2015 Yankees Regular Season Thread

[jacksonianmarch]

So, it is about to begin. Some injury concerns to note and new faces. Ellsbury played in a minor league game and said he should be ready for Opening day. Brendan Ryan is out for awhile, which prompted the NYY to go get Gregorio Petit. I thought with a good defensive showing, Pirela and Refsnyder would allow NYY to drop Ryan, but Refsnyder had a rough defensive spring (albeit a strong offensive one) and Pirela got a concussion. Gregorius has a sprained wrist, he says he'll be ready for Monday, Girardi was non committal. For now, it doesn't sound like they'll DL him, but there is a chance Refsnyder breaks camp in NY as the 2b with Drew shifting to SS for the short term. Capuano is out until May, which allowed Warren to take the #5 slot. I honestly think Warren will hold that spot for the season. He's got great stuff and showed durability as a starter in the minors. If Capuano comes back to the rotation, it will likely be replacing an injured player rather than Warren

[jacksonianmarch]

And Girardi confirmed that the Yanks will be employing the dreaded "closer by committee" to start the season. The article confirming it agrees with my position that the job was Betances' to lose in the spring and he lost it. Should he regain his dominance, we will end up seeing him close

[jacksonianmarch]

Tanaka adding a 2 seamer to his arsenal, saying not to expect big velo out of him. It is smart of him to throw the sinker with the splitty. If he can command it well, he should be dominant

[jacksonianmarch]

Well, first two inning he was untouchable. Third inning, he couldn't locate the two seamer and unraveled after the error. He's gotta be better

[jacksonianmarch]

Tanaka appears afraid to throw his FB. It isn't like he's throwing 85 here, the guy is sitting 90 with the heater. If he locates it, he will be fine. He either needs to get comfortable with the heat early in the count or he needs to just throw all out and blow the ligament out when it goes. f*** it.

[Spudboy]

His elbow is ticking.

 

Jose Reyes is gimpy already.

 

So glad the Sox never got him.

[jacksonianmarch]

To be honest with you, I could care less. The guy on the mound right now is pitching like DiceK. I would rather he get the TJS and rehab than be a shell of himself. He either needs to go out there and throw the 4 seamer and splitty or go under the knife. The analysts have it dead on. Tanaka's best pitch is his splitter and you need to throw the 4 seamer to make the split effective. If you throw a 2 seamer and a splitter, you can see the difference out of the hand and they are taking it. Go back to the 4 seamer. When he said he was adding in a sinker, I thought he was adding it in and just slowing down his 4 seamer. I didn't know he was practically giving up on his 4 seamer

[seabeachfred]

He did look like a treasure the first two innings so the error might have caused him to lose his concentration----I don't know. He seems to think he doesn't need TJS so we'll just have to see. Buchholz was on the beam today but to be honest I don't know if this was a one trick pony outing or if he is finally going to give us something we need very badly.

[Thunder]

I was listening to the Yankee game on my way home today and realized just how old the Yanks are. Didi is a great young player, but has the biggest shoes in history to fill. There's a massive list of guys who are past their prime: Beltran, Teixiera, A-Rod, McCann. Gardner is not far behind, and he seems to be the face of the team. And then the rotation LOOKS good, but didn't seem to be today. Tanaka didn't have his best stuff against a much improved Toronto offense, but it is still only Opening Day. Pineda finished well last year after the pine tar game and following injury. They'll need his young arm this year, because this team is older than Vin Scully and Betty White listening to a phonograph while driving a Ford Model T.

[Bellhorn04]

I was listening to the Yankee game on my way home today and realized just how old the Yanks are. Didi is a great young player, but has the biggest shoes in history to fill. There's a massive list of guys who are past their prime: Beltran, Teixiera, A-Rod, McCann. Gardner is not far behind, and he seems to be the face of the team. /QUOTE]

 

McCann and Gardner are still in prime years though.

[Thunder]

I was listening to the Yankee game on my way home today and realized just how old the Yanks are. Didi is a great young player, but has the biggest shoes in history to fill. There's a massive list of guys who are past their prime: Beltran, Teixiera, A-Rod, McCann. Gardner is not far behind, and he seems to be the face of the team.

 

McCann and Gardner are still in prime years though.

 

I stated that Gardner was not far behind, meaning he has some years left. McCann's seemed to really dip offensively, for whatever reason. Being a lefty at Yankee Stadium is a pretty sweet deal.

[Kimmi]

To be honest with you, I could care less. The guy on the mound right now is pitching like DiceK. I would rather he get the TJS and rehab than be a shell of himself. He either needs to go out there and throw the 4 seamer and splitty or go under the knife. The analysts have it dead on. Tanaka's best pitch is his splitter and you need to throw the 4 seamer to make the split effective. If you throw a 2 seamer and a splitter, you can see the difference out of the hand and they are taking it. Go back to the 4 seamer. When he said he was adding in a sinker, I thought he was adding it in and just slowing down his 4 seamer. I didn't know he was practically giving up on his 4 seamer

 

 

It's only been one game Jacko. Far be it for me to defend the Yankees, but this is the exact type of overreaction from some Red Sox fans that drives me crazy. Maybe he just had a bad outing, or maybe his holding back on the 4 seamer is going to be a real problem, but he at least deserves a couple of starts before everyone starts writing him off.

[BSN07]

He had a bad game today. If he's pitching like this after 5 starts it's time to worry a bit.

 

I honestly think he needs TJS. Guys are getting the surgery when they sprain or stretch the ligament. A tear to me was ludicrous to try and rehab. But that's me and I'm certainly not a Dr.

[jacksonianmarch]

BSN, it's not that he's lost stuff. He was still 93-94 when he rarely threw his 4 seamer. His issue now is that he might not trust his stuff. To be honest with you, I'd rather he air it out. If the ligament blows, then get it fixed. As long as he's throwing low to mid 90s with the heat, so be it. If the elbow barks and the 4 seamers drop into the 80s, then fix it. He is trying to get by on less velo, which is okay, but what isn't acceptable is that he's changed who he is. He has the best splitter in the world, and his "new mindset" of sinker/slider forces him away from his signature unhittable pitch. If everything has side to side movement and then the split comes, which looks like a 4 seamer out of the hand, then the batters will learn to take it

[jacksonianmarch]

Once they took the splitter, he realized he had trouble locating his sinker and then went to the slider for his strikes. It flattened out in the 3rd and he got hammered. He has the stuff to be an ace. He has to trust it.

[BSN07]

He looked like a nibbling Dice K yesterday. If he's had to change they way he pitches so much because of the elbow, that should have been a clue to get the surgery out of the way. Instead he's going to possibly waste his prime trying to get by and not get hurt. Like I said before it's only one start.

[Kimmi]

He looked like a nibbling Dice K yesterday. If he's had to change they way he pitches so much because of the elbow, that should have been a clue to get the surgery out of the way. Instead he's going to possibly waste his prime trying to get by and not get hurt. Like I said before it's only one start.

 

 

I think he should have had the surgery last season when the injury was first discovered. However, 3 doctors supposedly recommended that he try rehabbing it, and they certainly know a lot more than I do. If Tanaka is going to be pitching tentatively for fear of injury though, he might as well go ahead and have the surgery.

 

I thought he looked pretty good in ST though, so it will be interesting to see how he does in his next few starts.

[jacksonianmarch]

I honestly believe that structurally, his elbow will allow him to throw 93-95mph again. I don't know for how long, but he showed he could throw 93-94 yesterday. I am more concerned about the fact that the specter of injury has made him want to change what made him great. It's in his head rather than in his arm. The guy who pitched yesterday will give us 180IP and a 4+ERA. That isn't what we need. We need the guy who was fearless, who threw low to mid 90s cheese with a splitter that lit the world on fire.

[Ogden]

I think he should have had the surgery last season when the injury was first discovered. However, 3 doctors supposedly recommended that he try rehabbing it, and they certainly know a lot more than I do. If Tanaka is going to be pitching tentatively for fear of injury though, he might as well go ahead and have the surgery.

 

I thought he looked pretty good in ST though, so it will be interesting to see how he does in his next few starts.

 

 

 

If a doctor is conservative, surgery is always the last resort. If rehab gets him to some percentage of his best, they'll have to determine what % is good enough based on his results. Maybe he gets by at 80%, maybe not, but being conservative the docs thought it was worth a shot. Or maybe mentally he's scared to really let it go consistently and his emotional state was an unknown until he actually got into game situations.

[jacksonianmarch]

Ogden, I think he's scared to let it fly. The guy I saw pitching yesterday was afraid. I hope it was just the early season, but I was definitely concerned

[Bellhorn04]

Ogden, I think he's scared to let it fly. The guy I saw pitching yesterday was afraid. I hope it was just the early season, but I was definitely concerned

 

Well, it's probably natural that he'd still have some fear about letting it fly. It's still pretty early in the process.

[User Name]

There's a lot of rationalization going on in this thread for the result of one start.

[Kimmi]

If a doctor is conservative, surgery is always the last resort. If rehab gets him to some percentage of his best, they'll have to determine what % is good enough based on his results. Maybe he gets by at 80%, maybe not, but being conservative the docs thought it was worth a shot. Or maybe mentally he's scared to really let it go consistently and his emotional state was an unknown until he actually got into game situations.

 

 

I certainly understand and agree with the 'surgery as the last resort' opinion. If it is possible for Tanaka's ligament to heal with rest and rehabilitation, then you have to try that first. However, if they are only prolonging the inevitable, knowing that he will need the surgery within a year or so, then he probably would have been better off just having it done. But as I said, I'm not a doctor.

[Kimmi]

There's a lot of rationalization going on in this thread for the result of one start.

 

 

That's what forum posters do best.

[a700hitter]

That's what forum posters do best.

 

True.

[seabeachfred]

Still, when you slice and dice it, one start doesn't really tell us much at all. I think five or six more starts will give a clearer picture of what gives with the Yankee ace.

[jacksonianmarch]

Pineda threw well yesterday. Our bats were still silent. If it wasn't for the ineptitude of the Jays pitchers in terms of hitting the strike zone, we'd have lost. But I'll take it. CC vs Norris today, let's see if we can take the series. Sucks I have to work!

[jacksonianmarch]

Yankees disjointed again. They really seem so akin to last season it isn't funny. Days we hit, we cant pitch, days we pitch we cant hit. Days our starter hands the pen the lead, they don't hold it. Very frustrating start to the year.

[jacksonianmarch]

ARod hitting over .300 with 3HR and 8RBI in his 10th game. Surprised he can even make contact

[jacksonianmarch]

ARoid goes deep again to tie it up. His first HR was the longest in the bigs this yr. I would like to know who the next Tony Bosch is!