The Blue Jays are going try to salvage something tonight in the final game of this dreadful series. As everyone now knows, the Jays have lost 15 straight games at Yankee Stadium which borders on ridiculous. If they want to snap the streak they'll have to do it against part-time starter/part-time reliever David "my name is not Michael" Phelps. Toronto will have Drew Hutchison on the mound who is making his Yankee Stadium debut just like Marcus Stroman did two nights ago. Phelps started the season as a reliever, but after all the rotation injuries to the Yankees he was thrust into a starters role, which is something that's happened in each of the past three seasons. In his 8 starts this season he has a 4.44 ERA, with rough starts in June against Kansas City and Seattle really inflating his numbers.

Phelps, a righty, throws a fastball, sinker, cutter, curveball, and changeup with the fastballs hanging in the low-90's. He's actually pretty similar to the pitcher the Blue Jays faced last night in Chase Whitley with a curveball instead of Whitley's slider. The answer to the "Find The Link" today is that David Phelps and Derek Holland were born on the exact same day (we'll see who reads these previews without cheating!). Phelps' changeup can actually have more arm-side movement than his sinker at times so that's a little impressive:

Here's something weird that I came across when looking at David Phelps. In April he had a certain release point, which then changed in May, and in June he's switched back to his original release point. The more horizontal release point is representative of April and June, while the tighter release point is just May:

Hopeful Lineup

Who's hurt? Who's not? Nobody knows!

1. Jose Reyes SS
2. Melky Cabrera LF
3. Edwin Encarnacion 1B
4. Jose Bautista RF
5. Adam Lind DH
6. Dioner Navarro C
7. Juan Francisco 3B
8. Colby Rasmus CF
9. Steve Tolleson 2B

Find The Link

Game In A Sentence

The Yankees look to sweep the AL East leading Blue Jays tonight. David Phelps, coming off one of his best starts of the season, will take the mound tonight. It's prognostication time in the PSA DP thread!

Chase Whitley faced one of the best offenses of the year last night. While the Blue Jays made him work and knocked him out by the fifth inning, Whitley still only gave up two runs and five hits against them. Not a bad outing by any stretch of the imagination. Keep on keeping on, Whitley! The Yankees need you!

6/18/14 Daily Prediction Answers

Aaron Dos is about to channel his inner John Sterling right now as he announces the winner of yesterday's DP thread. NoMahbles has gone back to back and a belly to belly with correct predictions, as he wins for the second day in a row, this time with 3,000 points due to his faith in McCann. Impressive. Can he go for the clean series sweep?

6/19/14 Daily Predictions & Fun Questions

Name a fun, somewhat extreme activity you'd like to do that you've never done before (Skydiving, bungie jumping, etc)

Shopping: Where do you shop more from nowadays? Stores or Online?

What does your Thanksgiving dinner usually consist of?

Name a household chore that you despise doing

David Phelps takes the mound for the Yankees tonight, as they look to sweep the Blue Jays and inch even closer to that coveted first place spot. Phelps is coming of one of his best starts of the year against the Athletics. Here's hoping he can continue where he left off.

Let's Go Yankees

With Old Timers' Day approaching, it's time to get nostalgic.

This weekend, Yankees alumni past and present will convene at Yankee Stadium for Old Timers' Day, a wonderful Yankees tradition that has gone on for several decades. In recent years, we've been seeing more Yankees from the 1996-2003 dynasty show up since they've gradually retired and found their way back to Yankee Stadium.

Given the Yankees' focus this year on honoring several greats from the Joe Torre Era (1996-2007), I thought it would be fun to make a Sporcle Quiz based off a simple concept: who played the most games under Torre during his 12 seasons? To keep it from being an unreasonably long quiz, I limited to 50 names. Remember, position players get to appear in many more games than pitchers.

Share your results below (don't feel obligated to use the spoiler tag; don't look in the comments if you don't want to be spoiled!), and let us know who you missed!

Gosh, the Yankees want to make serious moves this season? When have we heard that one before?

Just as the sun rises every morning, the New York Yankees always seem to be major players in the trade market, each and every season. According to MLB.com's Barry M. Bloom, this year is no different, with general manager Brian Cashman stating before the game on Wednesday that he thinks the team needs to "get better from within" and that he "expect[s] to make moves again."

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With the addition of the second wild card and team's clear willingness to bypass the luxury tax limit once again, it's clear that the Yankees are very much in the mix when it comes to the trade market, which figures to heat up in a few weeks as we enter trade deadline season.

Unfortunately for Cashman and the rest of the organization, the team is far from a World Series contender as it currently stands. The Yankees' 37-33 record is more a product of right-hander Masahiro Tanaka's 11-1 record than of anything else. 31 of the team's 33 losses have come in non-Tanaka started games, and while teams were able to ride the arm of a single pitcher several decades ago, that's not how baseball works right now. For Cashman to make his team into a legitimate contender, he'll have to make some major moves come July, and he appears willing to do so—as per usual.

Cashman will be busy in July if he stays true to his word. Mike Stobe/Getty Images

The question then becomes which players the Yankees could deal, and that's where it gets murky. Recent long-term contract signees Brett Gardner, Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran and Jacoby Ellsbury are obviously out of the equation, despite Gardner and Ellsbury being among the team's would-be trade assets. Mark Teixeira's mammoth contract precludes him from any discussions, and the rest of the lineup (Derek Jeter, Ichiro, Yangervis Solarte, Brian Roberts) is either too young or too old to think about dealing.

Meanwhile, the starting rotation is too banged up to consider anything there either. The Yankees can't really afford to trade away a starter because their rotation injuries have left them thin enough as it is, and they don't really have any appealing players with expiring contracts anyway.

That essentially leaves us with the bench and the bullpen, and dominant right-hander Dellin Betances stands out as a viable trade possibility. Cashman could probably fetch a healthy return for Betances, especially if he finds a desperate contending team in need of bullpen help. The Yanks right-hander is also relatively young, which could appeal to teams looking for a reliable future closer.

In terms of potential targets, Cubs right-hander Jeff Samardzija makes a lot of sense given the team's rotation troubles outside of Tanaka. If Cashman could muster up the resources for a big trade like that (perhaps Betances?), the Yanks would instantly become legitimate contenders, especially if their injured starters come back strong. Making a major move like that would probably necessitate a dive into the team's farm system given the lack of tradable assets on the big league club. With Cashman's history, a move like that would come as no surprise.

Put the "Fire Cashman" and "Sell! Sell! Sell!" narratives on the back burner and just look at the facts.

If you were to spend a moment to peruse the comments on any article about the Yankees--be it on this site or elsewhere on the internet--you would think that the Yankees are playing like the Rays. In fact, the Yankees are three games over .500 and are just a half-game out of the second wild card spot, pegging their playoff odds (per Baseball Prospectus) at 41.3% as of June 18th. That's really not that bad; it's actually 11th in MLB in playoff odds. Yet, the narratives persist. "Fire Cashman", "Tear it down", etc. are what Yankees fans have said, after just anointing the team World Champions after a spending spree this offseason.

The problem with these narratives (both optimistic and pessimistic) is that they're mostly based on emotion more so than fact. The idea that the Yankees would be successful before this season was because they signed a number of stars, and that must create a winning ball club, right? And the pessimism associated with the recent sputter is because of the age-old recency bias, when recent performance drowns out times when the team looked pretty good as a collective. That is why I would recommend reading both Mitchel Lichtman's analysis of projection systems and Dave Cameron's reaction to his post. The fact is--both I and everyone else always have a "what have you done for me lately" mentality when it comes to baseball and, well... everything. We make these assumptions all the time. If you've been fighting with a significant other or family member recently, you're "always fighting"; if you get a couple of bad grades, you're "always failing"; the list goes on. What this assumes (incorrectly) though, is that the current trend will continue at that pace, and this bias is no different in baseball.

How do we push aside this immense subjectivity? We try to trust in projection systems in deciding the future of each player, and we try to ignore (as much as possible) the misleading 2014 stats. Now, that's not always perfect. With players like Dellin Betances, Chase Whitley, and Yangervis Solarte, you may have to do a little detective work with such short track records, especially when they filled different roles in that time. However, for a vast majority of players, projections work pretty well. There are going to be times when they're completely wrong, but it's certainly better than a random guess. People often dismiss the work of these systems because most don't know how they're created or how they work, but they generally do the type of work we already do in our head--they factor in age, track record, injury history, and historical precedence to figure out the probable performance of a player. What they don't do is factor in subjectivity. They don't care if a player doesn't have the will to win or that they're not gritty, because that isn't at all scientific. The more we do that--in all things, not just baseball--the better we would be in making logical decisions and in predicting the future.

When it comes to the Yankees, we can all cool our jets by taking a look at these projections and putting them into context. It was clear that the Yankees would be a slightly-above-.500 team, and that's exactly what they are. We've seen some surprises like Yangervis Solarte and Dellin Betances, but the projections have all adjusted accordingly. The following shows the ZiPS WAR projections coming into the season, and then their projected full season as of now:

The combined total for the pre-season WAR combined: 36.6, and based on the current projections: 30.8. This does not even include the likes of Dellin Betances who had wacky preseason projections because of his failed stint as a starter and other spot performers and relievers who were projected to finish around replacement level. This was just a simple guide to show that these projection systems provided a good median of expected performance, and while there were disappointments and surprises, it certainly wasn't far off. A good or bad month would tick these in the opposite direction as well. The team's recent performance doesn't change their current talent level, only the amount of wins they have currently banked.

The Yankees are not in danger of falling apart, just like it wasn't likely that they would win 100 games coming into this season. Many of the people on this site, thankfully, take the moderate route of expectation, and I don't think this team is far off from what we've expected. We certainly would have liked more of Ivan Nova, Michael Pineda, and CC Sabathia, but the team has survived considering those losses. Given the fact that the latter two won't be lost for the whole season and that the Yankees will try to spring for some relief from the trade market, the Yankees are not in horrible shape. Their recent mediocrity won't doom them, and the projections back that up. And whenever you think they might, take a peek at their projections one more time before you panic.

Rather than shopping for infielders, the Yankees are asking other teams about starting pitchers.

As the trade deadline approaches, the Yankees are asking teams "almost exclusively" about starting pitchers -- rather than infielders -- according to a report from ESPN's Jayson Stark. Stark notes that the Yanks are only in preliminary negotiations at the moment, but their focus appears to be centered on adding to their rotation.

Masahiro Tanaka has been incredible, Hiroki Kuroda has been serviceable, and Chase Whitley has surprised through his first seven starts, but New York has struggled to get consistent production from the back-end of the rotation.

CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, and Michael Pineda are all on the disabled list at the moment, and Vidal Nuno has a 5.24 ERA. Whitley's contributions have been very useful for the Yanks as they chase the Blue Jays in the AL East, but he could regress as hitters adjust.

The top prospects in the organization are led by catcher Gary Sanchez, who most evaluators believe will be able to hit for considerable power at the major league level.

However, they don't currently possess an elite prospect with which to tempt sellers. You can pretty much forget about David Price. Jeff Samardzija is a possibility, but if the market gets competitive, the Yankees might not be able to compete with the more asset-rich contenders looking to acquire him. Jason Hammel, Ian Kennedy, and others could be secondary targets for the Bombers.

The Yankees go for the sweep tonight against the Blue Jays with David Phelps on the mound. Can they do it?

Tonight's lineup: Gardner 7 Jeter 6 Ellsbury 8 Teixeira 3 McCann 2 Beltran DH Ichiro 9 Roberts 4 Johnson 5 Phelps 1

— Erik Boland (@eboland11) June 19, 2014

The Yankees lineup is led by Brett Gardner, Derek Jeter, and Jacoby Ellsbury. Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann, and Carlos Beltran make up the heart of the order. Ichiro Suzuki, Brian Roberts, and Kelly Johnson round out the lineup. It looks like Yangervis Solarte may have lost his everyday starting job, at least for now. Though, if he were to be a platoon player, it should be against right-handers, like they're facing tonight, not lefties like last night.

Over at Baseball America, Ben Badler corrected a previous report saying that the Mets were the favorites to sign shortstop Wilkerman Garcia, when it looks like the Yankees are the ones that are the likeliest to sign him. In a previous post, Badler has described the Venezuelan switch-hitter as an offensive-oriented shortstop with power potential who "makes plenty of contact, doesn't overswing and stays through the middle of the field, with a knack for going the other way with pitches on the outer third." At the moment reviews seem to be mixed on his defense as some believe he has the ability to stick at the position, while others think he fits better as a third baseman. He is expected to sign for a $1 million bonus.

On the minor league front, under-the-radar outfield prospect Taylor Dugas has been promoted to Triple-A. While he lacks any real power, the 24-year-old makes up for it with a .422 OBP over three professional seasons. He could be an interesting platoon option or a useful piece in a future trade.

Manny Banuelosrecently said that he feels ready for an increased workload next time out. He has been limited to just three innings per outing so far this season, but if he proves he can go deeper into games he could start moving up the ladder and be an option for the big league team at some point.

Newsday | David Lennon: Brian Cashman expects to make some kind of move in the next few weeks.

New York Post | Ken Davidoff:Chase Whitley might need to thank Masahiro Tanaka for his success as a starter so far.

LoHud | Chad Jennings: Kelly Johnson is starting to get his groove back.

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty: It's taken a little longer for Derek Jeter to get rolling, but it looks like he's finally come around.

CBS Sports | Mike Axisa: MLB and MLBPA have announced the beginning of the Puerto Rico Summer League this season.

ESPN New York | Wallace Matthews: Adam Warren has been too good in the bullpen for the Yankees to move him back into the rotation.

New York Times | Tyler Kepner: The mediocre Yankees can thank parity around baseball for keeping them in the playoff race.

The Star-Ledger | Jorge Castillo: After undergoing Tommy John surgery in April, Ivan Nova should begin his throwing program in September.

A look at the last seven days for the five teams of the American League East

1. Toronto Blue Jays

SBN Blog: Bluebird Banter
2014 record: 41-33
2014 RS/RA: 342/311 (+31)
6/13-6/19 RS/RA: 19/21 (-2)

Week in Review

After splitting last weekend's four-game series with the Orioles, the Blue Jays traveled to New York where they were swept by the Yankees. In the series against the Orioles the Jays pitched well, but in their two losses the offense fell asleep (or, was shut down by Kevin Gausman and Bud Norris, if you prefer). Game one of their series with the Yankees was a low scoring affair, but the Blue Jays were shut down by Masahiro Tanaka. But in games two and three the Jays pitching couldn't keep it together. A loss on Wednesday was thanks to a bullpen meltdown, and on Thursday Drew Hutchison couldn't get out of the fifth inning as he gave up four runs in the 6-4 loss.

Since June 7th, the Blue Jays are just 3-9 and their lead in the A.L. East has gone from 6 games to just 1.5.

Upcoming Week

It's interleague time for the Blue Jays, who play a weekend series on the road against the Reds. Then they're back home on Monday for three games against the Yankees.

Injuries and News

The Jays got beat up in their series last weekend against the Orioles and they are still feeling the effects. Relief pitcher Brett Cecil suffered a left groin strain last Friday in Baltimore, then tried to come back too early and hurt it more in the series against the Yankees. He's been placed on the DL, replaced by RHP Steve Delabar. On Saturday against the O's, Adam Lind fouled a ball off his foot and had to be put into a walking boot. He's been day-to-day and hasn't played since. And R.A. Dickey also suffered a groin strain against the O's, but he's good to go tonight in Cincinnati. The Blue Jays could also be without 2B/3B Brett Lawrie for a few games, who was hit by a pitch in the left hand on Wednesday. X-rays were negative, but he wasn't in then lineup yesterday.

CF Colby Rasmus played on Wednesday for the first time since May 12th. He had been on the DL with a strained hamstring. Anthony Gose was optioned to AAA to make room for Rasmus on the roster.

2. New York Yankees

SBN Blog: Pinstripe Alley
2014 record: 38-33
2014 RS/RA: 291/310 (-19)
6/13-6/19 RS/RA: 29/23 (+6)

Week in Review

The Yankees had a bi-coastal week, spending last weekend in Oakland where they lost two of three to the Athletics, then traveling home to play the Blue Jays, who they swept. In their one win against the A's, David Phelps pitched 6 2/3 innings of shutout baseball, which is pretty impressive against the A's. But their starting pitching after that was pretty bad. Hiroki Kuroda and Vidal Nuno combined to give up 12 runs in just 7 2/3 innings. Nuno was especially bad, lasting only three innings. Things got better for them against the Blue Jays, first with another good start by Tanaka, who struck out 10 and gave up one run in a close 3-1 win. Phelps and Chase Whitley also pitched well against the Jays, and had the benefit of 7 and 6 runs of support, respectively.

Upcoming Week

The Yankees and Orioles play a three-game series this weekend in New York, then the Yankees go to Toronto for another series with the Blue Jays.

Injuries and News

Nothing much new on the injury front for the Yankees, other than the return of backup catcher Francisco Cervelli. CC Sabathia has thrown a few bullpen sessions on his stem-cell injected bum knee, but won't return for at least six more weeks. And Michael Pineda (right shoulder muscle) hasn't yet begun throwing and won't be back until August at the earliest.

In All-Star news, Derek Jeter still holds the lead for shortstops. Alexei Ramirez is less than 250K votes behind him, so you can either let Jeter take the Cal Ripken treatment right to a starting spot, or you can go out and vote for Ramirez. Your choice.

3. Baltimore Orioles

2014 record: 37-34
2014 RS/RA: 296/298 (-2)
6/13-6/19 RS/RA:18/21 (-3)

Week in Review

The Orioles went 3-3 in the last seven days. After picking up a win in the first game of their series with Toronto, they lost two of three over the weekend for a split. They then took two of three from the Rays. The offense had some trouble, averaging just three runs per game and getting shut out once. But the starting pitching kept them in the games, even the ones they lost. They debuted their new six-man rotation and Ubaldo Jimenez, Wei-Yin Chen, Bud Norris, Chris Tillman, Miguel Gonzalez, and Kevin Gausman combined to give up only 13 runs in 37 1/3 innings, an ERA of 3.13. Only Gonzalez gave up more than three runs and pitched less than six innings. The bullpen wasn't as sharp as they gave up runs in five of the six games played.

Upcoming Week

Three games in New York starting tonight followed by a three-game series with the White Sox at Camden Yards beginning on Monday.

Injuries and News

Other than the inevitable Tommy John surgery for Matt Wieters, which took place on Tuesday, the O's are currently pretty light on injuries. Down on the farm, though, Nolan Reimold's rehab assignment went south as he has been sidelined with a groin injury. Oh, Nolan.

Both Nelson Cruz and Matt Wieters are still leading their positions in voting for the All Star Game. Adam Jones is currently fifth among outfielders, about 400K behind the third place spot currently held by Melky Cabrera.

4. Boston Red Sox

SBN Blog: Over the Monster
2014 record: 34-39
2014 RS/RA: 280/296 (-16)
6/13-6/19 RS/RA: 21/15 (+6)

Week in Review

The Red Sox scored 21 runs over the last seven days, but 10 of them came in one game, a win against Cleveland last Friday. Since then they haven't scored more than two runs in any game, which makes their 4-3 record pretty surprising. They have their pitching to thank for that. With the exception of last night's 4-2 loss to the Oakland A's, in which Jake Peavy gave up four runs (three earned), the Red Sox starting pitching was exceptional. Twice their starters didn't allow a run (Rubby De La Rosa - 0 runs, 7 innings, and John Lackey - 0 runs, 9 innings), and none allowed more than three. Altogether over the seven games the Red Sox starting staff pitched a total of 47 1/3 innings with just 10 earned runs allowed. That's an ERA of 1.90. The bullpen was also very good, giving up just two earned runs (four total) over the seven games. If the Red Sox hitters could have done anything over the last week the team could easily have won seven in a row. Instead they settle for 1-2 against the Indians (2-2 over the four-game series that started on Thursday), 3-0 against the Twins, and 0-1 so far against the A's.

Upcoming Week

The Red Sox are on the west coast for a seven-game road trip. They started a four-game series last night against the A's, then travel to Seattle for three games against the Mariners.

Injuries and News

The Red Sox are close to getting a lot of their guys back. Shane Victorino (right hamstring), Will Middlebrooks (fractured finger), and Clay Buchholz (hyperextended knee) are all on minor league rehab assignments. Victorino should be back next week, and the other two by the end of the month. Felix Doubront (left shoulder strain) is back and starting tonight in place of the suspended Brandon Workman. Mike Carp remains on the DL with a broken foot.

Workman started his suspension on Wednesday for throwing behind Evan Longoria's head on May 30th. He appealed but his suspension was not shortened. He will be eligible to pitch again on Tuesday.

In this week's edition of Reasons to Hate David Ortiz, the DH disagreed with the official scorer's error call on a ball he hit on Wednesday. Here is the play, you be the judge. After the inning Ortiz looked up into the press box and gave the official scorer a thumbs down, then after the game had this to say: "It's so hard here, man. I thought people were supposed to have your back at home and it never happens. It's always like that. I've been here for more than a decade and the scorekeepers here are always horrible. This is home, man." You stay classy, David Ortiz.

5. Tampa Bay Rays

SBN Blog: DRays Bay
2014 record: 29-45
2014 RS/RA: 270/318 (-48)
6/13-6/19 RS/RA: 28/24 (+4)

Week in Review

The Rays were 4-3 over the last week, thanks in great part to the Houston Astros. The Rays have actually been a worse team than the Astros this year, record-wise, but the Rays beat them three times out of four over the past seven days. It started them taking two of three on the road last weekend, then they picked up another win against the Astros at home last night in the start of a four-game series. Pitching was the key as in the three wins David Price, Alex Cobb, and Chris Archer combined to give up just four runs in 21 innings with an impressive 29 strikeouts. They didn't have as much luck against the Orioles, to whom they lost two of three. They did score five runs each in the first two games of the series, but only won one on account of poor pitching from Erik Bedard. And in the series finale they were shut out and took the loss despite another great game from Cobb.

Upcoming Week

The Rays started a four-game home series with the Astros in a battle of last place teams. On Monday Pittsburgh will arrive at the Trop for three games, before the Rays have an off game on Thursday.

Injuries and News

LHP Jeremy Hellickson looks to be one rehab start away from returning to the Rays. He has been recovering from elbow surgery. The Rays already anemic offense suffered a blow when they had to place David DeJesus on the DL with a broken left ring finger. He suffered the break on a check swing in Wednesday's game against the Orioles. OF Brandon Guyer, who had been rehabbing a broken thumb, was activated in DeJesus' place.

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

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:L 4-7 vs. Toledo Mud Hens

LF Jose Pirela 2-5, double - batting .324/.363/.447 this season
2B Rob Refsnyder 2-3, double, RBI, 2 BB - 6 for his last 18 (.333)
CF Zoilo Almonte 1-5, RBI
3B Scott Sizemore 1-4, double, RBI, K - batting .270 this season
1B Kyle Roller 2-4 - batting .298 w/ SWB
RF Zelous Wheeler 1-3, BB, K
DH Russ Canzler 0-2, BB
C Austin Romine 0-4
SS Carmen Angelini 0-4

Alfredo Aceves 3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, K - 36 of 63 pitches for strikes
Pat Venditte 2.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Francisco Rondon 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB
Danny Burawa 1.1 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, WP
Matt Daley 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, K

Double-A Trenton Thunder: Off

High-A Tampa Yankees:W 3-2 vs. Lakeland Flying Tigers

CF Jake Cave 1-3, 2 BB, K
SS Cito Culver 2-5, K
DH Greg Bird 3-5, double, RBI, K - 7 for his last 17 (.411)
3B Dante Bichette Jr. 1-5, RBI
LF Yeicok Calderon 3-3, 2 doubles, HR, RBI, HBP - first homer of the season
RF Aaron Judge 2-4, K - High-A debut
1B Matt Snyder 1-4, K
2B Jose Rosario 0-4
C Trent Garrison 0-4, 2 K

Dan Camarena 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, hit batsman - 3 GO/3 AO
Jaron Long 3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs:W 10-7 vs. Kannapolis Intimidators

LF Michael O'Neill 2-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI - sixth and seventh homers of the season
SS Tyler Wade 1-3, RBI, BB, 2 K, 2 SB
3B Miguel Andujar 1-4, BB, K, SB
1B Reymond Nunez 2-5, double, RBI, K - batting .278 w/ Charleston
CF Dustin Fowler 3-5, 3 doubles, 2 RBI
C Eduardo de Oleo 1-2, RBI, 2 BB, E2 - throwing error, seventh of the season
DH Brandon Thomas 0-3, 2 HBP
2B Gosuke Katoh 1-4, 2 K, SB
RF Mikeson Oliberto 1-3, double, 2 K, HBP

Rookie Davis 4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K - 51 of 78 pitches for strikes
Omar Luis 2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Giovanny Gallegos 1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, K, 2 WP
Evan Rutckyj 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 2 hit batsmen

Short Season-A Staten Island Yankees:W 5-4 vs. Aberdeen IronBirds

CF Collin Slaybaugh 2-4, double, BB, SB
RF Austin Aune 0-5, K
1B Chris Breen 1-4, double, RBI, BB, K, E3(1st) - batting .389 to start the season
2B Ty McFarland 1-4, triple, BB, 2 K
3B Brady Steiger 1-3, BB, K
LF Nathan Mikolas 2-3, 2 RBI, BB, K, SB
SS Thairo Estrada 2-4, SB
DH Bubba Jones 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 K - first homer of the season
C Isaias Tejeda 1-3, BB, K

David Palladino 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R/1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K - 3 GO/3 AO
Chad Taylor 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 2 WP
Matt Wotherspoon 1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB
Andury Acevedo 0.1 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, hit batsman
Jose Pena 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, WP

He's under-performed offensively, but luckily half of his value comes from a skill that doesn't incorporate slumping.

There's been a lot said about Brian McCann's first half slump in his first year as a Yankee, and much of this talk implies that McCann is playing under his valuation, that the Yankees are paying too much for a catcher on the decline. So far this season McCann has hit .226/.286/.372 (80 wRC+) with eight home runs, the worst batting line since his injury maligned 2012 in which he hit 87 wRC+ and only put up 1.7 fWAR. Luckily, a catcher's value is not solely derived from his hitting ability. There have been numerous comments already about the positive rapport he has with the pitching staff, and his defense has been fantastic. How fantastic? By FanGraphs' Defensive Runs, Brian McCann is worth 5.7 runs, 6th among all catchers. There's another aspect of his game that is elite – pitch framing.

The Yankees, at least as of late, have valued pitch framing in catchers. The Yankees last had Russell Martin, who was one of the better steals in recent history, and his receiving abilities are now considered among the best in the game. Chris Stewart, though a pumpkin at the plate, was also a great pitch framer. While this skill is real and (generally) definable, the market undervalues it and attributes the "extra" strikes to the pitcher. The Yankees took advantage of that with their acquisition of McCann, a skill that could, and will, make up for his offensive losses.

To compare, here are Brian McCann's framing abilities in comparison to Chris Stewart in 2013 and Russell Martin in 2012, courtesy of Baseball Prospectus Catching stats:

Brian McCann is currently around the same pace of framing runs as both Martin and Stewart, and looks to pick up about 20 runs when the season comes to a close. That's worth about 2.0 wins, which is technically already baked into the pitching staff's numbers, but it's still an example of his abilities. If you factor the Rest-of-Season projections where he is projected to finish about 100 wRC+ and 2.0 WAR, that would essentially make him a 4.0 WAR player--even while slumping for a large portion of the year so far.

McCann is currently getting paid $17 million for 2014, and even with this current slump, that's still a bargain. He is projected to finish the season at around 4.0 WAR if you include his pitching framing ability, which in reality would command about $28 million in a perfectly rational free agent market (where $/WAR = $7 million). While many could argue that the Yankees would have been better off just signing Russell Martin for 2013 (which is perfectly reasonable), the fact is that the market is so undervalued that the Yankees did not lose much. The Yankees are paying for a player that could produce his whole salary's value in three years of play, even if he doesn't hit as well as he should. Don't get wrapped in McCann's offensive slump, because most of his value lies elsewhere.

John Lott in the National Post tell us that the Blue Jays have called up Liam Hendriks to make tonight's start against the Reds. No word on who will be making the trip back to Buffalo yet. I'd imagine it will be Steve Delabar or Chad Jenkins. Liam gets the start to give our starters am extra day of rest. Since R. A. Dickey came out of his last start with groin tightness, maybe it isn't a bad idea, though Dickey says he is fine to start tonight. I guess it isn't a bad idea to push everyone back a day, though I'd think Mark Buehrle wouldn't be too thrilled with the plan.

Also, yesterday, the Blue Jays sent out a press release saying that Ricky Romero had knee surgery to "clean out (debridement) the quadriceps tendon inflammation". He'll miss the rest of the season. Next year is the last guaranteed year on his contract. I would imagine there is no chance the Jays would be picking up the option, but he'll want to be healthy to show his best, if he has any hope of another team picking him up.

UPDATE (Minor Leaguer)

As Tom imagined, Steve Delabar was the one chosen to come off the roster for Liam Hendriks. After his re-optioning, Delabar has 72 hours to report to triple-A Buffalo, which means he could potentially miss the entire "Blue Jays Weekend" festivities down in Buffalo and miss out wearing their kickass special uniforms.

Delabar had a forgettable appearance on Thursday night against the Yankees, allowing a leadoff single then walking three batters to force in a run.

His strikezone plot from Brooks Baseball:

If you like wings, try issuing a four-pitch walk with the bases loaded to a guy who’s in an 0-for-22 slump. Free trip to Buffalo!

— Jesse Spector (@jessespector) June 20, 2014

Following a series win vs. Tampa, the O's head up the east coast for a weekend set with the New York Yankees.

Friday, 20 June (7:05pm) - Ubaldo Jimenez @ Hiroki Kuroda

Game notes: Jimenez has struggled to a 2-8 record this season with Baltimore, but he is coming off of a quality start in his last appearance.  Lefties continue to trouble the 30 year old righty, as he's walked 31 of them and struck out only 29.  Additionally, he's walked 5 batters in 3 of his last 5 starts.  Can he improve against the Yankees?

A reason to watch: Another huge divisional series for the Orioles.  Toronto still leads the AL East, but the Yankees are just 1.5 games back and the Orioles an additional game behind them.  A good weekend for the Orioles could see them up to the top of the division.

Scouting report: Kuroda might not be putting up the numbers he has in seasons past, but he's been heating up in the month of June.  As the season toils on, Kuroda's numbers have gradually improved - he's allowing just a .543 OPS in June.  Kuroda utilizes a solid sinker/splitter/slider combo, even if he's lost a little velocity.  The splitter and slider are usually plus pitches.  A lefty heavy lineup might be beneficial as the LHB OBP against Kuroda is 40 points higher.

Maybe hot: Chris Davis (.609 SLG, .905 OPS, 27 PA), Nick Markakis (.364/.364/.591 slash line, 22 PA)

Maybe not: J.J. Hardy (.417 OPS, 24 PA)

Saturday, 21 June (1:05pm) - Bud Norris vs. Vidal Nuno

Game notes: Game is a 1:05pm - an earlier start than the O's usually see on Saturday, but it might help them get the game in if there's any rain.  Bud Norris will pitch against Vidal Nuno.  Norris has allowed just 1 ER in his last 15 innings.

A reason to watch: Well, it's a soft-tossing lefty so the chances of a no hitter seem pretty high, but Bud Norris is coming off of back-to-back quality starts.  Watching him pitch has been far more enjoyable than predicted at the start of the season.

Scouting report: Nuno is a former Cleveland Indians draft pick who makes occasional starts/bullpen appearances for the Yankees after three years in the NY organization.  The soft-tossing lefty splits between a four seam and two seam fastball, combined with a slider and curve.  His velocity tops out in the low 90s, but generally sits around 88MPH.  The four seamer has been his best pitch thus far - the slider has been the exact opposite (1.122 OPS against).

Sunday, 22 June (2:05pm) - Chris Tillman vs. Masahiro Tanaka

Game notes: Tillman vs. Tanaka.  Who will own it?  Tillman has been up and down, but the last two starts (13 innings) have been up.  Can he match Tanaka?

A reason to watch: Best pitching matchup of the series.  It's hard to like things about a division rival, but Tanaka has been pretty fun to watch - he's a strikeout machine.

Scouting report: Tanaka has faced the Orioles once and posted a quality start (which included 10K).  He's been virtually unhittable against most teams.  His arsenal is exceptional - he throws a ton of different pitch types, but relies heavily on a splitter/slider combo, which has been plain devastating.  Tanaka posts a 30.1% swinging strike rate on the splitter.  He's a solid low-90s arm, but can dial it up to around 95 when he needs to.

The Yankees just completed a three game sweep of the Blue Jays, inching closer and closer to first place in the AL East. Right behind the Yankees are the Baltimore Orioles, who are in the Bronx for three games of their own. PSA DP coming right up!

David Phelps faced two great offenses in a row with the Athletics and the Blue Jays. Both times, he has come through clean and pitched brilliantly. It's getting hard to not get one's hopes up about Phelps coming around. Needless to say, we need him right now and if he continues pitching at this pace, it's going to make the month of July a lot better.

6/19/14 Daily Prediction Answers

The Aardvards are piss drunk after sweeping the Blue Jays. Probably too hard of a celebration for a Thursday night, but hey, they think they've earned it. After throwing up for hours afterwards, they pulled through and did the math and found that selftitled85 is our winner with 3,000 points. Bravo.

6/20/14 Daily Predictions & Fun Questions

Sandwiches: Do you cut the crust off or leave it be?

If you could be any bird, what bird would you be?

Besides baseball, what is your favorite thing about the summer?

Snakes: Pets or ABSOLUTELY NOT?

The Orioles, who are right behind the Yankees, come into the Bronx for a three game weekend series. Hiroki Kuroda will get the start tonight. His last time out was not one of his better starts, so here's hoping he can turn it around tonight. Keep these wins coming, Yankees. It's in your best interests. That's not a thread, mind you. Merely a suggestion.

Go Yankees Go Baseball.

Also, more World Cup action for those interested!

The podcast wonders how exactly one could impress Tanaka; chances are Vidal Nuno could not.

Maybe one day Tanaka will like his pitching performances... maybe.

[0:26] The Yankees just swept the Blue Jays and the pitching's riding high...
[3:10] except for the weak link: Vidal Nuno. What to do? Does it make sense to move Adam Warren to the rotation?
[9:22] Masahiro Tanaka: Okay at baseball, I guess
[14:20] Our amusement at Tanaka's dismissal of his own starts
[19:38] Brief aside about Clayton Kershaw's ridiculous 15-strikeout no-hitter
[24:00] Thoughts regarding the Francisco Cervelli/John Ryan Murphy swap and Murphy trade rumors
[29:31] The return of Matt F.'s "Real or Fake" minor league team name game!
[38:18] Tweetbag: Chances Yankees don't trade a catcher, Tanaka and Rookie of the Year voting, legitimacy of the Blue Jays, Brian McCann's possible resurgence, comparing Tanaka's first 14 starts to other starts throughout history, which MLB starters would you take over Tanaka, and more.
[1:01:00] Yankee/Mitre of the Week
[1:07:00] Matt F. reveals the Joe DiMaggio and Pete Rose of hit by pitch records

Podcast link (Length: 1:10:32)

iTunes link

RSS feed

Yankees getting all the prospects

The July 2nd signing period is quickly approaching and by now you've heard that the Yankees plan to spend big on international players this year. I think we can all agree that they were serious because they've now been connected to 10 of the top 30 international prospects and even have unofficial agreement with some of them and are just waiting until they can make it all official.

Here are the 10 players and where they rank among the top 30:

No. 1 Dermis Garcia

No. 2 Nelson Gomez

No. 5 Juan De Leon

No. 9 Antonio Arias

No. 7 Jonathan Amundaray

No. 13 Hyu-Jun Park

No. 14 Wilkerman Garcia

No. 16 Diego Castillo

No. 18 Christopher Torres

No. 25 Miguel Flames

No. 29 Bryan Emery

We had previously reported that the Yankees were connected to Dermis Garcia, Nelson Gomez, Juan De Leon, as well as Jonathan Amundaray, Christopher Torres, and Diego Castillo. There was also Miguel Flames, Antonio Arias, and Hyu-Jun Park, while Wilkerman Garcia has been mistakenly connected to the Mets instead of the Yankees.

As of right now, it has been reported that they have deals with Garcia, Gomez, and Torres, and have a deal in place with Hyu-Jun Park. These will become official once the players turn 16 and are officially allowed to sign.

You can read all about the top 30 prospects at MLB.com. Yes, it will be a long time before we see any of these players even near the majors, but who interests you the most? I'm partial to the idea of Garcia, Gomez, and Park being highly rated infield prospects. The Yankees definitely need those, and this large of a haul has to produce someone useful.

The Yankees swept the Blue Jays in three games and will look to keep the good times rolling in the first game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Tonight's lineup: Gardner 7 Jeter 6 Ellsbury 8 Teixeira 3 McCann 2 Beltran DH Ichiro 9 Roberts 4 Solarte 5 Kuroda 1

— Erik Boland (@eboland11) June 20, 2014

Brett Gardner, Derek Jeter, and Jacoby Ellsbury are at the top of the lineup. Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann, and Carlos Beltran make up the middle of the order. Ichiro Suzuki, Brian Roberts follow, with Yangervis Solarte back in the lineup batting ninth and looking to get back on track. If he can.

Alex Rodriguez has officially dropped his malpractice lawsuit against Yankees team doctor Chris Ahmad. This officially frees A-rod from his last ongoing legal battle that he has been involved in since first being suspended last season. He admits that he wants no legal distractions as he begins to get ready for the 2015 season. If 2014 is any indication, it looks like a 39-year-old Alex Rodriguez, coming off a year-long suspension, could still be of some use to the Yankees.

Cuban power hitter Yasmani Thomas has officially defected from his home country and will undergo the long process of becoming declared an MLB free agent over the next few months. At the age of 23 and with five years of time spent playing professional ball in Cuba, Thomas will be exempt from international bonus pools. Ben Badler of Baseball America describes him as "a righthanded-hitting corner outfielder, Tomas can hit towering home runs thanks to the strength from his thickly-built 6-foot-1, 230-pound frame. Tomas has 70 raw power on the 20-80 scale." Badler also mentioned that Thomas has some flaws in his bat, with an uppercut swing that allowed pitchers in the WBC to take advantage of his tendency to strikeout.

It might take until 2015 for Thomas to ultimately sign, but the Yankees really need to go after this guy. They are already spending big on players that will accrue penalties, so they shouldn't let someone go who could not only cost much less, but would also be able to help the big league team much sooner.

Ubaldo Jimenez pitches on six days rest and will try to limit the walks and get a W. New York will counter with Oriole-killer Hiroki Kuroda.

The Orioles and Yankees have battled one another for second place in the division for most of the season. At this moment, New York finds themselves in front by a game. It is a match-up of mediocrity with each team looking to string together any form of evidence that they are better than a middling club. A win over the other may provide that.

Pitchers

RHP Hiroki Kuroda, New York

2014 stats: 14 G, 4-5, 4.32 ERA, 83.1 IP, 10 HR, 17 BB, 57 SO, .266 BAA, 1.25 WHIP
Last start (@ Oakland): 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 SO, L

Pitch Selection in 2014 (Fangraphs)

Kuroda has been performing slightly below his career averages across the board thus far in 2014. His ERA is a bit elevated and that may be from a lower strikeout rate (6.16 K/9 in 2014; 6.71 for career), a higher batting average on balls in play (.291; .282) and a higher home run to fly ball ratio (11.2%; 10.2%). They are minor but meaningful slips.

The 39-year-old has faced Baltimore seven times in his career. All seven have been starts and it has been a good showing for the Japanese starter. Here is his line against the O's: 3-3, 3.15 ERA, 1 CG, 27 SO, 2 BB. Yeah, 27 strikeouts to just two walks. That is a 13.50 SO/BB ratio. Unacceptable for the Orioles, especially when Kuroda has only a 3.27 SO/BB for his entire career.

RHP Ubaldo Jimenez, Baltimore

2014 stats: 14 G, 2-8, 4.86 ERA, 76.0 IP, 9 HR, 45 BB, 68 SO, .247 BAA, 1.51 WHIP
Last start (vs. Toronto): 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 5 BB, 2 SO, L

What can really be said here that Oriole fans don't already know? Jimenez has been a disappointment to this point. He was good his last time out against a tough Toronto lineup. However, he hurts himself with the walks. In his last three starts he has thrown 14 innings and walked 14. That can't happen.

This Yankee team he faces tonight is in the middle of the pack in terms of walks. So, of course they will walk a half dozen times tonight. And do you really wanna know Ubaldo's numbers against the Evil Empire? Fine, he is 1-4 in five starts with a 6.67 ERA and a .298 batting average against. Oh and his strikeout to walk ratio versus the Yanks? 1.53.

Lineups

Baltimore Orioles (w/ career stats against Kuroda)

Pearce is DH'ing and Flaherty gets the nod at second. Both are a little bit of a surprise. Yes, Pearce has been good as of late but he hasn't fared well with Kuroda. Delmon Young, the alternative to Pearce, is 1-for-3 in his attempts with the Yankees righty. Either way it is a small sample size.

Flaherty hasn't been playing much but he gets a chance here. The regular starter, Jonathan Schoop is 1-for-2 in his career against Kuroda. It is a coin flip here.

New York Yankees (w/ career stats against Jimenez)

Jimenez has struggled with the Bronx Bombers in the past but he only seems to have to worry about a couple of these guys. Ellsbury has smashed him and both McCann and Beltran have had decent success.

On the bench, some names to look out for are Alfonso Soriano and Kelly Johnson. Soriano is 4-for-11 against Jimenez. Johnson hasn't had a ton of success (8-for-34, .235 BA, 5 strikeouts) but has the benefit of seeing him a lot and has managed a few nice moments (4 doubles, 10 walks)

Game Notes

• Manny Machado has unveiled a salsa line....my god.
• Jimenez is pitching on six days rest. The last time he did that was against Minnesota when he went seven scorless innings and struck out 10.
• Steve Lombardozzi is in a 1-for-23 slump down at Norfolk
• The Aberdeen Ironbirds have made their outfield fence orange and changed their uniform colors to match the Orioles orange and black scheme.
• Davis, who his his 100th home run for the Orioles on Tuesday, is the 23rd player in O's history to do so.

After dropping a third and final lawsuit, this one against a Yankees' team doctor, Alex Rodriguez finally has a clear path to return to the field in 2015. But do the Yankees want him back?

Outside of his season-long suspension, the last barrier between Alex Rodriguez and a major league field was removed when the Yankees third baseman dropped a lingering lawsuit on Friday, according to Rodriguez's lawyer Alan S. Ripka per ESPN New York.

The lawsuit -- against Yankees team doctor Chris Ahmad and New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia Medical Center for his alleged misdiagnosis of Rodriguez's hip injury during the 2012 playoffs -- was the third and final lawsuit preventing the three-time MVP from coming back in 2015. Obviously, for himself and the cost of his malpractice insurance, Dr. Ahmad was very happy with the news. His lawyer, Peter T. Crean, said the orthopedic surgeon was especially pleased that the rescinding of the lawsuit would "demonstrate that Dr. Ahmad's care was complete and appropriate."

The other two suits, which involved MLB commissioner Bud Selig, the MLB Players Association, the Yankees and the league, were dropped in February when he saw his suspension reduced from 211 games to 162. And as long has he can play, the Yankees expect him back in the lineup next season.

"He is under contract, so you kind of expect him to be back," Yankees manager Joe Girardi told reporters. Girardi seems less confident whether he'll be able to perform anywhere near the level of his massive contract. "Obviously, sitting out a year, as players have seen, is not the easiest thing to do. You have to try to stay as prepared as you can, doing whatever it takes to stay prepared."

According to Ripka, this is all being done to allow Rodriguez to prepare for the 2015 season distraction-free, telling reporters, "[Rodriguez] wants to focus on being the best baseball player he can be, the best Yankee he can be, and wants nothing to distract him from those goals."

And, with this all behind him and three years left on his contract, Rodriguez likely has another few seasons of baseball to look forward to.

Tonight was a night of wasted opportunities for the Yankees and still they managed to win. They had nine hits and six walks, but only managed to score a single run through the first eight innings. You would think that facing the struggling Ubaldo Jimenez in Yankee Stadium would be a matchup they might benefit from, but they weren't able to do much. The Orioles bullpen kept the team in check before the Yankees walked off on a Carlos Beltran home run in the bottom of the ninth.

The game started off well for the Yankees when they scored a run in the first. Jacoby Ellsbury singled, stole second, and scored on a Mark Teixeira double. The Yankees looked like they were going to take control of the game early, but they couldn't make anything happen on several occasions.

They rolled into the second inning ready to continue their onslaught against Ubaldo Jimenez when Carlos Beltran doubled. Brian Roberts singled, stole second, and Yangervis Solarte walked, giving them the bases loaded with only one out. Unfortunately, third base coach Rob Thomson decided to do what he does best and send Beltran home after a very shallow fly ball to Adam Jones. Needless to say, it ended very, very poorly as an inning-ending double play and mo one scored. They had another chance in the fifth when Ubaldo walked Brett Gardner, he stole second, and both Derek Jeter and Jacoby Ellsbury walked to load the bases with two outs. Unfortunately, Mark Teixeira grounded out to first base and the inning ended without a run.

Hiroki Kuroda took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but then it all came to an end before the excitement could even start. Nick Hundley and Steve Pearce each hit a double, and just like that the game was tied 1–1. The inning didn't end there, though, as Adam Jones singled to allow the Orioles to take a one run lead. Kuroda went on to give up two runs on four hits, a walk, and collect six strikeouts in six innings. As usual, he got almost no run support.

The Yankees came back and threatened in the bottom half of the inning when Brian McCann singled and Beltran walked. Too bad they messed it up when Ichiro Suzuki hit a pop-out bunt. Solarte at least managed to walk the bases loaded to chase Jimenez from the game, but they missed out on scoring yet again. So glad they bunted.

Just for kicks, they tried to rally again with two outs in the eighth against Darren O`Day. Alfonso Soriano pinch hit for Ichiro and hit a bloop single into center field. Brian Roberts got a hit to put two on, but Solarte wasn't able to do anything and they went another inning without scoring a run.

David Huff pitched the ninth, striking out two, but also giving up what was a very essential run at the time. Jonathan Schoop reached on a Solarte throwing error, but then Huff gave up two singles to let the Orioles score an insurance run to make it 3–1 and seemingly put it out of reach for the Yankees offense that was suddenly starting to turn into a pumpkin.

The ninth inning change all that, though. Brett Gardner got everyone excited with a single off Zach Britton. After the lefty rebounded and got two outs, Mark Texeira walked and Brian McCann singled to score a run and put the Yankees to within one. Carlos Beltran came up to the plate and after five straight fastballs he finally swung the bat and launched the ball to left-center field for a walkoff three-run home run to save the offense from itself.

Other than Huff, the bullpen (mostly) did their job. Shawn Kelley pitched 1.1 inning where he gave up a hit and a walk, while collecting two strikeouts, but Matt Thornton was a different story. He came in with one out in the eighth, got the left-handed Chris Davis out, but then, unsurprisingly to everyone but Girardi, he couldn't get the next two righties out and instead surrendered consecutive base hits. Dellin Betances had to come in, throw seven pitches, and get out of the inning.

It's great that the Yankees won, obviously, but that doesn't excuse them from the ineptitude they showed all game long. I hope this was just a bad night and the progress they have made over the last few games won't just disappear again tomorrow. Vidal Nuno is pitching, so they need to score runs. Thankfully they woke up before it was too late.