New York Mets Archives - Page 2 of 8

2018 Trade Deadline Rumors: Monday

July 30, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

The 2018 non-waiver trade deadline is one day away. The Yankees have already made several trades, most notably acquiring Zach Britton from the Orioles and J.A. Happ from the Blue Jays. Lot more early trades than usual this year, no? Not just the Yankees, all around baseball. Manny Machado, Brad Hand, Cole Hamels, Nathan Eovaldi, Jeurys Familia, Mike Moustakas … all traded already. Weird.

Anyway, even after adding Britton and Happ, the Yankees could still make some moves prior to tomorrow’s 4pm ET deadline. Aaron Judge will miss at least three weeks with a wrist injury, so the Yankees could look to bring in another bat. Also, another catcher could be in order too. Gary Sanchez might not return until September. Plus pitching depth. I’m sure they’re still open to adding a controllable starter.

“We haven’t peeled the onion enough to tell you exactly what we will do. If something presents itself that allows us flexibility and makes sense, we can evaluate that,” said Brian Cashman to Joel Sherman following the Judge injury. “I’m sure things will be thrown our way (now that Judge is out). We will see if anything makes sense as we navigate the marketplace before it closes.”

We’re going to keep track of all the day’s Yankees-related trade rumors right here. I can’t promise there were will be many of them because the Yankees have already addressed their most pressing needs with Britton and especially Happ, but I’m sure there will be some. Chat about all the day’s trade deadline rumors and activity right here.

4:48pm ET: It is “not likely” the Yankees will acquire Archer, which doesn’t surprise me. Non-rental intra-division trades can be complicated and so many other teams are in the mix that Tampa shouldn’t have trouble getting a strong offer. [Heyman]
12:22pm ET: The Yankees are among the teams to have shown the most interest in Zack Wheeler. The Mets have set a high price because he’s pitched well lately, though his injury history suggests a smaller return is warranted. [Heyman]
11:30am ET: The Yankees are among the main players for Chris Archer, along with the Padres, Dodgers, and Braves. Tampa Bay had scouts watching Justus Sheffield and Triple-A Scranton on Saturday. [Jon Heyman, Ken Rosenthal]
11:30am ET: Not surprisingly, the Yankees have interest in adding a bat in the wake of the Judge injury. Specifically, they’re looking for a right-handed hitter who can play the outfield. They’re looking, but it’s not considered a pressing need. [Heyman]
11:30am ET: The Braves are among the teams scouting Sonny Gray. The Cardinals, Dodgers, Giants, Indians, and Phillies all had scouts at Yankee Stadium over the weekend. [Brendan Kuty, George King]

Reminder: Your trade proposal sucks.

Yankeemetrics: Shortened Subway Split (July 20-22)

July 23, 2018 by Katie Sharp Leave a Comment

Doomed by Domingo
The first game after the break on Friday night followed a familiar script that has plagued the Yankees over the past month-plus: they dug themselves into an early hole, wasted numerous scoring chances throughout the game, and ultimately staged a late-inning rally that fell just short, resulting in yet another frustrating loss.

They left 14 men on base, their most in a loss to the Mets since a 15-6 thrashing on June 27, 2008 — the first game of that memorable two-stadium Subway Series doubleheader — and the Yankees most in any nine-inning loss this season. And when you combine their 14 hits with the fact that they only lost by two runs, you get our Obscure Yankeemetric of the Series:

The last time the Yankees left at least 14 men on base and had at least 14 hits in a nine-inning game they lost by two or fewer runs was August 25, 1998 against the Angels. #interestingrandomstat

Domingo German made sure the Yankees would be playing from behind the entire night after he coughed up three runs in the first inning then another in the third before he was pulled with two outs in the fourth.

Among the 118 pitchers with at least 13 starts this season through Friday, German’s first-inning numbers and ranks as a starter are U-G-L-Y:

9.00 ERA (4th-worst)
.691 slugging percentage allowed (worst)
.426 wOBA allowed (5th-worst)

He was pounded by the Mets as all five of the hits he gave up went for extra bases and four of the five had an exit velocity of at least 102 mph. And with that terrible performance, German gets our #NotFunFact of the Series:

Only two other Yankee starters (since 1908) have faced fewer than 20 batters, allowed at least five hits and all of them were extra-base hits in a game: the immortal Chase Wright (April 22, 2007 vs Red Sox) and Doyle Alexander (Aug. 10, 1982 vs Tigers).

Shreve FTW!
The Yankees survived a bizarre and chaotic ninth-inning implosion by Aroldis Chapman for a much-needed bounceback win on Saturday afternoon. After beating Mets southpaw Steven Matz, the Yankees are now an MLB-best 24-6 vs left-handed starters this season, matching their win total from all of 2017 (24-23, 12th-best in MLB).

Miguel Andujar had the go-ahead hit during the Yankees big fourth-inning rally, an RBI double to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. It was the 30th double of his career, in his 91st major-league game. The only Yankees to reach the 30-double milestone quicker than Andujar were Bob Meusel (67 games) and Joe DiMaggio (69 games).

The Yankees started the ninth with a seemingly comfortable four-run lead — prior to Saturday they were 52-0 this season when taking a lead into the ninth — but that cushion was quickly cut in half thanks to an epic meltdown by Chapman. He faced five batters: walk, single, walk, walk (run scored), hit by pitch (run scored) … dugout seat.

Yikes, that deserves a second Obscure Yankeemetric of the Series: Chapman is just the second Yankee reliever in the last 100 years to face at least five batters, get no outs and have at least four of those batters reach base via hit-by-pitch and/or walk. The other? Edwar Ramirez on July 20, 2007 in the fifth inning of a 14-4 loss to Tampa Bay.

Even worse was his near-unprecedented lack of command, with just three of his 19 pitches going for strikes; the final 11 pitches went ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, ball, hit-by-pitch.

Since 1988 (when we have reliable pitch data), only two pitchers have thrown fewer strikes in a game where they faced at least five batters: the aforementioned Ramirez disaster outing in 2007 (2 strikes, 5 batters) and Blue Jays reliever Ryan Tepera on May 11, 2016 against the Giants (2 strikes, 5 batters).

So, of course, it was Chasen Shreve to the rescue! And somehow, this might have been Aaron Boone’s smartest move of the game — see our Most Remarkable Stat (MRS) below — bringing Shreve in with no outs and the bases loaded in the top of the ninth to clean up Chapman’s mess. Two batters and two groundouts (including a clutch double play) later, Shreve had earned his second career save and sealed the win for the Yankees.

Finally, our MRS of the Series: opponents are now 3-for-36 (.083) with the bases loaded against Shreve in his career. That’s the lowest bases-loaded batting average allowed by any active major-league pitcher who has faced at least 25 batters in that situation.

7/20 to 7/22 Series Preview: New York Mets

July 20, 2018 by Domenic Lanza Leave a Comment

Nimmo walking it off. (Rich Schultz/Getty)

The All-Star break always feels a bit too long, doesn’t it? But meaningful baseball is back after a mere four days off, as the Yankees look to climb right back into the race for the AL East. They’re currently 4.5 games behind the Red Sox, and 5 games ahead of the Mariners for home field in the Wild Card game.

And they’ll play host to the Mets to get things underway.

The Last Time They Met

The Yankees visited the Mets back in June, taking two out of three. You may best remember this as the series with the latest example of why pitchers should never hit, as Masahiro Tanaka went down with strains of both hamstrings in the first game. He ended up missing about a month. Some other notes from the series:

Tanaka was in the midst of one of his best starts of the year before getting hurt on the basepaths. He tossed 5 innings, allowing one hit, one walk, and one run, while striking out 8.
The bullpen was utterly dominant, throwing 10 scoreless innings and allowing just seven base-runners, while striking out 13. Jonathan Holder, Chad Green, Dellin Betances, Aroldis Chapman, David Robertson, Adam Warren, and, yes, even Chasen Shreve all got in on the action.
The Mets shutout the Yankees in the third game, which is notable for the fact that the Yankees were the last team to be shutout this season. The last time the Yankees were shutout prior to that was on August 11, 2017.

Check out Katie’s Yankeemetrics post for more information.

Injury Report

In typical Mets fashion, there are lots of players on the disabled list – they actually have an entire outfield on the DL, with Jay Bruce, Yoenis Cespedes, and Juan Lagares all out with injuries. Cespedes will be back for this series, though. Other denizens of the DL include Travis d’Arnaud, Todd Frazier, Rafael Montero, A.J. Ramos, Jason Vargas, and David Wright.

Their Story So Far

The Mets are 39-55 with a -68 run differential, and they’re comfortably outside of the playoff race. They’re said to be willing sellers at this point, and there has already been quite a bit of conjecture about Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, and Jeurys Familia. That puts them in an interesting position, as deGrom and Syndergaard would be the best starting pitchers on the market, and Familia would be among the best relievers – and that could mean a huge injection of talent into the farm system (if not the big league roster). Who they move over the next eleven days is undoubtedly their most intriguing storyline.

The Lineup We Might See

First-year manager Mickey Callaway has gone through several different lineups this season, owing to injuries, signings, trades, and the like. The only real constant has been Brandon Nimmo hitting atop the lineup – but, even then, he has only led off in 55 of the team’s 94 games. Nevertheless, I suspect that we’ll see something like this:

Brandon Nimmo, RF – .253/.373/.490, 13 HR, 7 SB, 139 OPS+
Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B – .281/.334/.490, 17 HR, 0 SB, 127 OPS+
Jose Bautista, DH – .238/.394/.437, 5 HR, 2 SB, 132 OPS+
Michael Conforto, LF – .216/.344/.366, 11 HR, 2 SB, 99 OPS+
Wilmer Flores, 1B – .272/.322/.460, 8 HR, 0 SB, 115 OPS+
Matt den Dekker, CF – .000/.083/.000, 0 HR, 0 SB, -74 OPS+
Devin Mesoraco, C – .226/.307/.409, 7 HR, 0 SB, 98 OPS+
Jose Reyes, 3B – .181/.257/.246, 1 HR, 4 SB, 42 OPS+
Amed Rosario, SS – .246/.289/.379, 4 HR, 6 SB, 85 OPS+

Kevin Plawecki (115 OPS+) will see some time behind the plate, and Dominic Smith (48 OPS+) could start at 1B or DH. Cespedes is expected to see some DH time this series as well.

Syndergaard with the 80-grade flowing locks. (Dylan Buell/Getty)

The Starting Pitchers We Will See

Friday (7:05 PM EST): RHP Domingo German vs. RHP Noah Syndergaard

The Yankees missed Syndergaard last time around, as the man they call ‘Thor’ was on the DL with a strained ligament in his index finger. He missed over a month with that injury, returning on July 13 – and just in time to get a bit more rest. This is the second year in a row that he has missed significant time with injuries, which isn’t great, but he’s been his typically excellent self around those injuries. He’s currently sitting on a 2.97 ERA (129 ERA+) in 69.2 IP, with elite strikeout (27.2%) and walk (5.2%) rates.

Last outing (vs. WAS on 7/13) – 5.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K

Saturday (1:05 PM EST): RHP Sonny Gray vs. LHP Steven Matz

Matz struggled a bit against the Yankees back on June 9, pitching to the following line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 6 K. That’s a quality start, to be sure, but he had to throw a lot of pitches to get through those innings, and he labored towards the end. Matz has been solid overall thus far, pitching to a 3.38 ERA (113 ERA+) in 96.0 IP.

Last outing (vs. WAS on 7/12) – 6.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 K

Sunday (8:05 PM EST): RHP Masahiro Tanaka vs. RHP Jacob deGrom

deGrom has been the best pitcher in the National League this year, if not the majors as a whole. He currently leads all pitchers in ERA, ERA+, and bWAR, and he’s third in fWAR. He has been so dominant that his last start against the Yankees – an 8 inning, three-run effort – represents his ninth best start of 2018 by Game Score. The last time that he allowed more than three runs was back on April 10, and he’s thrown eleven quality starts in a row.

Last outing (vs. PHI on 7/11) – 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K

The Bullpen

The Mets bullpen ranks:

22nd in K%
23rd in BB%
26th in ERA
29th in fWAR
30th in WPA

In short, this isn’t a good group. Closer Jeurys Familia (2.88 ERA) and Seth Lugo (1.96 ERA) have been solid in their roles. Beyond those two, however, they have nine relievers with 10+ IP and an ERA of 4.31 or worse.

Who (Or What) To Watch

The Mets are throwing their three best starters, and the Yankees their three worst. That’s less than ideal for the Yankees, but watching Syndergaard, deGrom, and Matz work is a genuine treat – and seeing the Yankees lineup tee-off on them would be even better.

Trade Deadline Rumors: Machado, Wheeler, Samardzija, Tigers

July 14, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

Later tonight the Yankees and Indians will continue their four-game series with the third game at Progressive Field. That’s a 7:15pm ET start. Until then, here are some trade rumors to check out.

“Strong” offer for Machado doesn’t include Sheffield, Frazier

The Yankees are making a “serious” push for Manny Machado and have made a “strong” offer, reports Jon Heyman. Heyman adds the offer does not include Justus Sheffield or Clint Frazier, however. Jon Morosi says the Orioles would trade Machado to New York as long as Sheffield is in the deal. There are reasons to trade Sheffield, though dealing him for a rental — even a rental as good as Machado — rather than a controllable pitcher might not be a great idea.

Would Machado address the Yankees’ biggest need? No, absolutely not. They need another starter or two. Would he make them a considerably better team? Yes, absolutely, assuming they put him back at third base, where he is otherworldly defensively. I love Miguel Andujar, he’s awesome, but Machado is a demonstrably better player in 2018 and would thus improve the team’s chances of winning the World Series quite a bit. Machado would make the Yankees that much more dangerous even if they don’t really need him. I am all for it. Let’s do this.

Yankees have inquired about Wheeler

The Yankees recently inquired about Zack Wheeler, reports Marc Carig. Among the Mets’ starters, Wheeler strikes me as most likely to go before the trade deadline because he’s only under control for one more season beyond this year. Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, and Steven Matz are all controllable for at least another two seasons. Wheeler has an injury history and he’s close to free agency. Sell sell sell.

Wheeler, 28, has a 4.42 ERA (3.71 FIP) in 99.2 innings this season, though he’s been much better of late, pitching to a 3.44 ERA (3.39 FIP) in his last eight starts and 49.2 innings. He recently added a splitter and is now throwing harder than ever before, which is perhaps an indication he’s over his injury problems from 2015-17. Wheeler’s worth a phone call, for sure. I’m intrigued by the new splitter and added velocity. That said, can the Yankees and Mets work out a trade? I need to see it to believe it.

Giants have let Yankees know Samardzija is available

According to Bob Nightengale, the Giants have been nice enough to let the Yankees know right-hander Jeff Samardzija is available in a trade. Samardzija has been on-and-off the disabled list with shoulder and pectoral trouble this year, and he has a 6.42 ERA (5.47 FIP) with nearly as many walks (24) as strikeouts (29) in 40.2 innings. He’s also owed roughly $45M through 2020. Triple whammy right there. Injuries, poor performance, expensive.

The Yankees did have interest in Samardzija as a free agent a few years ago, so I suppose there could still be some lingering interest there, but nah. Samardzija’s been hurt, he hasn’t pitched well at all, and he’d hurt the team’s chances of getting under the $197M luxury tax threshold. Unless the Giants are going to eat a lot of money and take non-prospects in return just to be rid of the headache, I don’t see a fit here. The Yankees have enough bad-to-mediocre pitching. They need good pitching.

Tigers interested in Frazier, Wade

The Tigers have a scout at Progressive Field this weekend and, according to George King, they are interested in Clint Frazier and Tyler Wade. Detroit has been scouting the farm system thoroughly in addition to the big league team. I think it’s safe to assume the Tigers are doing their due diligence in preparation for a potential Michael Fulmer trade. The Yankees have been scouting Fulmer.

So far this season the 25-year-old Fulmer has a 4.11 ERA (4.03 FIP) in 107.1 innings, though, like Wheeler, he’s been much better lately, pitching to a 3.10 ERA (3.06 FIP) in his last six starts and 40.2 innings. For whatever reason Fulmer has become a “the whole is less than the sum of the parts” guy since his Rookie of the Year season in 2016. The stuff is good — very good, in fact — and I feel like he’s a tweak or two away from consistently dominating. I dunno. Either way, the Tigers are preparing for a potential trade, including getting eyes on Frazier and Wade.

Sunday Links: Fulmer, Mets, International Deals, YES Network

July 1, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

The Yankees and Red Sox will wrap up their three-game weekend series later tonight on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. First pitch is scheduled for 8pm ET and I reckon the game will end around midnight. That’s usually how these games go, right? Anyway, here are some notes to check out in the meantime.

Yankees scouting Fulmer

According to George King, the Yankees had scout Jay Darnell on hand to watch Michael Fulmer’s most recent start. Darnell is one of Brian Cashman’s most trusted scouts. For what it’s worth, a rival executive told Jon Heyman he thinks the Tigers will keep Fulmer for the time being. “They are treating him like a No. 2 starter,” said that rival executive. If nothing else, the Yankees are doing their due diligence prior to the trade deadline. They’ll scouts lots of guys in the coming weeks.

Fulmer, 25, started Thursday and allowed four runs on nine hits and no walks in eight innings against the Athletics. He struck out five. For the season he owns a 4.20 ERA (4.03 FIP) with 20.4% strikeouts and 46.3% grounders in 94.1 innings. Fulmer is under team control through 2022 but he has been a little worse with each passing season. I was a big Fulmer guy in the past. I love the stuff. But I wonder if he’s a Michael Pineda type who is more hittable than the stuff would lead you to believe.

Cashman has talked to the Mets

With their season spiraling out of control, Mets assistant GM John Ricco said he will indeed consider trade offers for Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. Ricco is essentially the club’s acting GM after Sandy Alderson stepped away to receive treatment for cancer. “We’ll have to consider (trading them). For me, everything has to be on the table. But you have to look long and hard before you move a game-changing, top-of-the-rotation pitcher,” said Ricco to Tim Healey.

Cashman confirmed to King and Ken Davidoff that he has spoken to the Mets, and while he didn’t name names, I think it’s safe to assume deGrom and/or Syndergaard were the focus of his attention. From King and Davidoff:

“I’ve been engaged with all clubs, including the Mets. It’s the job,” Cashman said at Keens Steakhouse in Manhattan, where he helped promote a new venture called New York Sports Tours. “And if you can ever match up, you make ownership recommendations on both ends and see if it takes you anywhere.

Either deGrom or Syndergaard would be a tremendous get for the Yankees, both short and long-term. Syndergaard has more team control remaining and the higher upside, I think, but I prefer deGrom. His injury history isn’t as scary — Syndergaard is out with a finger issue right now and has thrown only 95 innings since the start of last season due to lat and finger trouble — and I think he’s just flat out better. deGrom’s been ridiculous this year.

Of course, the chances of a significant Yankees-Mets trade are remote, even if it makes sense for both teams. The Yankees can match (and beat) pretty much any prospect offer, and if they make the best offer, why wouldn’t the Mets take it? Who knows. I guess the thought of potentially seeing deGrom or Syndergaard leading the Yankees to postseason glory is enough to make the Wilpons squeamish. I like that Cashman is talking about this openly. Puts pressure on the Mets. Everyone knows the Yankees have plenty of good prospects to offer, and if they trade deGrom and Syndergaard for a bunch of lesser prospects, lots of Mets fans will not be happy.

MLB bans teams from signing players out of Mexican League

Leggo my Gallegos. (Hunter Martin/Getty)

According to Jeff Passan, MLB has banned teams from signing players out of the Mexican League, citing “fraud” and “corruption” with the league’s transactions. Mexican League teams control a player’s rights indefinitely and they sell those rights to MLB teams. Generally speaking, the player only gets 25% of his signing bonus with the rest going to his Mexican League. MLB wants a system similar to their posting arrangements with Japan and Korea, where most of the money goes to the player.

Mexico does not produce as much talent as the Dominican Republic or Venezuela, though dozens of Mexican born players have played in the big leagues. Luis Cessa and Gio Gallegos both originally signed out of Mexico. Ten years ago the Yankees landed Manny Banuelos, Alfredo Aceves, and two others in a package deal with a Mexican League team worth $450,000. The process for signing players out of Mexico is incredibly unfair to the player and I’m glad MLB is trying to do something about it.

Yankees may buy back the YES Network

The Yankees are considering buying back controlling interest in the YES Network, reports Andrew Marchand. At the moment the team owns 20% of the network and 21st Century FOX owns the rest. A few years ago the Yankees sold a 49% stake in the YES Network at a valuation of $3.8 billion, and the deal allowed 21st Century FOX to purchase up to 80% of the network, which they’ve since done.

Marchand says the YES Network is part of a collection of assets 21st Century FOX is looking to unload. The Yankees could line up investors, buy back the network, and chances are nothing would change on our end (except streaming on the FOX Sports Go app, probably). If another entity buys YES — Marchand says Comcast and Disney are in on the action — there could be changes to the network as the new owner incorporates their branding and whatnot. Either way, the Yankees will still make gobs of money through the YES Network.

Yankeemetrics: Bittersweet Subway Series Win (June 8-10)

June 11, 2018 by Katie Sharp Leave a Comment

Gardy goes Yardy FTW
Good pitching beats good hitting? Not so fast, my friend. The Yankees took the first game of the Subway Series, scoring three runs off Mets ace Jacob deGrom, en route to a 4-1 win on Friday. deGrom had given up a total of three runs over 47 1/3 innings in his previous eight starts combined before facing the Bronx Bombers lineup.

The bottom half of the first began with a bang as Brandon Nimmo crushed the second pitch he saw from Masahiro Tanaka into the rightfield seats. It was the first leadoff homer allowed by the Yankees this season. Going deep against Tanaka is hardly rare, though, as he’s now surrendered at least one homer in six straight games — the first time he’s done that in his MLB career — and 11 of 13 starts this season.

After surrendering the #obligatoryhomer, Tanaka settled down and was fantastic, retiring 12 straight and 14 of his final 15 batters faced. He didn’t allow another hit or a run, while striking out eight over five strong innings. It was the first time in 122 MLB starts that he didn’t give up more than one hit.

Tanaka is the third Yankee starter to have at least eight strikeouts and one or fewer hits allowed in a game this season, joining Domingo German (May 6 vs Indians) and Luis Severino (April 16 vs Marlins). This is the first time in franchise history they’ve have three starters do that in a single season … and its the first week of June.

Aaron Judge tied the game on a sac fly in the sixth, as Tanaka “raced” home from third after getting on base via an Adrian Gonzalez error a few batters earlier, but then left the game with sore hamstrings and was placed on the DL. To lessen the blow of this injury, let’s have some fun and give him our Obscure Yankeemetric of the Series:

Tanaka is the first Yankee pitcher to reach on an error and score a run in the same game since Mel Stottlemyre on September 1, 1972 against the White Sox.

The game remained knotted at 1-1 until the eighth when Brett Gardner launched a tiebreaking two-run shot off deGrom. Gardner doesn’t go yard often, but when he does, he makes it count. Since the start of last year, he has five homers that either tied the game or gave the Yankees the lead in the eighth inning or later, the most of any Yankee in that span.

Gley-bae and Miggy Show
It was deja vu all over again on Saturday night for the Yankees, who again fell behind early in the first inning to the Mets, rallied to tie the game in the sixth, and then won it with a dramatic eighth-inning homer.

Including Aaron Judge’s 13th-inning blast to beat the Blue Jays on June 6, that’s three straight games with a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning or later, the first time the Yankees have done that in more than four decades. From August 29-31, 1977, they beat the Royals and Mariners (twice) on late homers by Chris Chambliss, Mickey Rivers, and Graig Nettles.

And if you go back to the June 5 win in Toronto, its four straight games with a homer in the seventh inning or later, the first time in franchise history they’ve ever had a streak like that. Through Saturday, they led MLB with nine go-ahead homers in the seventh inning or later this season.

Saturday’s victory also improved their record when tied at the start of the seventh inning to a perfect 8-0, the best in MLB; last year they went 7-10 (including playoffs) in that situation. And they also won their sixth game when tied at the start of the eighth inning, one more win of that type than they had all of last year.

Like Tanaka the night before, Domingo German battled through a rough first inning (three runs, two homers, a triple) but then was excellent in the next five frames. After the first, he allowed two hits and no runs while striking out nine, and for the first time as a starter, he didn’t walk a batter.

Postgame, Aaron Boone mentioned that he sharpened his fastball command after the first inning and the stats back that up. He threw just four of his 12 fastballs (33%) in the zone to open the game and then filled up the zone with 21 of his 42 fastballs (50%) in innings two through six.

The ability to command his fastball helped him stay out of the hitters’ sweetspot and paint the corners, keeping the Mets lineup off-balance for the rest of the night. Overall, 44% of his 96 pitches were on the edges of the strike zone (per Statcast), his best rate as a starter.

The comeback began in the third inning when Gleyber Torres rocked a 406-foot homer to left-center field for the Yankees first run of the game. At 21 years and 178 days old, he became the youngest player to go deep in the Subway Series rivalry (for either team). His fellow Baby Bomber, Miguel Andujar, then made it 3-3 in the sixth with a 404-foot shot to left-center. Four of his eight career homers have either tied the game or given the Yankees the lead, but this was his first career hit that either tied the game or gave the Yankees the lead in the sixth inning or later.

Aaron Judge played the hero role on Saturday, delivering a moonshot over the left-center field wall in the eighth. With an exit velocity of 96.9 mph, it was the softest-hit home run of Judge’s career — but it still counts for a run, of course. That was his second go-ahead blast in the eighth inning or later in the last three games; in his first 239 career games, he had one go-ahead homer in the eighth inning or later.

No runs, no win
You know the saying …. all good things must come to an end … and the Yankees proved that to be so true on Sunday night. They had their four-game win streak snapped in gut-wrenching fashion, getting blanked by their crosstown rival, 2-0.

It was the first time they didn’t score a run this season — the Yankees were the last team in the majors to be shut out — and ended a string of 110 consecutive regular-season games scoring at least one run dating back to August 11 last season. That matched their longest scoring streak in the last 40 years; they also had a 110-gamer in 2005.

The Yankee bats were silenced by curveball artist Seth Lugo, who struck out eight and gave up just two singles over six scoreless innings. He is the first Mets pitcher ever to pitch at least six innings while allowing zero runs and no more than two hits in a game against the Yankees.

Luis Severino was worked hard by the Mets lineup early, throwing 31 pitches in the first inning and 93 total, before exiting after five innings during which he allowed two runs on five hits. In two previous appearances against the Mets (one start, one in relief), Severino had pitched 10 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run, and in his three previous career Interleague starts on the road, he had given up just one earned run over 19 1/3 innings. Cue John Sterling: “That’s baseball, Suzyn.”

Sevvy’s signature slider was nasty at times (tied season-high with 11 whiffs), but his location was inconsistent and a rare mistake with the breaking pitch resulted in the tie-breaking homer by Todd Frazier. Entering the game, Severino had thrown 490 sliders this season and only one of those was hit for a homer, by Blue Jays outfielder (and noted Yankee killer) Teoscar Hernandez on April 22.

Saturday Links: Trade Deadline, Mets, Seigler, Ellsbury

June 9, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

You can still play on my team any day, Jake. (Presswire)

The Yankees and Mets continue their three-game series with the middle game later tonight. It’s a 7pm ET contest. Until then, here are some links and notes to check out.

Mets may or may not consider fire sale

Depending who you ask, the Mets either will (Kristie Ackert) or will not (Bob Nightengale) consider trading Jacob deGrom and/or Noah Syndergaard if they don’t climb back into the postseason race. “Can circumstances change that? Yes. But I think that would be very, very remote. It’s not something we’re even considering or talking about,” said GM Sandy Alderson with regards to a potential fire sale.

The Yankees could use another starter in the wake of Jordan Montgomery’s Tommy John surgery, and gosh, either deGrom or Syndergaard sure would be a wonderful fit. Both this year and going forward. The thing is, even if the Mets do become open to trading them, the Yankees-Mets hurdle has to be cleared. Trade talks about Lucas Duda and Jay Bruce were reportedly contentious last August. Imagine talks about deGrom or Syndergaard?

I think Alderson and Brian Cashman would be willing to do a deal with each other. They’re two veteran executives who’ve won and lost their share of trades. They have the stomachs for it. Would ownership do it, specifically the Wilpons? Watching deGrom or Syndergaard potentially carry the Yankees to glory might not sit easy with them.

Seigler will catch, not pitch

Not surprisingly, scouting director Damon Oppenheimer confirmed to Brendan Kuty that the Yankees will use 2018 first round pick Anthony Seigler as a catcher in pro ball, not as a pitcher. Seigler is a switch-hitter with good all-around skills behind the plate. He’s also a switch-thrower who pitched with both arms in high school. From Kuty:

“Not at this point (do we see him pitching),” Oppenheimer said. “At this point, we’re seeing him as a switch-hitting catcher. The versatility he has and he’s shown throughout his high school career is something that’s attractive to us but the development as a catcher is the key here and that’s what we’re working on.”

Baseball America (subs. req’d) says Seigler “throws a changeup from the left side and changes his arm slot, while he can reach 92 mph from the right side to go along with a slider.” With Shohei Ohtani (and Brendan McKay in the minors) doing the two-way thing, I guess the Yankees could’ve considered it with Seigler, but nah. Catching is hard enough as it is. Imagine pitching as well?

As far as I know Seigler has never been considered a serious pro prospect on the mound. It’s always been catcher all the way. I guess Ohtani and the switch-pitching thing generated some buzz and led to the question being asked. No surprise the Yankees are sticking with Seigler behind the plate though. That’s where he’s best.

Yankees have insurance on Ellsbury’s contract

Jacoby Ellsbury has yet to play a game this season and, based on the way things are going, it seems unlikely he will play a game anytime soon. He’s dealing with oblique, hip, and back problems in addition to plantar fasciitis. According to Wally Matthews, the Yankees do have insurance on Ellsbury’s contract, and it will reimburse them 75% of his salary while he is on the disabled list. From Matthews:

A Yankees source told me the club has a similar policy (to David Wright’s) on Ellsbury, which has already begun to defray the bulk of his salary for the first two months of 2018. In an ideal world, Ellsbury would sit out the remainder of the season, the Yankees would muddle through with a rotation of Gardner, Hicks and Frazier in centerfield – and be reimbursed to the tune of $15,857,142.86.

It’s important to note the insurance does not change anything with regards to the luxury tax. Ellsbury still counts as $21.85M against the luxury tax. Nothing changes there. The insurance policy just means the Yankees get some cold hard cash back for Ellsbury’s injuries. I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I don’t think Ellsbury and the Yankees have a secret agreement to stay on the disabled list — that’s insurance fraud! — but the insurance sure is convenient, isn’t it?