Thairo Estrada

New York Yankees: CC Sabathia Returns Of The IL

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New York Yankees veteran lefty CC Sabathia will be returning from the IL on Sunday to face his former team in the Cleveland Indians. Sabathia last appeared on July 27th against Boston before going on the IL with knee inflammation.

On the season, CC has a 4.78 ERA and a 5-6 record. He’s been too inconsistent this season, and that’s been the result of his high numbers.

To make room on the roster, the team sent down newly acquired reliever Ryan Dull down to AAA following Saturday’s game. Additionally, Thairo Estrada was placed on the IL with a hamstring strain and the team recalled Tyler Wade from AAA.

Hopefully, CC will remain healthy for the rest of the season and provide some quality starts down the stretch. He likely won’t have a high pitch count Sunday, and will need to have a few starts to get lengthened out again. Remember, he did not make any rehab starts.

CC will be a big part to the team in these last few months, and needs to pitch well to lead the team to their 28th World Series.

New York Yankees: Thairo Estrada Could Be Trade Bait

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New York Yankees, Thairo Estrada

The New York Yankees are in need of a starting pitcher, and when we think of trade bait we go straight to Clint Frazier. But, Brian Cashman said in a phone interview the other day that teams have called about the availability of Thairo Estrada, and he believes that Estrada has potential to be a starting shortstop somewhere.

Estrada is just 23 years old, and is a very versatile player. Not just a middle infielder, he can shift to the outfield when needed. He is batting .280 in 50 MLB at-bats, and has just one error. He is also a career .280 minor league hitter, but has batted under .200 in AAA over multiple seasons.

With Didi Gregorius being healthy and an even younger middle infielder in Gleyber Torres, it would likely be years before Estrada gets an everyday shot with the Yankees. Plus, the Yankees drafted middle infielders with their early picks this year, putting those guys in position for the majors around 2022.

Estrada could be a starter for a rebuilding team, and that team could build around him and set things up where he could be their shortstop of the future. If he gets traded, his team might not win right away, but it could be an enormous opportunity for the young fella from Venezuela.

New York Yankees: Was Optioning Thairo Estrada The Right Move?

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New York Yankees, Thairo Estrada

With Didi Gregorius becoming activated, the New York Yankees were forced to make a roster move to make room for him. What they did was send Thairo Estrada to AAA, rather than DFA’ing or releasing Kendrys Morales

Should of kept Estrada

In my mind, the Yankees should of 100% kept Thairo Estrada and gotten rid of Kendrys Morales.

Estrada has outperformed Morales in every aspect. The only thing that Morales has and Estrada doesn’t is switch hitting.

Estrada’s average is at .280 through 50 at-bats, and he has 11 RBIs and three home runs. Morales has a .189 average through 159 at-bats with 11 RBIs, and two home runs.

Estrada also has a lot more speed and versatility compared to Morales. Estrada can play the middle infield, as well as the outfield and has a lot of speed. Morales, is not a great fielder and is extremely slow.

Kendrys Morales is a first baseman, and keeping him makes three guys who can play first. Luke Voit is obviously the starter, and DJ LeMahieu backs up every infield position. When you have those two guys, there is no need for a third first baseman, especially a guy batting under .200.

LeMahieu will now just play in a new position every day. He will give guys off-days or let them DH, or DH himself if nothing else.

Because Estrada is so versatile and has better season stats, the Yankees should of kept him over Morales. Morales is slow and aging, and they could release him or trade him to a rebuilding team like the Orioles or the Marlins.

How The New York Yankees Could Keep Thairo Estrada Long Term

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New York Yankees, Thairo Estrada

Thairo Estrada has been one of those guys that have came out of nowhere to help the New York Yankees. Many people assume that he will head to AAA once Didi Gregorius is healthy, but that may not necessarily be the case.

Team versatility

So many guys in the Yankee infield can play different positions, and that is super beneficial to the team.

Because DJ LeMahieu can also play first, I think that the Yankees should get rid of Kendrys Morales and keep Estrada as the utility man.

If you do that, the starting infield would look like this: Gio Urshela at third, Didi Gregorius at shortstop, Gleyber Torres at second, and Luke Voit at first.

However, the Yankees could instead make DJ LeMahieu the everyday first baseman and move Voit to the DH spot. LeMahieu is definitely quicker and more defensively sound compared to Voit.

Estrada is primarily a middle infielder, so he could play the field if Didi or Gleyber need rest or DH. If Urshela needs a break, you could move DJ to third and bring Voit back to first.

Estrada would likely play once or twice a week in that scenario, or he could play a bit more if he comes off the bench to pinch run.

In my opinion, there is really no need to keep Morales. He isn’t producing, batting just .188. He only has two home runs, and isn’t getting consistent solid contact. His fielding is also poor, as he is very slow and immobile.

Keeping Estrada would be the best option for the team for a better bat and more versatility.

 

New York Yankees: Estrada Has Been Huge Of Late

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New York Yankees, Thairo Estrada

In a season of unsung heroes, Thairo Estrada has been another one for the New York Yankees. Nobody ever thought that Estrada would be in the majors this year, or even next. But with the next man up mentality from injuries, it’s led to Estrada’s appearance in the MLB, and he hasn’t disappointed.

Big hits at big times

Estrada has had a couple of extremely clutch hits of late for the Yankees.

In game one of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Royals, he had a late two run double to seal a 7-3 win. A few weeks ago, he had a big home run after a delay at Tropicana Field to secure a win over the Rays.

On the season, Estrada has 14 hits in 44 tries, good for a .318 average. He has three home runs and eleven RBIs, also drawing two walks and stealing two bags.

Estrada also has a perfect fielding percentage, spanned across three positions.

Estrada will likely be leaving soon

With Didi Gregorius beginning rehab, it will mean that Estrada will be heading back to AAA once he is healthy. With Tyler Wade struggling at AAA, Estrada would be first in line to come back up if an injury occurs. Estrada should however be a September call-up, and if he continues his success, who knows? He could see a spot on the postseason roster.

It will be really good to get Didi back, though. His solid overall play in all aspects of the game make the Yankees a much better team, but Estrada will be missed.

 

 

New York Yankees: Good News On Injury Front For Two Stars

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On Saturday, New York Yankees Skipper Aaron Boone announced positive news on the injury front.

He said that Didi Gregorius will begin extended spring training games and Giancarlo Stanton will begin rehab with the Tampa Tarpons on Monday.

The Impact

Gregorius and Stanton are two of the Yankees best players, and it’s good to know that they will be ready to play very soon.

Last season, Gregorius hit .268 with 27 home runs and 86 RBIs. He also had a sellar April, winning player of the month. Didi finished 20th in the MVP voting the last two seasons. He also has gold-glove caliber defense, and with all of that it makes him one of the league’s best shortstops.

Giancarlo Stanton has played three games, and made a huge impact in them. He went 2-for-8 with seven walks. Last season, he hit .266 with 38 home runs and 100 RBIs. He finished 19th in last year’s MVP voting, a year after winning the award in the National League.

Who goes to AAA?

It will likely be Clint Frazier and Thairo Estrada that will go to AAA once Stanton and Gregorius return.

Both players have played well with the Yankees, but Frazier has struggled of late. However, there is no way that the Yankees would keep both on the team, and obviously no way Stanton or Gregorius goes anywhere.

It is worth noting that since Gregorius is on the 60 day IL and the 40-man roster is full, somebody will have to be DFA’d to make room for him.

But, the Yankees knew that they would have to make those decisions, and it’s almost time to do so again. It sucks they have to, but it shows the depth of this organization.

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.

Voit’s Two Home Runs Lead New York Yankees Past Angels

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New York Yankees, Luke Voit

Luke Voit had two solo home runs to extend his hitting streak to 10 games and his on-base streak to 34 games as the New York Yankees took down the Angels 7-5.

Milestones for the young fellas

Mike Ford and Thairo Estrada each had milestones at the plate on Tuesday.

Ford hit his first career home run in the fifth, over the high wall in right-center at Angel Stadium. Estrada collected the first two hits of his career, going 2-for-4.

Despite no RBI’s, Brett Gardner went off for a huge four hit night. His first hit came in the third inning, a triple to right-center. In the fifth, he singled to left before doubling to left-center in the seventh. In his final at-bat, he was just a home run away from the cycle, but instead singled for a second time.

Gleyber Torres also added two hits and an RBI, and Mike Tauchman and Tyler Wade each had a hit.

Green needs to go

Chad Green is struggling. A lot.

He managed to load the bases, then proceeded to give up a grand slam on a change-up right down the middle to Justin Bour. His ERA is now 16.43. Green needs to work out his problems in AAA, because he keeps getting put in low-leverage situations then quickly makes them high-leverage situations b y giving up runs. He continues to have an inability of getting outs.

Luis Cessa relieved Green and pitched the remainder of the eighth scoreless, and Zack Britton pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save of the year.

Chad Green came in for German, after he pitched 6 and 2/3 great innings.

He gave up just four hits and walked one, giving up a lone run. He threw 99 pitches and struck out five, throwing first pitch strikes to 14 of the 25 batters he faced.

German got nine swings and misses, and worked seven ground-balls and eight fly-balls. The young right-hander picked up his fourth win of the season, and sits near the top of the American League in ERA at 1.75.

Jonathan Loaisiga was brought up Monday night and was expected to start Tuesday, but was pushed back and will start on Wednesday.  Felix Pena will likely start for the Angels. Game time is at 10:05PM (ET) on MLB Network, YES, and Fox Sports Go.