Bronx Bomber Ball

By now, you’ve heard the rhetoric:  The Yankees need Starting Pitching .   The current pitching rotation is in shambles after a week in which they were ripped to the tune of 52 runs (48 earned) in 26 innings pitched.   Let me repeat that: 52 runs in 26 innings.   Mercifully, Domingo German was able to put an end to that streak last night, earning his 13th win, going 5.1 innings with just three earned runs, in a 9-6 victory over the Red Sox. While there is absolutely no question that this team needs to add another starting pitcher (or two) before Wednesday’s MLB Trade Deadline, there is another way the team can improve the pitching staff: by way of the bullpen. Photo Credit: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images

With the season winding down and the Yankees playoff hope slimming by the day, some 40-man roster spot decisions will have to be made in the near future. While some roster spots will open up because of impending free agents and retirements (Mark Teixeira, Billy Butler, etc.), some roster spots will be needed to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft (Tyler Webb, Kyle Hishioga, etc.). Because of these moves some roster spots may be up in the air this offseason, let’s take a look at some players whose 40-man roster spots may be in limbo. Photo Credit: Kim Klement

Chad Green, who has dominated opposing batters the last two times on the mound, was looking for another quality start this afternoon against the Baltimore Orioles. He did not pitch well, but the Yankees did plenty with their bats to pull out the 13-5 victory on Saturday, taking the first two games in this huge weekend series with the O’s. They have now won four in a row, and are a season-high six games over .500 at 67-61. (Adam Hunger/Getty Images)

Heading into Wednesday’s game, the Yankees likely didn’t feel too good about themselves after blowing a 6-0 lead just last night. Even after that, the Yankees had a chance to win the series if they got a good start from CC Sabathia and the offense rallied behind him. A series victory would finally end the Blue Jays streak of four straight series wins at Yankee Stadium. Photo Credit: Seth Wenig | AP

Unbelievable. In one of the craziest games in recent memory, the Yankees were hurt by a 3 hour, 35 minute rain delay as the Rangers rallied off Kirby Yates in the ninth to take Monday's series opener, 9-6. As the top of the ninth began, the rain began to fall harder and harder, and after Aroldis Chapman walked the leadoff batter and fell behind Shin-Soo Choo, Joe Girardi got his wish and convinced the umpires to delay the game. However, after the delay, Yates hit two batters, and then Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus both delivered 2-RBI singles to give Texas the win. Picture Credit: Associated Press/Kathy Willens

On a warm Saturday night, Ian Kinsler singlehandedly led the Tigers to a 6-1 win with a 5-RBI night. The Yankees offense couldn’t get anything going after scoring 33 runs in the last five games, and Masahiro Tanaka’s two mistakes both resulted in home runs. The Tigers also snapped the Yankees five-game winning streak, and with the loss, the Yankees returned back down to .500. Picture Credit: New York Yankees Twitter

Chris Parmelee started for the first time as a Yankee and made it a night to remember, going 3-for-5, with a double and two home runs to lead the Bronx Bombers to a 12-5 win over the Angels. The Yankees exploded for eight runs in the 6th and 7th innings combined to break away from a close game to guarantee a series win. Picture Credit: Elsa/Getty Images

For the second straight night, Dellin Betances (2-3, 3.04 ERA) struggled on the mound. After he replaced Yates to start the seventh, Adam Jones and Hyun Soo Kim led off the seventh with consecutive singles. The next batter, Manny Machado, hit a slow roller down the third base line, and Jones easily scored from third as Machado was thrown out at first. The Orioles took the lead for good and won the series opener, 6-5. Picture Credit: Greg Flume/Getty Images

Picture Credit: Frank Gunn | The Canadian Press After propelling themselves to a .500 record on May 24, the Yankees have been struggling mightily. Following tonight’s loss in Toronto, the Jays completed the sweep of the Yankees dropping the Yankees to a 2-6 record over their last 8 games since reaching the .500 mark. As the familiar storyline this season for the New York Yankees, the team once again could not muster anything in threatening situations, failing to hit with runners in scoring position (1-8, 9 runners left on base). And although this is a credit to Blue Jays pitchers, the Yankees offense has fallen back to its April woes.

Picture Credit: Associated Press/Chris O'Meara With one swing and a beautiful bat flip, Alex Rodriguez delighted Yankees fans everywhere with a long, two-run home run to just left of center, his sixth of the year, to extend the Yankees lead to 3-0. There were many questions coming into the game about Carlos Beltran’s dominance at the plate as a DH, and whether his move back to right field would hurt the team, even as A-Rod returned.

Last night, the Yankees came out on top with a 4-1 win over the Athletics. Ivan Nova looked great through 6 innings and the three-headed monster in the bullpen, with Betances in the 7th, Miller in the 8th, and Chapman in the 9th was able to finish it off. CC Sabathia returned from the DL today to face off against Sonny Gray in game 2 of the series. The Yankees looked to keep winning and get back on track after a very slow start to the season.  Picture Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez

The Yankees came into Tuesday night’s game following an embarrassing 12-2 loss at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The box score of that game was rough in a game that the Yankees felt like they had to have to win the series. With Michael Pineda squaring off against Zack Greinke in game two, things looked bleak from the beginning of game two. Once again, Pineda had a poor outing, one that led to Joe Girardi and Larry Rothschild ultimately expressing their disappointment in Pineda in the dugout. Picture Credit: Ross D. Franklin-AP

The Yankees secured their series win last night with a 7-3 win over the Kansas City Royals. Chase Headley finally hit his first home run of the season while Didi Gregorius and Starlin Castro both homered off of former Yankee Ian Kennedy. Today the Yankees started a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox, who currently lead the American League Central. The White Sox sent Chris Sale (7-0, 1.79 ERA) to the mound while New York countered with the struggling Luis Severino (0-5, 6.12 ERA). Sale has been dominant all season, striking out 47 batters in 50.1 innings, while only allowing 29 hits and 10 earned runs. Photo Credit: Elsa/Getty Images

After a tough loss last night to the Royals, the Yankees looked to win the series on Thursday night. The Yankees sent Nathan Eovaldi to the hill to face the former Yankee, Ian Kennedy, of the Kansas City Royals. Chase Headley came into this game with an RBI each in the last two games, and looked to build on that streak entering today. The three dominant pitchers in the Yankees bullpen all rested last night and will all be available today. Before today’s game, the Yankees optioned Ben Gamel, and his fantastic flow, to Scranton, and called up an extra pitcher in Tyler Olson.  Picture Credit: Al Bello/Getty Images

After two wins over the Boston Red Sox on Friday and Saturday, the Yankees looked to sweep the Red Sox on Sunday, but knuckleballer Steven Wright shut the Yankees offense down. Today, the Yankees started a 4-game series against the Kansas City Royals at home. Ivan Nova (1-1, 5.14 ERA), replacing CC Sabathia in the rotation while he’s on the 15-day disabled list, faced off against Kansas City’s Chris Young (1-4, 5.76 ERA), who is the most extreme fly ball pitcher in MLB (and has been since 2002). Chien-Ming Wang also made his return to the Bronx for the first time since July 4, 2009. He was a 19 game winner for the Yankees in both 2006 and 2007. Aroldis Chapman also returned to the Yankees active roster after serving his suspension. Picture Credit: Associated Press/Kathy Willens

The Yankees lost a heartbreaker last night, 1-0, in ten innings at Camden Yards against Baltimore. Masahiro Tanaka was brilliant, but the Yankees offense failed to crack the scoreboard against Kevin Gausman of the Orioles. Today, the Yankees returned to The Bronx to start a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox, after getting swept by the Red Sox earlier this season. The Yankees sent Michael Pineda to the mound to face Boston’s Rick Porcello. Earlier today, the Yankees got unfortunate news as CC Sabathia went on the 15-day disabled list with a left groin strain, and the Yankees called up Phil Coke as the roster replacement. This will be the last series the Yankees play before Aroldis Chapman returns from his suspension.  Picture Credit: Associated Press/Kathy Kmonicek

After last night’s disappointing 4-2 loss to the Red Sox, where David Ortiz drilled a tie-breaking 2-run home run off of Dellin Betances in the 8th, the Yankees will send Michael Pineda (1-2, 6.95 ERA) to face off against Boston’s Rick Porcello (4-0, 3.51 ERA). Pineda has struggled heavily all season, as his high ERA has shown. Meanwhile, Porcello hasn’t lost an outing this season. The Yankees have been struggling on offense, ranking 29th in runs and they have only score 12 runs in their last six games. Meanwhile, their crosstown rivals in Queens, scored 12 runs in one inning alone last night. Chase Headley, arguably the biggest liability on offense, has not had an extra base hit and has the lowest batting average (.140) out of all qualified batters in the majors. Pineda must right the ship and the Yankees will need to restart its offense again in order to win tonight. Picture Credit: Associated Press/Michael Dwyer