In a rare turn of events, yesterday's Tanaka Time did not result in a win. You know, because you can't win games with a score of zero.

Masahiro Tanaka didn't really have a bad outing yesterday, but the offense sure didn't show up, leaving Tanaka the best Yankee of the game by default. (P.S. I'm filling in for Greg while he's in Canada).

6/22/14 Daily Prediction Answers

Elcruzter55, Q-TDSK and Blanky all tied with 2,000 points a piece, which means there's no winner for today. Better luck next time!

6/23/14 Daily Predictions & Fun Questions

Where would you go if you could go on a trip to anywhere in the world right now?

Which current Yankee would you take with you on said trip?

What is your favorite dessert?

Who is your favorite TV character and why?

The Yankees start a three game series against the Blue Jays tonight, and it should be a good opportunity to beat them while they're down, if the offense decides to make the road trip. Toronto has only won 3 of their last 10, and Brett Lawrie and Jose Bautista both suffered injuries in yesterday's game that will cause Lawrie to hit the DL and Bautista to have an MRI.

Go Yankees go. You are could be number 1 [if you win this series].

The Yankees' hitters have been slumping, but how does the rest of the AL East compare?

Yankees hitters have had a surprisingly rough time in 2014. They entered the season with high expectations after adding several new players to the lineup, but thus far, they have disappointed with a 93 OPS+ and 297 runs scored, both figures which rank among the worst five teams in the American League. Their futility was on display during the weekend series against the Orioles, since they would have been swept and scored a mere two runs in the series had it not been for a ninth inning rally on Friday.  Fortunately, they are not alone in their struggles. The Blue Jays have been the only team with an offense worth a damn in the division thus far. The Red Sox and Rays are right there with the Yankees in the bottom five, and the Orioles have merely hovered around league-average.

The story of Major League Baseball in 2014 has been parity, as really the only standout team in the game is the Oakland Athletics, who are riding with the best record in the game at 47-29 and a crazy +135 run differential. Every other team just seems to be muddled into the same pile of mediocrity. This fact is quite apparent when checking Baseball Prospectus's analysis of AL East production to date by position. Their PECOTA projections aren't typically optimistic, but even they have the teams' positions generally improving as the season goes on. So how do the Yankees compare? The primary measuring stick here is BP's True Average stat (TAv), and I recommend clicking the link if you are unfamiliar with it or need a refresher.

2014 Results to Date

2014 Projections Going Forward

Behind the plate, Brian McCann has been one of baseball's biggest disappointments, as his .284 career TAv was expected to provide a jolt to the Yankees' lineup, but to date, he's only barely hit better than Chris Stewart did last year, with a .229 TAv to compare to Stewart's .219 in 2013. Most people around the game are pretty confident that the 30-year-old will rebound though, and that is certainly reflected in the Yankees' projected TAv at catcher going forward, which would be tops in the division. PECOTA also has the rest of the division improving at catcher, but the improvements there seem a bit more suspect. A .246 TAv from the Orioles' Caleb Joseph, Nick Hundley, and Steve Clevenger seems unlikely, as does the .250 TAv from the Rays' Ryan Hanigan and Jose Molina.

First base seems steady across the board aside from Edwin Encarnacion regressing with the Blue Jays, but the Yankees might be in trouble at second base. Their group led by Brian Roberts has seemingly performed to its mediocre expectations, while three other teams appear ready to take a jump, and the Orioles have more reason to be confident in the promising Jonathan Schoop defying expectations than the Yankees should with Roberts. The story's similar at third base, where Yangervis Solarte's hot start has already hit the regression express while stock in Manny Machado and Evan Longoria seem due for rebounds as well. Boston's shortstop/third base situation is a bit unclear at the moment given the logjam with Xander Bogaerts, Stephen Drew, Brock Holt, and Will Middlebrooks, but they should play better at both positions. The Yankees can reasonably hope for a bump up in offensive production from Derek Jeter at shortstop, but so can the Blue Jays with Jose Reyes and the Rays with Yunel Escobar.

The only team whose outfield has been a real weak link is the Red Sox. With Grady Sizemore out, Shane Victorino on the way back, and the young Holt likely to see time out there, they will improve while every other team mostly remains stagnant or incurs a slight decline. At least the Yankees can have some hope for their right fielders (namely Carlos Beltran) to give them a boost as the season progresses. Same goes for the DH spot, where the projections still don't think that Alfonso Soriano has truly washed up from a .300 TAv guy last year in pinstripes to a .230 this year. They also don't buy that Nelson Cruz continues his crazy 52-homer pace in Baltimore.

Projections can only tell us so much, but they do provide a decent statistical argument for what might happen in the AL East going forward. The Yankees do have some improvements coming, but the rest of their competitors aside from the Blue Jays arguably have just as much or more. It will be up to the Yankees to figure out a way to stabilize the offense and at least put up more of a fight than they have thus far. Continuing at a third of a run per game below the league average just isn't going to cut it, but don't give up yet--the numbers suggest that there should be better times ahead.

After a sweep of the division leading Blue Jays last week, the Yankees head to Toronto just one and a half games back of the leaders in prime position to supplant them atop the standings.

While the Yankees week didn't exactly end on a bright note (how can Tanaka lose?!?!), they did still sweep the Toronto Blue Jays and now sit just 1.5 games back in the division at 39-35.  This week, they'll face the Blue Jays yet again (this time in the Great White North) before heading back to the Bronx for a weekend home stand against archrival Boston.

The Blue Jays and Red Sox

Blue Jays: 1^st in AL East (42-35), 3^rd in runs scored, 2^nd in OPS (.765), tied for 1^st in wRC+ (112), 24^th in ERA (4.15), 26^th in FIP (4.09), 28^th in xFIP (4.28)

Red Sox: 4^th in AL East (35-41) 24^th in runs scored, 22^nd in OPS (.687), 24^th in wRC+ (88), 11^th in ERA (3.60) 8^th in FIP (3.60), 11^th in xFIP (3.67)

Quick hits

Unsung Jays taking flight: We all known how well Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista can hit, but they've been getting a lot of help from lesser known members of Toronto's lineup, namely Adam Lind and Juan Francisco.  Lind is hitting .338/.414/.511 with a 157 wRC+ this season, all well above his career averages.  Francisco has hit for a bit less average, but a lot more power, notching a triple slash of .245/.326/.555 with a 141 wRC+ and 12 homers on the year.  They'll probably come back to Earth as the season wears on, but right now, their production has given the Jays one of the best offenses in the league.

Lester and Lackey carrying Sox rotation: While the Red Sox have not followed up their World Series win with a stellar start to 2014, that certainly can't be blamed on their top two arms, Jon Lester and John Lackey.  Lester and Lackey sport nearly 6.0 fWAR combined (2.9 for Lester and 2.7 for Lackey), and have done their parts to keep the Sox within striking distance.  Lester has managed a 2.83 FIP while racking up the K's (ninth in the majors in strikeouts), while Lackey has compiled a 2.90 FIP due to his great control (1.65 BB/9) and his ability to limit the long ball (8.0% HR/FB).  These two will present major obstacles when the Sox roll into the Bronx this weekend.

Napoli rolling since return: Since returning to the lineup on June 8^th, Mike Napoli has given the Red Sox a much needed offensive boost, as he's accumulated a .275/.339/.412 triple slash with a 109 wRC+ in that span.  He's been on a tear for much of the season, sporting a 123 wRC+ and a .793 OPS for 2014.  Overall, Napoli has been one of the few offensive bright spots for Boston - Grady Sizmore and Jackie Bradley Jr. have both been awful (each has a wRC+ under 70), Daniel Nava's hitting ability has fallen off a cliff (65 wRC+) and Dustin Pedroia has been just average (99 wRC+).

Yankees weekly notes

Jeter heating up at the plate: While Derek Jeter has struggled for much of this season, he's finally shown some life at the plate over the past two weeks, hitting .321/.351/.377 with a 101 wRC+ over that time period.  He's still only hitting .271 with an 81 wRC+ on the year, but hopefully the past fourteen days have been a sign that Jeter is finally coming to life.

Battle of bullpens in the Bronx: The Yankees and the Red Sox have two of the best bullpens in the league based on fWAR, with the Sox first and the Yankees a close second.  The Yankees pen has been so good mainly because of three men: Dellin Betances (1.8 fWAR), Adam Warren (1.0), and David Robertson (0.9).  All three are in the top 20 for relievers (as are Koji Uehara and Andrew Miller for the Sox), and Betances leads the pack.  While the Yankees pen is only 11^th in the league in FIP (mainly due to some ugly innings from the likes of Matt Daley and Alfredo Aceves), they're striking out just about everyone (David Robertson has a 16.05 K/9, and Dellin Betances a casual 15.00).  With Shawn Kelley now back in the mix, the bullpen should continue to be a major strength.

Prediction: 4-2 (2-1 vs. Toronto, 2-1 vs. Boston)

The Yankees have a great chance to take the division lead this week.  David Phelps and Chase Whitley have been better of late, and if those two pitchers can keep it up, and Hiroki Kuroda can keep up his solid pitching over June (3.33 FIP this month) then the Yankees will have a shot to bring out the brooms against the Blue Jays yet again.  While they will face the Red Sox's best two pitchers when they return to New York, Boston has been pretty bad on the road (just 15-22).  Look for Chase Whitley to give the Yankees a good shot to take two out of three (shockingly, I'm picking Nuno to lose and Tanaka to win).

How do you think the Yankees will fare this week?  Vote in the poll and sound off in the comments below!

Pitching matchups

Monday, June 23:  Chase Whitley (3-0, 2.56 ERA, 3.95 xFIP) vs. Marcus Stroman (3-2, 5.14 ERA, 3.70 xFIP)

Tuesday, June 24: David Phelps (3-4, 4.13 ERA, 4.20 xFIP) vs. Mark Buehrle (10-4, 2.32 ERA, 4.22 xFIP)

Wednesday, June 25: Hiroki Kuroda (4-5, 4.23 ERA, 3.76 xFIP) vs. Drew Hutchinson (5-5, 3.86 ERA, 4.03 xFIP)

Thursday, June 26: Off

Friday, June 27: Vidal Nuno (1-3, 5.90 ERA, 4.30 xFIP) vs. Rubby De La Rosa (2-2, 2.84 ERA, 2.92 xFIP)

Saturday, June 28: Masahiro Tanaka (11-2, 2.11 ERA, 2.31 xFIP) vs. Jon Lester (8-7, 3.14 ERA, 3.18 xFIP)

Sunday, June 29: Whitley vs. John Lackey (8-4, 2.96 ERA, 3.16 xFIP)

Kevin Kiermaier isn't the only player who had an unexpected projection at the beginning of this season. Let's take a dive into some better-known players with surprising WAR projections from FanGraphs' modeling of the Oliver projection system.

On Saturday, I posted an article outlining the unique situation of Kevin Kiermaier, the unheralded Rays prospect who has turned into a solid contributor. Kiermaier's breakout wasn't something most were expecting, unless you examined his projection from the Oliver projection system -- which could be found at FanGraphs predicting a five-win season from Kiermaier were he given 600 plate appearances this year.

Kiermaier had a surprisingly high projection from this system, and he's doing his part to reach it. Perhaps it's worth examining some of the other players who had (what I would consider) surprisingly high Oliver projections and see how they're faring against those bullish numbers in the small sample that is two-and-a-half months of work.

As a small programming note, I've split these posts into two parts, this one covering guys who are "bigger" names — people we as baseball fans probably recognize.

Oh, and it's important to not that the FanGraphs wins above replacement (fWAR) projections used here are the ones derived from FanGraphs' interpretation of the raw inputs generated by Brian Cartwright's Oliver system. The "raw" Oliver WAR calculations were somewhat different — but these are the fWAR values you can find easily on FanGraphs.

Let's get to it.

Tommy La Stella - Atlanta Braves: 3.9 fWAR

How do you solve a problem like Dan Uggla? Coming into 2014, La Stella was a hot name among Braves fans and prospect watchers as a possible fix for the team's expensive hole up the middle. Never a prospect who appealed to scouts because of dynamic athleticism, La Stella's calling card has always been his combination of a solid hit tool and approach at the plate, which many thought would be able to drive a high OBP, even at the big-league level.

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Where the FanGraphs Oliver projection imagined a .289/,360/.421 triple-slash line over 600 PA in the bigs in 2014, La Stella has offered a glimpse of his OBP skills — without any power — slashing .302/.368/.337 in his limited action. That, combined with pretty good defensive numbers so far (Inside Edge numbers say that he's making most of the easier plays, and none of the tougher ones), has given him a fair bit of value so far this season: 0.5 fWAR. Given that his BABIP isn't completely unsustainable, you could expect his overall hitting value to stick, his defense to stay solid, and that four-win projection doesn't seem too far out of left field.

What did Oliver see that the consensus did not?: A good-to-great top-of-the-order hitter at a valuable defensive position; one of the top 10 second basemen in baseball.

Verdict so far?: La Stella has been a pretty great top-of-the-order hitter at a valuable defensive position. There's a long way to go, but so far, so good.

Justin Ruggiano - Chicago Cubs: 4.5 fWAR

There are only a couple of guys whose FanGraphs Oliver fWAR projections seemed a little crazy, but were also established major leaguers. Justin Ruggiano was one of them. Ruggiano, if you recall, had a bonkers 2012, putting up a .390 wOBA* (a measure of overall hitting ability) in a little more than half a season of work with the Marlins. His 2013 wasn't quite as productive: the wOBA dropped to .307, which was below league average.

* - For context, Andrew McCutchen put up a similar wOBA over the 2013 season: .393. That's a big reason why he won the MVP award.

While Ruggiano is no spring chicken — this is actually his age-32 season — his on-again, off-again time in the majors meant that he didn't get a "real" shot in the bigs until that 2012 season. In the minors, Ruggiano showed of a well-rounded skill set: some power, some patience, some speed, and a consistently high batting average on balls in play.

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The FanGraphs Oliver projection seemed to see something a little closer to the 2012 Ruggiano than the 2013 Ruggiano, while splitting much of the difference. the wOBA projection was .356, which was higher than what was projected for any other Cubs player. That came along with 27 homers and 19 stolen bases, which would have made Ruggiano a fantasy AND real-life stud. But instead, Ruggiano hasn't spent much time on the field this season, and hasn't been great when he has. His .317 wOBA is good enough to be close to the league average, but the advanced numbers for his fielding and baserunning aren't good, and have cost him about four runs of value. When paired with the low offensive numbers — including only two dingers — that's nothing to write home about. At this rate, the FanGraphs Oliver projection will be off by about, oh, 4.5 wins.

What did Oliver see that the consensus did not?: A legitimate middle-of-the-order bat with 25-homer power and good defense.

Verdict so far?: Ruggiano has been oh-so-slightly worse than replacement-level, with very limited power. This one doesn't look so good.

Photo credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Lonnie Chisenhall - Cleveland Indians: 3.1 fWAR

This is kind of fun, as Chisenhall is another guy like Ruggiano, in that he did have about 700 plate appearances coming into this system to help build this projection. He's always been a solid power prospect, but hasn't shown the on-base mojo to make that work in his time in the big leagues. He's also shown a pronounced platoon split, which didn't help him fight off challenges at third base from folks like Mike Aviles and Carlos Santana. With unimpressive defensive numbers, he needs to really hit to stick at third. And he just hadn't — at least in the majors — leading up to this season.

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So when we talk about Chisenhall's 2014, we have to start with this: among all players with 200 or more plate appearances, Lonnie is the second-best hitter of them all. Full stop. Only Troy Tulowitzki has a higher wRC+ (adjusted for league and park) and wOBA. Mike Trout? Worse hitter so far this year. Yasiel Puig? Worse hitter this year. Victor Martinez and Giancarlo Stanton? Wishing they were hitting as well as Lonnie. But where other projections (like Steamer and ZIPS) pegged Chisenhall as something closer to a .315-.318 wOBA hitter, Oliver was a little more bullish, putting him at a .333 wOBA. Now, that's nowhere near his current .424 wOBA, but it did give him extra credit towards his bat.

What did Oliver see that the consensus did not?: A first-division starter with the bat to carry an iffy glove; an above-average starting third baseman.

Verdict so far?: Chisenhall is benefiting from a great BABIP, but also from terrific power. He's likely to regress, but also to hit that fWAR projection pretty soon.

Scott Sizemore - New York Yankees: 3.3 fWAR

Once upon a time, Scott Sizemore was a pretty interesting second base prospect coming up for the Detroit Tigers. He had great hitting numbers coming up through their system, but couldn't make it work in Detroit. After a disappointing 2010 and partial 2011, he moved to Oakland and promptly started hitting. In more than half a season there, he leveraged his great plate discipline, turned up the power, and promptly tore his ACL twice. That meant he only played two major league games in two seasons (2012 and 2013).

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For 2014, Sizemore was picked up by the Yankees, and the Oliver projection at FanGraphs gave him a similar triple-slash line to fellow new acquisition Jacoby Ellsbury. The system saw Sizemore's previous performance and forecasted .251/.339/.404, along with half a win of value on defense. While I'm not clear if that was with Sizemore playing second base, third base, or some combination of the two, Oliver was bullish on his defensive ability at one of those two spots.

What did Oliver see that the consensus did not?: Scott Sizemore returning from injury even better than before two ACL tears, playing good defense and getting on base.

Verdict so far?: Oh my, no. Sizemore is hitting at a league-average level ... at Triple-A. And those numbers don't indicate even average MLB performance, much less a three-win season.

Adam Eaton - Chicago White Sox: 3.4 fWAR

Adam Eaton parlayed a solid minor-league hitting line into a cup of coffee in 2012, despite having little prospect pedigree when drafted in the 19th round by the Diamondbacks. Capable of hitting for average and displaying a good walk rate, Eaton started strong in his 2012 debut before getting injured and backsliding in 2013. He still showed the tools of improving defense in center field and some speed on the basepaths to round out his big-league toolset.

Despite Eaton's iffy 2013 numbers, the FanGraphs Oliver projection for Eaton gave loads of credit to his peripherals and minor league hitting numbers, and projected him as a three-and-a-half win player for his new team: the Chicago White Sox. The system projected Eaton's center field defense as a solid positive (about six runs of value), and his projected .341 OBP could make up for a low .380 slugging percentage, especially at the top of the Chicago order.

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It is safe to say that if the Diamondbacks projected Eaton to be an immediate three-to-four-win option in the outfield, and weighted wins equally no matter where they came from, they probably wouldn't have traded him and Tyler Skaggs for Mark Trumbo. Trumbo has never been worth three wins in a season by fWAR, and has been replacement-level (0.0 fWAR) in 2014. And in kind of a fun turn of events, those OBP and SLG numbers that I cited before? They're almost exactly what Eaton's posted so far this season (.339 OBP, .370 SLG). It's just that his defense (half a run of value so far) and baserunning (-1.5 runs of value) haven't caught up to his projection yet, putting him at 0.7 fWAR this season.

What did Oliver see that the consensus did not?: The 2013 version of Denard Span.

Verdict so far?: Not far off, but something closer to the 2011 version of Denard Span, minus some of the speed and defense.

Of the five guys I covered, the prediction on Tommy La Stella seems to be the most accurate. Oliver certainly deserves credit for being higher on Lonnie Chisenhall's bat than other systems, and getting pretty close to Adam Eaton's overall offensive performance. However, the high marks for Justin Ruggiano and Scott Sizemore seem to be way off from their current performance.

Still, I'd consider the overall level of accuracy here to be pretty good. Forecasting players with zero or limited major league experience isn't an exact science, and Oliver has acquitted itself pretty well here. Though, to be fair, there's a lot of season left to go.

Next time, I'll touch on guys who are more like Kevin Kiermaier, those players who weren't big-leaguers or well-regarded prospects who had higher-than-expected Oliver fWAR projections.

. . .

All statistics courtesy of FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus, and Baseball-Reference.

Bryan Grosnick is the Managing Editor of Beyond the Box Score. You can follow him on Twitter at @bgrosnick.

Hopefully the Yankees can do to the Blue Jays tonight what they did to them when they were in the Bronx last week. After the series with the Orioles, they could use the win.

#Yankees lineup: Gardner 7, Beltran DH, Ellsbury 8, Teixeira 3, McCann 2, Johnson 5, Roberts 4, Suzuki 9, Ryan 6, Whitley 1.

— Jorge Castillo (@jorgeccastillo) June 23, 2014

The Yankees lineup looks a little different with Derek Jeter getting the day off in Toronto. Brett Gardner, Carlos Beltran, and Jacoby Ellsbury are at the top of the lineup. Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann and Kelly Johnson are in the middle of the order. Brian Robers, Ichiro Suzuki, and Brendan Ryan round out the bottom of the lineup.

Manny Banuelos was supposed to start for the Trenton Thunder today, but he's been placed on the disabled list instead. The lefty had been rehabbing from Tommy John surgery before suffering from a "tired" arm that he seemed to be getting passed. He had actually said the other day that he was ready for more work than the three-inning limit the Yankees have had him on all season. Now this.

Thankfully it's just a blister:

Word on Banuelos injury is blisters, so not elbow related #yankeesmilb

— Nick Peruffo (@nickperuffo) June 23, 2014

The Yankees have released outfielder Mikeson Oliberto from Low-A Charleston. The righty was only able to hit .186/.256/.343 in the Sally League at the age of 23. They also released outfielder Cody Grice, who spent last year in High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A, however, he was assigned to Tampa again at the age of 24 to open the season.

Yankees 3 Blue Jays 8

I forgot to say, in the first draft of this, that I want to thank my son, Dylan, for jumping in to do the Game Recaps on the weekend, when no one was available to do it. It's not easy to jump in, with no real help, to figure out the SB story editor, but, a proud dad thought he did a great job.

After that awful series I sat through at Yankee Stadium, this game was so nice to see.

A very nice start from Marcus Stroman. 8 innings, allowing just 3 hits, 1 walk with 7 strikeouts. He did give up some hard hit balls, Anthony Gose made a very nice catch at the wall. And Munenori Kawasaki, Jose Reyes and Edwin Encarnacion combined for a nice double play. Edwin also had a nice play on a hard hit ball down the first base line.

Marcus did give up the home run to Mark Teixeira, but that just made it over the wall.

Chad Jenkins had a tough 9th, giving up 3 hit and a walk, while just getting 2 outs. Aaron Loup came in to get the last out of the game.

And the offense was firing. A 6-run 2nd inning pretty much ended any doubt about who would win. Consecutive singles from Juan Francisco, Munenori and Anthony Gose started the inning. We scored one on a Jose Reyes ground out. another on a Melky Cabrera single. Then Adam Lind had the big hit of the game, a 3-run homer. An Encarnacion single and a Dioner Navarro double got us our 6th run of the inning.

Our other 2 runs came in a pair of 1-run innings. In the first, Melky doubled and Lind brought him home with a single. And in the 4th, Adam and Edwin started the inning with walks and Navarro singled home Adam.

We had 13 hits and 5 walks on the day. Edwin had 3 hits and a walk. Melky, Adam and Dioner had 2 hits each. The only Jay starter not to hit was Jose Reyes, who was 0 for 4, but with a walk, a run and an RBI.

Jays of the Day are Stroman (.143 WPA), Lind (.171) and Cabrera (.095). No Suckage Jays.

Source: FanGraphs

Great to see so much offense with Jose Bautista and Brett Lawrie out of the lineup. It gives you hope that we can survive without, but hopefully not for long.

We had a nice couple of GameThreads....1414 comments. Spor led us to victory. Great job man.

Hey, at least they managed to score some runs tonight!

It was the start of another big showdown with the first-place Toronto Blue Jays as Chase Whitley took the mound for the Yankees against Marcus Stroman at Rogers Centre. Apparently the Jays were really mad about the sweep last week because they took the Yankees behind the proverbial woodshed and really did a number on them.

Our journey to Hell begins in the bottom of the first, when Adam Lind followed up a Melky Cabrera double with a run-scoring single. Then in the second things completely went to hell. After Whitley loaded the bases, Jose Reyes grounded into a fielder's choice to make it 2-0.  Cabrera singled in two more to make it 4-0. Adam Lind followed with a three run homer that brought in Cabrera and Reyes to make it 7-0. Game over, find out what else is on television. Joe Girardi tried desperately to get a little more length out of Whitley, sending him out for the third and fouth innings. Whitley made it through the third okay, but he was mercifully pulled after a Dioner Navarro single scored Toronto's eighth run.

Unsurprisingly, the Yankees put forth another odious effort on offense again tonight. Mark Teixeira hit a solo homer in the third. That's just about it. Stroman cruised through the lineup with ease allowing only a total of four baserunners in his eight innings of work. The Yankees managed to plate a second and third run in the top of the ninth courtesy of a Yangervis Solarte RBI single and a Kelly Johnson bloop double . Basically the most meaningless runs ever. So take solace in this, Chase: you weren't the only guy out there in a gray uniform that had an awful night.

Whitley was certainly going to have a bad start at some point. After all, pitching to a 2.5 ERA as an unheralded rookie isn't something that's done with too much frequency. That being said, you had hoped it wouldn't have been a drubbing to this degree. The game was basically out of reach by the third inning, not that it could be assumed the paltry Yankees offense would do much more than it did if they weren't in a massive hole. Oh well. Whitley just needs to move on and make the necessary adjustments for his next start. Even with this awful start his numbers are more than good enough to not be concerned about his place in the rotation at the moment.

As for the offense, with each passing day it's more and more obvious that it needs an immediate and significant boost. Waiting on players to start hitting like their career lines suggest doesn't seem to be working. Whether it's via trade or a promotion from within, something needs to be done. I try not to be too reactionary, but holy hell it just seems to be happening again and again that this team can't manage anything of note off of an opposing starting pitcher. It's maddening.

Game two of the series begins tomorrow at 7:07 PM. David Phelps and Mark Buehrle are your probables.

Box Score for Masochists

ESPN New York | Andrew Marchand: Masahiro Tanaka will need some help from those around him if he's going to continue to win.

The Star-Ledger | Jorge Castillo: Yangervis Solarte is staying positive during his recent struggles.

Rotoscouting | Mike Newman: A great scouting report on Yankees pitching prospect Luis Severino.

Yahoo Sports | Jeff Passan:Derek Jeter will make the All-Star Game even though he doesn't deserve to, while Masahiro Tanaka will likely have to sit it out.

New York Daily News | Marianne Garvey:Alex Rodriguez has been shunned from his place of residency because he brings home too many prostitutes.

Brendan Kuty | NJ.com: Joe Girardi does not believe he is working Dellin Betances too hard.

A-Blog For A-Rod | Brad Vietrogoski: If the Yankees want to shake up their roster, they should consider players like Zelous Wheeler, Kyle Roller, Adonis Garcia, and Jose Pirela.

NJ.com | Ryan Hagerty: Hideki Matsui recommended that Derek Jeter should find a wife once he retires.

Baseball America | Josh Norris: Rob Refsnyder and Luis Severino are among the minor league standouts over the last week

A-Blog For A-Rod | Brad Vietrogoski: At this point, Alfonso Soriano has no real use on the roster to speak of.

Beyond the Box Score | Bryan Grosnick: The Oliver projection system was pretty wrong about Scott Sizemore.

New York Post | Joel Sherman: Masahiro Tanaka might not end up pitching in the All-Star Game even if he's selected and that's not a bad thing for the Yankees.

Recapping the Yankees' minor league affiliates' results from June 23rd.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders: L 4-5 vs. Pawtucket Red Sox

LF Jose Pirela 2-4, HR, RBI - sixth homer of the season
C John Ryan Murphy 1-4, double, 2 K, E2 - throwing error, first of the season
CF Zoilo Almonte 0-3, BB, K
3B Scott Sizemore 0-4
1B Kyle Roller 2-4, HR, RBI, 2 K - seventh homer w/ SWB
SS Zelous Wheeler 0-2, BB, K, HBP
2B Corban Joseph 0-3
DH Austin Romine 0-4, K
RF Taylor Dugas 2-3, K

Jeremy Bleich 4.2 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K - 56 of 88 pitches for strikes
Jim Miller 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K
Heath Bell 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Double-A Trenton Thunder:L 3-9 vs. Bowie Baysox

CF Mason Williams 0-4, 2 K, OF assist
LF Ben Gamel 2-4, 2 doubles - batting .280 this season
DH Gary Sanchez 1-3, BB, K
C Peter O'Brien 2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI - 24th and 25th homers this season
RF Tyler Austin 2-4, double
3B Rob Segedin 1-4
1B Zach Wilson 0-4, K
2B Dan Fiorito 1-4
SS Ali Castillo 0-4, K

Zach Nuding 5 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, K - 66 of 97 pitches for strikes
Taylor Garrison 1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB
James Pazos 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

High-A Tampa Yankees:W 8-0 vs. Daytona Cubs

CF Jake Cave 2-5 - batting .299 this season
SS Cito Culver 1-5, K
1B Greg Bird 0-2, RBI, BB, K
3B Dante Bichette Jr. 1-3, RBI, BB, K
DH Matt Snyder 1-3, BB
RF Aaron Judge 1-3, triple, BB - batting .235 since promotion to Tampa
LF Danny Oh 1-3, 2 RBI, BB
C Trent Garrison 1-4, double
2B Jose Rosario 1-4, 2 RBI

Rafael De Paula 5.2 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, WP - 2 GO/5 AO
Nick Rumbelow 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, K, WP
Alex Smith 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, hit batsman

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs: Postponed for rain

Short Season-A Staten Island Yankees:W 4-1 vs. Aberdeen IronBirds

CF Daniel Lopez 3-5, 2 doubles, 2 RBI
RF Austin Aune 2-5, triple, RBI, 2 K, CS
DH Ty McFarland 1-4 - batting .303
LF Nathan Mikolas 1-3, BB, K
3B Renzo Martini 0-3, BB
1B Bubba Jones 0-4, K
SS Thairo Estrada 3-3, BB, 2 SB
2B Jake Anderson 1-4, RBI
C Radley Haddad 0-4, K

Andy Beresford 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K - 8 GO/0 AO
Matt Wotherspoon 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB
Ethan Carnes 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Chad Taylor 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K

Gulf Coast Yankees 1:W 7-3 vs. GCL Phillies

SS Jorge Mateo 2-5, K, 2 SB
3B Drew Bridges 2-5, double, 2 RBI, 2 K, E5 - throwing error, first of the season
2B Angelo Gumbs 2-5, double, triple, 2 RBI, SB
C Luis Torrens 1-2, double, K, 2 HBP
RF Alexander Palma 0-5, RBI
CF Leonardo Molina 1-4, K, CS
DH Bryan Cuevas 2-3, triple, 2 RBI, BB
1B Alvaro Noriega 0-4, K
LF Kendall Coleman 0-3, BB, 2 K

Gabriel Encinas 2.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, WP, hit batsman
Juan Jimenez 3.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 hit batsmen
Luis Cedeno 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, K
Christopher Cabrera 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB

Gulf Coast Yankees 2:W 12-4 vs. GCL Braves

2B Junior Valera 0-3, RBI, BB, SB
C Jesus Aparicio 0-2, RBI, 2 BB
SS Angel Aguilar 3-5, double, 2 HR, 5 RBI, K
1B RJ Johnson 1-4, double, BB, K
3B Allen Valerio 1-4, BB, 2 K
DH Jake Hernandez 1-4, RBI, BB
LF Anderson Feliz 1-3, HR, RBI, BB, 2 K
RF Frank Frias 1-3, RBI, 2 BB, SB
CF Jose Augusto Figueroa 0-3, RBI, BB, 2 K

Chris Leroux 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
Jonathan Holder 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, K
Abel Mora 1 IP, 1 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, K
Felix Santiago 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB
Mike Noteware 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K

With the offense struggling to put up runs consistently, the Yankees may want to consider calling up Jose Pirela

Outside of a couple of big games, the Yankees' offense has looked rather lifeless, scoring an average of  3.3 runs per game in the last 23 contests. The big-money power bats (outside of Mark Teixeira) still haven't hit, and although we're less than a month away from the Trade Deadline, it still might be a little too early to acquire a big bat to add to the mix. For now, the only options are those from within; perhaps even down at the minor league level.

In the minors (Triple-A, to be exact), second baseman Rob Refsnyder has gained all of the headlines, thanks to his absolutely torrid 61-game stretch between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton (.996 OPS). But it's Jose Pirela who has also done well with the bat at the higher levels, hitting .321/.360/.458 in 68 games at Triple-A. Pirela, now a former second baseman, has seen most of his playing time come in the outfield, with Refsnyder manning second. Pirela has also seen some time at first, where the Yankees currently don't have a viable backup to Teixeira at the big league level.

Of course, if the Yankees were to call up Pirela, he would see his time in right field. This is mostly because the Yankees love Brian Roberts at second base no matter what he does with the bat and the fact that the right field situation in the Bronx is a complete mess. Ichiro has a .632 OPS the last 39 games with zero extra base hits in that span; Alfonso Soriano is, at the very best, a platoon "outfielder" at this point in his career; Carlos Beltran is a non-factor in the outfield with his bone spur in his right elbow.

At the same time, it would be interesting to see who they'd send down/release if they were to call up Pirela. Not only would they need to make room for him on the 25-man roster, but they'd need to find space for him on the 40-man as well (Someone like Matt Daley might be in the lead on the 40-man chopping block) . Yangervis Solarte has hit the wall hard since the start of June, thus resulting in reduced playing time. But, if they were to send Solarte down, it'd mean that Kelly Johnson would become the full-time third baseman with Brendan Ryan being the only real backup plan, so that may not be an option.

The Yankees could always cut their ties with Soriano, but releasing a grizzled veteran in favor of a youngster at Triple-A would be a bit of a surprise coming from this team. For what it's worth, GM Brian Cashman did say that moves would need to be made if there were guys struggling on the big league team, so perhaps there's some hope here. For now, the Yankees are right in the middle of the American League East race, despite playing mediocre type of baseball, but they may need to make some changes if they want to advance further in the standings; adding Jose Pirela to the big league roster could be the start of that.

Last week, David Phelps beat the Blue Jays, and the offense beat Mark Buehrle. Let's do that again.

That was one ugly game. Chase Whitley was due for a rough outing, though, and that doesn't explain what's going on with the offense. Sigh.

6/23/14 Daily Prediction Answers

Since I only got to watch the last three innings of the game, I asked Tanya, "Who do you think the best of the night was? Huff? Tex?" and she said "The Blue Jays." Word. I'm guessing that no one predicted David Huff because you all were so optimistic in your answers. There is a winner today, at least. NoMahbles reigns victorious with 3,000 points.

6/24/14 Daily Predictions & Fun Questions

Name a family tradition that you think is unique to your family.

Would you rather go camping or go to a five-star resort?

Who is your least favorite TV character and why?

What movie do you think deserves a sequel?

David Phelps gets the start tonight, and he managed to hold Toronto to two runs last week. Repeat that. The Yankee offense beat Mark Buehrle last week, too. It would be ideal if they could do that again.

Learning what American League hitters already know.

There has been precious little written on these pages about arguably the most surprising and exciting pitcher in baseball this season: Masahiro Tanaka. When the Yankees signed Tanaka after being posted by the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of NPB there were differing opinions on how he would far in MLB. Many thought he didn't have the swing and miss stuff of his country-mate Yu Darvish and that his success would be limited as a result.

Oh, how wrong those predictions were. Tanaka has been excellent and he's struck out more batters than any other starting pitcher not named Yu Darvish. While Darvish may always be the strikeout king of baseball, Tanaka has shown that he too can strike batters out with ease. Not only that, but Tanaka is also a master at limiting walks, with seven batters struck out for every one that he walks. His K/BB ratio is second best in baseball to David Price, and his K%-BB% is also second best behind the Rays' ace. Tanaka was also the only American League pitcher with an ERA under 2.00 until the Orioles managed to score 3 runs off of him in his most recent start.

Tanaka is very good, and it's mostly because of his splitter.

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Don't get me wrong. He has other very good pitches as well. In fact, Tanaka is cut from the same mold as Darvish, likely a remnant of their upbringing in Japan and early professional careers in NPB as both pitchers have at least 7 distinct pitches in their arsenals (Darvish has 8 if you count the slow curve and curve separately). Tanaka throws four pitches more than 80% of the time, though, and they make up the bulk of his repertoire.

His sinker is the least thrown of his main set of pitches, and Tanaka uses it 18.63% of the time. Next is the slider which Tanaka throws 21.02% of the time (though he's twice as likely to throw this against a righty). His second most commonly thrown pitch is his four-seam fastball which comes in at 23.87%. Finally, the pièce de résistance, his splitter which he throws 25.86% of the time.

It might be controversial to call Tanaka's splitter the best in baseball. There are many other pitchers who throw a splitter that could lay claim to that title, but I'll defend Tanaka's right to the throne here in several ways. Let's take a quick look at some of the competitors and how they stack up to Tanaka:

Data courtesy of Baseball Prospectus' PITCHf/x leaderboards

You can see from the chart above that a few other pitchers can possibly lay claim to having a better splitter than Tanaka. Nobody has thrown as many as he has this season, and nobody gets opposing hitters to swing at their splitter like Tanaka does. His whiff rate is also second to that of Joaquin Benoit, who happens to be a reliever and rarely throws more than 1 inning. Speaking of Benoit, he only gets 1.33 ground balls for every fly ball off the pitch, so when he doesn't get a whiff the pitch isn't getting ground balls like it is supposed to.

At the other end, Hisashi Iwakuma is the best in the business at getting ground balls with his splitter, and they come at 12.33 times the rate as fly balls do off the pitch. However, he gets very few whiffs, so his splitter is garnering weak contact rather than swings and misses. Tanaka's splitter, though, does both.

More than 64% of Tanaka's splitters spur the opposing batter to take a swing at the pitch. Meanwhile only 18.71% of those pitches are in the strike zone. One possible reason for this is that Tanaka's splitter has such late break that it looks like his four-seam fastball until it's too late for the hitter to adjust. Take a look at this heat map which highlights the locations of Tanaka's splitter to date:

As you can clearly see, the splitter is almost always thrown below the strike zone, with less than 20% of the offerings actually ending in the strike zone. Below I've included a few GIFs of Tanaka striking out opposing hitters with his splitter. There are a couple of reasons I've chosen these GIFs specifically. First, they're all from the same game. You know that the batters were expecting it. They had seen their teammates strike out on it earlier, and still had no chance. A few of them also show just how deceptive the pitch can be, with the reactions from the hitters showing that they were truly fooled:

Here Tanaka's splitter makes righty-crusher Chris Davis look mediocre. Davis doesn't even come close to making contact as Tanaka gets the strikeout on the 87 mph splitter that drops out of the zone. The next GIF comes from the following inning where Tanaka utterly fools Caleb Joseph on a 3-2 splitter in the zone:

Joseph isn't the same quality hitter as Davis, but he's a professional baseball hitter nonetheless. Joseph cuts off his swing as he realizes that he had no shot at hitting Tanaka's pitch. Obviously Tanaka had a ton of confidence in the pitch, exhibited by throwing it on 3-2. As I've outlined above he has good reason to trust in the pitch.

Masahiro Tanaka has truly been a treat to watch. Many are compelled to compare him to Hiroki Kuroda or Yu Darvish, both successful MLB pitchers who made the transition from NPB. Tanaka, though, is neither pitcher, even if his arsenal is similar to Kuroda's and his strikeout potential is Darvish-esque.

Only time will tell if MLB hitters can adjust to Tanaka's splitter. My suspicion is that they won't be able to, at least for some time. There's about a 45% chance that any given pitch you'll see from Tanaka is a four-seamer or a splitter. The problem for opposing hitters is that both pitches look exactly the same until it's too late to adjust for one or the other. With hitters guessing at what his next pitch might be, Tanaka and his splitter are poised to continue their domination of the American League.

...

All statistics courtesy of Fangraphs,Brooks Baseball, and Baseball-Reference.

Jeff Long is a writer at Beyond The Box Score and Baltimore Sports and Life. You can follow him on Twitter at @BSLJeffLong.

In Cashman we trust.

Much like the managerial position, the general manager's spot on the New York Yankees was ever-changing throughout the vast majority of George Steinbrenner's reign as Yankees owner. As Baseball Prospectus would say, their GMs were constantly on the "wobbly chair," as the franchise underwent nine changes at general manager in a 12-year span from 1979-91, a ridiculously high rate.

In the '90s though, that rate calmed as Gene "Stick" Michael was brought back for five seasons until he took a step back to focus on scouting alone and Bob Watson took over for two years, overseeing the Yankees winning the 1996 World Series title thanks to Michael's contributions. By the end of '97 though, Watson had tired from Steinbrenner's meddling, and he retired from the position, preferring to take a vice-president job with Major League Baseball. Thus, an opening was there, and Steinbrenner elected to give the job to his 30-year-old Assistant GM, who had been with the franchise since being originally hired as an intern in 1986: Brian Cashman.

Cashman is now in the middle of his 17th season on the job, the most in franchise history since their first GM, Ed Barrow, who presided over the team for 25 years. The nature of working for the Yankees and the Steinbrenner family has certainly made his time with the team tumultuous, and Cashman nearly left after the 2005 season over frustrations dealing with Streinbrenner overruling him based off conflicting advice from his Tampa office. However, Cashman stayed on with the team after it was promised that he would be given more leverage in such decisions, and ESPN's Andrew Marchand noted today that despite Cashman's contract expiring at the end of the 2014 season, it's unlikely that he goes anywhere:

Those always asking about Cashman's status, all indications are Yankees will want him back after his contract expires at end of year.

— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) June 24, 2014

Cashman has appeared to have a solid relationship with Hal Steinbrenner since the Boss's son took over operations of the team in 2007, so this news shouldn't be considered too much of a shock. That being said, some fans are not going to be happy with the decision because they are not overly impressed with Cashman's work as Yankees general manager. Of course, this is also not news because numerous Yankees fans, WFAN callers, and people on Twitter have been howling about Cashman for years.

Such calls have always been so silly to me. Under Cashman, the Yankees have been wildly successful, winning four World Series titles, six American League pennants, 12 American League East division titles, and missing the playoffs just twice in 16 seasons. They still haven't finished under .500 since 1992. People seeking to discredit Cashman have always said things along the lines of "Well, *I* would have all that success if I had the Steinbrenners' payroll to work with, too!"

It's true that Cashman has more payroll flexibility than most GMs in the game, and that makes him unique. It has always difficult to accurately compare Cashman to his contemporaries; only recently has the Dodgers' spending spree put one GM (Ned Colletti) in a similar position to Cashman. So while Cashman has obviously made some mistakes with contracts, as all GMs do from time to time, he was granted the financial wherewithal by the Steinbrenners to take those risks. Yes, giving Kei Igawa a five-year, $20 million contract was a mistake, but because the Yankees are the Yankees, they could afford to bury him in Triple-A for basically the duration of the deal after it was evident in his first year that he was bad. They won a World Series while Igawa made 26 starts in Scranton. Carl Pavano turned out to be a mistake, but people forget that the Yankees were far from the only team after him. Remember "Pavanopalooza?" The righty met with the Red Sox, Angels, and Tigers as well (just to name a few teams). He was a hot commodity that other teams wanted, and he just didn't work out. So it goes with free agency.

People like to cite the bad contracts with Cashman (and sometimes even bring up the 10-year Alex Rodriguez extension, even though that was much more Hank Steinbrenner than Cashman), but they tend to dismiss the ones that have worked out well. Mike Mussina was one of the best pitchers of the 2000s, and Cashman locked up the last eight years of his career in pinstripes. Signing Robinson Cano to that cheap contract extension in February 2008 gave them one of the biggest bargains in baseball when Cano was putting up MVP-caliber years from 2009-2013. Hideki Matsui was a splendid international signing, Jason Giambi was ultimately a terrific 143 OPS+ hitter throughout his seven years as a Yankee, Johnny Damon proved to be a crucial addition to the 2009 champions... the list goes on. Like every GM, there have been great signings, bad signings, and signings with mixed results that helped the team win anyway (On the trade market, Cashman has had similar ups and downs, again like most GMs.)

The farm system could be in better shape, but it doesn't help when you're picking at the end of the first round of the draft on an annual basis due to your success. Talent is much more muddled after the first 10 picks or so than in the first rounds of other sports' drafts, and it's up to the guys under Cashman who the Steinbrenners have hired and supported (Farm Director Mark Newman and Scouting Director Damon Oppenheimer) to pick out the best prospects from the group. It's up to Newman and Oppenheimer to find and develop these prospects, and it's not as though kids like Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, Rob Refsnyder, and Greg Bird offer zero hope. Cashman can't just snap his fingers and conjure an Andrew McCutchen-type prospect out of nowhere.

On the whole, Cashman's been fine. If Cashman was to be fired, who would replace him? Former general managers who might be seeking employment would be the likes of Jim Bowden, Josh Byrnes, and Omar Minaya. Pass. Cashman is so widely respected among the baseball community that he would be snatched up within moments of being let go by the Yankees. Given his long track record of team success, to say that he should be fired is setting expectations way too high. Bring back Cash.

The Yankees made history by facing the first female baseball player and she obliged by striking out their famous sluggers. Will that day come again?

On April 1st, 1931, the New York Yankees were making a trip back from Florida and decided to take a pit stop. This stop was on the theatrical side, as they agreed to stop in Chattanooga, Tennessee for an exhibition game against the Chattanooga Lookouts, a Class-AA minor league team. Their owner Joe Engels was an entertainer of sorts--as many owners wanted to be at that time to attract fans--and had a perfect strategy to draw people to the exhibitions. He had just hired a woman--Jackie Mitchell--to a minor league contract, and she would be perfect to face the Bombers.

Jackie Mitchell was born on August 29, 1913, and grew up in Memphis in the 1920s. Her tutor was one of the best--Charles Arthur "Dazzy" Vance, a Hall of Fame pitcher who recorded a career ERA+ of 125, won the MVP in 1924, led the league in ERA three times, and led the league in strikeouts in seven straight seasons. Vance taught Mitchell what came to be her eminent drop-curve, a supposedly plus-pitch that was her bread-and-butter. She was also a lean lefty, which gave her quite the platoon advantage as well. In this exhibition, she was not using her stuff against minor leaguers, but arguably the best hitters in baseball history.

Engels wanted Mitchell to start the first of two exhibition games against the Yankees, but the first game on April 1st was rained out. So on April 2nd, in game two, Mitchell was brought in to face the heart of the Yankees lineup in Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Mitchell got off to a pretty good start--she struck out Ruth on four pitches. Now, this is where the myth gets hairy. Many believe that Ruth actually allowed Mitchell to strike her out as part of the "show", while others truly think Mitchell struck him out. Given the video in which Ruth threw his bat down in anger, it doesn't appear that he was acting. He did not want to be struck out by a girl, but he was. Mitchell followed that up with a three-pitch strikeout against Gehrig and a walk; she then was removed from the game. What was Ruth's oh-so-sexist reaction to all of this?

"I don't know what's going to happen if they begin to let women in baseball. Of course, they will never make good. Why? Because they are too delicate. It would kill them to play ball every day."

Sure, Babe. That certainly was enough for Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis, because the next day he voided Mitchell's contract and declared it a farce, which effectively banned women from the sport. An official ban was drafted in 1952, later to be removed in 1992. They obviously denied the wishes of Mitchell, who only wanted one thing:

"All I want is to stay in baseball long enough to get money to buy a roadster."

She never did get her roadster. She played with a traveling group of male players until the age of 23, only to retire after her femininity was turned into somewhat of a stunt. She just wanted to play ball.

Why is all of this at all relevant? Just last night, the "Knuckleball Princess" Chelsea Baker threw out batting practice to the Tampa Bay Rays, the first woman to do so since Justine Siegal in 2011. Joe Maddon seemed impressed:

Chelsea’s knuckleball is real. She hit Longo in the back. I loved it. With that pitch & her composure she can compete pic.twitter.com/m91X3rZR3G

— Joe Maddon (@RaysJoeMaddon) June 23, 2014

Who knows--maybe Baker is a Jackie Mitchell in the making. Like Mitchell, she was taught by the best in the field; she was taught the knuckleball by Joe Niekro, and Tim Wakefield later helped her to improve upon it. She's determined, and she just wants to prove to the boys that she too can play the game, but that doesn't come without adversity. She's said "when I was little, all my dreams were to be on the USA team and high school baseball, and people always told me, ‘You’ll never play varsity baseball, you’re not strong enough, you don’t have the guts to do it...’"

Well, she's proving them wrong. She's pitched to a 2-0 record and a 0.78 ERA in her junior year and now has reps against professional hitters. If you watch her BP session with the Rays, she made them look pretty foolish. That knuckler is nasty. With her skill and determination, it's not out of the question that she could play professional baseball. And while I usually do not wish that other pitchers strike out the Yankees, I would not mind another Jackie Mitchell coming along and setting down some Yankee sluggers.

A look at how the Blue Jays pitchers performed over the past two weeks.

Over the past two weeks our pitchers have a 4.90 ERA, with the 4-8 record. There were some good starts ruined by bad offense but we've also had some lousy pitching.

Rob Rasmussen also pitched in 1 game, going 3 innings, allowing 3 hits, 1 walk,  1 home run and 3 earned.

Identifying risers and fallers in head-to-head points' leagues for Week 13, including Lorenzo Cain and Kyle Gibson.

Risers

Lorenzo Cain, Royals

Cain's greatest value comes on defense, but the right fielder is quietly enjoying a breakout season at the plate. It's easy to overlook batting average contributions in fantasy, but that's where Cain has provided the most value so far. His .315/.354/.420 slash represents a career best, thanks largely to a .382 BABIP, but I still feel comfortable projecting a .280 BA the rest of the way (he's a career .275 hitter with a declining strikeout rate). Over the last 30 days, Cain has helped fuel a resurgent Kansas City team with a .319 BA and .344 OBP, to go along with eight runs, one home run and 17 RBIs. With Norichika Aoki (groin) landing on the 15-day DL, expect Cain to receive the majority of the playing time in the outfield alongside Alex Gordon and Jarrod Dyson. Cain is a solid No. 4 outfielder and still available in 86 percent of Yahoo leagues and 75 percent of ESPN leagues. I prefer Cain to Curtis Granderson (86 percent owned in ESPN), Yangervis Solarte (55 percent) and Denard Span (32 percent).

Kyle Gibson, Twins

Gibson is much better suited for the points' league player, where his 13.5 percent strikeout rate is offset by a low number of walks and quality innings. Gibson has gone seven innings in each of his last three outings, allowing no runs and nine hits in 21 frames. He even struck out eight Red Sox the last time out, but that was likely an outlier than future predictor. Still, I can't help but be intrigued by a .227 BAA, 55.8 percent groundball rate and 34.2 percent O-Swing%. (Over the last 30 days, he has the second highest O-Swing%, behind Zack Greinke.) Gibson has already been worth 1.5 WAR, according to FanGraphs, tied with Andrew Cashner and Justin Verlander. The Twins right-hander has been a rock at home, holding opponents to a .213/.274/.245 slash line, and he owns a 1.54 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 41 innings at Target Field (compared to a 4.93 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 42 innings on the road). I would avoid Gibson in a K/9 league, but start him in all home contests.

Fallers

Alfonso Soriano, Yankees

Soriano had a monster 2013, blasting 34 home runs -- including 17 in 58 games with the Yankees -- marking his second consecutive season with 30-plus long balls. Many expected the veteran to continue his power assault at New Yankee Stadium in 2014, but so far Soriano has been held to just six home runs in 62 contests. That really puts his impressive finish to 2013 in perspective. Soriano has been virtually unplayable in even the deepest of leagues, as he currently holds a .231/.255/.389 slash line with 21 runs and 23 RBIs. That puts him on pace for 13 home runs and 50 RBIs (in 2013, he drove in 101), which would be his lowest totals since joining the league (His previous full-season lows were 18 home runs and 73 RBIs in 2001.) Soriano's value is even worse in points' leagues, with an ugly 64:6 K:BB ratio in 208 at-bats. Dumping Soriano -- if you haven't already -- should be a no brainer, but the 38-year-old is still owned in 43 percent of ESPN leagues and 46 percent of Yahoo games. What are you waiting for?

Leonys Martin, Rangers

I had high hopes for Martin entering the season, but the 26-year-old outfielder has to be considered a disappointment for his lack of production in Texas. He's basically in line to replicate his 2013 season, when he batted .260/.313/.385 with eight home runs, 66 runs, 49 RBIs and 36 steals. ZiPS projects Martin to finish with a .270 BA and .325 OBP, along with seven home runs, 65 runs, 44 RBIs and 32 steals. The on-base skills have been just above league average, and regression (.354 BABIP) could push that OBP number down even more. He is showing more patience at the plate (5.5 percent walk rate in 2013, 7.3 percent in 2014), but his strikeout rate has climbed over 23 percent. With little power and the only real contribution coming in steals, Martin is better left as a fourth or fifth outfielder in standard formats. He enters Tuesday with an 89 percent ownership in ESPN leagues and 66 percent in Yahoo -- numbers I think are too high. You can get by with Martin, but see if you can dangle him as part of a multi-player trade if you don't need the speed. But, keep in mind, this suggestion is more of a hold than flat-out drop.

The Yankees will hope that tonight's game brings a better chance for the team to win than last night did.

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

— Erik Boland (@eboland11) June 24, 2014

Brett Gardner, Derek Jeter, and Jacoby Ellsbury are at the top of the batting order. Mark Teixeira bats fourth, while Alfonso Soriano is in against the lefty. Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, Brian Roberts, and Yangervis Solarte finish out the lineup.

The Yankees have two representatives in the All-Star Futures Game this year. First baseman Peter O`Brien will be representing the US Team while right-handed pitcher Luis Severino will be pitching for the World Team.

After firing Josh Byrnes from his position as general manager, the San Diego Padres are currently starting their search for a replacement. They have asked permission to interview Yankees assistant general manager Billy Eppler.

In preparation for the trade deadline, scouts are flocking to see David Price pitch, who seems to be very much on the trading block for the Rays. The Yankees had more scouts at his last start than normal, though it's unknown how serious they are about trading for the lefty. The organization likely doesn't have the pieces to to pull off such a trade, even if he wasn't on another AL East team, but we'll see what happens in the coming weeks. Just don't get your hopes up.

On the prospect front, Nik Turley has returned to the Triple-A roster after rehabbing from a shoulder injury he suffered in spring training. He was released a few months ago to clear a space on the 40-man roster before re-signing and beginning his rehab. If he proves to be healthy and effective, he could actually be a major league option before we know it.

Slade Heathcott is also out for the remainder of the season. Again:

Also, Slade Heathcott out for the year after having knee surgery again. "He works at it, so we've got that going for us," Newman said.

— Lohud Yankees Blog (@LoHudYankees) June 24, 2014

Injury has always been a problem for him, but this is really the end of any potential trade value he might have been clinging to. He'll be 24 in September so he's really run out of time to show he can stay healthy.

First it was bad. Then it was pretty good. Then it got bad again.

There was a moment tonight when it looked like the Yankees may have turned a corner. They fell behind in the fourth inning when Dioner Navarro sent a David Phelps offering deep to right field for a three-run homer before falling behind further when woeful infield defense on the part of Derek Jeter allowed Colby Rasmus to clear the bases on a single to right and then safely retreat to first base after being briefly caught in a rundown. Jeter attempted to atone for his mental mistakes by clubbing a solo homer in the sixth inning to pull the Yankees to within five. Brian Roberts got in on the dinger party with a two-run shot of his own in the seventh. Brett Gardner doubled and Jeter walked before a Jacoby Ellsbury single plated Gardner. Suddenly, the Yankees found themselves on the receiving end of some poor infield defense when a Jose Reyes throwing error allowed Mark Teixiera to reach while Jeter and Ellsbury came around to score.

David Phelps lasted only five innings, giving up six earned runs in the process. You can probably argue that some of those shouldn't be earned because of infield disaster, but the official scorer decided not to be so kind. Matt Thornton worked a clean inning before giving way to Dellin Betances for two innings. The big right-hander struck out two and worked out of a bases loaded, one-out jam in his second inning of work.

After clawing their way back from down six runs, there was a glimmer of hope that the Yankees' offense could scratch their way to a stolen victory. They did the hard part in tying the score, so how hard could one more run be? Very hard, apparently. Brett Gardner reached on a single in the ninth inning and moved to second on a Jeter groundout. Ellsbury grounded out to send Gardner to third but Teixeira struck out to end the threat. Adam Warren came on to work the ninth inning and he didn't get to stay long. Reyes greeted Warren with a leadoff double and another defensive miscue by the Yankees on a Melky Cabrera sacrifice allowed Reyes to come around to score. Miscommunication between Yangervis Solarte and Warren caused some hesitation about which of them would field the ball. Solarte grabbed it and rocketed it past first base. There was no need to hurry the throw. Only Reyes' run mattered at that point. It was ballgame, nonetheless.

Jeter's homer was his second of the year and Roberts got his third. Someone look up the prices of milk/eggs/bread/gas the last time those two homered in the same game. Solarte's game-ending error was his seventh on the season. Teixeira and Carlos Beltran were the only Yankees to go hitless, but Teixeira did reach on the all-important error that tied the game. Beltran's season average dropped to .216. Phelps struck out seven batters, but his season ERA now sits at a fairly ugly 4.35.

While the game was at its worst, I decided some Microsoft Paint was in order to properly describe how things were going. It's not as meaningful now that they ended up scoring six runs but the general principle is still relevant, I think. I present to you a diagram of awful. Enjoy.

The Yankees get another crack at the Blue Jays tomorrow when Hiroki Kuroda takes on Drew Hutchison at 7:07 pm.

Box score

Yankees 6 Blue Jays 7

I love walkoff wins.

It shouldn't have been that close. But in the bottom of the 9th, Jose Reyes lead off with a double, Melky Cabrera put down a bunt, to move Reyes to third (what normally would be a dumb move) (apparently, doing it on his own, Gibby didn't call for the bunt) and Yankee 3B Yangervis Solarte threw it away. Thank you Yankees' defense.

We scored 3 runs in the 4th inning, off a Dioner Navarro home run. Navarro has looked much better at the plate lately, very good to see.

Then we scored 3 more in the 5th. Munenori Kawasaki and Jose Reyes started the inning off with singles. Then, with two outs, Edwin hit a ball to the third base side of Derek Jeter. Jeter got to the ball, but thought about going to third base, then was too late throwing to first. Any other SS and that's an error, but not for the Captain. Colby Rasmus followed with a hard shot off the right field wall, driving in 2. The throw in to second got there before Colby (he must of thought he hit a home run) but Colby ran back to first and Jeter, instead of throwing to Mark Teixeira, chased Colby all the way back to first and Colby beat him, while that went on, Edwin scored. Course, again, no error on Derek.

We were up 6-0 and all was good.

Mark Buehrle was coasting along. But then he gave up a leadoff homer to Jeter in the 6th. Still we were up 6-1, all was good. In the 7th, Buehrle gave up a 1-out Brian McCann double and a Brian Roberts home run. 6-3....all was still, well not good but ok. One out later, he gave up a double to Brett Gardner. Into the game comes Dustin McGowan, who has been lights out as a reliever. Dustin walked Jeter on 5 pitches. Then he got a pop fly to left that should have been an easy out, but Melky took a bad route and just missed the catch,. Then he got an easy ground ball to short, but Reyes rushed the throw, bounced it, and Edwin, trying to come up with the ball, got hit with Teixeira's elbow in the head. 2 runs scored on Reyes' second throwing error of the game, the game was tied, and Edwin looked concussed (more on that later). Dustin gave up another single and was Loup game in to get the last out of the inning.

McGowan didn't look good, he was having a hard time finding the strike zone but he could have used someone making an easy play behind him.

We had a quick bottom of the 7th, Loup pitched a 3 up 3 down top of the 8th.

We loaded the bases in the bottom of the 8th, with 1 out, but Anthony Gose and Munenori Kawasaki couldn't bring home the go ahead run. Edwin walked to start the inning, but he didn't look good, he ducked out of the way of a pitch right over the plate and, after the 4th ball, he stood at the plate not realizing he should go to first. Then, going from first to third on Navarro's single, he looked sick after sliding into the bag.

Casey Janssen allowed a leadoff single in the top of the 9th but got out of the inning without allowing a run, setting up the win in the bottom of the inning.

I really can't believe they left Edwin after that collision, but I'll save the rant for later. All I can say now is trainers should work for the players, not the team. There are 162 games, always err on the side of caution.

Jays of the Day are Buehrle (.215 WPA, 6.2 innings, 8 hits, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 4 earned), Loup (.186), Janssen (.143), Navarro (.327), Edwin (.114) and Steve Tolleson (.100, plus a nice play at third base). Reyes almost had the number (.094) but his 2 throwing errors, one almost resulting in Edwin's head being removed from his body, costs him a JoD.

Suckage McGowan (-.398, mostly undeserved, he needed some defensive help) an Gose (-.140 for his ground out with the bases loaded in the 8th).

Source: FanGraphs

Our GameThreads had 2092 comments. Spor led the way again, great job leading us to the walkoff.

New York Post | Joel Sherman: Would the Yankees have been better off if they just re-signed Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson?

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty: Carlos Beltran has stopped his throwing program after he had forearm tightness.

The Record | Bob Klapisch: It's hard to believe that Derek Jeter is about to turn 40 years old.

SB Nation | Grant Brisbee: Out of Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Masahiro Tanaka, who do you think the Yankees want a do-over with?

It's About the Money | Brad Vietrogoski: Is it worth moving Adam Warren into the rotation?

LoHud | Chad Jennings: Mark Newman doesn't expect much from Slade Heathcott anymore.

Examiner | Daniel Pfieffer: Luis Severino and Peter O`Brien will represent the Yankees in the All-Star Futures Game.

A-Blog For A-Rod | Brad Vietrogoski: The Yankees should give up anyone and everyone they have to acquire David Price.

Beyond the Box Score | Jeffrey Long: Appreciating Masahiro Tanaka's amazing splitter.