Daily Archives: April 17, 2013

Yankees Week Two – Getting Right in Cleveland + A Triple Play = 4 – 1

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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Week Two for the New York Yankees was a far more fun ride than Opening Week.  An offensive outpouring in Cleveland followed by taking 2 out of 3 from Baltimore has left the Yankees within striking distance of 1st place in a very strange AL East.  Now the Yankees enter the second half of April within striking distance of 1st place in a very strange AL East.

Week Two for the New York Yankees was a far more fun ride than Opening Week. An offensive outpouring in Cleveland followed by taking 2 out of 3 from Baltimore has left the Yankees within striking distance of 1st place in a very strange AL East. Now the Yankees enter the second half of April within striking distance of 1st place in a very strange AL East.

By Nicholas Rossoletti (Yankees Correspondent/Trade Correspondent):

In baseball, a momentum turn can be a slight thing.  A player getting a seeing eye single through the infield that turns him from slumping to streaking. A pitcher getting a lucky hop that turns a rally into a double play.

For this Yankees team, the momentum turn seems to have been C.C. Sabathia‘s gem against the Tigers on a Sunday afternoon.  

The Yankees used that 7 Inning performance to jump-start the second week of the season. In almost every regard, Week Two was the anti-thesis of Week One.

After Sabathia dominating the Tigers’ line-up and the Yankees getting after Detroit ace Justin Verlander, the Yankees headed to Cleveland where it was either raining or the Yankees were scoring runs.

After Opening Week, the 11 and 14 runs scored in the first two nights in Cleveland allowed the fan base to breathe easy.  This run shed some light on an issue I wanted to look at this week.  

Before the season got under way, my pre-season piece focused on the Vernon Wells trade and keeping the faith in a Yankees front office.  

The line-up’s ability to score runs has been largely based on the performance of their veteran acquisitions in the off-season (and the fact that Robinson Cano is absolutely an offensive superstar).

Pronk Cometh:

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Down On The Farm – New York Yankees Update

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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Almonte is showing his stuff at Triple-A, Particularly, his plate patience is something to keep an eye on and may land him in the Bronx sooner than originally expected.

Almonte is showing his stuff at Triple-A, Particularly, his plate patience is something to keep an eye on and may land him in the Bronx sooner than originally expected. In Scranton, Zolio Almonte has begun to separate himself from Melky Mesa as the more advanced outfield prospect.  The Most exciting thing about Almonte is how he is managing Triple A Pitchers  He Has worked out 10 Walks – while putting up a very impressive .512 OBP.

By Nicholas Rossoletti (Yankees Correspondent/Trade Correspondent): 

Yankees Report From Down on the Farm:

As of the writing of this paragraph, Almonte had worked another two Walks to further improve that On Base Percentage.  The ability to control the strike zone and force pitchers to throw strikes may be the most important factor in promoting a ball player.  

In the pre-season, we talked briefly about Almonte as a potential replacement for an injured Curtis Granderson.  While Vernon Wells has obviously filled the ranks of the Yankee Outfield, should there be regression from Wells or further injury, Almonte is beginning to show himself as a real option to get Major League At-Bats.

Zolio Almonte HRs:

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Can The Blue Jays Weather The Jose Reyes Injury?

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Wednesday Apr.17/2013

Anthopoulos is about as prudent a man as you will find.  He is all smiles in this press conference, but he knows what is at stake.  He has deemed that the "time is now" for the Blue Jays to go for it all, and convinced his bosses to risk hundreds of millions of dollars.  If the team he has assembled does not compete, for any reason, he may be out of a job.  He is not the kind of guy who puts his feet up and becomes content.  His focus right now is on eliminating any causes for concern from the 2013 Blue Jays as possible, because they do still exist, despite the recent mania.

Anthopoulos is about as prudent a man as you will find. He is all smiles in this press conference, but he knows what is at stake. He has deemed that the “time is now” for the Blue Jays to go for it all, and convinced his bosses to risk hundreds of millions of dollars. If the team he has assembled does not compete, for any reason, he may be out of a job. The team has had a mediocre start at 6 – 7 in the tough AL East – and have lost their prime Leadoff Man for 3 months.  Going the extra mile to add depth in the franchise may enable the club to stay in contention until Jose Reyes comes back in July.

By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner):

Jose Reyes was the best player acquired over the winter by the Toronto Blue Jays.  He was supposed to be the Leadoff Hitter, provide speed and flash the glove at the Short Stop position.

The 30 Year Old was doing just that before going down in a heap at Second Base over the weekend stealing a bag.

Incredibly, the guy almost was injured even weeks doing the very same thing just a few weeks back.

Brett Lawrie was activated from the Disabled List last night.  The initial plan was to maybe play him at Second Base, with Jose Bautista moving back to Third Base.  This would put Maicer Izturis at Shortstop, with relegating Emilio Bonifacio to Right Field.

Jose Reyes Injury:

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Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – April 16, 2013

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Today on The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast, I ask Is Mike Scioscia‘s job safe? Are the Angels making a stupid lineup decision? It sure looks that way.

Also, Bronson Arroyo, Ryan Zimmerman, Kevin Correia and Joe Mauer owned baseball on April 15, 2013.



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To See The Yearly  Race for  Players who owned baseball for a Day click the READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY ICON Read the rest of this entry