NY Yankees: Oh No Mo! & Yankee Farm System Updates

  Before Thursdays game against Kansas City pitcher Mariano Rivera was in the outfield shagging fly balls during batting practice just as he has done before every game for the past eighteen seasons. It was part of his workout regimen and something he took seriously. But this time things turned very serious for him and the Yankees. While running back to make a catch Rivera tore his ACL and meniscus in his right knee. The injury is likely season ending and possibly career ending. On Monday the all time saves leader ( 608) will be examined by Dr. David Altchek and plan for surgery. For the first time since 1997 when he became the closer, the Yankees and Yankee fans around the world had to think about who was going to pitch the ninth inning. 

On Friday the 42 year Rivera announced, " I'm coming back, write it down in big letters. I'm not going out like this. God willing and given the strength, I'm coming back." The Yankees will give pitchers David Robertson and Rafael Soriano the opportunity to save games while Rivera attempts to come back. The Yankees can find someone to close games but they will NEVER find anyone to replace the greatest ever, Mariano Rivera.

      Another Yankee attempting a comeback is left-hander Andy Pettitte. Pettitte threw 96 pitches in an extended spring training game on Monday. He allowed five earned runs in six innings. Pettitte feels he's ready to return to the Majors but according to manager Joe Giradi it's likely he will get one more start before retuning to the Yankees. With the injury to Rivera and one less arm in the bullpen, it looks to me like Phil Hughes will be headed to the pen when Pettitte comes back.

      Right-hander Micheal Pineda will miss the remainder of the season and will undergo surgery for an anterior labral tear in his pitching shoulder. Like I've been saying, you can never have to much pitching.

      Minor Leaguer Tyler Austin was named Prospects Hitter of the Week. In six games with the Class-A Charleston River Dogs Austin hit .381 with an OBP of .440 and had a slugging percentage of 1.048. In those six games he had 8 extra base hits. 4 homeruns, 2 doubles to go along with 12 RBIs. In a game against Hickory he hit 2 homeruns and had 7 RBIs. The 20 year old Austin was the picked in the 13th round of the 2010 Draft and is ranked 15th on the Yankees Top 20 Prospect List. He came into the system as a third baseman but has found his way in the lineup as a corner outfielder. For the season he is hitting .348. He has an OBP of .404, a slugging percentage of .831 with 9 homeruns and 25 RBIs. A prospect worth keeping an eye on.

Andy Pettitte

      Also down on the farm swinging a hot bat is first baseman Steve Pearce. In 24 games at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Pearce is hitting .372 with 4 homeruns and 14 RBIs. His OBP is .450, slugging percentage is .605 with an OPS of 1.055

      Pitching well at Triple-A Scranton/Wlikes-Barre is 6' 3" right-hander Chase Whitley. Whitley is 3-1 with an ERA of 1.98 and a WHIP of 0.95. In 13.2 innings he has struck out eleven while walking three and has not allowed a homerun.

      A quick note on minor leaguer Nikolas Turley of the Class-A Advanced Florida State League. The 6' 6" left-hander from LaCanada California is 2-0 with an ERA of 2.23. In 36.1 innings he has struck out 35 while walking 12 and only given up 1 homerun. A lefty with 35 strike outs in 36 innings !! I'll keep an eye on him for sure.

Manny Banuelos

      Top pitching prospect Manny Banuelos returned to the rotation for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Wednesday after missing a month with a back injury. He threw 3 2/3 innings giving up two hits with five strike outs while not walking a batter.

      Stayed tuned for another who's hot who's not report along with some more Minor League updates.

NY Yankees: Who's HOT Who's NOT

   Okay now that the Yankees are a couple weeks into the season it's time for my first who's hot who's not blog of the season.

I could make this very short and simple by just saying, you want to know who's hot ? Every Yankee that just played against the Red Sox April 21st 2012 !! LOL !!  As the Yankees just came back from a 9-0 deficit to beat the Red Sox 15-9. Instead I'll give you a little more than that.

     There are two Yankees that have been hot since the first pitch of the season. The first is not only the heart and soul of this team, he is the leader. He's none other than the "Captain"  Derek Jeter ! Jeter is off to a phenomenal start. He's fifth in the American League in hitting with an average of .382. He has four doubles, four homeruns and has twelve RBIs. His OBP is .411 with a .618 slugging percentage and an OPS of 1.029. Since coming back from a calf injury last season Jeter has been hitting roughly .340. So far this season he is hitting the ball with more power. Last season he had a total of six homeruns. Fifteen games into this season he already has four.

     The other Yankee off to a great start is one of my favorites. Nick Swisher. " Swish " is hitting .283 with six doubles, four homeruns. He leads the American League and is tied in all of baseball with twenty RBIs. He has six doubles, has on OBP of .371, a slugging percentage of .583 and OPS of .955.

     Another player starting to come on is Curtis Granderson. He's hitting .279. He has six homeruns (3 in one game vs Twins)  which ties him for the American League lead along with Texas Rangers Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli. He has an OBP of .380, a .623 slugging percentage and an OPS of 1.003

     As a team the Yankees offense is starting to heat up. Their second in all of baseball hitting .285 and lead all of baseball with twenty homeruns, nineteen of which came in the last seven games.

     Ivan Nova is really the only hot starting pitcher right now. He has a record of 3-0 which ties him for first in the American League along with Oakland A's Bartolo Colon (3-1) and Texas Rangers Matt Harrison (3-0).

     Pitching well out of the bullpen is David Robertson who has and ERA of 0.00 who has appeared in 8 games. In eight innings Robertson has struck out 11 and has a WHIP of 1.13.

     After blowing his first save in the first game of the year against the Tampa Rays Mariano Rivera is becoming " Mo " like. He has a record of 0-1 in 6 games. His ERA of 3.83 is high but I'm sure that will come down, it just takes time when you only pitch one inning at a time. He has struck out 7 and has a WHIP of 1.31 in 5.1 innings. As a whole the bullpen has done a solid job so far. Their have been games where the starters didn't pitch well but the bullpen guys kept teams from tacking on more runs allowing the Yankees offense to come back and win games.

      As far as who's not hot. I'll begin with three starting pitchers. Phil Hughes, Freddy Garcia, and Hiroki Kuroda. Hughes is 1-2 with and ERA of 6.75. In 13.1 innings he's given up 19 hits. He's walked 6, struck out 15, has a WHIP of 1.88. Opponents are hitting .317 of him and he has given up 4 homeruns. So far his velocity is up from last season. His fastball has been clocked between 90-93 mph. Personally, I think he's so concerned about throwing hard that he's over throwing which causes pitches to up in the zone and that's why he's getting hit hard.

     Freddy Garcia is 0-1. He has an ERA of 9.75. He's given up 20 hits in 12.0 innings. Opponents are hitting .385 and he has a WHIP of 1.92 Wow ! All I can say is. What is this ? High arc beer league softball pitching !

     In his three starts as a Yankee Hiroki Kuroda is 1-2 with an ERA of 5.00. In 18 innings he's given up 23 hits, walked 6 and struck out 12. Opponents are hitting .311 and he has a WHIP of 1.61. In his second start he pitched Opening Day at Yankee Stadium against the LA Angels and did pitch well. He threw 8 scoreless innings giving up 5 hits walking two while striking out 6. In my previous blogs I have not been bashful about how I feel regarding the signing of Kuroda. But for now I will cut him a break. Let's give him a few more starts and see what happens. All I know is with Andy Pettitte pitching down in the minors and Micheal Pineda working his way back from rotator cuff tendinitis somebody better start pitching well if they want to stay in the starting rotation or even stay on the team.

     Speaking of Andy Pettitte. Pettitte is pitching down in Tampa in the Florida State League. He is 0-0 in two starts. He's thrown 7 innings giving up 4 hits. He has an ERA of 1.29. Opponents are hitting 1.74 against him. He has not walked a batter or given up a homerun.

      Here's a quick peek at who's hot down on the farm at the Yankees Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Right-handed starting pitcher William Mitchell is 2-0 with an ERA of 2.12. In 17 innings he's given up 8 hits, one homerun while walking five. Opponents are hitting .143 off him and he has struck out 15.

      Right-handed hitting first baseman Steven Pearce is hitting .345. In 15 games he has 20 hits, 4 doubles, 2 homeruns, 6 walks while striking out 9 times. His OBP is .406. He has a slugging percentage of .517 and an OPS of .923.

      Coming soon will be a look at who's hot at all the Yankees Minor League affiliates. Stayed tuned !