NY Spring Training News and Notes

normstalls

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Just saw a notification on my phone - Severino won't be ready until May 1 (earliest) . No real surprise there I suppose.
 

jon abbey

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Yeah, they're taking their time with him, I think they'd also like to see a bit better what they actually have with Cessa and German and Loaisiga and they can't really do that without giving them big league starts. Cessa currently looks great, German pretty good (going again this afternoon) and Loaisiga spotty but promising.
 

Murderer's Crow

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It doesn't concern me that it's May 1 because it doesn't look like there's any change in his prognosis. Take your sweet time with him, give German and co some good experience. Shoot, maybe Boone can even toy with an opener using 2 of those 3.
 

terrynever

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Bryan Hoch tweets:

Yankees announce it's a non-displaced right wrist fracture for Estevan Florial. He will undergo further tests on Monday.
 

jon abbey

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Argh! He was looking so good, stole his 5th base earlier in that game.
 

jon abbey

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I think that’s the 4th young NY OF injured by running into a wall in the last 18 months (Fowler, Frazier, McKinney), maybe it’s time for some spatial awareness classes.
 

jon abbey

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First of all, you have likely not been positive about much of anything for decades (not a criticism). Secondly, these are the injuries that will impact the 25 man roster:

Hicks (expected to miss just the first few days)
Severino (early May?)
Sabathia (he isn't even hurt, they are just pacing him slowly after his heart scare in December, he has a five game suspension also but should be ready two weeks in)
Gregorius (this one we've known for a while, but he is recovering well, already throwing from 120 feet and probably on track for June return)
Montgomery (Tommy John last June, maybe a factor late this season)

So unless I'm forgetting someone, really that is just Severino. Hicks/Sabathia should both be ready quickly, and Didi/Montgomery we knew would be coming back from injuries and Cashman planned accordingly. Cessa has pitched four shutout innings twice in a row (I'm dubious too but we'll see) and German has a very impressive 18/2 K/BB ratio in 11.2 innings this spring. Loaisiga also looked good today, although he looks like the odd man out currently.

I like to consider myself pretty realistic when it comes to NY, optimistic when the situation merits it and pessimistic if the situation merits that. Given that, I don't think NY could be positioned much better. Most of their lineup is crushing right now, most of their pitchers look solid, and their depth is pretty good. Florial getting hurt is a bummer, but he wasn't even a lock to start the season in AA and certainly wasn't going to be a factor this season.
 

SydneySox

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I like to consider myself pretty realistic when it comes to NY, optimistic when the situation merits it and pessimistic if the situation merits that. Given that, I don't think NY could be positioned much better. Most of their lineup is crushing right now, most of their pitchers look solid, and their depth is pretty good. Florial getting hurt is a bummer, but he wasn't even a lock to start the season in AA and certainly wasn't going to be a factor this season.
Are you serious?

NYY has never made a move you haven't immediately rationalised as "This is fine".
 

jon abbey

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They haven't done much wrong since summer 2016, so in that time period, you are correct. But going back just before that, I slammed the Ellsbury signing (and the McCann signing, although that one ended up ok) immediately, plus I hammered them for years about the initial obviously ill-fated attempt to get under $189M, and the quick pirouette to signing anyone who would take their money (winter 2013-2014) was insanely dumb.

But it's true that Cashman has done so well in the last 2 1/2 years that my initial instinct with a confusing move (like LeMahieu) is now 'Why did they do that?' and not 'That is so stupid' as so many other Yankee fans seem to (still) jump to immediately.
 

jon abbey

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Oh, Aaron Boone's hiring I have questioned from day 1 and I continue to question. At least they have Beltran in house now as a potential replacement.
 

terrynever

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People are missing the point when they question Jon’s ability to honestly evaluate Yankee personnel decisions. The real asset here is Jon brings almost every personnel move to our attention, and we can make our own judgements, if we want to climb out on the limb. Plenty of us do that, but we are usually only responding to something Jon has brought to the site.
Jon creates a marketplace of ideas for Yankee discussions. He is the medium. Is he the message? Not entirely, but I will ride his assessments through this season, as I have the past 10, quibbling at times but generally agreeing.
Some Red Sox fans see a Yankee forum on their message board as a thorn in their side, ignoring an old axiom to keep your enemy close. Jon’s willingness to spend hours almost every day bringing Yankee news to this board is an invaluable asset, to all sides of the argument.
 

jon abbey

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So funny that Coup made that post on a day when five of the likely current starting nine (Voit, Andujar, Gleyber, Tulo, Bird) homered between the two split squad games and new ace Paxton didn’t give up a hit. Never change, my man. :)

(Yes, I think Bird makes the team and the lineup while Hicks is out, Voit/Bird at 1B/DH, Stanton to LF, Gardner to CF. Clint Frazier is the other possibility and he does not look sharp at the plate or in the field yet, he could use the AAA ABs. Hicks’ return will bump Bird to Scranton though barring other injuries, no room).
 

jon abbey

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FWIW, spring OPSs of the twelve hitters currently likely to break camp (and a rough guess at an opening day lineup):

Gardner 1.345
Judge 1.479
Stanton .965
Andujar .962
Voit 1.002
Bird 1.089
Sanchez .522
Tulo .953
Gleyber .899

Wade .945
LeMahieu .461
Romine .608
 

simplicio

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Man, that Gardner guy's been decent, but he's really going to have to up his game in the regular season if he's actually trying to match Barry Bonds' 2004 run.
 

jon abbey

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Gardner looks really jacked up, I don't know if it's connected to the new nutritionist so many Yankees seem to be using but I was pretty surprised when I saw him. Here's an article on the nutritionist from this AM:

"Severino stuck with it all winter and into spring training, and he’s noticed a difference. He has lost 14 pounds – from 234 to 220 – and he feels better."

"Reliever Stephen Tarpley lost 25 pounds in the winter and now weighs 215. Left-hander CC Sabathia weighs around 285 pounds after being at 330 in recent years."

"Urged by Yankees to drop some weight following his poor 2018 season, reliever Tommy Kahnle put his wife in charge of offseason meals and portions. By the start of spring training, he had dropped from 254 to 229, and besides feeling better, he’s has thrown 5 1/3 shutout innings with seven strikeouts and no walks over his first five appearances."

https://www.nj.com/yankees/2019/03/yankees-have-a-secret-weapon-when-stepping-up-to-the-plate.html
 

terrynever

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So funny that Coup made that post on a day when five of the likely current starting nine (Voit, Andujar, Gleyber, Tulo, Bird) homered between the two split squad games and new ace Paxton didn’t give up a hit. Never change, my man. :)

(Yes, I think Bird makes the team and the lineup while Hicks is out, Voit/Bird at 1B/DH, Stanton to LF, Gardner to CF. Clint Frazier is the other possibility and he does not look sharp at the plate or in the field yet, he could use the AAA ABs. Hicks’ return will bump Bird to Scranton though barring other injuries, no room).
The Bird/Voit platoon reminds me of something that was written this winter, a Yankee writer recalling that Stick Michael once watched Steve Pearce take BP in pinstripes and pronounced, “That kid can hit.” But it was bad timing for the Yanks and Pearce went off to Baltimore and Toronto to polish his burgeoning skills.
A platoon seems the only way to avoid getting bitten in the ass again after letting a young hitter depart. How can you send either Bird or Voit down? They can both help the big club more than Tyler Wade does with his speed and versatility. Unless you want to go with 12 pitchers.
 

jon abbey

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Bird could also use regular ABs in AAA once Hicks is back, and they can’t really go to 12 pitchers without losing one (unless there’s a spot via injury), Cessa and Kahnle are both out of options.
 

terrynever

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Bird could also use regular ABs in AAA once Hicks is back, and they can’t really go to 12 pitchers without losing one (unless there’s a spot via injury), Cessa and Kahnle are both out of options.
You get into games of strategy, I want a big bat on the bench. Cessa is a great spring training pitcher.
 

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jon abbey

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Fine with this, but have a feeling it is Adam Lind in 2018 again (unwanted by anyone Nat who opts out without ever taking the field in a real game).
 

jon abbey

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Yeah, Joel Sherman just posted something similar.

“My reax to Gio signing: if he ever pitches for #Yankees it would mean something more than is currently known wrong occurred: another SP went down and/or Cessa/German/Loaisiga bombed because NYY like their arms/upside. Gio is insurance with a 4/20 opt out.”
 

jon abbey

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This is good in terms of his timetable at least:

"Gonzalez, who is from Miami, has been working out at Boras’s training facility there. He faced hitters and reached up to 88 pitches in his most recent outing."
 

Wingack

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This is good in terms of his timetable at least:

"Gonzalez, who is from Miami, has been working out at Boras’s training facility there. He faced hitters and reached up to 88 pitches in his most recent outing."
I also heard on some fantasy podcast last week that he is throwing really hard and looks really good.
 

jon abbey

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MLBTR had him projected for 2/24 coming into the offseason, compare that to the 1/8 they guessed for CC (exactly right).

I called for Gio (and Moustakas) once it became obvious NY wasn’t getting Machado, he literally never misses starts and he was one of the top pitchers in all of MLB by bWAR as recently as 2017. And 100 pitches in 5 innings is a bigger problem anywhere else, NY is eager to deploy that pen early and often.
 

jon abbey

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In case you think I'm exaggerating, 2017 bWAR leaders for pitchers, both leagues combined:

Kluber 8.2
Scherzer 7.1
Verlander 6.5
Gio 6.4
Strasburg 6.2
Greinke 6.1
Sale 6.0
Stroman 5.7
Carrasco 5.5
Severino 5.3
 

jon abbey

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Betances is starting the season on the DL:

Verified account 3m3 minutes ago
  1. Dellin Betances has a right shoulder impingement, according to Brian Cashman. Betances has told the club he has felt weaker than normal and like he couldn't fully extend while pitching. He's experiencing inflammation.

  2. Cashman says his understanding is that Betances' inflammation was likely caused by him throwing less leading into spring and then trying to rush to catch up before the season started.
 

jon abbey

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"Cashman said he doesn’t think Betances’ injury will constitute a “long” DL situation. Cash said prob off a mound for a week as of now. Stressed probably."
 

jon abbey

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Totally different situation, that was a broken bone and Cashman needed to trade for someone to replace him since he had literally just traded McKinney that same day (he eventually got McCutchen), so it made sense for him to be irrationally optimistic publicly.

The current situations mostly seem like NY encouraging guys to take as much time as they need to get to 100 percent, because major league playing time will help NY evaluate some of their depth players in the meantime. So Sabathia, Hicks, Betances are out to start the year (Severino is a bit more serious), German or Gio, Bird, and Tarpley step in.
 

terrynever

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Spring training is mostly about getting pitchers ready. Hitters were ready a week ago. Pitchers can have setbacks anytime. Has Betances ever been hurt before?
 

jon abbey

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Gio is in camp, he says he is basically ready to go. Funny quote:

"What stands out here is everyone throws hard, everyone is big and everyone is clean-shaven. It's impressive to be in this locker room. It really does give you a 'wow' factor when you walk in."
 

Wingack

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Severino threw on the side today, first time since he was sidelined.

Erik Boland‏Verified account @eboland11
After making 25 throws at 60 feet, Severino said he felt nothing in the right shoulder. Will throw again tomorrow, then have an off day
Great sign. Read a comparison on Fangraphs the other day comparing the shoulder treatments Severino and Carlos Martinez are receiving, by Dr. Tanner. Made me feel much better about Severino moving forward.
 

jon abbey

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Yikes, hope he's ok:

4m4 minutes ago
Yankees guest instructor Lee Mazzilli was struck in the head by a batted ball during batting practice on Wednesday in Tampa. He was taken to a hospital and admitted for tests.