James Paxton

Series Preview: New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins

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New York Yankees, Luke Voit

The New York Yankees will head home to the Bronx following a lengthy west coast trip,  finishing 6-3 on the week. They will take on a strong Minnesota Twins team, who are currently 18-10 and are leading the AL Central. Having dropped the last two games, the Bronx Bombers look for another series win.

Game One: James Paxton vs. Kyle Gibson

James Paxton is coming off a three-game winning streak, with his last outing being against the San Francisco Giants. Paxton went 5.2 innings, allowing two earned runs and fanned eight. The strikeout count has been high for the Yankees’ left-hander, as he tied the club’s record of 12 strikeouts in consecutive outings. Paxton currently has 51 strikeouts on the season. The Twins are throwing RHP Kyle Gibson, credited with a 4.88 ERA on the year. After starting with a 7.36 ERA, Gibson has settled down; only allowing three earned runs in his past two outings.

Game Two: J.A. Happ and Jake Odorizzi

J.A. Happ‘s start to the season has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride. A recurring theme has been apparent in each of his outings, where he has allowed runs in the early innings of the game and then settling in through the later innings. Yankees’ offense has helped Happ, as they been able to come back from run deficits. Regardless of Happ’s early struggles, his most recent outing against the San Francisco Giants was dominate. Going the distance (7.0 IP), Happ allowed five hits and no earned runs.  Twins’ crafty RHP, Jake Odorizzi, is coming off a strong outing against the Houston Astros, where he outdueled Astros’ ace, Justin Verlander. Odorizzi, commanding his slider and cutter, was able to shut down the Astros offense in only 86 pitches.

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Game Three: Domingo German and Michael Pineda

Game three will be one of the most anticipated games this series. Domingo German, who has stepped up in Luis Severino‘s absence due to injury, has been everything the Yankees needed. Taking the ace role, German has a 5-1 record with a 2.56 ERA. Ex-Yankee, Michael Pineda will be taking the mound for the Twins. Yankee fans remember Pineda’s dominance in the Bronx, as he was considered the ace of the pitching staff during the 2014 season. This season, Pineda has struggled. Coming off a two-game losing streak, Pineda is credited with a 6.21 ERA in 29.0 innings pitched.

Players to watch

Yankees’ hitter Luke Voit poises a threat at the plate, as he is coming off a hot week on the west coast. In the last seven days, Voit batted .435 with seven RBIs and two home runs. Twins’ shortstop Eddie Rosario looks to do damage at the plate, as he leads the team in home runs (11).

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.

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: 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.

New York Yankees: Late Rally Falls Short as Yankees Swept by Astros

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New York Yankees, DJ LeMahieu

With the New York Yankees trailing 7-2 entering the eighth, Luke Voit led a late game charge by hitting a two run home run, followed by an RBI double by DJ LeMahieu for his third hit of the game. Quickly after, Clint Frazier hit a sacrifice fly to deep right field that was just feet from leaving the yard. This brought the Yankees to within one.

But, the Yankee bullpen didn’t help any. Zack Britton gave up a run in the bottom of the inning, killing the rally. The Yankees came up with nothing in the ninth, losing to Houston 8-6.

Paxton roughed up

It didn’t take long for the Yankees to get on the board. Brett Gardner hit a leadoff home run off Collin McHugh, the Houston starter. But the bottom of the inning was all Houston, with a home run by Jose Altuve and an RBI triple by Yuli Gurriel. Then, Carlos Correa doubled in a run in the third, before the Astros pulled away.

The Yankees scored a run in the top of the fourth thanks to a sacrifice fly by DJ LeMahieu, but come the fifth, Jose Altuve homered (again), as well as a home run by Carlos Correa. An infield single by Jake Marisnick would make it 7-2, and Paxton was pulled in the midst of it.

In 4+ innings, Paxton gave up eight hits, five runs, and struck out five while walking three. He threw 95 pitches and gave up two home runs. Paxton got first pitch strikes to 13 of his 21 batters faced. He got just one ground ball all night, meaning he was quite off.

LeMahieu is proving the haters wrong

A lot of people said that DJ LeMahieu can only hit in Colorado. So far, he’s told those people otherwise. He is hitting .410 so far with 16 hits in 39 at-bats.

He is currently second in AL average, only to Tim Anderson of the White Sox who comes in town on Friday.

Game one against the White Sox is at 7:05PM on YES Network and FOX Sports Go. JA Happ gets the ball for the Yankees against Lucas Giolito of the White Sox.

New York Yankees: Chad Green Struggles as The Yankees Lose 6-3

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New York Yankees reliever Chad Green gave up three runs in the eighth inning as the Yankees lost to the Astros 6-3. The sad part is that they led 3-2, blowing their second lead in as many days.

Bullpen struggles

In five pitched innings on Tuesday, the Yankee bullpen gave up three runs off seven hits. Jonathan Loaisiga only pitched three innings, giving up two runs. He was removed due to throwing 71 pitches in the three innings.

Steven Tarpley relieved Loaisiga and gave up a hit, but threw just nine pitches in the scoreless inning. Luis Cessa got five outs without a score, before the ball was turned over to Jonathan Holder.

With the Yankees up 3-2, Holder gave up a double to new Astro Michael Brantley before being pulled. After, Chad Green came in and got hammered in the eighth, giving up three runs and the Astros took a 6-3 lead.

Again, the Yankees couldn’t recover and went down 1-2-3 in the ninth

Sanchez keeps cookin’

Gary Sanchez kept up his strong play on Tuesday, going 2-for-4 and knocking in two runs on a sixth inning double to put the Yankees up 3-2. His other hit was a single that beat the shift, as the Astros placed three men on the left side.

Luke Voit was responsible for the other run, mashing a solo home run to center field in the first. That was his only hit in four at-bats.

Aaron Judge and Austin Romine were each responsible for a base hit.

Red hot Clint Frazier went hitless on Tuesday night. Not just that, he had a few problems in the field. He dropped a ball on a diving catch attempt, then misplayed a ball a little later.

Brett Gardner also went hitless on Tuesday including being doubled up on a bunt attempt that he didn’t run out. This killed a rally with runners on first and second early in the game.

The Yankees try to salvage the series with the Astros on Wednesday before returning home. Gametime is at 7:40PM (ET) on YES Network and FOX Sports Go. James Paxton gets the ball for the Yankees against Collin McHugh of the Astros.

 

New York Yankees Finally Put Together Some Offense in Win Over Baltimore

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New York Yankees, Gleyber Torres

Just four days ago, the New York Yankees finished dropping a three game series against the Orioles at home. Now on the road, the Yankees finally pieced together some offense and beat the Orioles by a score of 8-4.

Gleyber Torres led the way

Gleyber Torres put together a game he won’t forget. Torres went 4-for-4 with two dingers and four ribbies.

His first time up, he roped a 1-1 splitter to left field and gone for a solo homer. His next time up, he cracked a double.

The third time he came to the plate, the Yankees were trailing 4-2 in the sixth inning, shortly after catcher Gary Sanchez had a homer himself. Torres took an 0-2 fastball to left for a three run home run to give the Yankees a 5-4 lead. Torres also had a single in the eighth, and if he had another plate appearance, he would need just a triple for the cycle.

In the ninth inning, first baseman Luke Voit popped a 1-2 sinker into the seats for a three-run bomb, putting the Yankees up 8-4 to seal the deal.

Something that is worrisome about the game is the fact that Aaron Judge went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts. He isn’t getting a ton of friendly calls behind the plate, but nonetheless he shouldn’t be striking out as much as he has been. Like we said yesterday, it’s all about situational hitting.

Big Maple’s first Yankee win

Getting a no decision in his first Yankee game, James “Big Maple” Paxton picked up his first Yankee win on Thursday against the Orioles.

Paxton pitched 5 1/3 innings while giving up four runs on eight hits while striking out nine and walking two. Paxton threw 99 pitches and threw first pitch strikes to 14 of his 25 batters. He got eight of his nine strikeouts on variations of his fastball, and was hitting 96 MPH consistently on the radar gun with the four-seam.

Once Paxton was finished, Tommy Kahnle came in for 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief, followed by Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman with scoreless innings to close it out.

Reminder: We’re only seven games into the season. The Yankees are 3-4, but the Astros (who we play next) are 2-5 and the Red Sox are 2-6. Plus, the Cubs are also off to a 1-4 start. Those four teams area handful of the World Series favorites.

Fans just need to patient. The Yankees will heal, and they will win games.

The Yankees actually have Friday off with the whole home opener, next day off thingy. So the Yankees and the O’s finish off this three game series on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday’s game will be at 7:05PM on YES Network and Fox Sports Go. MASN may be available dependent on where you live and which TV provider you have, and that is another way to watch.

JA Happ gets the ball for the Yankees against the Orioles’ Dylan Bundy. That will be a rematch of this past Sunday at Yankee Stadium.

 

Andujar with missed opportunities as Yankees drop first game of season

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New York Yankees, Miguel Andujar

In his first start as a Yankee, southpaw James Paxton pitched well, giving up two runs (one earned) off of four hits with five strikeouts. However, he was credited with a loss as the Yankees couldn’t get much going on offense, dropping the second game against the Orioles by a score of 5 to 3.

Despite having 10 hits, the Yankees only managed to score three runs while going 3-of-9 with runners in scoring position. Their defense sure didn’t help any, having three errors on the game.

The little offense they had:

In the fourth inning, DJ LeMahieu punched one up the middle, barely strong enough to get through, scoring Gleyber Torres.

In the sixth inning, the Orioles put up two runs off a single by Dwight Smith and a throwing error by Gary Sanchez on a double steal attempt. With runners on first and second, Sanchez threw to second on the steal attempt. The throw was in plenty of time, just off target. This would knock Paxton out of the game.

An inning later, Baltimore got one more, this time off of Chad Green. Rio Ruiz doubled, then later scored off a single by Jesus Sucre. Sucre led the Orioles, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs.

In the ninth inning, Yankee reliever Jonathan Holder made a mess, starting after an error by DJ LeMahieu. With runners on the corners with one out, Sucre knocked one down the left field line, stopping at second and clearing the bases while making the score 5 to 1.

The Yankees sure tried to come back in the bottom of the ninth. Troy Tulowitzki led off with an opposite field home run, then LeMahieu followed with a double. Gardner hit a hard liner to center that was caught for the first out, however Aaron Judge kept it going with a hard single. After a full count strikeout by Giancarlo Stanton, Luke Voit hit a high fly ball that barely dropped in with the outfield playing back. That scored a run making it 5 to 3, but Miguel Andujar struck out on a 1-2 slider to end the game.

Andujar ruined their two biggest opportunities

Way back in the first inning, Baltimore starting pitcher Nate Karns was in no mood to deal with the big boys. After Gardner was retired to start the inning, Karns walked Judge, Stanton, and Voit to load the bases. After taking a low fastball for a ball, Andujar hit it back to Karns who threw it to Sucre behind the plate, then Trey Mancini at first for a 1-2-3 double-play.

Now in the ninth inning, the Yankees had Judge on third and Voit on first with Andujar up to bat. After swinging at a 95 MPH fastball for strike one, Oriole reliever Mike Wright threw three straight sliders. Andujar laid off the first one but swung at the next two to end the game.

Andujar finished 1-for-5 with two strikeouts on the afternoon.

The Yankees finish the series with the Orioles on Sunday afternoon at 1:05PM in the Bronx. The game will be televised on YES Network and Fox Sports Go.

 

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

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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

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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.