Big Guy's 6/2 SWB Yankees Report

SWB  AAA  Yankees Game   6-2-11
Indianapolis (Pirates)   13 -SWB Yankees   2

(Box Score)

The SWB Yankees got pounded by Indianapolis by a 13-2 score.  Yankee pitching gave up season highs in runs, hits and extra base hits in the game.  The loss dropped their record to 28-23.

Pitching:   Andrew Brackman got the start for the Yankees.  Brackman's season-long control issues continued in the 1st inning with 2 walks and a wild pitch, but he pitched out of the jam.  In the 2nd, the first 3 batters reached on 2 more walks and a hit batter.  SWB manage Dave Miley had seen enough and pulled him.  Brackman got the loss (2-4).  Brackman's line:  1 IP,  3 runs,  0 hits, 1 K- 3 walks, HBP, W/P.

Ryan Pope relieved Brackman in the 2nd with the bases loaded and nobody out.  He gave up a 3 rbi double and a single to give Indy a 3-2 lead.  Pope got the side in order in the 3rd with 2 K's. In the 4th, a hit batter, double, and walk, loaded the bases.  A rbi sac fly, and a 3-run homer gave Indy a 7-2 lead, and Pope was taken out. 

George Kontos came on in the 4th, and gave up a triple and wild pitch to make it 8-2 Indy.  He gave up a solo homer in the 5th to up the Indy lead to 9-2.  Kontos tossed a scoreless 6th inning.

Eric Wordekemper came on to pitch a scoreless 7th inning.

Kanekoa Texiera pitched the 8th and gave up 4 runs, including a 3-run homer to up the Indy lead to 13-2.

Offense:  Lefty Justin Wilson got the start for Indy.  Kevin Russo led off the game with a triple.  Ramiro Pena followed with a bunt that scored Russo.  Pena moved up to 2nd base on a wild pitch, and scored on a rbi single by Brandon Laird to give SWB a quick 2-0 lead.  In the 3rd,  singles by Jesus Montero and Jordan Parraz, and a walk to Jorge Vasquez loaded the bases, but SWB could not score.  They didn't do much offensively after that threat.

Notes;   Jesus Montero went 1-3 with a single and walk.    Brandon Laird led SWB hitters with 28 hits for the month of May.  David Phelps goes against former Yankee Phil Coke, who's making a rehab start, Friday as they return home to PNC Field.

Elsewhere in the minors...

Double-A Trenton lost to Altoona 5-1 - Box Score

High-A Tampa beat Jupiter 5-3 - Box Score

Low-A Charleston lost to Rome 9-4 - Box Score

Several Yanks On Top Of SI's Most Overrated List (Again)

First, here are the results of SI's player poll:

Alex Rodriguez, Yankees 3B 18%
Joba Chamberlain, Yankees RP 12%
Derek Jeter, Yankees SS 7%
Jayson Werth, Nationals OF 4%
Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox RP 4%
Nick Swisher, Yankees OF 4%

Here's a video from SI on their poll with commentary from Tom Verducci:

ESPN New York's Bombers Beat (6/2)

Big Guy's 6/1 SWB Yankees Report

SWB  AAA  Game  6-1-11
SWB Yankees   1  -  Indianapolis Indians (Pirates)  0

(Box Score)

The SWB Yankees defeated Indianapolis 1-0 in a pitchers duel between starters DJ Mitchell and Brian Burress. The win puts the 2nd place Yankees record at 28-22.

Pitching: DJ Mitchell got the start and win (4-3) for SWB throwing 7 shutout innings. He got the side in order in the 1st.  In the 2nd, 2 singles and an intentional walk loaded the bases, but he got a DP to get out of the jam.  Mitchell got the side in order again int he 3rd.  In the 4th, 2 singles and a wild pitch put him in a 2nd & 3rd jam, but he worked out of it.  Mitchell was perfect again in the 5th inning. He hit a batter in the 6th, but  a couple nice plays at 3rd by Brandon Laird helped him get out of trouble.  In the 7th, Mitchell gave up a 2-out double and wild pitch, but Brandon Laird made a fine running catch to end the inning.  Mitchell left after the 7th with a 1-0 inning.  Another fine job by DJ Mitchell. Mitchell's line:  7 IP,  0 runs,  5 hits,  5 K's-1 walk,  2 w/p.  ERA 2.78.   7 GO/2 FO.

Randy Flores came on to pitch a perfect 8th inning, picking up a strikeout.

Kevin Whelan came on in the 9th.  He gave up a leadoff double.  A wild pitch moved the runner up to 3rd with 1 out. Whelan retired the next 2 men to pick up his 16th save.  He leads the league in that category.

Offense:  Brian Burress got the start for Indianapolis.  Kevin Russo doubled to lead off the 3rd, but was stranded. Ramiro Pena singled to lead off the 4th and Jorge Vasquez walked, but Pena was picked off 1st base to end the threat.   Pena doubled to leadoff the 6th, but Burress struck out Jesus Montero and Vasquez to end the threat.   Burress shut the Yanks out thru 7 innings on 3 hits before being relieved in the 8th.  Brandon Laird led off the 8th with a double followed by a single by Luis Nunez.  Austin Krum grounded out moving the runners up to 2nd and 3rd with 1 out.  Ramiro Pena then broke the scoreless tie with a rbi groundout to give SWB a 1-0 lead.  Jorge Vasquez led off the 9th with a single.  A wild pitch moved Vasquez to 2nd.  He was tagged out going to 3rd on a ground ball by Jordan Parraz, on a pretty dumb baserunning play.

Notes:  Jesus Montero went 0-4 with 2 strikeouts.  That snapped his 11 game hit streak.  He's currently batting .302.  SWB is 5-2 in games involving shutouts this year.  Andrew Brackman gets the start in the series finale Thursday night.

Elsewhere in the farm system...

Double-A Trenton beat Altoona 7-3 - Box Score


High-A Tampa beat Jupiter 4-3 - Box Score


Low-A Charleston lost to Rome 10-3 - Box Score

AL All-Star Voting Update #1 - Yanks & Bautista Lead the Way

From MLB.com:

CATCHER
Russell Martin, Yankees: 843,459
Joe Mauer, Twins: 593,949
Alex Avila, Tigers: 407,463
Carlos Santana, Indians: 395,892
Yorvit Torrealba, Rangers: 337,737

FIRST BASE
Mark Teixeira, Yankees: 827,247
Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox: 685,262
Miguel Cabrera, Tigers: 657,594
Mitch Moreland, Rangers: 278,055
Adam Lind, Blue Jays: 256,782

SECOND BASE
Robinson Cano, Yankees: 1,185,952
Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox: 586,361
Ian Kinsler, Rangers: 502,012
Orlando Cabrera, Indians: 384,004
Ben Zobrist, Rays: 352,904

THIRD BASE
Alex Rodriguez, Yankees: 945,127
Adrian Beltre, Rangers: 755,551
Evan Longoria, Rays: 588,463
Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox: 491,422
Maicer Izturis, Angels: 199,423

SHORTSTOP
Derek Jeter, Yankees: 931,410
Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians: 672,105
Elvis Andrus, Rangers: 560,309
Yunel Escobar, Blue Jays: 320,874
Erick Aybar, Angels: 215,991

DESIGNATED HITTER
Michael Young, Rangers: 646,979
David Ortiz, Red Sox: 618,609
Jorge Posada, Yankees: 414,733
Travis Hafner, Indians: 407,334
Johnny Damon, Rays: 353,340

OUTFIELD
Jose Bautista, Blue Jays: 1,261,659
Curtis Granderson, Yankees: 994,315
Josh Hamilton, Rangers: 748,240
Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners: 674,406
Nelson Cruz, Rangers: 514,006
Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox: 494,721
Nick Swisher, Yankees: 465,984
Grady Sizemore, Indians: 457,185
Carl Crawford, Red Sox: 440,626
Jeff Francoeur, Royals: 407,517
Brett Gardner, Yankees: 370,989
Shin-Soo Choo, Indians: 366,575
Sam Fuld, Rays: 310,520
J.D. Drew, Red Sox: 307,684
B.J. Upton, Rays: 277,173

Keep up the good work, Yankees fans.

Game 54: Yankees @ A's - Looking to Sweep

YANKEES (30-23)
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Russell Martin C
Andruw Jones LF
Eduardo Nunez 3B

Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (5-3, 3.99)

ATHLETICS (27-29)

TBA

Pitching: LHP Gio Gonzalez (5-2, 2.17)

Early Returns on Former Yankees - Part Two

You can find the first installment here.

Position Players
Lance Berkman - .338/.459/.610, 11 HR, 184 wRC+ (194 PA)

Still raking.

Austin Jackson - .225/.289/.335, 3 HR, 75 wRC+ (235 PA)

Jackson improved quite a bit in May, but his production still pales in comparison to his strong rookie campaign.

Austin Kearns - .197/.305/.282, 0 HR, 62 wRC+ (82 PA)

He's taking some walks, but he's also striking out a ton and ... not hitting.

Juan Miranda - .250/.366/.481, 5 HR, 125 wRC+ (124 PA)

He's flashing all of the tools that made him an intriguing prospect (albeit an older one). With Posada and Swisher struggling, I wonder if Cashman regrets dealing him (though, Scottie Allen is a fine prospect).

Jose Tabata - .249/.361/.361, 3 HR, 109 wRC+ (203 PA)

Tabata's up and down season continues, though it is worth noting that his walk rate is very strong (14.3%) and his BABIP is around twenty points lower than expected.

Pitchers
Alfredo Aceves - 33.1 IP, 28 H, 13 BB, 18 K, 3.51 ERA, 4.65 FIP

I wonder what the Yankees saw that the Red Sox did not, in terms of injuries and/or attitude. On the other hand, I wonder what scared the Red Sox away from Russell Martin. That seems like a fair trade-off though.

Phil Coke - 52.0 IP, 48 H, 16 BB, 30 K, 3.81 ERA, 3.57 FIP

He's been a league-average-ish starter. There's a fair bit of value in that.

Michael Dunn - 23.2 IP, 13 H, 14 BB, 29 K, 3.80 ERA, 3.91 FIP

He struggled in May, but the strikeout rate is still impressive. He's probably more of a lefty specialist than I previously believed.

Ian Kennedy - 79.2 IP, 64 H, 22 BB, 63 K, 3.16 ERA, 3.35 FIP

He's certainly benefited from moving to the NL West, but I still feel that the Yankees gave up on Kennedy way too soon. I always preferred him to Phil Hughes - at least in terms of pitchability.

Sergio Mitre - 23.0 IP, 18 H, 6 BB, 9 K, 1.96 ERA, 3.63 FIP

Strong numbers across the board, but we knew that Mitre was a solid middle relief option - he's yet to start a game in 2011.

Dustin Moseley - 65.0 IP, 64 H, 20 BB, 29 K, 3.18 ERA, 4.02 FIP

He's actually been a bit better on the road than at home, but he's been fairly lucky across the board.

Javier Vazquez - 52.1 IP, 57 H, 27 BB, 30 K, 6.02 ERA, 5.08 FIP

Javy was actually a great deal better in May. His ERA doesn't quite reflect it, but he slashed his walk rate by about seventy-five percent and picked up more grounders ... but he's still not striking anyone out, and his 4.39 xFIP in May is well below average.

Kerry Wood - 20.2 IP, 21 H, 9 BB, 16 K, 2.61 ERA, 4.25 FIP

Wood lost his ability to strike people out in May (5.56 K/9) and his BABIP and LOB% regressed towards the mean (though the latter isn't necessarily stable due to the leveraging of relievers). I still wish he'd been willing to come back to New York.

As always, leave a comment if you'd like to see another player or statistic added.

Big Guy's 5/31 SWB Yankees Report

SWB  AAA  YANKEES  GAME   5-31-11
SWB Yankees  10 - Indianapolis Indians (Pirates)  3

(Box Score)

The SWB Yankees pounded Indianapolis by a 10-3 score.  The win puts the Yanks season record at 27-22. 

Pitching:   Carlos Silva got the start and win (2-0) for the Yanks . Silva gave up a solo homer on his 2nd pitch of the game to cut the Yanks lead to 5-1.  In the 2nd,  Justin Maxwell helped Silva out when he made a great catch robbing a home run.   Silva then gave up a double, but stranded the runner at 3rd. He got the side in order in the 3rd.  He threw a scoreless 4th after giving up a single and getting a DP.   Silva got the side in order again in the 5th.  Indy got to Silva for 2 runs in the 6th on 3 doubles to cut the Yankee lead to 7-3.
Silva's line:   6 IP,  3 runs, 7 hits (HR),  1 K-0 walks,   ERA 3.34.

Buddy Carlyle threw scoreless 7th and 8th innings.

Eric Wordekemper tossed a scoreless 9th inning.

Offense:   The Yankees wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in the 1st inning off Rudy Owens.  Austin Krum doubled, Ramiro Pena had a bunt single, and Jesus Montero hit a 2-rbi triple. Justin Maxwell then walked and stole 2nd base (11).  Jordan Parraz, in his 1st at bat since going on the DL May 17th, followed with a 2-rbi single.  Kevin Russo walked and Dan Brewer added a rbi single to give SWB a 5-0 lead.   In the 3rd, Luis Nunez singled, moved to 2nd on a deep flyout by Brandon Laird, and scored on a rbi single by Jordan Parraz to take a 6-1 lead.    In the 5th, Luis Nunez singled and Brandon Laird hit a rbi double off the 418 sign in center to give SWB a 7-1 lead.  Jesus Montero led off the 7th with an opposite field homer (4).  Luis Nunez walked, Jordan Parraz singled, and Kevin Russo added a rbi single to up the SWB lead to 9-3.   The Yankees scored their final run in the 9th when Brandon Laird singled and Jordan Parraz had his 4th hit of the game, a rbi double to make the final score 10-3.

Notes:   Jesus Montero went  2-5  solo homer (4),  2-rbi triple, DP.   Justin Maxwell left the game after his great catch with a right arm-shoulder injury.   Jordan Parraz off the DL.  Amaury Sanit on the DL with a leg issue.

Elsewhere in the farm system:

Double-A Trenton lost to Altoona 2-1 - Box Score

High-A Tampa beat Jupiter 2-0 - Box Score

Low-A Charleston lost to Savannah 1-0 - Box Score