It’s no secret that Alex Rodriguez is slumping. The Yankees’ 40-year-old designated hitter entered Sunday with just three hits in 30 at-bats, and was dropped from third to sixth in the order as a result. “Sometimes moving a guy will help them relax a little bit,” manager Joe Girardi told reporters before the game. “Not that […]
Category: Articles
Game 10 Recap: So many ducks left on the pond
A lack of timely hitting doomed the Yankees as they lost their fourth game in a row on Saturday, a 3-2 contest to the Mariners. If those words feel eerily familiar to you, they should. Just a day after going 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position and stranding 12 men on base, the […]
Yankees recall Branden Pinder from Triple-A, option Tyler Olson
The Scranton shuttle has begun in earnest, as the Yankees demoted left handed reliever Tyler Olson to Triple-A and replaced him with right-hander Branden Pinder. Olson kept his 25 man spot for all of one evening, allowing two walks, three hits, and three earned runs in two innings against the Mariners Friday night. Olson was […]
Game 9 Recap: Every runner stranded
The Yankee faithful hoped that a return to the Bronx would mean a return to the team’s hot-hitting ways Friday night, but after a 7-1 loss to the Mariners, it was not to be. After scoring eight or more runs in three times in the season’s opening week, the Yankees have scored just eight total […]
2016 Preseason Front Office Evaluations
For the past two seasons — over at the Effectively Wild Podcast sister site Banished to the Pen — I have attempted to evaluate the performance of general managers and their baseball operations department. It occurred to me that there are some basic economic principles that would allow us to better understand how effective each […]
Game 8 Recap: Nearly Nasty Nate
With tonight’s 4-2 loss, the Yankees are now 7-15 against the unstoppable juggernaut that is the Toronto Blue Jays offense since the beginning of the 2015 season. With 16 games remaining between the two clubs, the Bombers will need to find a way to turn the tide if they have any hope of taking the […]
Can Nathan Eovaldi be better?
Yankees fans always hear about Nathan Eovaldi having good stuff. He does have good stuff some of the time, and it does work some of the time. But there are also times when Eovaldi’s good stuff could, and should, be so much better and when it isn’t, it’s extremely frustrating to watch. Here’s what we […]
Game 7 Recap: Ivan goes Supernova
Excellent bullpens are fun. It’s always a good time to watch a parade of excellent relievers lay waste to opposing lineups. The problem is that excellent bullpens can’t be deployed every single day. They break if that happens. Because Michael Pineda’s start against the Blue Jays on Tuesday night was only the second start of […]
The Yankees are more flexible than you think
One of the most valuable qualities a baseball team can have is roster flexibility. Being able to move players around the diamond allows clubs to effectively manage injuries, rest, and poor performance. At first glance, the Yankees don’t seem to have this attribute. A lineup that is an average age of 32.5, consisting of several […]
Game 6 Recap: Ellsbury makes up for blunder, drives in winning run
After being a disappointment so far, Jacoby Ellsbury’s season seemed to get even worse in the early stages of Tuesday’s game. In the bottom of the third inning, Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista hit a deep fly ball to center field just out of the reach of Ellsbury, who was positioned in left-center expecting the […]