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New York Yankees Prospect LHP Josh Rogers May Have Debut in Detroit

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New York Yankees

Josh Rogers, 23, is a lefty pitching for the Yankees in AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The southpaw has been reported by Randy Miller of NJ.com:

“…as a serious contender to get a first big league call-up to make a spot start for the Yankees during their day-night doubleheader in Detroit June 4.”

Who is Josh Rogers and how has he flown under the radar for so long?

Rogers, 6’3, 220 lb, came out of the University of Louisville, an elite baseball institution, after his sophomore year and was drafted by the Yankees in the 11th round of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft.

Despite being unranked on multiple top lists, Rogers has quickly navigated the lower ranks of the Yankees system and risen to AAA in 2018.

Ben Green of Yanks Go Yard noted that Rogers:

“…has a 4 season ERA of 2.80 and a 1.091 WHIP in the minors. Most of all, he pitches deep into games and threw 182 innings for 3 minor league teams including AA Trenton before finishing at Florida A+.”

While Rogers was perhaps expected to play in AA Trenton this season, he was assigned on April 6 to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Pinstriped Prospects Matt Kardos ranks Rogers at number 39 in their top 75 Yankees prospect list for 2018. Kardos said of Rogers before the season began:

“Rogers has well-above average control, having  walked just 41 batters in 241 1/3 innings of work in the system. He is equipped with a fastball, curveball, change-up arsenal that generates lots of weak contact. His fastball generally sits 88-91 MPH with some mild sink down in the zone. The change-up usually comes in between 83-85 MPH with late life; it is a pitch that he throws with good action and conviction at this point.”

Rogers has been better than than even Pinstriped Prospects predicted.  According to Miller, Rogers is ranked fourth in the International League in ERA with a 2.48 through May 30, has held opponents to two or fewer earned runs in eight of 10 starts, and opponents are hitting .230 against him.

With the success he’s had this season, Rogers has attracted the Yankees’ attention, and fans can look forward to seeing him in Detroit on June 4 making his major league debut.

New York Giants: Saquon Barkley Shows Off Massive Legs At Yankees Game

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When you come across your local tree, you usually think, “hmm, just another tree,” but don’t be mistaken, you might just be looking at New York Giants‘ running back Saquon Barkley’s legs.

Barkley was taken with the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, and just as the EPA would say… “We are going green!”

The Giants have provided not one, but two tree trunks to sprout some new life into the offense.. Just check them out here!

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The rookie running back brings an elevated sense of confidence and versatility for an offense that has lacked serious gusto and unpredictability in recent years. His unparalleled ability to jump cut away from pressure and bounce the ball away from defenders will be an essential tool to keep plays alive and converting on third down.

Who’s Barkley hanging with?

Barkley has spent a lot of time hanging around with Odell Beckham Jr., who seems to have returned from his injury with a more mature mentality and a renewed dedication to his team. After missing OTAs last season and grabbing negative attention from the media, Beckham turned the tables this time around, enjoying practice with his teammates for the first portion of the voluntary workouts.

Beckham and Barkley have had a growing relationship since before the 2018 NFL Draft, which only benefits the Giants, as their two best players now have a healthy chemistry to work with.

Utilizing Barkley and OBJ on the offense will be extremely interesting, as defenses will now have to honor the run game, forcing them to leave Beckham in single coverage – a daunting task for any cornerback. It will also open up the field for tight end Evan Engram and Sterling Shepard. Finally, quarterback Eli Manning has the tools to show off his best self – a play-action and audible connoisseur.

How Much Time Does Eli Manning Really Have Left With The New York Giants?

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New York Giants, Eli Manning

New York Giants‘ quarterback Eli Manning might be at his last life with the organization if he doesn’t step up his game for the upcoming season. With Manning only having two years left on his contract, people are doubting his potential to impress the Giants brass enough to deserve a contract extension beyond 2020.

Taking into consideration that Manning is a 37 year-old quarterback with a not so persistent front line; obviously he isn’t going to be able to play to the best of his ability. On the other hand, Giants fans believe that this Eli is the same QB from past years and still has some fuel left in the tank.

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That being said, maybe the Giants need a fresh, young QB to lead the pack. Let’s be honest, Manning’s play-action passes have been weak and his audible calling inadequate, primarily due to the previous offensive scheme Ben McAdoo implemented. With new coach Pat Shurmur taking the reigns, we should expect to see Eli utilize his strengths. But, if Manning has degraded to the point where those strengths might be average at best, it could spell the end for the future Hall of Fame quarterback.

With newly acquired running back Saquon Barkley, Manning will have a dynamic and versatile back that can catch passes out of the backfield and extend pays with his legs. Due to the fact Odell Beckham and Sterling Shepard were injured in 2017, it hurt Manning profoundly considering they were two of the Giants’ top receivers. Don’t forget that wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Dwayne Harris were also injured, leaving Eli Manning with mostly 3rd and 4th string receivers.

Eli’s band of misfit toys at WR dropped 45 passes, which would have brought his completion percentage from 61.6% to 69.5% given those passes were caught. Of course, there will always be some dropped passes, but the Giants led the league by a land-slide.

Being that Manning will enter the 2018 season with a heightened sense of confidence due to the return of his most lethal weapons, and the addition of Barkley and an upgraded offensive line, the franchise QB might be able to extend his stay with Big Blue.

Eli’s brother, Peyton, played until he was 40 years old and was fresh off a herniated disk in his neck. Peyton was forced to travel to Germany to receive the surgery that would ultimately allow him to continue playing in the NFL.

Eli on the other hand has never missed a professional game due to injury, which should allow us to expect quality from him throughout the upcoming season. Backup quarterback Davis Webb has performed well during organized team activities thus far, showing off his big arm and accuracy. The second-year signal caller is making a strong case that he can be the future of the franchise, but a few pre-season games under his belt will be the deciding factor for fans and coaches alike.

Eli Manning predicted stats:

Passing yards: 4,142

Passing TD’s: 28

Interceptions: 13

New York Yankees: Gleyber Torres Named A.L Player Of The Week

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New York Yankees, Gleyber Torres

After a week in which we seen New York Yankees rookie Gleyber Torres become the youngest player in A.L history to homer in four straight games he has been named A.L Player of the Week.

Torres slashed .368/.429/1.158 with five home runs and nine RBI over six games between May 21-27th. Gleyber started the week off blasting two home runs against the Texas Rangers in his first multi-hr game and had three multi-hit games during the stretch.

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GT is slashing .317/.379/.606 with nine HR, and twenty four RBI for the season. Torres leads all A.L rookies  with his .606 slugging, nine HR, twenty four RBI, and 1.7 WAR.

The 21 year old phenom has been everything a Yankee fan could dream of, breaking multiple records already including a few that belonged to the legendary Yankee Mickey Mantle since his call up on April 22nd. GT is making himself a strong candidate to win Rookie of the Year, and we will continue to watch to see if he can keep up this pace all season.

Gleyber and Gardy It’s a Party as the New York Yankees Win in Extras

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New York Yankees, Gleyber Torres

The Yankees won in extras on Tuesday night against the Houston Astros with a display of clutch hitting by an unlikely pair of teammates—Brett Gardner and Gleyber Torres—who hit the tying and winning walk-off runs in a stunner at the Stadium.

Katie Sharp points out the irony of their achievement:

Torres, it seems, makes history every night and so it is fitting that he and Gardner are linked by this terrific stat.

Torres made two of the five errors that plagued the Yankees on Tuesday night; however, he doesn’t let lapses in the field affect his play at the plate.  Torres was 2-5 on the night with 2 RBIs and that spectacular 10th inning hit to walk-off the win for the Yankees.

Gardner was off to a slow start this season, hitting a mere .198 on May 8, but he’s been hot of late.  His lead-off homer off Charlie Morton on Tuesday night was his second in four games—and came against a pitcher who’s known to be tough on lefties. In his first multi-homer game of the season, Gardner blasted his second homer in the ninth inning to tie the game.  He has raised his batting average to a respectable .256.

According to Dan Martin of the New York Post, CC Sabathia said of Gardner after the game, “He makes this team go.’’

And not only on the base pads, but with his elite defense and clubhouse leadership as well.

Didi Gregorius‘ famous post-game tweet singled out the veteran Gardner, represented by the clown emoji, and the rookie Torres, represented by the baby bottles:

Gregorius is absolutely right. The veteran and the rookie combined to bring the Yankees back against a fierce rival and that’s what makes this Yankee team a winner.

The mix of talent and skills between seasoned, battle-tested veterans like Gardner and Sabathia and the raw talent of the Baby Bombers, like Miguel Andujar and Torres is proving to be an explosive combination for the Yankees this season.

 

 

New York Giants Reserve Corner Making Push To Earn Roster Spot

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If there’s anybody on the New York Giants that has heart, it’s 5-foot-9 cornerback Donte Deayon. The popular and easy to root for corner has shown serious potential in his last two seasons, but has struggled to find a starting opportunity with Big Blue due to his lack of size and height.

His tenacity is encouraging, but his experience of only four professional games is troublesome. He was often picked on by taller receivers and was unable to stick with some of the faster pass-catchers in the league.

In Deayon’s four games, he recorded seven tackles and a pass defended in 94 snaps. He ended the 2017 campaign season on injured reserve with a forearm injury.

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Is there an opportunity for Deayon in 2018?

Despite Donte’s diminutive size, he will have a fair opportunity at earning a roster spot. The Giants already have Janoris Jenkins and Eli Apple, which fills two spots at corner. General manager Dave Gettleman also brought on William Gay to compete at slot corner with undrafted free agent Grant Haley. Haley has impresses at rookie mini-camp but will need to show out in training camp to prove to the Giants brass that he deserves a spot on the team.

In addition to those options, journeyman B.W. Webb, Teddy Williams, Curtis Riley and Chris Lewis-Harris will also be vying for a roster spot behind Jenkins and Apple. There’s no sure-fire candidates at the moment, which presents a troublesome thought. The Giants may lack serious depth at coernback in 2018 – something that has been apparent when looking at Gettleman-built defenses.

Nonetheless, Deayon will need to show-out to retain his spot on a Giants team that has been generous to the undersized corner.

2018 Season Will Determine Olivier Vernon’s Future With The New York Giants

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As the New York Giants change gears on the defense and begin to adapt to a 3-4 scheme, former defensive end for Steve Spagnuolo’s defense, Olivier Vernon, is making the transition to outside linebacker.

Vernon has played as a defensive end for his his entire career, and making the move to linebacker will surely have its growing pains, as the Giants’ most lethal edge rusher has vocalized. Vernon stated that he’s still getting used to the different placements of being a linebacker and being in the right spot. He will likely line up more on the exterior of the offensive line, rather than battling in the trenches.

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New defensive coordinator James Bettcher has had success with transitioned defensive ends to linebackers, as Chandlar Jones had an NFL leading 17 sacks in 2017. Based on Jones’ stats alone, you can see that his success at linebacker trumps his defensive end stats by a landslide. In three seasons as a tradition DE, Jones racked up 24.5 sacks. In two season under Bettcher at linebacker, he managed a whopping 28 sacks.

In 2017, Jones also saw an increase in overall tackles by 13 (38 to 51) in a single season. It’s clear that Bettcher knows how to utilize his transformed defensive ends, and he will try to implement the same with Vernon.

The question is: What if Vernon doesn’t pan out as an outside linebacker?

If Vernon struggles to adapt to his new role on defense, he could potentially be a salary-cap cut in 2019.

The Giants have an out in his contract, which they would save a hefty $11.5 million by letting him go. Eating the $8 million in dead-cap space might be necessary if general manager Dave Gettleman can manage to grab a young DE/OLB in the ’19 NFL Draft.

Opening up that cap-space would allow Gettleman to allocate more money to resigning Odell Beckham Jr. and Landon Collins.

Vernon will have to muster a stellar season to ensure his spot on the team is retained.

 

 

Was Giancarlo Stanton Rested Or Benched On Monday Against The Astros?

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New York Yankees, Giancarlo Stanton

The New York Yankees fell to the Houston Astros in game one of a three game series on Monday (5-1). General manager Aaron Boone decided to “rest” Giancarlo Stanton, but I simply can’t imagine he deserved any days off in the middle of the stone-cold hitting streak.

Stanton finished off on Sunday against the A’s 0-4, striking out every time he got up to bat. Flashbacks to the beginning of the season began to flood the minds of Yankee fans, and his .246 batting average continued to drop.

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Yankees’ Gleyber Torres on the other hand moved up to No. 5 in the batting order, just behind Greg Bird in the cleanup spot.

Here’s what Boone said, according to Newsday:

“I don’t know,” Boone said late Monday morning of Torres’ lineup spot. “We’ll kind of get through today, see where we’re at. See how I want to give guys days [off] in the upcoming days and then where he [Torres] slots in and how the lineup [which] is kind of like a puzzle putting it together as far as trying to balance out right/left/switch-hitter and things like that. How guys are swinging, who we’re up against, all those go into that. We’ll just kind of see.”

What did Boone have to say about Stanton’s hitting issues over the weekend?

“I think he struggled a little bit this weekend, no question, with his at-bats, timing-wise and probably not seeing the ball great,” manager Aaron Boone said. “You continue to work at it. As far as alarming? No. Obviously these first couple of months he’s been out a little bit just trying to find that rhythm where he goes on long streaks where he’s really locked in. We haven’t seen that yet. But he’s also, as much as anyone, one swing away from changing the game.”

Sitting Stanton could have been more about trying to end his cold-streak rather than resting him on Memorial Day. Maybe benched isn’t the right word, but more a tactical strategy to get him out of his slump.

It’s fair to think that Stanton was benched due to the Yankees facing off against Justin Verlander, who entered the game with an ERA of 1.08. With Verlander in Cy Young form, putting Stanton in a position to strike out four more times would have been a bad idea. Boone making the decision to sit the Yankees new acquisition was a good move.

Could the White Sox RHP Reynaldo Lopez Become a Yankee Trade Target?

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New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are 33-17 on the season and two games in back of the division-leading Boston Red Sox; however, the series loss over the weekend to the Houston Astros shows just how far short Yankee starting pitching comes when up against the toughest offense in Major League Baseball.

Wallace Matthew of the New York Times wrote after Sonny Gray’s loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday:

“But as the season grinds on, it is becoming clear that if the 2018 Yankees have an Achilles’ heel, it is their starting pitching.”

With the exception of Luis Severino, the starting rotation has shown signs of faltering with CC Sabathia coming off three weeks of sub-par outings, Sonny Gray and Masahiro Tanaka struggling to find consistency and rookie replacement Domingo German learning the hard way.

Fans and experts alike have begun speculating not whether but when and who the Yankees will target to improve the starting rotation.

Rumors have swirled around top-flight names such as Michael Fulmer (Detroit), Madison Bumgarner (San Francisco), Cole Hamels (Rangers), James Paxton (Seattle) and Patrick Corbin (Arizona).

And, indeed, Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman may pull off a trade for one of these top of the line starters.

However, just under the radar, there are a number of pitchers with break-out potential who are worth a look.

The Chicago White Sox RHP Reynaldo Lopez, 24, is just such a pitcher. Currently the number three guy in their rotation, Baseball America ranked him as the number three prospect in the White Sox system in 2017 and the number 31 overall prospect in MLB.

He made his debut with the White Sox in ’17 and in eight games he posted eight quality starts, throwing at least six innings in seven of the eight. Lopez was 3-3 on the season with a 4.72 ERA.

In 2018, Lopez earned a starting spot for the White Sox and, according to Ruben Ceniceros of South Side Show down.com, he has been the White Sox best pitcher this season:

“Starters with at least eight games started, Lopez has the least runs allowed, lowest ERA, lowest batting average against, lowest WHIP, lowest BB/9, lowest H/9, and highest K/BB ratio. Lopez doesn’t have the most inning pitched or the most strikeouts or the highest win percentage but he’s been dominant in many of his outings.”

Lopez is 1-3 with a 2.93 ERA in 10 games for the White Sox in ’18 with a 4.65 FIP, 3.8 BB/9, 6.2 K/9. Lopez has had an excellent start to the season, and it puts him in some pretty select company. Ceniceros writes:

“His WAR for the season is sitting at 1.4, which is better currently than Jose Berrios, Noah Syndergaard, Stephen Strausburg, Lance McCullers, Zack Greinke, Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta and Clayton Kershaw.”

His 1.4 WAR is also better than every Yankee starter with the exception of Severino. Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune has even speculated that Lopez may get a nod for the All-Star game on the strength of his early success.

The six-foot right-hander throws his fastball consistently above 95 mph and can touch triple digits.  According to Brooks Baseball, Lopez also throws a curveball, changeup, slider, cutter and sinker.

Lopez, like most pitchers on weak teams, has not benefitted from much run support from the White Sox offense. Sullivan points out that as of Sunday’s action, Lopez had the 14th lowest support (3.14 runs per start) among major league pitchers.

Lopez has been the most impressive player on a rebuilding White Sox team this season. If the Yankees decide to trade for a starting pitcher, perhaps Cashman should take a look at the South Side of Chicago for a player who is quickly transitioning into the ace of his team’s rotation.

New York Giants: 5 Offseason Questions That Remain

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We have hit the doldrums ladies and gentlemen. Fans of the New York Giants, much like fans of any other NFL team, can only sit and wait for the next two months. The front office has done the bulk of their job, and whether or not you agree with their agenda, you can’t help but be excited to see a better brand of football coming from our squad in the upcoming season.

By all accounts (including those coming from our defensive players) Saquon Barkley is at least as good as advertised.  Will Hernandez and Nate Solder will elevate our O-line play to no less than ‘average’…a vast improvement over the mostly laughable production by the unit in 2017.

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While we have many good reasons to feel content right now, a sober look at our team should leave you wondering about a few areas of our roster. The NFC is about as stacked as I’ve ever seen since the early 90’s. For the Giants to truly be relevant come January, there are some questions that must be0 answered during training camp come August.

1.) Who will be our starting right tackle?

Until further notice, this is a two man battle between Chad Wheeler and twitter pariah Ereck Flowers. Wheeler came to us after last year’s draft as an undrafted free agent.  As four year starter at USC, Chad ranked high among 2017 tackle prospects as far as physical traits and talent go, but he slipped in the draft due to inconsistent play and his smaller frame. 6’7” is more than ideal height, but he weighs in at 310 lbs. and looks slight for the position.

Given the state of our offense last year, it should surprise no one that Wheeler was pressed into duty during his rookie season at several times and at different positions.  While he should be commended for his versatility and general aptitude, his ceiling as a starter is probably league average at best. He has earned the shot to prove he can be more than that (word is that he’s bulked up this offseason) and hold down the position, but I’m not betting that way.

I believe Ereck Flowers wins the job. Or maybe I should say keeps it since he was immediately inserted into the starting lineup…once he bothered to show up. The 2015 9th overall looks exactly like your starting tackle. 6’6”, 325 lbs. with long arms and quick feet. Too bad his play has been about as consistent as Wi-Fi in Antarctica.

Here’s a peek of what I’m talking about:

https://twitter.com/12upSport/status/985992738977058816

To be fair, the Wi-Fi in Antarctica probably is consistent as long as you’re in the right area.  Maybe Flowers works the same way. At left tackle he was getting no signal, but possibly for him right tackle is like the 1% of the south pole where you get 5 bars.

MY ANSWER: Flowers keeps the job and performs well.

2.) Do we have enough depth at cornerback?

I am actually wondering do we even have two good starters? The Jackrabbit..aka Janoris Jenkins, is coming off an injury plagued 2017 season that included a team enforced suspension. At least we have seen him play at an All-Pro level. The same cannot be said for Eli Apple. The enigmatic cornerback has flashed the elite skills that prompted us to select him with the 10th pick two years ago, but he better known for repeated benchings and disrupting team chemistry.

Behind them, the depth chart gets alarmingly thin. William Gay had a nice career in Pittsburgh, but he is on the wrong side of 33! And behind him there’s Teddy Williams, B.W. Webb, Jeremiah McKinnon, C.J. Goodwin & Chris Lewis-Harris. I’ve said before that you can’t rub a bunch of back-ups together to make a starter, but it feels like that’s exactly what we’re gonna try at nickel CB…sounds like a risky course of action in today’s NFL.

MY ANSWER: We get exposed if Jenkins or Apple get injured. Make that when it happens

3.) Who is our #3 receiver?

Dez Bryant.

Just kidding, but only a little bit. As of this moment, Dez is still waiting for us to call. He is hoping that Cody Lattimer does in New York exactly what he did in Denver…which isn’t much. He underwhelmed for four seasons at mile high, but possesses the tools to be an effective possession/slot receiver. The G-men picked him up rather early in free agency, and right now he’s penciled in at #3, but there is competition for that spot.

Enter Roger Lewis. Coming to us in 2016 as an UFA, Lewis has had a few highlight moments for the G-men.

That was one of the few bright spots of a 2017 season where Lewis was inserted into the starting lineup due to the injury bug, no, injury bazooka hitting the receiver corps. Almost nobody on the Giants offense last year looked good, but Lewis didn’t look bad which is saying something.

After Lattimer & Lewis, we get into a lot of names you have no reason to know. Amba Etta-Tawo has an intriguing skill set, but not much else to speak of in his career.  Ramses Barden also had an intriguing skill set for the record.  The rest of the depth chart excites me as much as Barden did.

If the stars stay healthy, these ‘other guys’ should do fine, but if the injury bazooka comes back we’re in trouble.

MY ANSWER: We sign Dez in mid-August when his price is low…he catches 3 td’s against the Cowboys in week 2. Gets benched by week 6.

4.) Will our defense return to 2016 form?

I almost wanna give any defensive players left from last year a mulligan. Our putrid offense left our defense in the worst possible position incessantly. I’m talking about an offense that averaged 15.4 points per game and a 32% 3rd down conversion rate (both good for 31st in the NFL). That’s hard for any defense to deal with.

But a defense that ranked 27th or lower in the 4 major categories (points, total yards, passing & rushing yards) cannot be blamed solely on poor offensive production, bad coaching, or even locker room revolt.  The eyeball test says that last year many players just weren’t performing for whatever reason.

The coaching staff house cleaning brings us not only a new coordinator in James Bettcher, but a new defensive scheme. I wrote earlier how the return of the 3-4 defense will place more emphasis on our linebackers. Free agent Alec Ogletree and returning vet B.J. Goodson will man the inside, while Olivier Vernon will have to adjust to a stand-up role as an outside backer. Rookie Lorenzo Carter is in line to play on the opposite side and help Vernon pressure opposing QB’s.

A little peek at what we hope Carter will bring to our squad:

I talked earlier about the secondary…and you know I don’t like how thin we look.  Thankfully, I love how thick we look on the D-line. Giants vets Damon Harrison and Dalvin Tomlinson will eat up blockers, and free agent Kareem Martin rounds out our starting unit. Martin was a solid 3-4 end in Arizona for the past 4 seasons and should ease the transition for our front 7. This defense needs to hit the ground running to stand a chance in the NFC this year.

MY ANSWER: After a slow start, the defense becomes an above average unit due mostly to the front 7 and Landry Collins.

5.) Does Eli Manning still have it?

There it is. The 100 million dollar question. Can Eli still play? If you ask some people, he never was all that good to begin with. If you ask most people, he’s been bad for at least 2 years…although that does coincide with the tenure of a coach who recently had his keycard taken away.

I’ll put my cards on the table: I believe he still can play at a very high level…but I haven’t really seen it for nearly 2 seasons. I’ve been an Eli fan/supporter since day 1, so it isn’t easy for me to admit that the end is near for my favorite QB. His arm strength is lessened (although not as much as others would have you believe). He can no longer move well enough to be effective behind a porous O-line.

Maybe most alarmingly, his yds per attempt has been trending down for years. In 2011, the 2nd Superbowl win for Eli, he averaged a robust 8.4 yds per attempt. In 2014 it was 7.3 yds per. Last year was his career low at 6.1 yds per attempt.

Despite those and other stats that suggest Eli is done, the Giants brass from top to bottom still see Eli as a championship level QB with years left to play. I can understand their reasoning. He’s as good as it gets at pre-snap at the line of scrimmage getting the G-men in and out of the right plays. Last season proved what kind of leader and teammate he is and how much New York fans truly love him, even when they hate him.

Behind an offensive line that can provide sufficient time and with what on paper looks like the best cast of skill players he’s ever played with, the New York Giants believe there is some magic left in Eli’s 37 year old arm.

MY ANSWER: I think they’re right. Eli enjoys a great statistical season.