DJ Lemahieu

New York Yankees: Luke Voit Living Up To Expectations A Month In

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New York Yankees, Luke Voit

A lot of questions surrounded the 2019 first base battle for the New York Yankees, and when the team left spring training for New York, it looked like Luke Voit would be the starting first baseman. Greg Bird would likely still get at-bats, DHing against certain right-handers.

Voit didn’t get off to a fantastic start, but neither did Bird. About two weeks ago, Bird was placed on the IL with a plantar fascia tear, and Mike Ford was called up.

Ever since Bird was on the IL, Voit has had great success, and Ford has been playing decently as well.

Was the opportunity that Bird had before the injury his final in Pinstripes? The way Voit has been playing, I think so. I don’t just think that I believe that Voit will be the first baseman for years to come.

Voit is red hot

Ever since Bird went on the IL, Voit has been great. He has been even better since the Yankees went out west, batting well over .400 with four home runs in the last seven games (LAA and SF games).

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On the season, Voit is batting .283 with 25 RBIs, an OBP of .400 and an OPS of .935.

His offensive production has been making up for Aaron Judge’s injury disappearance, and more offense should return soon in Miguel Andujar, Aaron Hicks, and Giancarlo Stanton (Note: Andujar should begin rehab with A-ball Tampa Tarpons on Tuesday).

His average puts him 32nd in the AL, his OBP at 16th in the AL, his eight home runs put him sixth in the AL with teammate Gary Sanchez, and his 25 RBIs are good for second in the AL.

Voit is doing everything that the Yankees want him to do: drive in runs and get on base. He has also just been named the AL player of the week for 4/21-4/28.

Bird gets worse with time

In 35 at-bats before his injury, Bird bat a dismal .171, driving in just one run on an opening day solo-blast.

His WAR sits at -0.2, meaning that the Yankees would have more success if they didn’t use Bird at all this year.

Bird needs to be traded or sent to play AAA ball for Scranton. They could sure use players since everyone else has been called up, including Mike Ford.

Ford could keep a roster spot

In 24 at-bats, Ford has just four hits but has four RBIs. His defense is better than Voit’s and Bird’s, with better on-base, slugging, and OPS numbers than Bird.

Ford also has had more minor league success, batting over .400 before receiving the call after 10 games with Scranton.

The conclusion:

Luke Voit is here to stay for years to come. He’s sure proving that last year’s success was no fluke, and he will continue to mash. Greg Bird’s time may have come to an end as a Yankee, and Ford could stay up to play defense and potentially DH. But remember, DJ LeMahieu can play first base, too.

Still, with the injuries, I think that LeMahieu will end up staying at second and third, and Voit will be the everyday first baseman.

 

New York Yankees Beat The Giants 11-5-But At A Cost

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New York Yankees, Gio Urshela

The New York Yankees took down the San Francisco Giants 11-5 for a three game sweep, but it came at a cost. Gio Urshela and DJ LeMahieu were both removed with injuries.

The bats came out again

The Yankee bats had another big afternoon, tallying 14 hits led by Gary Sanchez and Luke Voit.

Voit had three hits and two RBIs. He is batting over .400 on this west coast swing, with two games left before going east.

Gary Sanchez had a hit and three RBIs, clearing the wall in left by a mile, almost going out of the stadium for a two-run shot.

Thairo Estrada added two hits along with Gleyber Torres and Urshela. Nine of the 13 Yankees that had an at-bat got a hit. With the injuries, JA Happ was actually forced to pinch-hit. He grounded out, but hit it hard.

Injury issues

DJ LeMahieu was removed early on with knee tightness that started on Friday. It got a bit tighter during the game, and with an off-day on Monday, Aaron Boone didn’t want to take any chances. Results came back relatively clean, just inflammation.

Gio Urshela was hit by a pitch in the wrist towards the middle of the game. He was also removed as a precaution, and his results came back clean.

One bad inning

Overall, Domingo German had a good start, but had one bad inning.

He gave up four runs, all in the sixth inning off a series of RBI singles and an RBI double. The sixth was his final inning, giving up a total of five hits.

German struck out four, walking just one. He threw first-pitch strikes to 13 of the 25 batters he faced, getting eight swings and misses, while working eight fly-balls and seven ground-balls.

Jonathan Holder and Tommy Kahnle worked scoreless relief innings, and Joe Harvey gave up one run in the ninth. Holder seems to be pitching better in his last few appearances.

After an off-day on Monday, the Yankees travel down to Arizona for some more inter-league baseball on Tuesday. Game one begins at 9:40PM (ET) on YES and Fox Sports Go. CC Sabathia gets the ball for the Yankees against Merrill Kelly of the Diamondbacks.

New York Yankees: Sanchez Hits Grand Slam to Lead Yankees Past Giants

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New York Yankees, Gary Sanchez

Gary Sanchez hit a fifth inning grand slam to lead the New York Yankees past the Giants, 6-4. The Giants made an attempt to come back, scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth.

Happ’s best start

JA Happ undoubtedly had his best start of 2019 against the Giants.

Over seven scoreless innings, he gave up just five hits without a run crossing. He didn’t allow any walks, but struck out just two.

Happ got six swings and misses, also getting 13 fly-outs to just six ground-balls. He threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 26 batters he faced.

But, it didn’t go well after Happ was removed.

After Luis Cessa pitched a scoreless eighth, Boone wanted to keep him out for the ninth but only could do so by letting him hit. So he did (well, he tried), and after taking two balls he took three hard cuts to be retired.

In the bottom of the ninth, Cessa gave up home runs to two former Yankees.

Yangervis Solarte hit a three run home run, and Erik Kratz followed with a solo shot. That was enough for Aaron Boone to pull Cessa, and he was forced to use Aroldis Chapman in a one out save situation. Chapman successfully got the final out for the win.

The big blast

Without Gary Sanchez hitting that home run, the Yankees likely would of lost Saturday’s game.

With Happ, LeMahieu, and Voit on-base, he belted a 1-2 sinker to left-center, well over 460 feet. He saw all sinkers during the at-bat, and picked one and crushed one. It currently sits as the fourth longest home run of the season.

Gio Urshela had three hits in four tries, raising his average to .327.

LeMahieu, Torres, Maybin, and Estrada each had Yankee hits. Luke Voit was hit by a pitch to keep his on-base streak alive, but his hit streak ended at 13.

The final game of this three game set concludes on Sunday at 4:05PM (ET) on YES and Fox Sports Go. Domingo German is expected to get the ball for the Yankees against Dereck Rodriguez of the Giants.

 

 

New York Yankees Collect 15 Hits In Win Over Giants.

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For the first time in years, the New York Yankees found themselves in San Francisco to take on their old New York rival in the Giants.

And they sure took their bats on this trip, collecting 15 hits as they took down the Giants 7-3.

Welcome Cameron Maybin

Cameron Maybin didn’t wait long to get his first Yankee hit.

He lined the first pitch he saw to center for an RBI single, batting fifth in his first game in the road grays.

But for the most part, the big guns led the way.

For the second consecutive night, Luke Voit had three hits and extended his on-base streak to 37 and his hit-streak to 13. Voit also drove in three, and his average now sits at .276.

After a little rough patch, DJ LeMahieu is getting hot again, also collecting three hits. His average has now risen over .300 again.

Gleyber Torres and Gio Urshela batted three-four in the order, each picking up two hits and driving in a run. Romine, Tauchman, and Estrada each picked up a hit and Mike Ford had a pinch-hit single.

Solid Start For Big Maple

James Paxton had a solid start coming off two lights-out starts.

Over 5 and 2/3 innings, Paxton gave up three runs off five hits, walking two. He struck out eight on the night.

Paxton has sure proven that he is a strikeout pitcher in his short tenure with the Yankees. He got 14 swing and miss strikes, and in comparison, Masahiro Tanaka had just one on Thursday night.

For every two fly-balls he worked, he got a ground-ball, and got first pitch strikes to 18 of the 24 batters he faced.

Tommy Kahnle would eventually relieve Paxton to get the final out in the sixth. Zack Britton had the seventh, but was pulled after walking the bases loaded, still one out away from the end of the inning.

But, Adam Ottavino bailed him out and also pitched a scoreless eighth before Aroldis Chapman came in to lock it down in the ninth.

Game two of the series takes place at 4:05PM (ET) on YES and Fox Sports Go. JA Happ gets the ball for the Yankees against Derek Holland of the Rangers.

New York Yankees: Tanaka’s Rough Start Ends Win Streak At Six

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New York Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka

New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka gave up two fifth inning home runs, as the Angels climbed out of a 4-0 deficit to win 11-5.

Couldn’t keep it down

Tanaka had a lot of trouble keeping the ball on the ground on Thursday. Along with the home runs, hitters got nine fly-balls off of him, to just five ground-balls. He also only struck out two, which isn’t normal for him. Tanaka is usually good for at least six strikeouts.

He was also quite wild, walking three and throwing balls 38% of the time. Tanaka only got one swing and miss on the game.

Tanaka gave up six runs (five earned) over 5 and 2/3 innings, allowing six hits.

So overall, Tanaka was just off a bit on Thursday. It’s gonna happen to all pitchers, and you just have to live with it. He’ll bounce back on Wednesday at Arizona. Let’s just hope he doesn’t hurt himself running the bases this year.

Boone didn’t handle his bullpen right

The way that Yankees skipper Aaron Boone handled the bullpen on Thursday left a lot of people asking questions.

He had Jonathan Holder get just one out, before Stephen Tarpley and Joe Harvey gave up a combined five runs in the seventh inning. Before the runs scored, the Yankees only trailed by two.

Once the game seemed out of reach, he put in Tommy Kahnle, who has an ERA under two.

Why not go with Kahnle earlier on, or other high leverage guys like Zack Britton. It was unlikely that Chapman would of pitched on Thursday, as he pitched two of the prior three games.

Also, Boone could of went with Holder, who is beginning to improve from the beginning of the season. Situations like Thursday make you wish more and more that Chad Green wasn’t struggling and that Dellin Betances wasn’t injured.

Luke’s gettin’ hot

After a slowish start to the season, Luke Voit is red hot. He went 3-for-5 last night, and his average now sits at .255. Voit has reached base the last 36 games, and has gotten a hit in the last 12.

DJ LeMahieu also added two hits and drove in a run. Gardner, Torres, Urshela, and Wade each had hits in the game.

Urshela’s hit left the yard for his first Yankee home run, and his average now sits at .283. Tyler Wade has been contributing well to the Yankees, playing solid defense and getting on base.

Early in Thursday’s game, Wade singled then stole second and third on back-to-back pitches. The next pitch scored Wade on a single by LeMahieu.

The Yankees now head up to San Francisco for their first interleague series of the season. Game time is at 10:15PM (ET) on Friday on YES and Fox Sports Go. James Paxton gets the ball for the Yankees against Madison Bumgarner of the Giants.

 

New York Yankees: DJ LeMahieu Leads Five-Run Comeback Over Angels

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New York Yankees, DJ LeMahieu

DJ LeMahieu had two hits and three RBIs to help dig the New York Yankees out of a five run deficit to beat the Angels 6-5.  The Yankees have now won six consecutive games.

DJ saves the day

Tyler Wade led the sixth inning off with an infield single, and scored the next pitch off a double by LeMahieu. LeMahieu scored a few batters later on a passed ball by Angels’ catcher Jonathan Lucroy.

In the seventh, Wade drew a bases-loaded walk to score a run. LeMahieu hit a sacrifice fly and Luke Voit hit a fielder’s choice, each scoring a run to tie it up.

After two outs to start the ninth, Wade singled to start a rally. With LeMahieu up, Wade stole second before he was knocked in to go ahead.

Aroldis Chapman pitched a scoreless bottom of the inning as the Yankees held on for the win.

Luke Voit extended his on-base streak with a walk in the first, now at 35 games. He also had a hit to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.

Three away from 3K

CC Sabathia struggled a bit in his third start of the season, but his three strikeouts put him three away from 3,000 on his career.

CC allowed five runs (four earned) in five innings, giving up six hits and three home runs. He got 14 first pitch strikes to 22 batters. Sabathia had trouble keeping it on the ground, getting eight fly-balls to just five ground-balls.

Jonathan Loaisiga finally got some work in, however it was out of the bullpen. He was originally expected to start one of the Anaheim games.

The righty pitched three innings in relief, allowed two hits and picked up the win. He walked one and struck out one. Loaisiga was also optioned to AAA following the game.

Game four of the series takes place on Thursday at 9:07PM (ET) on YES and Fox Sports Go. Masahiro Tanaka gets the ball for the Yankees against Trevor Cahill of the Angels.

Austin Romine Saves The New York Yankees From A Devastating Loss

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After the New York Yankees surrendered a 5-0 lead in the eighth, Austin Romine brought out the heroics. He hit a hard ground-ball that just got through the left side to tie it up in the bottom of the inning. After zeros in the ninth for both sides, we went to extras. Zack Britton pitched a scoreless inning in the top half of the tenth, before Romine walked it off with a gapper to right-center.

Green and Ottavino ruined Paxton’s game

James Paxton was fantastic yet again. Over six innings, he allowed just three hits with no runs scoring, striking out 12. He was the 11th pitcher all-time to punch-out 12 in consecutive scoreless appearances (per Yankees PR).

Paxton had a whopping 20 swing-and-misses, the second straight start he did that. He also threw 15 first pitch strikes to 22 batters.

But, the bullpen had no plans of continuing that success. This is a classic example of Murphy’s law; what could go wrong did go wrong.

Chad Green came in relief, and it took him just 12 pitches to load the bases with two singles and a walk.

Green was pulled immediately, and Adam Ottavino came in. This is where it got ugly.

They say that bases loaded with nobody out is the worst possible scenario for a reliever. And this time, it did not go well for Ottavino.

Adalberto Mondesi knocked in two on a double, right before Alex Gordon smacked a three-run home run. This tied the game up at five, for about thirty seconds. Hunter Dozier hit a solo home run on the very next pitch, making it 6-5 Kansas City.

And magically, the Yankees pulled it out with the help of Romine.

Clint Frazier needs to chill

Clint Frazier can’t stop and won’t stop mashing. This dude murdered one over the visiting bullpen in the fifth inning for a three-run shot.

The Yankees also got a run in the first and the second. DJ LeMahieu scored on a wild pitch after a lead-off double in the first, and Romine knocked in the other run in the second.

Overall, the Yankees are incredibly lucky to have won this ballgame. Every sign pointed towards them losing after the eighth, but they proved their resilience. They are also lucky to have a guy like Austin Romine as the back-up catcher. He is definitely good enough to have a starting job on a big-league club, but the Yankees want him and he wants the Yankees.

The Yankees now trek way west to Anaheim to take on the Angels on Monday with a 10:05PM (ET) start. JA Happ gets the ball for the Yankees against old cross-town rival Matt Harvey, now on the Angeles after being dumped by the Mets and not resigned by the Reds.

New York Yankees: Judge Injured as Yankees Blow Out Royals

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New York Yankees, Aaron Judge

You can’t make this stuff up.

On an opposite field single in the sixth, the New York Yankees star outfielder Aaron Judge felt a pull in his oblique and was removed from the game. He will get an MRI, and Aaron Boone said after the game that it will almost certainly be an IL-stint.

In good news, the Yankees picked up a 9-2 win over the Royals. It got the Yankees back to .500 through 20 games.

Hits all around

The Yankees collected 14 hits all together, with multiple hits from four players. Clint Frazier and Giovanny Urshela each had three.

Judge got it going early before his injury, with a solo-shot to right in the first. Then, Clint Frazier led off the second with a solo-shot of his own.

In the third inning, Gleyber Torres hit one over the wall that was ruled a home run. After a review, it was deemed to be a fan interference, and he was called out. Aaron Boone wasn’t very happy about the call, and was thrown out for the first time in 2019. The score stayed 2-0.

Mike Tauchman made up for it in the next inning, belting a three-run home run to right. The pitch after, DJ LeMahieu had his first Yankee home run for back-to-back jacks.

In the sixth, Gleyber Torres and Frazier had back-to-back RBI singles, and Austin Romine knocked one in on an infield single in the seventh to conclude the scoring.

Seven strong

Masahiro Tanaka pitched seven strong innings, giving up just four hits and a run.

Tanaka fanned seven, but put three on base with walks. He worked seven ground-balls and five fly-balls, also getting twelve swing-and-misses.

Tanaka picked up his second win of the season in five starts, but only his previous start was a bad start. His ERA is now at 2.76 through 29.1 innings.

Jonathan Holder came in to get the last six outs, and gave up a solo home run in the ninth.

The final game of this four game set with Kansas City will take place on Easter Sunday at 1:05PM. The game will be on YES Network and FOX Sports Go. James Paxton gets the ball for the Yankees against Jorge Lopez of the Royals.

Clint Frazier Shows Off Arm As Yankees Top Royals 6-2

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New York Yankees, Clint Frazier

With runners on first and third and nobody out, Whit Merrifield flew out to New York Yankees right-fielder Clint Frazier. Frazier caught it on a hop and threw home to get Martin Maldonado out, as he was attempting to tag-up. The throw hit 95 MPH. It helped CC Sabathia work out of a third inning mess with giving up just one run. This helped pave the way for a 6-2 Yankee win over the Royals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvWovs207Vs

Vintage CC

CC Sabathia had another great start over five innings. He gave up three hits and zero earned runs, striking out five in his first win of the year. A couple third inning errors by himself and Luke Voit allowed for one unearned run to cross. He continued to thrive by working weak contact.

CC is very close to three huge milestones. He is three wins away from 250, six strikeouts away from 3,000, and 20 innings away from 3,500 on his career.

Through ten innings this season, CC hasn’t given up a single earned run. He continues to have success in pitching after a Yankee loss. That was also CC’s 22nd win over the Royals in his hall-of-fame career.

Unlikely power figures

Brett Gardner had a two-run home run, and Mike Tauchman had a solo-shot to lead the Yankees. The home runs were in the third ind fifth innings, respectively.

The Yankees added two more in the sixth, thanks to a sacrifice fly hit by DJ LeMahieu, and Luke Voit scored on a wild pitch ball four that put Clint Frazier on.

In the seventh, Tyler Wade laid down a good bunt that resulted in a throwing error, scoring Kyle Higashioka. Wade was the only Yankee with multiple hits.

Game three of this four game set will be on Saturday at 1:05PM. The game will be live on MLB Network, YES Network, and FOX Sports Go. Masahiro Tanaka gets the ball for the Yankees against Heath Fillmyer of the Royals.

 

New York Yankees: Paxton Dominant Over Eight Innings In Win Over Boston

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New York Yankees, James Paxton

James Paxton struck out 12 over eight innings while allowing just two hits as the New York Yankees blew out the Red Sox 8-0.

Paxton actually had to fight pretty hard

Despite the fact that he struck out 12 and allowed zero runs, he actually had to fight back to a lot of batters. He only had first pitch strikes to half of the 28 batters he faced. So he was getting outs after going down 1-0 or 2-0, which is incredibly impressive.

And, he only threw 110 pitches, which isn’t a lot for how many strikeouts he had and for how many counts he was behind in.

Paxton also got eight fly-ball outs and four ground-outs. Outside of the two hits, Paxton also hit a batter to allow just three total base-runners.

The Yankee defense was also fantastic, led by a play from Giovanny Urshela.

With Mookie Betts up, he grounded a ball down the third base line. Urshela backhanded, and threw to first while slipping and falling down to get Betts.

The best offense in a while

The Yankees offense finally kicked it into gear to beat up Chris Sale and is Red Sox. In the third, DJ LeMahieu and Luke Voit each had RBI singles to start it off.

An inning later, Clint Frazier belted a high change-up into the seats for a lead-off home run, and Mike Tauchman scored Austin Romine on a double. Romine impressed everyone with his base-running, while Tauchman advanced to third on the throw home.

It was the sixth inning the next time Tauchman was up, and belted a long three-run home run for the first one of his career. This made it 7-0 good guys.

The Yankees put up one final insurance run in the seventh when Gleyber Torres hit one for his fourth of the season.

With the large lead, the Yankees put in Joe Harvey to finish it off in the ninth after Paxton’s night was complete. He worked a scoreless inning, despite allowing a hit.

The second and final game of the series will take place on Wednesday at 6:30PM on ESPN, YES, and Fox Sports Go. JA Happ gets the ball for the Yankees against ex-Yankee Nathan Eovaldi for the Sox.