Gio Urshela

What Kendrys Morales Brings to the New York Yankees

by
The New York Yankees have traded for Kendrys Morales.

After Tuesday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles was postponed, the New York Yankees announced that they traded for Kendrys Morales from the Athletics. In exchange, the Yankees will send a player to be named later or cash.

What we’re working with

Morales, 35, is a switch-hitting first baseman and DH, but primarily a DH. After a .203 start to the season over 109 at-bats, the Athletics had DFA’d him on Monday.

Morales is generally a power hitter that can accumulate a lot of home runs and doubles. Power hitters’ averages usually rise once they become a Yankee because of the short porches down the lines at Yankee Stadium.

[su_posts template=”templates/teaser-loop.php” posts_per_page=”3″ order=”desc”]

What the New York Yankees expect out of him

The Yankees are hoping that they can plug Morales into the six or seven spot in the order to drive in runs. They don’t need him to hit for a great average, just get run production via extra base hits and home runs.

With Andujar now on the IL again, that secures Giovanny Urshela’s spot at third for the meantime. Because of that, it will leave some time at the DH spot open for Morales. Hopefully, he shouldn’t be needed in the field at all. Luke Voit is in a little rut right now, but should soon recover from it. Plus, Morales isn’t really known to be a gold-glover.

Hopefully, the acquisition of Kendrys Morales should help boost the lineup and cover up some of the injuries.

 

With Players Beginning to Return, the New York Yankees Face Tough Decisions

by
New York Yankees, Aaron Hicks

The New York Yankees faced and are still facing an injury crisis, but soon a lot of their stars will be back. However, it will likely be three outfielders to return next. How will the Yankees work this out? Also, once Didi Gregorius comes back, which infielder will go?

The decisions:

Clint Frazier will be returning from a brief IL stint on Monday, and the Yankees sent Stephen Tarpley down for the corresponding move. But, Tarpley isn’t an outfielder, he’s a pitcher.

Tyler Wade has currently been playing the outfield, but I believe that he will begin to play the infield again. People thought for sure though that Mike Tauchman would go once Frazier returns, but Aaron Boone has confirmed that his time as a Yankee has not expired just yet.

Once Aaron Hicks returns in ~10 days, it will certainly be Tauchman’s time to go. A .176 average ain’t gonna cut it in the MLB, especially with Cameron Maybin hitting .333 while playing good defense. Maybin will 100% stay over Tauchman. Maybin is a proven outfielder with a lot of MLB experience.

But once Giancarlo Stanton returns, sometime shortly after Hicks, it will likely be Maybin’s time to go. They may be able to trade Maybin and get some cash or a prospect, because he deserves a spot on a MLB team, but won’t have one with a healthy Yankee squad.

Didi will begin his rehab assignment in a few weeks, and once he returns it will either be Tyler Wade’s or Gio Urshela’s time to go. Didi should be on the active roster in about a month or so.

I think that it should be Wade that goes because, well, Urshela has outplayed him in almost every aspect. Wade is a great base-runner and is very aggressive, but Urshela is more defensively sound and boasts a .338 batting average.

Wade just hasn’t proven himself enough to maintain a spot on a healthy roster, and needs to hit better to spend more time in the MLB. He is also beginning to run low on minor league options, so that could potentially be a problem in the near future.

And once you remove Wade, Gleyber can shift back to second and DJ can be the utility man the Yankees wanted.

Once more players become healthy, the Yankees will face several tough roster decisions. But, Brian Cashman doesn’t make very many bad decisions and you should trust that he will continue to make the right ones.

New York Yankees Lose To Diamondbacks Despite Out-Hitting Them

by
New York Yankees, Brett Gardner

The New York Yankees only allowed five hits, but it was enough for the Diamondbacks to hold off a late Yankee rally and win, 3-2.

Voit does it again

Luke Voit hit another home run to lead the limited Yankee offense on Wednesday. His home run was a 398 foot shot to left for his ninth of the season. This came in the sixth inning, and put the Yankees on the board.

Mike Tauchman was responsible for scoring the second and final run, an RBI single in the eighth to make it a 3-2 game.

Gardner, Sanchez, Torres, Urshela, and Maybin also had hits for the Yankees. Nobody had multiple hits, but Voit, Tauchman, and Maybin each reached multiple times. Voit’s on-base streak was extended to 41 games.

A short afternoon for Tanaka

Masahiro Tanaka was a bit off on Wednesday, and with the NL rules only lasted four innings. Mike Ford pinch-hit for him in the fifth, and drew a walk.

Tanaka allowed five hits and three runs over four innings, striking out six. He walked one and gave up one home run.

Tanaka got three ground-balls and three fly-balls, also getting first pitch strikes to 12 of the 18 batters he faced. He also got 11 swings and misses, which is really good for four innings.

But now, Tanaka can get a bit of rest for his home start in about a week. A short outing Wednesday added with two off-days this week will help him in the long run.

The bullpen stepped up

The bullpen had a really good showing on Wednesday in relief of Tanaka. They didn’t allow a hit over four innings.

Luis Cessa pitched the fifth and sixth, walking one and picking up three strikeouts. Cessa is an entirely different pitcher than last year, which is very helpful with all of the injuries.

Tommy Kahnle and Adam Ottavino each followed with 1-2-3 innings. Kahnle is also having a great year so far. His velocity is back, and he is looking like he did in 2017. I just wish that Aaron Boone would pitch him in higher leverage situations.

After an off-day on Thursday, the Yankees head home to take on the 17-10 Minnesota Twins in a 7:05PM start. As usual, the game will be televised on YES and Fox Sports Go.  James Paxton (3-2, 3.38 ERA) gets the ball for the Yankees against Kyle Gibson (2-0, 4.88 ERA) of the Twins. Gibson has won his last two starts, both against Baltimore.

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

by
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

by
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.

by

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

by
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.