NFT: Yanks talk 8-7

Put up a funny video yesterday of the guys on the plane and Bird was in the video ,I guess he traveling with the team while he is rehabbing so maybe he will be back this year

If Judge and Sanchez start hitting again and Hicks, Bird, and Castro can make it back. Yanks are deeper in bullpen than Boston and starters are much improved.

except for KC which is skidding a bit anyway. We control our destiny, if we win enough we'll be in. Preferably we'll be in with the division, but Boston is not cooperating by feasting on some shitty competition over the weekend and getting some help against Cleveland before that.

Spoiler alert - his overall defense is actually pretty good. He's weak in just one area:

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Here, for the sake of discussion, is where Sanchez ranks among the 87 catchers to play a big league game this season in the various catcher defense metrics at Baseball Prospectus: Framing: +4.0 runs (13th) Blocking: -1.3 runs (80th) Throwing: +0.8 runs (10th) Total Fielding: +3.5 runs (15th) Blocking pitches is the only thing Sanchez does poorly according to these stats, which may or may not be accurate. I don�t see how looking at these is any different than the pointing out Sanchez leads the league in baseball balls. The more information, the better. These are all tools in the shed. To call Sanchez a bad defensive catcher is unfair. He�s bad at blocking balls. He�s a quality framer and thrower and that stuff matters too.

it's also a thing that he catches for several pitchers who have bad-ass breaking stuff. Some of that is captured in the wild pitch stat, but some of it isn't.

Also his CERA is .75 better than Romine and one of the best in the league. Mostly a reflection on the pitching staff, but not exclusively.

In comment 13551956 Greg from LI said:

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Spoiler alert - his overall defense is actually pretty good. He's weak in just one area: Quote: Here, for the sake of discussion, is where Sanchez ranks among the 87 catchers to play a big league game this season in the various catcher defense metrics at Baseball Prospectus: Framing: +4.0 runs (13th) Blocking: -1.3 runs (80th) Throwing: +0.8 runs (10th) Total Fielding: +3.5 runs (15th) Blocking pitches is the only thing Sanchez does poorly according to these stats, which may or may not be accurate. I don�t see how looking at these is any different than the pointing out Sanchez leads the league in baseball balls. The more information, the better. These are all tools in the shed. To call Sanchez a bad defensive catcher is unfair. He�s bad at blocking balls. He�s a quality framer and thrower and that stuff matters too.

I can agree with all of that. My whole thing is I am not confident at all in Gary performing the most basic of catcher's functions: receiving the baseball. He cost us two runs on Friday (I think), cost us runs in the past, has allowed base runners on SOs more often this season than any other catcher I have ever seen and Im sure we lose that game Saturday with Monty on the hill throwing those diving curveballs.

While Romine is awful at the plate, he has become a necessary evil given our staff's propensity to throw lots of breaking balls that wind up in the dirt.

In comment 13551971 Dunedin81 said:

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it's also a thing that he catches for several pitchers who have bad-ass breaking stuff. Some of that is captured in the wild pitch stat, but some of it isn't. Also his CERA is .75 better than Romine and one of the best in the league. Mostly a reflection on the pitching staff, but not exclusively.

cERA? Means nothing. Catcher has no control over a pitcher having a bad day. Hell they don't even call all the pitches. A couple of bad Tanaka outings is enough to ruin anyone.
Sorry a contrived stat that is completely useless.

In comment 13551988 section125 said:

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In comment 13551971 Dunedin81 said: Quote: it's also a thing that he catches for several pitchers who have bad-ass breaking stuff. Some of that is captured in the wild pitch stat, but some of it isn't. Also his CERA is .75 better than Romine and one of the best in the league. Mostly a reflection on the pitching staff, but not exclusively. cERA? Means nothing. Catcher has no control over a pitcher having a bad day. Hell they don't even call all the pitches. A couple of bad Tanaka outings is enough to ruin anyone. Sorry a contrived stat that is completely useless.

I'm not inclined to put a ton of stock in cERA, but comparing the stat between Sanchez and Romine would seem to, at a minimum, discount the often used nonsense that Romine adds value in "calling games" and "handling the staff".

as per my caution, the majority of catcher's ERA is just good pitching. But it's a pretty big sample size and considering that he does well with other metrics (pitch framing, etc) it's reasonable to suggest that his own efforts at calling a game have something to do with it.

Expecting to start running and fielding next week, and start his rehab assignment at SWB the following week.

Castro has started light running, but hamstring injuries are tricky. Speculation is that he is still a few weeks away.

In comment 13552020 Dunedin81 said:

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as per my caution, the majority of catcher's ERA is just good pitching. But it's a pretty big sample size and considering that he does well with other metrics (pitch framing, etc) it's reasonable to suggest that his own efforts at calling a game have something to do with it.

If it has value it is 2 cents. I have no confidence that a catcher can be charged with a pitcher's lousy pitching. You can make a stat for anything, doesn't mean it is valid. He can call the right pitch and a hanging slider is turned into a HR. He can call a FB low and away and it doesn't get there and it is crushed. He can have Michael Pineda that Ks 16 then gives up 5 runs in 2/3 inning.

Useless stat.

has worse numbers than Travis D'Arnaud at throwing out base stealers. Add that to his no bat, and even if every single passed ball that Sanchez has given up scored (12 on the season), that is easily offset by the home run difference & run production between the two, let alone that Sanchez throws out 38% of base stealers to Romines 12% and its not even close who should be the catcher.

In comment 13552100 Steve in Greenwich said:

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has worse numbers than Travis D'Arnaud at throwing out base stealers. Add that to his no bat, and even if every single passed ball that Sanchez has given up scored (12 on the season), that is easily offset by the home run difference & run production between the two, let alone that Sanchez throws out 38% of base stealers to Romines 12% and its not even close who should be the catcher.

That is not the question. Sanchez is THE catcher. Maybe the best arm in MLB. Just whether Romine is a decent back up.
Still Sanchez needs to get the PBs down. He is too good to be missing that many balls, not to mention the WPs.

Hicks no where to be found, not in the dugout. Not playing. Did he get called back up?

In comment 13552232 superspynyg said:

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Hicks no where to be found, not in the dugout. Not playing. Did he get called back up?

He went to Trenton so he wouldn't need to go on the Railriders road trip.
Joe said maybe next week to the Bronx...

another Holiday are:

1. Andujar - Did well during his first cup of coffee, is already on the 40-man roster, is hitting .336 with 7 HRs in 33 games for SWB

2. McKinney - Earned Prospect Team of the Week recognition last week (second time since being called up to AAA), is hitting .353 with 9 HRs in 31 games for SWB

In comment 13552269 Beer Man said:

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another Holiday are: 1. Andujar - Did well during his first cup of coffee, is already on the 40-man roster, is hitting .336 with 7 HRs in 33 games for SWB 2. McKinney - Earned Prospect Team of the Week recognition last week (second time since being called up to AAA), is hitting .353 with 9 HRs in 31 games for SWB

Its really almost to the point where at least one of these options is explored....preferably Andujar seeing as how he did well when he was called up. Holliday might be finito.

In comment 13552269 Beer Man said:

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another Holiday are: 1. Andujar - Did well during his first cup of coffee, is already on the 40-man roster, is hitting .336 with 7 HRs in 33 games for SWB 2. McKinney - Earned Prospect Team of the Week recognition last week (second time since being called up to AAA), is hitting .353 with 9 HRs in 31 games for SWB

Agreed on Andujar. I'm one of his biggest fans. My favorite non A list prospect since Nooney.

Also random separate post but Bob Meusel should be in the HOf

pretty much every minor league team of the Yanks is on their way to winning their division. Doesn't win games at the MLB level, but not bad.

He is the one I hope they call up

Seems to be a bit easier than Boston's. But Yankees are 3 behind. Scary that it all could come down to that very last game. Very much hope that doesn't happen.

and Hicks is on the verge of returning, Castro will beging running this week, Bird has resumed baseball activities. All good.

Sanchez is being done a disservice. Sure, work with him and help him improve, but don't bench for a guy who isn't so great behind the plate and can't hit.

I don't like that Montgomery was 1) pulled after 5 innings and 2) sent down.

Judge seems to be coming out of it. laying off those shit pitches.

Montgomery is entering uncharted waters for innings pitched. They have to manage his innings otherwise he's not going to be available to them down the stretch. There's almost 2 months of the season left. They sent him down so they can limit his innings for awhile without blowing out the MLB bullpen. He will be back up

In comment 13552424 Victor in CT said:

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and Hicks is on the verge of returning, Castro will beging running this week, Bird has resumed baseball activities. All good. Sanchez is being done a disservice. Sure, work with him and help him improve, but don't bench for a guy who isn't so great behind the plate and can't hit. I don't like that Montgomery was 1) pulled after 5 innings and 2) sent down. Judge seems to be coming out of it. laying off those shit pitches.

Don't count on 1 HR by Judge being the end of swinging at that slider low and away. Neither with Sanchez. Talk to me again in a week. If he lays off 50% of the time I'll be happy.
No matter, he'll still swing at that slider, but he does such a great job coming from 0-2 counts he just needs to use the same restraint. He just needs to accept that the next pitch will be an outside slider and leave it alone.

The more important thing will be not missing his pitch. He did a great job with solid contact to start the year and now he (and Gary) are just not crushing the hittable pitch.

the HR was promising in that it was to right center, but the 3 AB's where he K'd he swung at some awful stuff.

In comment 13552365 xman said:

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He is the one I hope they call up

Cave Is better. Mason Williams had a ok night

Are the two keys to the season, I think Hicks can really help, he is close enough to return and get his timing right by the end of August, that can help, but Castro and Bird are too far away to hope for them to impact the season before it is too late.

Which leads us to the real keys, Judge and Sanchez, Sanchez and Judge, they get hot then watch out, they remain cold and the Yanks will struggle to make the playoffs, let alone catch the Red Sox, unfortunately it is mostly on them.

I have given up on Todd Frazier to get back to what he once was, this guy needs to stop trying to pull everything out of the park or he will never get back to anything close to what he was, and he was a very good player in Cinncy, great defense, and clutch hitting, it amazes me how far off a player of that caliber can get. His team hoping has not helped, but this is on him, he is a veteran player now, it's too bad because the Todd Frazier of Cinncy would have really helped this team, I thought coming here could do it, but he has shown no sign as of yet.

Didi will continue to be what he is, and he has been excellent, Torreyes has been a god send also, and I now call him Chase Carew, but all kidding aside, Headley has been playing good ball for a while now and I think we can count on him staying like this. He just doesn't have any power. Clint has the potential to be a true 5 tool player, time will tell how close he gets to being what he could become, which is a star player.

In comment 13552234 section125 said:

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In comment 13552232 superspynyg said: Quote: Hicks no where to be found, not in the dugout. Not playing. Did he get called back up? Thanks He went to Trenton so he wouldn't need to go on the Railriders road trip. Joe said maybe next week to the Bronx...

In comment 13552429 section125 said:

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In comment 13552424 Victor in CT said: Quote: and Hicks is on the verge of returning, Castro will beging running this week, Bird has resumed baseball activities. All good. Sanchez is being done a disservice. Sure, work with him and help him improve, but don't bench for a guy who isn't so great behind the plate and can't hit. I don't like that Montgomery was 1) pulled after 5 innings and 2) sent down. Judge seems to be coming out of it. laying off those shit pitches. Don't count on 1 HR by Judge being the end of swinging at that slider low and away. Neither with Sanchez. Talk to me again in a week. If he lays off 50% of the time I'll be happy. No matter, he'll still swing at that slider, but he does such a great job coming from 0-2 counts he just needs to use the same restraint. He just needs to accept that the next pitch will be an outside slider and leave it alone. The more important thing will be not missing his pitch. He did a great job with solid contact to start the year and now he (and Gary) are just not crushing the hittable pitch.

Agree, both Judge and Sanchez have found it very difficult to lay off those balls in the dirt. I'm not convinced one HR is the cure all. Whatever Judge did in the off-season to prepare for this year, he needs to go back to doing. He needs to get back to where he was swinging for hits and not for HRs. With his power, many of those hits will leave the park anyways; as we saw before the ALL-star break.

not a great one. The interesting thing is his spray charts were always skewed toward the pull side, but over the last several years his BABIP tanked and his K rate crept up. Either he's the unluckiest hitter in the world, or he went from being a line drive hitter with 20-25 HR power to being an all-or-nothing guy who gets you 35-40 HR but hits into the shift a bunch and is an ongoing risk for a DP. He's not young but he should still be in his prime, his decline from an All Star-caliber bat to a replacement level one has been precipitous.

back. He walked in that Sunday game as well as HRd, singled on Saturday, singled and walked twice on Friday. Looks like progress to me.

come back T. Frazier should be first to sit.

For as dreadful as he's been at the plate has played a very good 3rd base. He's made plays that Headley could never make. His bat is standing out now because the entire offense has gone into a funk at the same time, but if the rest of the team starts hitting the way they are capable, Fraziers glove can compensate for the bat.

that Didi and/or Gardner is the LH power bat in it.It is so decidedly righty that you never see teams save their lefties for the Yankees as had been standard protocol in the past.I'd still like to see Cashman bring a power lefty onto this roster.Obviously Bruce would be ideal but after seeing Duda going to TB, I don't think Sandy will trade him here unless Cashman were to overwhelm him.Bird would help but at this point I think anything we were to get from him is gravy.

by no means elite, a step down from Frazier, but Headley is hitting .341 in the second half, Frazier a robust .179. Even allowing for the difference in patience and pop, Headley's stick in the lineup means a lot more right now than Frazier's glove in the field.

In comment 13552483 Victor in CT said:

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come back T. Frazier should be first to sit.

According to yesterday's articles, Bird is preparing to be ready by the end of the month. To me it doesn't seem like enough time to complete his rehab and bump off the rust. Who knows what the team can expect from him, as it has be a downer of season for him, and he has seen very little playing time over the last two seasons.

In comment 13552503 Dunedin81 said:

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by no means elite, a step down from Frazier, but Headley is hitting .341 in the second half, Frazier a robust .179. Even allowing for the difference in patience and pop, Headley's stick in the lineup means a lot more right now than Frazier's glove in the field.

Sure, if you think Headley is going to continue to hit .341 and Frazier.179 the rest of the season. I'd expect those numbers to both level off to some extent

In comment 13552524 BigBlueShock said:

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In comment 13552503 Dunedin81 said: Quote: by no means elite, a step down from Frazier, but Headley is hitting .341 in the second half, Frazier a robust .179. Even allowing for the difference in patience and pop, Headley's stick in the lineup means a lot more right now than Frazier's glove in the field. Sure, if you think Headley is going to continue to hit .341 and Frazier.179 the rest of the season. I'd expect those numbers to both level off to some extent

Maybe not, but recent performance suggests that even a leveling off still puts him in the .250-.280 range. For Frazier his BA decline has been steady over the last four seasons, so .200-.220 wouldn't be out of the ordinary. Frazier isn't even really a bunch guy, he had an insane May 2015 but otherwise his month to month stats have been relatively consistent. Consistently shitty, some pop, walks a bunch, awful batting average.

line. he hit .225 in 158 games for all of 2016. He has hit .207 with CWS, .200 here, combined .206 for 2017 in 98 games. So in his last 256 games, he has batted .218.

So, BigBlueShock, I politely ask you: what in God's name leads you to believe that T. Frazier will suddenly get hot? Are you suggesting that this is a small sample size?

for the rest of the season. He's been on hot and cold months all year. Definitely enjoying this run and he's had huge hits for this team recently, but also realize he could spend a chunk of September on the interstate. Now getting rid of using him vs. lefties may help mitigate that we'll see. I agree with Judge/Sanchez being huge for this team the rest of the way. The offense as a whole has floundered for 6 weeks now for the most part. If they can rev it up it will go a long way towards getting us back on track. Hitting is the difference right now. You know the pen will be elite, and quietly we have settled into a damn solid starting rotation at this point. If we can just manage 4 runs a game we can take off again.

he just looks uncomfortable at the plate.

you know he desperately wants to succeed in pinstripes and he's got millions upon millions of dollars riding on his next two months. But nothing in his recent past indicates it's especially likely.

In comment 13552555 Victor in CT said:

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line. he hit .225 in 158 games for all of 2016. He has hit .207 with CWS, .200 here, combined .206 for 2017 in 98 games. So in his last 256 games, he has batted .218. So, BigBlueShock, I politely ask you: what in God's name leads you to believe that T. Frazier will suddenly get hot? Are you suggesting that this is a small sample size?

Wtf? Where did I EVER say that Frazier would get hot? Where the hell does that come from? Because I said that I don't think Headley is a .200 points better hitter of the course of the rest of the season? Come on now, you don't have to invent arguments.

I'm not trying to defend Todd Frazier. He's been dreadful. My only point was that if this team is getting the production that they are capable of from the rest of the team, you can deal with Frazier at 3rd because of his defense.

Promote McKinney and Cave, or trade them. We cannot expose them to the rule 5.

traded deadline cleaned that up. A few moves will still have to be made but for the most part they'll keep everyone they want to keep.

As far as Sanchez goes seems to be a very odd and counter productive way to develop a young all star. But pretty much right in character for Girardi. Sanchez has basically become Posada 2.0 for Girardi. Maybe we'll get lucky and it will cost him his job.

In comment 13552606 Phil in LA said:

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Promote McKinney and Cave, or trade them. We cannot expose them to the rule 5.

Agreed but might be late Cave. Pretty sure he's some kind of free agent minor leaguer who can sign anywhere next season and I would think he'd choose a team with more open OF spots

In comment 13552578 Stu11 said:

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for the rest of the season. He's been on hot and cold months all year.

I never thought I'd be defending Chase Headley, but....he's really been pretty consistent for the past two seasons for the most part. In both 2016 and 2017, he's been a decent hitter outside of a single unspeakably bad month. Last year it was his April (.150/.268/.150), this year it was May (.165/.211/.235). Some months have been better than others, but outside of those two months he hasn't been awful.

...since the biggest knock on him is his glove, and the Yankees only need him as a DH.

Bad news for the Austin Romine fan club - Axisa agrees that the Yankees need a BUC upgrade:

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He�s hitting .221/.283/.297 (55 wRC+) and that�s awful. Runners are 18-for-21 (86%) � 18-for-21! � stealing bases against him and that too is awful. Go back to last year and it�s 38-for-45 (84%). The catcher defense stats at Baseball Prospectus say he�s is a tick above average at framing pitches (+2.4 runs) and exactly average at blocking (+0.0 runs). Romine is a classic Nichols Law catcher. What�s the carrying tool here? You want your backup catcher to be able to do something well, right? Usually it�s throw and play defense, but some clubs have gone offense first with their backup. Romine doesn�t give you any of that. He doesn�t hit and his defense is just okay, both according to the numbers and the eye test.

Link - ( New Window )

Agree. Rich in DC wrote this last week concerning the Yankees and the Rule 5 draft coming up in December. It really explains the situation well:

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It really isn't that bad now. After the trades yesterday, the Yanks only have 39 spots filled on the 40 man roster. My suspicion is that they keep that spot open in case Bird can make it back in a couple weeks (as he is on the 60 day DL, he is not on the 40 and would have to be added back on to be activated). At the end of the season, the following players become FA-each opening a 40 man roster spot- CC, Garcia, Todd Frazier, Holliday. So that's 4 spots. I think it is fairly safe to assume that Cooper will be removed from the roster- he and Austin duplicate roles. That means that the Yanks will have 5 spots open. As of today, the top 5 prospects IMO who need Rule 5 protection are: Torres, Abreu, Tarpley, Acevedo and Estrada. So, let's mark them down to fill those 5 open spots. Other guys who should be considered are: McKinney, Cave (who is a minor league FA, so he would have to be given a major league contract), Feyereisen, Cortes. I think that Feyereisen is likely to be traded, much like Pazos last year simply because the 2018 bullpen is already quite full- and numerous arms are available in AAA and AA to back them up that are on the 40 or do not need protection. That leaves 3 guys- McKinney, Cave and Cortes. In reality, it is only 2 that can be protected- McKinney and Cortes. I think Cave will be the most difficult because it is not just a matter of the Yanks protecting him- he has to agree to sign a contract with them as a FA- and he might want to go somewhere with a clearer path to the majors. My suspicion is that the Yanks will trade at least one of Ellsbury, Gardner and Hicks. I also think that the Yanks will try to trade at least two (likely 3) of Cessa, Gallegos, Heller, Herrera, Holder, Mitchell, Smith and Shreve. Simply, with Chapman, DRob, Betances, Kahnle, Warren and Green- the bullpen is already quite full. Thus, I think that it might be November before the bigger moves are made, but when the time to submit rosters for the Rule 5 draft come around, I think that the Yanks will be able to protect everyone that they want to- and what they leave available they will probably assume that they can replace or won't miss them.

winters so I'm not worried at all bout the Rule 5 stuff.

he has been very good at Tampa. Forgotten a bit because of the talent level but as much potential as anyone.

In comment 13553040 Dunedin81 said:

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he has been very good at Tampa. Forgotten a bit because of the talent level but as much potential as anyone.

According to MLB, Texas messed with his mechanics and his velocity dropped, and his breaking balls flattened out. The Yanks told him to throw whatever way he feels comfortable, and his velocity returned and his breaking balls break once again.

at both pitcher and hitter development. Injuries notwithstanding, we've seen a number of pitchers blossom out of obscurity into legit pro prospects and legit pro prospects develop into very good pro prospects. Phil can talk more about it than I can and it certainly wasn't the desert it was reported to be 3 or 4 years ago, but their success rate of late has been very impressive.

In comment 13553047 Beer Man said:

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According to MLB, Texas messed with his mechanics and his velocity dropped, and his breaking balls flattened out. The Yanks told him to throw whatever way he feels comfortable, and his velocity returned and his breaking balls break once again.

Honestly, that sounds kind of similar to what the Yankees did to Phil Hughes. Even though he was dominating the minors at a very young age, they kept monkeying with his mechanics and repertoire.

He didn't throw as hard, but his fastball location was pinpoint and his curve was really sharp. After they moved him to the 'pen, I think he fell in love with throwing harder and his location wasn't as good and his curve not nearly as sharp because he didn't use it as much out of the 'pen.

In comment 13552752 Greg from LI said:

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Bad news for the Austin Romine fan club - Axisa agrees that the Yankees need a BUC upgrade: Quote: He�s hitting .221/.283/.297 (55 wRC+) and that�s awful. Runners are 18-for-21 (86%) � 18-for-21! � stealing bases against him and that too is awful. Go back to last year and it�s 38-for-45 (84%). The catcher defense stats at Baseball Prospectus say he�s is a tick above average at framing pitches (+2.4 runs) and exactly average at blocking (+0.0 runs). Romine is a classic Nichols Law catcher. What�s the carrying tool here? You want your backup catcher to be able to do something well, right? Usually it�s throw and play defense, but some clubs have gone offense first with their backup. Romine doesn�t give you any of that. He doesn�t hit and his defense is just okay, both according to the numbers and the eye test. Link - ( New Window )

Ok let's find one and don't suggest Higashioka. If Cash can find an upgrade, so be it.

Tick above average framing and avg blocking. That is a net plus, while his arm is, meh to below meh.

Ok. I give up. Find an upgrade at league minimum or just over.

I would put Andujar at 3rd and if you are worried about his defense put Frazier in the late innings.

Rene Rivera will be a free agent. Not much of a hitter either, but a good bit better behind the plate than Romine.