Bronx Bomber Ball

Let me begin this article by saying that, yes, I will remain a loyal fan of the New York Yankees. However, today’s disaster (August 26) against the Houston Astros was the final straw for me. There are two players on this team that deserve recognition: Nathan Eovaldi and Carlos Beltran. Every other person in the lineup, starter, or in the bullpen deserves nothing but the worst of criticism. The Yankees began the latest 10-game homestand with a 1.5-game lead on the Toronto Blue Jays. As of the afternoon of August 26th, this lead has now turned into a 1.5-game deficit with a road trip ahead. To all the Joe Girardi apologists out there who said that the offense would lead this team to the playoffs and beyond, well, there is nothing else to be said now. To all those who defended the team while the offense stalled but the pitching was great (the week of August 5-12), the pitching was absolutely terrible in the last few games. And if you would rather just hear a general rant, scroll to the v

The Yankees won Game One 1-0 in walkoff fashion. Houston sent Dallas Keuchel (14-6, 2.37 ERA) to the hill to face New York’s Ivan Nova (5-5, 3.72 ERA). Keuchel is having a Cy Young caliber season with his dominance. His last four outings were all quality starts and he pitched into seven innings three out of those four times. He’s also recorded 24 strikeouts and has a 2.60 ERA in those last four starts. Nova has allowed three or more earned runs in his last three starts and hasn’t been particularly great; he is 1-2 in those starts and has a 4.24 ERA in August.

Tweet me things that are better than Stephen Drew! You may find your tweet embedded in a blog post! — Bronx Bombers (@BronxBomberBlog) August 9, 2015 Roughly three weeks ago, I asked the followers of the @BronxBomberBlog on twitter to tweet me things that were better than Stephen Drew! I got some replies that were hysterical and others that were unique and interesting. I’ve never shared people’s tweets to us on the blog before, so here goes it. Here’s to hoping you see your tweet on the BBB! @BronxBomberBlog Ive had a colonoscopy two weeks ago.. seems better than Drew imo — Dominic David (@Foecrusher21) August 9, 2015 @BronxBomberBlog Refsnyder — Ron Turner (@ron_kdhobxron) August 9, 2015 @BronxBomberBlog Kei Igawa's tenure with the Yankees — Braxton (@NYYfan2442) August 9, 2015 @BronxBomberBlog how about bring back Refsnyder? It's not like Drew is giving us a jolt of energy like Refsnyder can — Marra (@marranara) August 9, 2015 @

After dialing up his fastball to 91 MPH, and striking out Yan Gomes in the third inning of Sunday’s contest against the Indians, CC Sabathia appeared to be injured. Without even attempting to stay in the game, he walked off the mound for what may turn out to be the last time of the 2015 season. I’ll admit that I began praying this injury had something to do with his shoulder. Under the terms of his contract, if Sabathia suffers a shoulder injury, his $25 million option for 2017 will not vest. I love Sabathia as a player due to his competitive nature, but for most of this season he has been a liability to his team. I view this injury to CC as a huge plus to the team moving forward. Now, as opposed to almost expecting an automatic loss every time he took the mound, we can actually have a pitcher who keeps us in the game. His big game experience will surely be missed, however he can continue to be one of the team’s leaders from the bench, where he actually can be an asset.

Something about the Cleveland Indians just gets in the Yankees head. The Bronx Bombers dropped three of four from the Tribe at the stadium this weekend and five of seven overall against Cleveland. A team like the Indians shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as the Yankees and that is what makes these losses so frustrating. Whether it be Didi Gregorius failure to move runners home who are in scoring position, Stephen Drew’s ineptitude with a bat or Dellin Betances not being able to contain Francisco Lindor. Any way you slice it this was a bad weekend for the Yankees. Oh and lets not forget the surging Toronto Blue Jays who are now in sole possession of first place after their victory against the Angels yesterday. To make matters worse the red hot Houston Astros have come to town this weekend (now the title makes sense right?).

The Yankees came into this series against Houston trailing the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East after losing three of four games to the Cleveland Indians. The Yankees took an especially difficult loss on Sunday as Dellin Betances, brilliant as of late, gave up a 8th inning home run to Francisco Lindor and the Indians won 4-3. The Yankees started a 3-game series against Houston today. Scott Feldman (5-5, 4.05 ERA) faces Nathan Eovaldi (13-2, 4.24 ERA). Feldman has allowed three earned runs in his last five consecutive outings and two or less in four of those outings. Eovaldi has not lost since his June 16th disaster at Miami where he gave up eight earned runs in less than one inning. He’s lowered his ERA from 5.12 to 4.24 in the last two months. Today was also Brett Gardner’s 32nd birthday!

As we celebrate the day that Jorge Posada is enshrined into Monument Park, I thought I should make my case for why Posada should be granted baseball’s highest achievement and baseball immortality.

The Yankees were coming off of a 3 game sweep over the Minnesota Twins when they faced off against the Cleveland Indians at home yesterday. Looking for their 4th straight win, Ivan Nova started on the mound facing off against Josh Tomlin.

The Yankees won the first two games of its series against the Twins 8-7 (F/10) on Monday and 8-4 on Tuesday. The Yankees sent Nathan Eovaldi (12-2, 4.26 ERA) to face Minnesota’s Ervin Santana (2-3, 5.66 ERA) and try to get the sweep against the Twins. Eovaldi has won three of his last four starts. In his last seven games, he’s gone 4-0 with a 3.70 ERA. He gets the second most run support in the Majors behind Toronto’s Drew Hutchison, who was recently demoted to Toronto’s Triple-A team. Ervin Santana has lost three of his last four outings and hasn’t pitched past the sixth inning in any of those starts. He gave up five earned runs on eight hits in six innings in his last outing against Texas.

The Yankees won last night in walk-off fashion in an 8-7 win (F/10) and continued to build on their lead in the American League East to make it one full game. On Tuesday, the Yankees sent CC Sabathia (4-9, 5.23 ERA) to the hill to face Minnesota ’ s Mike Pelfrey (6-7, 3.70 ERA). In his last start, Sabathia allowed nine hits and two earned runs in a six-inning outing at Cleveland. Since becoming a Yankee, Sabathia has a 5-1 record against the Twins with a 3.23 ERA. Mike Pelfrey has been pitching well in August to a 2.41 ERA in 18.2 innings and he has only given up 17 hits and five earned runs.

The Yankees came off a road trip that ended with three games against the red-hot Toronto Blue Jays and won two out of three in the Rogers Centre. After falling in Sunday’s finale, the Yankees looked to get back on track. The Yankees sent Bryan Mitchell out on a spot start while the Minnesota Twins sent Kyle Gibson to the hill. Today’s game started a three-game series between the two in New York.

With just over a month and a half left in the 2015 regular season, the New York Yankees find them themselves in a sudden dog fight for first place. Following the Yankees 5- game losing streak, countered with the Toronto Blue Jays 10-game winning streak, the Yanks abruptly fell out of first place for the first time since July 1 st . Demands and expectations in the Bronx are high as the Yankees are looking to reach the postseason for the first time since 2012; anything short of that would be considered a disappointment in the eyes of the Yankee faithful. Going forward, the Yankees have a few things that must go right in order for them to find themselves playing past the first week in October.

If I were to tell any Yankees fan last winter that Alex Rodriguez would bat .265 with 24 HRs, 63 RBIs, and an .873 OPS in 2015 would they believe me? Chances are they would not. Many fans thought it was impossible for a forty year old with two hip replacements who hasn’t played a full season in about five years to perform anywhere close to his former self. Fortunately, the numbers stated above are A-Rod’s stats in mid August. Most fans would have signed for those stats in a heartbeat for the entire season. Rodriguez has been an integral part of this team, both on the field, and also as a leader in the clubhouse. That being said, he’s a huge part of the reason we currently sit atop the division. On the Yankees most recent road trip, A-Rod went 2-22. A-Rod hasn’t hit a home run since July 27 th , his fortieth birthday. He’s also batting .152 in his last twelve games. While many fans are deeply worried about Rodriguez, I’d like to explain why I am not.

The dog days of August and September really affect some players, good and bad. For Yankees 2015 All-Star Brett Gardner, it's been a career long struggle in the second half of the season and it hasn't gotten better this year.

As we all know, baseball is a business. Players on every team come and go, whether it’s from free agency, a trade or retirement. Every once in a while I like to look up former Yankee players and seeing how they’re doing and I would like to share that information with my fellow readers.

The Yankees won 4-3 in Game 1 and 4-1 in Game 2, thanks to Carlos Beltran’s 3-run home run in the eighth inning and Masahiro Tanaka’s five-hit complete game, respectively. The Yankees wins over the last two days have allowed them to take a 1.5-game lead in the American League East into Sunday’s game. The Yankees sent phenom Luis Severino (0-1, 2.45 ERA) to the hill to counter Toronto’s Drew Hutchison (11-2, 5.26 ERA). Hutchison has led the majors with nearly 8 runs of run support per outing, which explained his high ERA but excellent record. However, in his last eight home starts, he was 7-0 with a 1.99 ERA, so his dominance in Rogers Centre wasn’t necessarily based off run support. Game 3 (Sunday, August 16) - New York Yankees 1 @ Toronto Blue Jays 3 1st Inning Jacoby Ellsbury singled to lead off the game but was caught stealing for the third out of the inning. In the bottom half, Luis Severino walked Jose Bautista with two out and balked to move him to second, but then picke

The Yankees won 4-3 in Game 1, thanks to Carlos Beltran’s three-run home run in the eighth inning for a come from behind win. The Yankees win snapped the Blue Jays’s eleven-game win streak and gave New York the half-game lead in the American League East. For Game 2, Toronto sent Marco Estrada (10-6, 3.21 ERA) and the Yankees countered with Masahiro Tanaka (8-5, 3.79 ERA). These two matched up on August 9 in New York, where Toronto won 2-0. In that game, Tanaka allowed two solo home runs by Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista, which were the differences in the 2-0 score.

The New York Yankees continued its six-game road trip by making its second stop of the series north of the border in Toronto. The Yankees snapped its five-game losing streak by taking the finale of the series in Cleveland by a score of 8-6. Prior to that, New York had only scored six runs in its five straight losses. The Toronto Blue Jays are very hot. They have an eleven-game winning streak and come off of a sweep of Oakland at home. The Blue Jays led the Yankees by half a game in the American League East heading into Friday ’ s game and this was an extremely important series for both teams. The Blue Jays sent David Price (11-4, 2.35 ERA) who faced the Yankees just six days earlier, pitching seven scoreless innings and only allowing three hits. The Yankees countered with Ivan Nova (4-4, 3.52 ERA) who allowed four runs in 5.1 innings in that game on August 8.

The Yankees were looking to end a 5 game skid coming into the series finale with Cleveland. 5 games in which the offense has been almost nonexistent although the pitching has been very good. Greg Bird was called up today to give Mark Teixeira a break and he played 1st base making his debut. Nathan Eovaldi looked to keep his streak of good starts going as he faced off against Trevor Bauer of the Indians.

It probably goes without saying, but this weekend series in Toronto is big, very big. I probably don’t need to tell you that this is the biggest series of the season but I’ll say it anyways, because I love you. Sitting just half a game back, this is a great opportunity for the Yankees to get back to their winning ways, smother a scorching hot Blue Jays team, and retake the lead in the AL East.

T here was a time where the Yankees had gotten my hopes up. There was a time where the Yankees were 7 games up. There was a time where you could say the Yankees were overachieving. But times are changing, quickly. And something’s gotta be done in the near future in order to fix this funk the Yankees are stuck in.

F rom 7th inning bridge for the big two of Betances and Miller in 2014, to most consistent starter in 2015, to a limited role out of the pen, Adam Warren hasn't done anything to deserve what's happened to him.

A ny  functioning workplace cannot be successful without a certain level of accountability. Employees must know that if they do not perform up to their capability, there will be consequences. Unfortunately for the last couple of years, the Yankees have had no accountability. Brian Cashman has been ordained GM for life despite only winning one championship in fifteen years. Joe Girardi has been given a pass for missing the playoffs for two consecutive seasons for the first time in twenty years. It’s mind boggling to me that I STILL see people on my newsfeed apologizing for Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi (I will hereafter refer to these individuals as apologists). A couple of days ago I wrote an article in which I attempted to convey the anger of the average Yankees fan. CLICK HERE . We have now witnessed the Yankees blow a seven game lead in roughly two weeks. While the Blue Jays seem unbeatable, the Yankees have been playing mediocre, and that’s me saying it nicely. If the Bombers miss

I n the month of August, the New York Yankees have hit for a .198 batting average and a .329 slugging percentage. The Yankees offense is in a slump and some sort of change is needed. It is incredibly unlikely that Joe Girardi will actually mix the lineup up seeing as, well, the team seems to dislike change. Not making any moves at the deadline has definitely backfired, as a 7-game lead has shrunk into a 0.5-game lead heading into the August 12 game at Cleveland. The current lineup has Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury leading off and Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, and Brian McCann batting 3-4-5. However, that has not worked as batters 1-5 in the order have not performed at all and they are the players that power the offense. To put it in perspective, the Yankees hit for a .254 average prior to the All-Star break and Gardner, Ellsbury, A-Rod, Teixeira, and McCann are hitting for a combined .147 (28/191) in August! One possible way to mix up the Yankees offense is by changing New York’s

W hen the Yankees passed up on rotation aces David Price, Cole Hamels and Johnny Cueto it wasn’t because they didn’t want them, but because the Yankees had a gem of their own they weren’t willing to give up.

A fter being swept by the Blue Jays this weekend, the Yankees are now 2-7 against their AL East rival this season.   The funny thing is the 2-7 record is not the worst part. Yankees EVERDAY second baseman Stephen Drew is 3-for-24 against the Blue Jays this season. Let me repeat that DREW IS 3-for-24.

The Yankees are in real trouble. They're reaching a point in the season in which they have to swim or will sink for good. The Yankees losing streak has now been pushed to four after suffering a 16 inning loss to one of the worst teams in the league in the Cleveland Indians. The Indians aren't really to blame though. I was at the game and I saw a Yankees team with absolutely no drive or passion do everything they could to try and lose that ballgame. When you see a team lose on TV it's one thing, but seeing the Yankees in person last night said so much more. Arod and Carlos Beltran refused to show any hustle and run out ground balls they could've at least made close. Andrew Miller looked completely lost trying to save the ballgame before eventually blowing it. Mark Teixeira and Jacoby Ellsbury were 0-6 and 0-7 respectively.

A free agent hit the market last week that has sent ripples through the baseball world and will have a long lasting effect once he finds a new home. Obviously I’m not talking about a player but rather executive Dave Dombrowski formerly of the Detroit Tigers. As soon as it was announced that he would be pursuing other ventures almost every team that has been underachieving or is in front office turmoil has been mentioned as a potential destination. The Angels, Blue Jays, Orioles, Mariners and Red Sox are the teams that are immediately in contention for his services. The majority of teams will be interested in hiring Dombrowski as a team president. His departure also has cast the future of Tigers Manager Brad Ausmus in doubt especially after the Jose Iglesias-James McCann scuffle from a few days ago. The changes the Tigers are undergoing has got me thinking about the general manager-manager duo of the Yankees Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi.

The Yankees offense is scuttling.   Michael Kay described the Yankees recent run as an “offensive orgy” after blowouts in Texas, Chicago and home against Boston. However in what was the biggest series this season to date the Yankees scored 1 run in 3 games and got shut out in consecutive games for the first time since 1999. They absolutely blew an opportunity to put some space in the standings between them and the rejuvenated Blue Jays.

After this year’s July 31 st non-waiver trade deadline passed, I was very frustrated and disappointed with Brian Cashman. While all our rivals in the American League improved their teams, with the Blue Jays making the most drastic moves, the Yankees stood pat and did nothing. They did get Dustin Ackley from Seattle, however his injury prompted them to resign Garrett Jones, the player who was designated for assignment to make room for Ackley on the roster, ironically enough. Over the last two weeks the Yankees have witnessed their once seemingly insurmountable lead evaporate from 7 to 1.5 games. The Blue Jays came to town this weekend for a huge series in the Bronx, and the Yankees offense has been anemic. Having only scored 1 run in three games, the Bombers lost 2-1 in extra innings against Toronto on Friday, got blown out 6-0 on Saturday, and lost a pathetic 2-0 game on Sunday with yours truly in attendance. I’m not saying the season is over, however many Yankees fans who were con

Believing that the Blue Jays will win the east is like believing the Phillies will make the playoffs because of their second half start. Both are a product of the coincidental matters that is baseball. Before I go any further, I just want to clear the air and let you know that I do not work for the YES network. So this writing will not be about polishing a turd. It's about what I have interpreted from this weekend series.

In the New York Yankees biggest series of the season, Yankee manager Joe Girardi needed to be better as the Yankees were swept by the Jays, and shut out in the final two games.  The Yankees came into the series with Toronto in first place, 4.5 games up on the Jays in the American League East and had 90 runs scored in their previous 10 games.  The Blue Jays on the other hand were 9-1 with newly acquired shortstop Troy Tulowitzki in the lineup and also added ace David Price at the July 31 st Trade Deadline. Throughout the series, Girardi made multiple mistakes and they proved to be crucial.

No, the season is not over yet, but it's time to start waking up. Getting swept by the Blue Jays should be setting off every Yankee fan's alarm. I understand to a point we have to be optimistic as fans and it's certainly the less stressful route. However, there is a fine line between being optimistic and blatantly naive and ignorant to what is happening. The Blue Jays are on a torrid eight game win streak and have sent the Yankees current streak to three losses due to a crushing sweep in the Bronx this weekend. Brett Gardner hit by fan throwing back a HR ball. Boink.

The Blue Jays won the first two games of the series by scores of 2-1 (F/10) and 6-0. Toronto trailed by only 2.5 games entering into Sunday’s game; the 7-game lead the Yankees had one week ago has nearly disappeared. The Yankees sent out Masahiro Tanaka (8-4, 3.84 ERA) to face Toronto’s Marco Estrada (9-6, 3.40 ERA). Tanaka won his last outing out but pitched okay; he went 6 innings, allowed 5 hits and 3 earned runs, and struck out 3 in a Yankees 13-3 win over Boston. Estrada won his last time out as well, where he pitched 6.2 IP and allowed only 2 hits and 1 earned run against the Twins. Toronto won and completed the sweep by winning 2-0.

The Blue Jays won Game 1 by a score of 2-1 in 10 innings, courtesy of Jose Bautista’s go-ahead home run off of Branden Pinder in the top of the 10th. In Game 2, the Yankees sent Ivan Nova (4-3, 3.10 ERA) to face Toronto’s trade deadline acquisition, David Price (10-4, 2.45 ERA). In his only game against the Yankees, as part of the Tigers, he was hit hard by New York. Price allowed 10 hits and 8 earned runs in a 2.1 inning outing in April. However, Price pitched a gem and the Blue Jays won 6-0.

The waiver trade market is in full swing now with several clubs making moves these last few days. Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, Chris Johnson, Mike Napoli and Oliver Perez are the biggest names to have moved recently and it seems like there are surely more to come. One name that has been rumored to likely hit waivers is that of Chase Utley. While there has been no confirmed interest thus far, it has been widely speculated that the Yankees amongst other teams would be interested in making a claim on the former slugger should they get a chance to.

The Yankees came off a 3-game set against the Red Sox where they took two out of three games. The Blue Jays, having acquired Troy Tulowitzki and David Price at the trade deadline, are red hot, winning 5 in a row, including having swept the Minnesota Twins in its last series. The Blue Jays sent knuckleballer and the 2012 Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey (6-10, 4.06 ERA) to counter New York’s Nathan Eovaldi (11-2, 4.30 ERA). Dickey has won his last three outings and hasn’t allowed an earned run in 21 innings (spanning over two and a half games). Eovaldi is coming in hot as well; he’s allowed less than 3 runs in 12 of his last 13 starts. With the Blue Jays red hot and only 4.5 games back in the AL East, this is an important series. The Blue Jays won 2-1 in 10 innings.

It was but a mere week ago when everything felt like a box of fluffy ducks. Things were going so great that little Stephen Drew almost hit for the cycle and also almost cracked a .200 average in one at bat. Although he failed at his attempt we Yankee fans didn't care. The Yankees were looking so great that Drew's attempt was like watching a baby learn how to walk. They take a step or two, fall on their rear, and then we all laugh at how cute the effort was.

Every year during the offseason every team has to decide what to do with their players hitting the free agent market. This upcoming offseason the Yankees only have four unrestricted free agents hitting the market and none of them are big names. Although it’s still August and things can change, here is what I think the Yankees should do when the time comes.

This game was the rubber match of the series against the Red Sox. It was very important for the Yankees, trying to stay at least 4.5 games in front of Toronto before going into a 3 game series with them. CC Sabathia started on the mound for the Yankees against Eduardo Rodriguez of the Red Sox.

The premier prospect of the New York Yankees, Luis Severino, made his debut in the Bronx last night against the rival, the Boston Red Sox. In a pitching matchup against Boston’s Steven Wright where the Yankee offense was expected to flourish, the Yankees turned its offense off for one night and, as a result, Severino lost his debut, 2-1. Please read my colleague Greg’s game recap if you would like an explanation on why Severino lost this game even though he pitched very well; this piece will only break down Severino’s start.

Luis Severino finally made his debut against the Red Sox in a game that we have all anxiously been waiting for. Steven Wright started on the mound for the Red Sox. It looked to be an easy win the way the Yankees offense has been lately, and with Severino on the mound.

Every team's fans like to razz their skipper. It's part of the game. If something goes wrong, there's always the potential for the manager to become a scapegoat that night. Is this deserved? I would say most of the time it's not, but sometimes managers do things that can't be explain. No shred or inkling of knowledge can be found in them. Joe Girardi had one of those moments last night. In the seventh inning last night lefty reliever Justin Wilson was brought in to face the bottom of the Red Sox order. After three batters there were two outs and a runner on first. Wilson was then left to face a ridiculously bad Jackie Bradley Jr. who was hitting only .109 on the year - you know, the kind of guy a power arm like Justin Wilson should destroy. Well, Wilson quickly got two strikes in the at-bat before throwing one in the dirt that allowed Rusney Castillo to advance from first two second. That's when Joe Girardi lost his mind. Photo