only hope that the silver lining is a better pitcher when he comes back.

Likely candidates to replace him in the rotation include any of David Phelps, Adam Warren, and Vidal Nuno, though Shane Greene could also get brought back up because of the injury. If he has to go on the 60-day DL, we could be seeing the return of Alfredo Aceves as well.

UPDATE:

Girardi said Nova wanted to continue pitching but when he said it was his elbow bothering him, Girardi said "you're done."

— Erik Boland (@eboland11) April 20, 2014

This game was really bad, but a position player pitched and that was at least funny.

Ivan Nova was really bad and then got hurt. Then the bullpen was really bad. Then Dean Anna pitched. Like in an official major league inning. Then the Rays won 16-1. Now I am going to try and forget that this happened.

The Rays opened the game's scoring in the bottom of the second. Wil Myers took a Nova pitch over the left field wall to give the Rays an early 1-0 lead. An inning later, the Rays added another run when Ryan Hanigan led off the inning with a home run. Ben Zobrist had singled two batters after the Hanigan home run, and two batters after Zobrist, Evan Longoria destroyed a breaking ball that Nova left hanging. After three innings, the Rays led 4-0.

An inning later, it only got worse. Nova started the inning by walking Myers. After getting the next two batters out, Hanigan came back to the plate. Hanigan would hit his second home run of the game to extend the Rays' lead to six runs.

The Yankees got one of those runs back in the top of the fifth. With one out, Alfonso Soriano reached first on an infield single. After Yangervis Solarte flied out, Kelly Johnson ripped a double into left-center field. Soriano was able to score all the way from first to make it 6-1.

Nova came back out for the bottom of the fifth, but after allowing a single to Zobrist and a double to Matt Joyce, Girardi and the trainer came out to look at him. Nova had to be taken out of the game with elbow soreness and was replaced by Matt Daley. The first hitter Daley faced was Longoria. Daley got Longoria to fly out but it was deep enough for Zobrist to tag up and score. The Yankees then decided to intentionally walk James Loney to set up the double play. Just like it always seems to, that backfired horribly. Myers hit his second home run of the day to make the score 10-1.

Daley would come back out for the sixth. After getting David DeJesus to ground out, Daley allowed a double to Zobrist. After walking Joyce, Longoria singled to score Zobrist, making it 11-1. James Loney then drove in another run when Soriano lost track of the ball at the warning track. That spelled the end for Daley, who was pulled in favor of Dellin Betances. After Myers struck out, Sean Rodriguez grounded to Solarte, who made an incredible play to stop the ball. But of course because of this game, Kelly Johnson couldn't pick the throw and another run scored. Betances then walked the next two batters because duh. The second walk scored a run. The eleven hour, twenty-two minute inning then ended when Betances struck out DeJesus. The score was now 14-1.

After Betances threw a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh (somehow), the Yankees would go down in order again in the top of the eighth. I would've talked about about what the Yankees' offense did before, but they did nothing. Other than the one run, they were totally shut down by Chris Archer again. Only this time Archer got a bazillion runs in support and had (seemingly) multiple twenty minute breaks.

In the bottom of the eighth, Dean Anna was brought in to pitch. The man who started the game at shortstop had to pitch. He velocity topped out at 72 miles per hour and he allowed two runs in his inning. He was arguably the best Yankee reliever that pitched tonight. His presence on the mound somehow made this game worth it. Nothing else happened and the Yankees lost 16-1. Here is a gif of a corgi:

via Giphy

The Yankees finish off their four game set in Tampa tomorrow at 1:40 Eastern. Vidal Nuno will start.

I don't recommend reading the Box score, but if you must.

The first domino in a series of impending roster moves falls in the form of a Double-A call up.

According to former Thunder beat writer Josh Norris, the Yankees have called up right-hander Bryan Mitchell from Double-A Trenton. The big league bullpen is totally wiped out to the point that shortstop Dean Anna was needed to pitch in a blowout against the Rays Saturday night. Vidal Nuno gets the start in the series finale on Sunday because of the doubleheader pushing Masahiro Tanaka back a day, leaving the bullpen extremely short-handed.

Mitchell has a 5.14 ERA in three starts for the Thunder so far this season. He's walked eight batters and struck out 20 in 14.0 innings on the year. It's difficult to imagine he'd be called upon to start in the event that Ivan Nova's elbow soreness is the worst case scenario, but he could provide some length in the bullpen if one of David Phelps, Adam Warren, or Nuno gets pushed into the rotation.

The call up is likely only the first of a number of roster moves coming for the Yankees in the next 24 hours. Mark Teixeira is due to be activated from the disabled list before tomorrow's game and the team is waiting to find out the extent of Nova's injury, in addition to the mess in the bullpen created by back to back blowout games. There is no word yet on who, exactly, will be sent down in return for Mitchell.

According to Daniel Barbarisi of the Wall Street Journal, the Yankees have called our old friend Preston Claiborne up from Triple-A in order to provide some fresh bullpen depth for tomorrow night's game. After seeing Dean Anna pitch in tonight's game, you can see why the Yankees believe they need some pitchers to come up and back Vidal Nuno for tomorrow. Word is that Nuno will be on a pitch count of about 75 pitches, so they're going to need a fresh (and effective) bullpen if they want to make it out of Tampa Bay in one piece.

After a rookie season that proved to be a mixed bag after a stellar first month, Preston Claiborne went into spring training as a favorite to land a job in the 2014 Yankees bullpen. Unfortunately for him, he pitched terribly and was beaten out for a job by the likes of Dellin Betances and Vidal Nuno. So far he has pitched to a 1.50 ERA in six innings for the Scranton-Wilkes/Barre RailRiders. Still hovering around on the 40-man roster, it was only a matter of time before they called him up to the majors.

Claiborne will now joinBryan Mitchell in the big league bullpen, at least for the next few days. Roster moves still have to be made to get Mark Teixeira, David Robertson, and possibly Brendan Ryan onto the roster, so players could be going up and down pretty quickly. I don't see either Claiborne or Mitchell being with the team on a permanent basis, but for how long exactly has yet to be seen.

Only one win in the Cubs system tonight. Believe it or not, it was Daytona.

I suggest you all read this article by Sean Kernan in the Daytona Beach News-Journal about Arodys Vizcaino. It explains why you should be very, very excited about Vizcaino but also why he's still in the minors. No, it's not about service time.

Also, Javier Baez may be activated off the disabled list on Sunday.

Happy Easter.

Iowa Cubs

Iowa pitchers gave up five home runs as the Iowa Cubs got flattened by the Round Rock Express (Rangers), 12-2.

Starter Chris Rusin saw his record fall to 0-3 after he gave up four runs over five innings. All four of the runs he allowed scored on three home runs. Rusin gave up five hits total. He struck out five and walked only one.

Third baseman Christian Villanueva was 2 for 3 with two doubles. He was also hit by a pitch.

Tennessee Smokies

The Tennessee Smokies were smote by the Birmingham Barons (White Sox), 5-4.

Starter Matt Loosen had some major control issues as he walked seven batters in the 3.2 innings he pitched. That he only allowed three runs is due in part to his only allowing three hits but more because he got out of jams by striking out five.

Jeff Lorickrelieved Loosen and while he got out of a jam in the fourth inning, he took the loss after he allowed two unearned runs in the fifth. He pitched 1.1 total innings and gave up two hits and two walks. Lorick struck out one.

Shortstop Jeudy Valdez went 2 for 4 with a double and two RBI.

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona Cubs split a doubleheader with the Tampa Yankees, losing the first game 10-4 and winning the second 9-1.

Yao-Lin Wang didn't make it out of the second inning. Wang allowed six runs over 1.1 innings. He surrendered six hits, four of which went for extra bases. Wang walked one and did not have a strikeout.

Daytona pounded Yankees starter Manny Banuelos, who didn't make it out of the first inning. But they couldn't do anything against the rest of the Tampa staff, getting only one hit the rest of the way.

Left fielder Bijan Rademacher went 1 for 2 with a walk. He scored once.

In game two, starter Felix Pena got his first win of the season with six strong innings. Pena surrendered one run on three hits. He struck out eight and walked four.

Rademacher hit his first home run of the season with two men on in the third inning of game two. He was 2 for 4 and scored twice in the nightcap, as well as gunning down Dante Bichette Jr. trying to stretch a single into a double.

Center fielder Albert Almora went 2 for 4 with a run scored and one batted in. He was 3 for 7 combined in the two games.

The win in game two snapped Daytona's six-game losing streak.

Kane County Cougars

Joe Hudson hit a walkoff triple as the Kane County Cougars were burned by the Dayton Dragons (Reds), 3-2.

It was a strong start for Duane Underwood, who allowed only one unearned run over five innings. However, the runs scored because he made an error on a pickoff throw at first and then followed it up with an error on a pickoff throw to second. So how unearned was it really? Underwood was touched for three hits and one walk. He struck out four over the five innings.

Zach Godley faced seven in relief and retired all seven, including bailing Gerardo Concepcion out of a first and third, two-outs jam. Godley struck out four.

Nathan Dorris relieved Godley to start the ninth gave up the triple after having allowed a leadoff single. He retired one batter on a fly out. It wa his first loss of the season.

Second baseman Danny Lockhart went 3 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI. Left fielder Trey Martin was 2 for 3 with a double and a walk. He had one RBI.

Last Time on Pinstripe Alley

• Yankees call up Preston Claiborne from Triple-A
• Yankees call up Bryan Mitchell from Double-A Trenton
• Yankees 1, Rays 16: Dean Anna pitched
• Ivan Nova leaves game with an injury; will undergo tests
• Yankees lineup vs. Rays - Jeter sits, Matt Daley called up
• The very brief, but still wondrous history of the New York Yankees logo
• How do the Yankees hitters perform against sliders?
• Daily Yankees Predictions 4/19/14: Start a new winning streak
• Yankees injuries: Three injured players returning means roster moves ahead
• Baby Bomber Recap 4/18/14: Rob Refsnyder goes 3-3 in Thunder win

Yankees News

New York Post | Ken Davidoff:Yangervis Solarte could be among names like David Eckstein, Dan Uggla, and Alexei Ramirez.

Fox Sports | Ken Rosenthal: MLB is likely to adjust the rule prohibiting catchers from blocking the plate and be less strict on their interpretation of the transfer rule.

An A-Blog for A-Rod | Brad Vietrogoski: When David Robertson comes back we will see whose performance earned them a more important role.

It's About the Money | Michael Eder: It appears that CC Sabathia has moved to the third base side of the mound in order to increase his ground ball rate.

New York Daily News | Mark Feinsand: Yangervis Solarte has earned an everyday job, even after Mark Teixeira returns.

New York Post | Joel Sherman: Injuries to Mark Teixeira, David Robertson, and Brendan Ryan have already made the Yankees one of the more injury-plagued teams.

ESPN New York | Wallace Matthews: Yangervis Solarte won't be sent down when Mark Teixeira returns, but it will be difficult for them to get him in the lineup.

Recapping the Yankees' minor league affiliates' results from April 19th.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:W 4-3 vs. Lehigh Valley IronPigs

CF Ramon Flores 0-4, K
2B Jose Pirela 2-4
LF Zoilo Almonte 1-4
1B Russ Canzler 2-4, double, K - batting .300 this season
DH Corban Joseph 0-3, BB
3B Adonis Garcia 1-4, RBI, 2 K
RF Ronnier Mustelier 1-3
C Austin Romine 0-3, passed ball(3rd) - batting .174 this season
SS Carmen Angelini 1-3, K

Bruce Billings 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, pickoff, WP - 67 of 104 pitches for strikes
Jim Miller 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Double-A Trenton Thunder:L 6-10 vs. Erie SeaWolves

CF Mason Williams 0-5, K, OF assist
DH Ben Gamel 3-5
RF Tyler Austin 2-4, double, triple, RBI, BB - .691 OPS over his last 10
C Gary Sanchez 1-5, 2 RBI
1B Kyle Roller 2-4, RBI, BB, K - batting .308 this season
2B Rob Refsnyder 1-4, triple, RBI, BB - batting .303/.410/.424 over his last 10
3B Dan Fiorito 0-3, BB
LF Taylor Dugas 1-3, HR, RBI, BB - first homer of the season
SS Ali Castillo 0-4, E6 - missed catch error, fifth of the season

Charley Short 5 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, K - 27 of 37 pitches for strikes
Aaron Dott 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, WP
Cole Kimball 3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, K
Jairo Heredia 1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB
Branden Pinder 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K

High-A Tampa Yankees:W 10-4, L 1-9 vs. Daytona Cubs

Game 1:

CF Jake Cave 2-4, BB, K, OF assist
SS Cito Culver 1-3, 2 RBI, 2 BB, K
3B Eric Jagielo 2-3, 2 RBI, BB
DH Dante Bichette Jr. 0-3, RBI, BB, K
C Peter O'Brien 3-4, double, 2 HR, 2 RBI, K, passed ball(6) - fifth and sixth homers of the season
2B Angelo Gumbs 1-4, RBI, K
RF Zach Wilson 2-4, triple, K
1B Reymond Nunez 1-4, double, RBI, K
LF Cody Grice 1-4, double, K

Manny Banuelos 0.2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, K, WP - 1-0 GO/AO
Eric Ruth 4.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, BB, 4 K
Dietrich Enns 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB
James Pazos 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K

Game 2:

CF Jake Cave 0-2, BB, 2 K - batting .275 this season
SS Cito Culver 0-2, BB, K
DH Eric Jagielo 1-2, double, RBI, BB - .793 OPS over his last 10 games
RF Peter O'Brien 0-3, K - 1.131 OPS in 15 games this season
3B Dante Bichette Jr. 1-2, BB - batting .347 this season
2B Angelo Gumbs 1-3, K, E4 - fielding error, second of the year
1B Zach Wilson 1-3, K - batting .400 this season
C Trent Garrison 0-3, K, E2 - missed catch error, second of the season
LF Claudio Custodio 0-2, 2 K

Brett Gerritse 3 IP, 6 H, 8 R/5 ER, 2 BB, K, E1 - 7-2 GO/AO
Alex Smith 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Tyler Webb 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs:L 2-3, W 8-4 vs. Rome Braves

Game 1:

SS Abiatal Avelino 0-4, K, SB, CS, put out
DH Tyler Wade 1-2, 2 BB, K, CS
RF Aaron Judge 0-3, K
1B Mike Ford 0-3, K
LF Michael O'Neill 0-3, 2 K
CF Brandon Thomas 0-1, BB, HBP, SB, CS, put out
3B John Murphy 0-2, BB, E5 - throwing error, second of the season
2B Gosuke Katoh 0-3, 2 K
C Kale Sumner 2-2, HR, RBI, BB - first homer of the season

Caleb Smith 5.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, E1 - 50 of 83 pitches for strikes
Philip Walby 1.1 IP, 1 H, 3 R/2 ER, BB, 2 K, 4 WP
Stefan Lopez 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB

Game 2:

SS Tyler Wade 2-4, 2 K, E6 - fielding error(3), batting .300 this season
DH Brandon Thomas 1-2, BB
RF Aaron Judge 2-4, double, RBI, 2 K - batting .296 this season
1B Mike Ford 1-4, 2 RBI, K - batting .321 this season
3B Miguel Andujar 1-2, RBI, E5 - fielding error, fifth of the season
CF Michael O'Neill 2-3, triple, HR, 3 RBI - third homer of the season
2B Gosuke Katoh 0-2, BB, K
C Eduardo de Oleo 0-3, K
LF Mikeson Oliberto 1-3, HR, RBI, 2 K - first homer of the season

Rookie Davis 4 IP, 5 H, 4 R/2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, WP - 50 of 87 pitches for strikes
Jordan Cote 2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Andy Beresford 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K

See you next year, Nova

Last night was a disaster. Ivan Nova was blown up for six runs on four home runs in four innings, but the worst part of it came when he noticeably shook his arm in the middle of an at-bat in the fifth inning and was promptly removed from the game. He underwent a precautionary MRI that same night and the results are very troubling as it turns out he has a partially torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament, the ligament that is associated with Tommy John surgery.

Nova will have a second opinion and he will have to decide on either rehab or going under the knife, but the likely outcome will be surgery. If Nova goes down he will join the battalion of young pitchers, including Kris Medlen, Brandon Beachy, Patrick Corbin, and Matt Moore, to only name a few, who have gone down with the same injury in the last few months. There have been pitchers like Adam Wainwright who have been able to pitch for a few years without surgery, but even in that rare instance, surgery was eventually necessary.

In all likelihood, we have probably seen the last of Nova in 2014 and at least part of 2015 too. Tommy John surgery usually takes about a full year to recover from, so if he elects to have surgery, he should be ready to pitch by this time next year. Still, it won't be that simple as it could take an additional six months for him to recover fully and be the pitcher he once was, if that's even possible. In today's world Tommy John surgery has become very commonplace and simplified which might lead people to think it's no big deal. Of course, surgery is still surgery, and while many pitchers do eventually recover, some are never the same again.

For right now, the Yankees are likely to replace Nova with one of Vidal Nuno, David Phelps, or Adam Warren. There's also an outside shot that, if Nova is placed on the 60-day disabled list, they could bring up Alfredo Aceves from Triple-A. My money would be on Phelps, though.

Nova: This is hard ... i don't even know what to tell you guys ... I'm so sad right now

— Meredith Marakovits (@M_Marakovits) April 20, 2014

After an embarrassingly bad game last night, the Yankees will hope they have better luck this afternoon. Unfortunately, thanks to the doubleheader, Vidal Nuno will be starting and will be kept at a 75-pitch limit. That means the Yankees will have to make sure they have a strong and rested bullpen behind him. Monday's off-day can't come fast enough.

The lineup: Ellsbury 8 Jeter 6 Beltran 9 Soriano DH Teixeira 3 Solarte 5 Gardner 7 Roberts 4 Murphy 2 Nuno 1. Claiborne, Mitchell up

— Erik Boland (@eboland11) April 20, 2014

Jacoby Ellsbury will stay in the leadoff spot with Derek Jeter returning to the lineup and batting behind him. Carlos Beltran is back in the outfield and should be all rested after his tumble over the wall, while Alfonso Soriano hits cleanup as the DH. Mark Teixeira finally returns to the lineup and takes over for Kelly Johnson& Co at first base. Yangervis Solarte stays at third while Brett Gardner drops down to seventh in the lineup. Brian Roberts will be the second baseman and John Ryan Murphy will get the start behind the plate with Brian McCann getting a day off.

To make room for Mark Teixeira on the roster, Ivan Nova has been moved to the disabled list with a partially torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament. To make room for bullpen reinforcements Preston Claiborne and Bryan Mitchell, Matt Daley, who was just called up yesterday, and Scott Sizemore, who let it be known that he does indeed still have an option left, were both sent down to Triple-A. We could still see other moves soon, depending on what they want to do with Nuno after his start, who they want to replace Nova in the rotation, and whether or not he needs to be added to the 60-day disabled list. Right now this roster is a bit of a mess.

UPDATE:

Another day, another DFA: today it's Matt Daley's turn. Sizemore optioned to Scranton

— wallace matthews (@ESPNNYYankees) April 20, 2014

So long, Daley. Who's up next?

The best the Yankees can hope for is to split the series against the Rays. Vidal Nuno is pitching for the Yankees today. Best advice: finish the game quickly and get out of Tropicana Field ASAP.

Dean Anna pitched. Yeah....I've got nothing else.

4/19/14 Daily Prediction Answers

Well, besides Dean Anna pitching, there was indeed a winner last night. Pinstripe Alley Podcast host Andrew Mearns was victorious with 3,000 points. K's, Replays, and Opposing Relief Pitchers were Andrew's friend last night. They might as well help someone.

4/20/14 Daily Predictions & Fun Questions

Bed Firmicity (Not a word): How firm do you like your mattress? Range from Marshmallow Soft to Slab of Iron Hard

Favorite time of the day: Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Early Morning?

Construct you ideal Taco for us. Type of shell, meat, toppings, sauces, etc.

Favorite made up word, whether you created it or not?

Man, it's a really good thing we beat up David Price on Thursday. That game seems so far away right now. Vidal Nuno will get his chance to start for the Yankees. It may very well be an audition with the uncertainty of Ivan Nova's 2014 season right now. Please, by all means, impress us Nuno.

Go Yankees Go You Are #1

A couple of off season acquisitions play well for the Rockies, winning a game featuring a landmark instant replay decision that will likely be used as precedence in making similar calls in the future.

Owen Perkins at MLB.com talks to Colorado Rockies manager Walt Weiss about his outfield platoon.

"I have a good feeling about who they are and what they bring. All those guys can help us win games. "I'll play the matchups -- that's got to be part of it when you've got this many outfielders. But when guys perform well and are swinging the bat well, they're going to get opportunities. Those guys are going to get opportunities at some point this year. They're going to get hot." -Walt Weiss

Perkins also has a break-down of what happened last night with the overturned call featuring Nolan Arenado sliding into home plate.

Patrick Saunders has an entertaining piece on the evolution of Charlie Blackmon and his beard.

It was a good night for the Rockies front office last nigh as Jordan Lyles and Justin Morneau (to key and controversal off season moves) powered the Rockies the win. The Denver Posts NIck Groke on the subject.

It has been almost a full week and a half or so since the last "Troy Tulowitzki could/should leave Colorado story" and now Mark KIszla at the Denver Post seems to have placed the cutoff at whether or not prospect pitchers Jon Gray and Eddie Butler work out. If not, you guessed it, time to ship Tulo to either the Cardinals or Yankees.

In case you missed it, Nathaniel Stoltz at Fangraphs did a profile of Rockies infield prospect Ryan McMahon. With his blazing hot start and his path at 3B blocked by Nolan Arenado, the rumblings are starting to emerge wondering if McMahon can be converted to 2B or 1B. Fow now, he seems pretty comfortable playing hitter.

Around the league:

Jeff Zimmerman at the Hardball Times has an interesting piece on unique ballpark features that affect the play on the field.Believe it or not, Coors Field isn't the only place that can alter/affect gameplay! Who knew?

Paul Swydan at Fangraphs suggests that the reported demise of the Arizona Diamondbacks may be pre-mature and that they have plenty of ways to re-load.

The loss of Nova is a big blow to the rotation.

Ivan Nova has officially been placed on the DL with a partially torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament. While we wait to hear if he's going to have Tommy John surgery, or try to rehab it, Nova is almost certainly going to be out for an extended amount of time.

It is hard to interpret this news as anything other than a pretty big blow to the rotation. On the one hand, Nova had not been pitching that great, putting up an 8.27 ERA, .371 BABIP, and 1.84 WHIP through 20.2 innings pitched. On the other hand, the season just started. Nova's 2013 did not get off to the best start, but he definitely turned it around in the second half of the season. In other words, this injury is really unfortunate. This season is starting to feel like last season in terms of injuries piling up, and there are so many players getting Tommy John surgery this season.

This also means that the Yankees likely need someone to take his place in the rotation for the duration of the season (which is almost the full season). If they look in-house, there don't really seem to be a lot of options. Sure, the competition for Pineda's spot had originally involved David Phelps, Adam Warren and Vidal Nuno. Maybe one of those guys can take Nova's spot, but Warren has looked decent as a late inning reliever, and Phelps has been all over the place. Nuno is pitching today, and it could very well be his audition for Nova's spot.

Are you surprised to hear that it's his UCL, or were you prepared to hear the worst after he was pulled from last night's game? Do you think one of Phelps, Warren or Nuno will take his rotation spot or someone else altogether?

Nova has a partial UCL tear in his elbow and could be done for the year if he needs Tommy John surgery.

The New York Yankees may need some more starting pitching after an MRI revealed Ivan Nova has suffered a partially torn UCL, reports Chad Jennings of USA Today. The news could mean more starts for Vidal Nuño, who started against Tampa Bay on Sunday, unless another option is acquired.

Nova left the game Friday against the Rays after feeling a pop, but said afterwards he wasn't feeling any pain. He allowed eight runs in four innings before giving way to the bullpen in a 16-1 loss.

The AL East-leading Yanks have had pleasant early results from Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda, but Nova and CC Sabathia have struggled for the better part of the year.

Perhaps Nova's slow start was indicative of his injury. Even if he manages to avoid Tommy John surgery in the immediate future, UCL injuries typically lead to the operation.

The Yankees rotation is settled for the most part. With Sabathia, Tanaka, Pineda, and Hiroki Kuroda, New York has what could be a strong group to lean on, but the fifth spot in the sequence could be in flux if Nuño falters.

As things stand now, Nuño has an opportunity to earn that spot. He put together an impressive, albeit small, sample in 2013, pitching to a 2.25 ERA in 20 innings. His stats in the minors are promising as well. Over the last two years, the 26-year-old has cruised through the high minors -- 2.45 ERA in 20 Double-A starts and 1.44 ERA in five Triple-A starts.

Nuño could save the Yankees from having to search for a replacement on the trade market, but if he doesn't general manager Brian Cashman might be forced to begin to do so.

The most available starting pitcher at the moment would likely be Cubs righty Jeff Samardzija. Unlike most other clubs, Chicago isn't quite ready to make a significant push for contention at this point. They could use a few more minor league pitchers in their system, and although the Yanks' top prospect is catcher Gary Sanchez, they also have right-handed pitching prospect Jose Ramirez. Ramirez, 24, has an extensive injury history, but if the Yankees were to pair him with a young minor league arm like Rafael De Paula or Manny Banuelos, the Cubs might consider shipping off Samardzija.

Other than Samardzija, the trade market would probably be abbreviated at this point, since its so early in the year.

The Yanks are likely to give Nuño a long look, and reevaluate the situation closer to the trade deadline, if Nova does indeed require surgery.

Good riddance for now, Tropicana Field.

After making his pitching debut yesterday, Dean Anna was again put in an interesting spot today. With the bases loaded with two outs in the 12th, Anna came to the plate in the biggest at bat of the game. Anna didn't hit a bases clearing double or a grand slam. He just walked. But that walk was enough to score a run and spark a rally that put the Yankees ahead for good. After Anna's walk the offense added a couple more runs to put the Yankees up 5-1 and salvage a split in Tampa.

Neither team could get anything going offensively early. Both Vidal Nuno and Cesar Ramos made it through the first innings with relatively low pitch counts. The Yankees finally broke the deadlock in the top of the fourth inning. Alfonso Soriano led off the inning with a double. After Mark Teixeira flew out and Yangervis Solarte lined out, Brett Gardner came to the plate. Gardner hit one to the wall to right field. Wil Myers jumped at the wall and the ball ended up in his glove. At first it appeared as if he made the catch, but on second look, the ball bounced off the top of the wall and into Myers' glove. Myers attempted to sell that he made the catch for the third out, but the Yankees decided to review the play. Gardner ran hard the whole time and actually did run around all the bases, even when the call on the field was an out. After reviewing the play, the umpires put Gardner on second and had Soriano score on the play. The umpires probably could have or should have put Gardner at third at least, but oh well. Brian Roberts couldn't bring Gardner home, but the Yankees had a 1-0 lead.

The Yankees nearly gave that lead right back in the bottom of the fourth when hits by Ben Zobrist and Logan Forsythe put runners on second and third with just one out. But Nuno struck out Evan Longoria and got Myers to ground out to keep the lead intact.

After Nuno stranded more Rays in the fifth, his day was done. Nuno went five innings, allowing no runs on three hits and two walks, while striking out six. David Phelps came in to start the sixth. Phelps pitched the sixth and got the first out of the seventh without allowing a baserunner. Matt Thornton then came in for Phelps to face James Loney. After giving up a single to Loney, Thornton nearly got Brandon Guyer to ground into a double play. However, Roberts couldn't handle Solarte's thrown and both runners were safe.

Thornton was then taken out in favor of Adam Warren. The first hitter Warren faced was Yunel Escobar who hit a grounder that just eluded Derek Jeter and loaded the bases. Warren then got pinch-hitter Matt Joyce to fly out, but it was deep enough for Loney to tag up and score. Warren struck out David DeJesus to get out of the inning, but the game was now tied. Adam Warren would also pitch the eighth inning without much trouble.

After the Yankees couldn't do anything in the top of the ninth (with Teixiera striking out looking on a very low strike three), Shawn Kelley came in to pitch the ninth. Kelley got in a bit of trouble after allowing a lead-off walk to Loney. But he would escape and strand two runners to send the game to extras.

Neither team could score in the 10th with both teams' closers going a second inning. Neither team could then do anything in the 11th either. In the top of the 12th, the Yankees finally got some offense going. Following a Solarte lead-off walk, Gardner grounded into a force out at second. Brian Roberts then lined out, bringing Brian McCann to the plate. McCann singled, moving Gardner to third. Gardner possible could've scored on the play, but he was held up at third. The Rays then decided to intentionally walk Jacoby Ellsbury to load the bases for Dean Anna. Anna fell behind in the count but battled back and eventually drew a walk to drive home a run.

After the eleven innings of nothing, the Yankees added a couple more in the 12th. Carlos Beltran singled to drive home two more runs and then Soriano blooped a single into right field to score another. The Rays got Teixiera to ground out to end the inning, but the Yankees now led 5-1.

Preston Claiborne (who had pitched scoreless inning in the 11th) allowed a lead-off double to Escobar to start the bottom of the 12th. He struck out Joyce but then walked Jose Molina to put two on. However, after the walk Claiborne got the next two hitters to fly out to end the game. The Yankees finished off a long game, and a long series, with a 5-1 win.

The Yankees have the day off tomorrow before heading to Boston for a series starting Tuesday.

Box score.

Is this really, finally happening?

Yesterday, I tried to convince you not to give up on the Mariners by pointing out that many of their perceived problems are not sustainable. Today, I'm going to take a different tack and observe something encouraging: Dustin Ackley looks amazing.

Editors' note: insert a couple of paragraphs here about small sample size. The readers always love those.

A website that you'll probably be seeing me reference a lot more in the future is the fabulous Baseball Savant, which burst onto the scene last year as a cleanly organized and beautiful data repository with a bushel of neat applications on the side. Unlike most of the database sites out there, BBS feels cohesive, complete, and intuitively laid out while presenting a metric buttload of information. Some of this information, not coincidentally, pertains to Dustin Ackley.

I could copy/paste in all of the relevant figures, but there are about thirty of them, so instead I'll just link you. Check out Dustin Ackley's strike zone location splits by year: 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011.

Scroll all the way down to the "strikeouts" figures, and the good news practically jumps off the page.

In each of his first three seasons, Dustin Ackley ended 10% or more of his plate appearances by striking out on an outside pitch. So far this season, that number is 3%. Three. And the funny thing is, his whiff rate hasn't really improved. He's still swinging and missing at roughly the same rate of outside pitches as he always has. He's just not striking out looking on the outside half of the plate. The difference is being made up in outer half hits, as his hit rate on outside pitches is 130% its previous highest value. Baseball Savant doesn't make it particularly easy to see where those hits went, but I'd be willing to bet most of them went to the opposite field.

The key to his adjustment is in his swing rates. Remember, Swing% is one of the statistics that stabilizes fastest, and a big difference this early in the season does likely indicate a change in approach. So far in 2014, Ackley's Swing% is up by five percentage points. It looks like he's putting his money where his mouth is. and really, truly being more aggressive - especially within the zone.

Pitchers, of course, are adjusting in kind. No longer able to get him for gimme strikeouts on the outer half, they've started to pound the zone. Ackley's seen the second-highest strike rate among all qualified hitters, and it's been the reason for his abnormally low walk rate. It's probably also been responsible for his career-high ISO.

The battle for Dustin Ackley's future has not yet been won. If he fails to turn the ridiculous number of in-zone pitches he's seeing into some extra base hits, pitchers will continue to assault him with strikes, preventing him from reaching his ceiling. If, however, he can start turning around those extra strikes and sending a few over the fence... look out, American League. Dustin Ackley is coming to get you.

There is a potential future where Dustin Ackley is very good. I've never written this at Lookout Landing before, because it seems like the kind of optimism that just asks for a player to fall flat on his face, but - well. Here goes:

The comp that optimistic people like to use for Dustin Ackley, now that he's moved to the outfield, is Alex Gordon. I don't really see it. Gordon swings way more, makes less contact, and has a much stronger arm. The comp that pessimistic people like to use is Jeremy Reed, which is incredibly depressing. I have my own personal comp for Dustin Ackley. There's another outfielder who runs well, almost never swings, and makes a ridiculous amount of contact. You might know him. The Yankees just gave him a lot of money.

His name is Brett Gardner.

Come on, Dustin. Make me proud to own your shirsey.

Last Time on Pinstripe Alley

• Yankees 5, Rays 1: Four-run inning gives Yankees a win in extras
• Ivan Nova diagnosed with partially torn UCL
• Ivan Nova injury: A big blow to the Yankees' rotation despite early struggles
• Daily Yankees Predictions 4/20/14: Go for the split and get out of the Trop
• Yankees lineup vs. Rays - Teixeira returns, Sizemore optioned, Daley designated for assignment
• Ivan Nova goes on the disabled list with a partially torn UCL
• Baby Bomber Recap 4/19/14: Peter O'Brien homers twice as Tampa splits doubleheader

Yankees News

New York Post | Ken Davidoff:Ivan Nova's injury is the first real test of the young season for the Yankees.

Double G Sports | Matt Kardos: The Yankees promoted Bryan Mitchell from Double-A Trenton yesterday.

Pinstripe Pundits | Chris Mitchell: Which pitchers have the most Dellin Betances-like fastball?

New York Post | George A. King III: Ivan Nova's season seems to be in jeopardy after tearing his Ulnar Collateral Ligament.

LoHud | Chad Jennings: Ivan Nova is really sad about the injury news.

OutsidePitchMLB | Vince Lombardi Jr.: Looking back at Mickey Mantle, the best switch-hitter of all-time.

LoHud | Chad Jennings: Yesterday was a big moment for Dean Anna.

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty: Five things that we learned from last night's extra-innings wins.

ESPN New York | Wallace Matthews: If Vidal Nuno can keep up this performance he could earn a spot in the rotation.

Rant Sports | Joe Galotti: Dellin Betances needs to figure out his command issues if he wants to be a reliable late-inning reliever.

NoMaas | SJK: Alfredo Aceves could be a candidate to replace Ivan Nova in the rotation.

timesleader.com | Dave Rosengrant: Take a look at what ex-Yankees Brett Marshall, David Adams, Melky Mesa, among others, have been up to.

ESPN New York | Wallace Matthews: Brett Gardner was cheated out of an inside-the-park home run after an incorrect replay ruling