Adam Ottavino

New York Yankees: Clint Frazier’s Late Homer Powers Yankees to Win Over Orioles

by

Clint Frazier may not have started the game, but he sure helped end it for the New York Yankees. Pinch-hitting for Mike Tauchman in the sixth, Frazier struck out but would remain in the game with him being the only outfielder off the bench. In the eighth inning with two on, Frazier bashed a 2-2 slider to left field with no doubt, giving the Yankees a 6-4 lead that would hold for a win.

The Judge with two verdicts

Yankee slugger Aaron Judge finally got on the board with two home runs on Saturday, both to center field.

On his first home run, he swung at a 2-2 fastball that got too much of the zone for a solo shot, putting the Yankees up 1-0 in the first inning.

In the third inning, he put a full-count slider over the wall that was a bit too high in the zone for Oriole pitcher Dylan Bundy. Bundy lasted just 3 2/3 innings.

Aaron Judge’s two home runs and Frazier’s home run accounted for all six Yankee runs.

Happ and Holder struggled

JA Happ didn’t have a great outing in a rematch against the Orioles, and Jonathan Holder sorta made a mess in relief.

Happ pitched just 4 1/3 innings while allowing five hits and two runs while issuing two walks and punching out five. The lefty threw 88 pitches, and had trouble keeping the ball out of the air. He got six fly balls compared to two ground balls. However, Happ gave 12 of his 20 batters he faced a first pitch strike.

Holder was quite wild in relief of Happ. He only had one first pitch strike against eight batters. After a clean start, Holder hit Cedric Mullins with a pitch and allowed Jonathan Villar to single in the seventh inning.

A fielders choice hit by Chris Davis and a sacrifice fly by Rio Ruiz scored those runs. It seemed that Aaron Boone tried to stretch Holder too far. (Side note: Davis hasn’t gotten a hit in 40 consecutive at-bats)

Ottavino came in after for five outs, and despite only one strikeout he got the job done. It took Chad Green 16 pitches to get the final out of the eighth after an error by DJ LeMahieu.

Aroldis Chapman came in and got the save in the ninth. He looked good, but he isn’t quite at his 100-102 MPH fastball. He was maxing out at about 97 MPH.

The Yankees and the Orioles conclude their series on Sunday at 1:05PM. Domingo German will get the ball for the Yankees against the Orioles’ David Hess. The game will be on YES Network, Fox Sports Go, ESPN+, and out of market on MASN.

 

The New York Yankees Beat The Tigers as Gardner and Sanchez Homer

by
New York Yankees, Gary Sanchez

In a low scoring affair, New York Yankees starting pitcher Domingo German threw five solid innings and Gary Sanchez and Brett Gardner each hit solo home runs to beat the Detroit Tigers by a score of 3-1.

Seven combined hits

The Tigers and the Yankees combined for just seven hits all game, and just two came from the Tigers. Both of them happened to come off the bat of Jordy Mercer, who went 2-of-4.

The Yankees had five hits, two of which left the yard. Sanchez and Gardner each had solo shots, and Gardner also added a single in the first.

Greg Bird had a single to left field, but Tigers outfielder Christin Stewart bobbled it and Luke Voit put the wheels on and scored from first after a walk in the third inning.

Judge doubled in the seventh inning, but was stranded there, unable to build on the lead.

Aroldis Chapman came in to lock it down in the ninth, pitching a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout to end it.

The Yankees four big relievers that are healthy right now pitched on Monday, and each did a great job. Chad Green, Zack Britton, Adam Ottavino, and Aroldis Chapman were each scoreless in one inning of work, and Britton was the only one that allowed a hit.

German did what was asked of him

Domingo German went out there on Monday with relatively low expectations, but pitched a solid game. In five innings, he only gave up a hit and a run, the run being charged on another Gary Sanchez throwing error. It did look like Gleyber Torres just missed the catch and Sanchez was just stuck with the error, so it’s not really his fault.

German only threw 77 pitches, but struck out seven while throwing first-pitch strikes 62 percent of the time. He got three of his seven strikeouts on curveballs, two of his seven on sliders, and two of his seven on fastballs. So basically, there was a lot that was working for German.

Though his pitches worked well, his accuracy and composure were poor. He walked five batters on Monday, and a 7:5 strikeout to walk ratio is really bad. He needs to keep practicing his accuracy and find more strategies with Gary Sanchez to get the ball to spots he can hit and the batters can’t.

Game two of the series against the Tigers continues on Tuesday at 6:35PM on YES Network and Fox Sports Go.

Masahiro Tanaka is scheduled to make his second start of the season, while Jordan Zimmerman will do the same for Detroit. Zimmerman was dominant last time out against the Blue Jays, allowing just one hit in seven innings.

 

 

Three run first inning powers New York Yankees to Opening Day Win

by
New York Yankees, Yankees, Luke voit

It didn’t take very long for New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit to prove haters wrong.

After back-to-back singles by Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, Voit cranked a low slider on a 3-1 count into Monument Park for the Yankees first three runs of the game and season, and it led them to a 7-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

That home run was Voit’s only official at-bat, he took walks in two other plate appearances and was also hit by a pitch. His hit-by-pitch actually resulted in an RBI, as the bases were loaded. Aaron Judge was the only Yankee with multiple hits, a single to right and an infield single. All Yankee batters besides leadoff hitter Brett Gardner had a hit, but Gardner did have a walk.

Greg Bird went 1-for-4 on the game, with three strikeouts and a home run into the Yankee bullpen. Miguel Andujar had a single to CF in the seventh and an RBI sacrifice fly early on. Andujar, however, did have a throwing error in the fourth inning.

A quality start for Tanaka:

Masahiro Tanaka got his 2019 season off to a good start, giving up six hits, two runs (one earned), and fired five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings of work. Only throwing 83 pitches, the Yankees didn’t want to stretch it with him as the team doesn’t play again until Saturday.

Tanaka was throwing his slider and splitter well and for strikes. All five strikeouts were swinging, including him striking out the side in the second inning using mainly offspeed pitches. Most outs came from his slider or splitter, and he only threw a few curveballs all game.

Tanaka faced 22 batters and threw first-pitch strikes to 12 of them.

Ottavino showed out in his first game:

Adam Ottavino had no New York jitters. He came out to relieve Tanaka in the sixth inning with two outs to strike out Rio Ruiz, then came back for the seventh inning getting two more strikeouts and a lineout to Troy Tulowitzki at shortstop, who got a hit in his first game as a Yankee.

Zach Britton and Aroldis Chapman came in for the eighth and ninth innings, and each pitched scoreless innings despite both giving up a hit.

The two teams don’t play on Friday but will continue the series on Saturday at 1:05PM on YES Network, ESPN+, or FOX Sports Go. The probable starters for the game are Nate Karns and James Paxton.

 

New York Yankees: Aaron Boone ’19 team is better, more versatile

by
New York Yankees, Aaron Boone

Baseball fans across the world unite in celebrating Opening Day 2019 on Thursday, March 28th. After an offseason full of surprising twists and turns, the New York Yankees have built a roster that they hope will hoist a championship trophy at the end of the season.

Yankees Manager Aaron Boone did the talk show circuit yesterday and spoke with Mike Francesa On Mike and with Michael Kay on his show about the construction of the roster for Opening Day and beyond, the decision he hasn’t had to make about Luke Voit and Greg Bird and the team’s goal of winning a championship.

Michael Kay asked Boone if this year’s team was better than the ’18 team and he very confidently said ‘Yes,” because it is deeper than last year, more versatile and the pitching is better.  Most Yankee fans would agree that the additions and improvements made over the offseason in these three areas make the ’19 Yankees a better team.

The acquisition of DJ LeMahieu significantly improved the depth off the bench of the utility position and added more versatility to the position, as LeMahieu played at all three bases in Spring Training in preparation for the role.  There’s no need to rehash the numbers, it’s a given that LeMahieu was a solid pickup for the Yankees with his Gold Gloves and lifetime .298 batting average.

Boone also has the luxury, with Aaron Hicks sidelined with a back injury, of carrying two first baseman, righty Luke Voit and lefty Greg Bird.  The two first basemen give him the versatility of playing them both, with one or the other as the DH.

Boone said of Voit and Bird that neither separated himself from the other and both were among the top impact first basemen in the league.  Voit came into camp and delivered as he had last season after coming to the Yankees.  Boone said Voit has improved defensively.  

Bird, Boone said, from the first time he saw him hit in spring, was impacting the ball differently.  He put on weight over the offseason in a good way, to strengthen his power stroke this season.

Boone also now has versatility in the outfield with the acquisition on March 24th of Mike Tauchman, who was traded from the Rockies for RHP Phillip Diehl.  Tauchman plays all three outfield positions and has been a hitting machine in the minor leagues for Colorado, but has never had much success in the big leagues and the Yankees are hoping he’ll be another Voit – a good hitter who just needs to play regularly in the big leagues to improve his offense.

Tauchman was immediately added to the roster ousting Tyler Wade from a position with the club.   The Yankees felt Wade lacked the experience and versatility in the outfield that they needed with Hicks out.

The Yankees re-signed CC Sabathia , JA Happ and Zack Britton as parts of the solution to the pitching issues identified by Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner in many interviews in the offseason, in which he said he felt pitching was the area of greatest need for the team.

The Yankees added LHP James Paxton and RHP Adam Ottavino to bolster the rotation and the bullpen and the spring each has had for the Yankees has met or exceeded expectations.  Paxton pitched to a 2.03 ERA in 17.1 innings pitched with 1 HR, 19 SO, 11 H.  Ottavino debuted his nasty stuff for Yankee fans who suddenly forgot who David Robinson was.

Boone has his sights set on a championship in ’19. The Yankees offseason moves will be tested and their success judged on the number of wins the team has at season’s end.  Let’s celebrate the ’19 Yankees and believe that they will hoist the trophy in October.

New York Yankees: from “championship caliber” to champions

by
New York Yankees, Aaron Judge

The 2018 season ended with a whimper not a bang as the New York Yankees found themselves eliminated from the playoff race by the Boston Red Sox in Major League Baseball’s American League Division Series.

Owner Hal Steinbrenner was disappointed and expressed his dissatisfaction with the ALDS result, telling the NYPost.com’s Joel Sherman that the loss “certainly pisses me off.”

In a number of interviews, notably with YES network’s Meredith Marokovitzs on December 5th, Steinbrenner said that the Yankees will “field a championship caliber team” and he believed that the 2018 team was a championship caliber team that didn’t live up to it’s potential.

Steinbrenner told NYPost.com’s Greg Joyce on October 13:

“Look, my family has always been willing to take money that comes off the payroll and put it back in,” Steinbrenner said Friday on “The Michael Kay Show” on ESPN 98.7 FM. “We’re going to do our best to field a championship-caliber team every single year. This coming year is going to be no different than last.”

True to his word, Steinbrenner and the Yankees stayed the course from 2018 by resigning veterans Brett Gardner, CC Sabathia and JA Happ, then made their only splash of the offseason early (November 19) by acquiring James Paxton in a trade with the Seattle Mariners.

The Yankees recently signed free agent Troy Tulowitzki, in a surprising, but not splashy move to bolster the infield in the absence of Didi Gregorius.

However, the offseason’s biggest free agent stars, Manny Machado and Bryce Harper remain unsigned and Yankee fans, many caught up in the media frenzy surrounding these superstars, are frustrated that a truly spectacular move has not been made to propel this team from “championship-caliber” to champions.

Hot stove season is in a deep freeze at the moment for Yankee fans who are clamoring for the team to step up and sign not only Machado and/or Harper, but also relief pitchers, such as Zach Britton and Adam Ottavino.

And it’s not just the Yankees fans that feel the frustration with the cold stove, fans across MLB feel the chill as well. Travis Sawchik of fivethirtyeight.com said that “Free agency has become more and more a battleground between teams and players,” especially as the trend set in 2017 of waiting out the market has extended into the 2018 offseason.

Even superstars are having to wait, Sawchik says:

“and teams seem to have learned, collectively, to wait out free agents. Thirty-five free agents signed guaranteed major league deals last year between Feb. 1 and opening day,2 compared with 18 in 2017, 13 in 2016, 10 in 2015 and 13 in 2014. The longer free agents wait, the fewer dollars they’re typically awarded.”

While perhaps a tectonic shift is taking place in MLB with respect to free agents, these are topics for the lawyers, Yankee fans have stars in their eyes and are restless to see them in pinstripes. I have even seen it suggested by fans, unrealistically, I might add, that there be a signing deadline, such as January 1 for all free agents.

Whatever the solution to the cold stove, Yankee fans are eager to see Steinbrenner and the Yankees field not only a “championship-caliber” team, but champions, such as Machado, Harper, Britton, and Ottavino, elite players at the top of their game now.