Yankees clinch Playoff berth

The Yankees clinched a playoff berth with a win today and an Angels loss, as did the Rangers and Orioles. It looked like the Yankees would be doomed to 2nd place as they trailed by four runs after five innings, but the Yankees showed grit and rallied to split the series in Toronto. The Orioles and Yankees remain tied for the division lead with the last series remaining and the Yankees have the clear advantage in facing the Red Sox in the Bronx, while the Orioles face the Rays at Tropicana field. Hopefully the games swing the right way and they will not have to use Hiroki Kuroda in Wednesdays game, otherwise he would have to pitch on three days rest in game two. The end result though is that the Yankees need to win these games so that they can avoid the one game playoff and on a side note, congratulations to the Baltimore Orioles fan base on your first playoff berth in 15 years.

A True Yankee Podcast 9/25

I posted this later today than I wanted to but here it is.Sorry about the delay between this one and the last one but we had some issues, but we will make it up to you by having another episode next Thursday after the season is over. Anyway Chris guest appears for Brooke and we talk about the Yankees recent winning ways including the two walk offs against the A's. We also talk about Andy Pettitte, Ichiro, Raul Ibanez and the Yankees remaining schedule.

Yankees activate Aardsma and Gardner

The Yankees have activated both Brett Gardner and David Aardsma off the 60-day DL. Its not clear what Brett Gardner will do exactly but he apparently will do something and Aardsma will pitch a few times. To make room the Yankees designated Steve Pearce and Justin Thomas for assignment.
Also in unrelated news Yankees farm hand Pat Venditte will likely miss much of 2013 after undergoing shoulder surgery on a torn labrum in his right shoulder. If you recall Venditte is a switch pitcher, but I doubt that the Yankees want him on the field with a shoulder injury, even if he could still pitch lefty. However that does make Gardner's activation seem odd.

The Emergence of David Phelps

Fear the Phelps

The Emergence of David Phelps has been an important piece of the Yankees success this year as he has been able to bounce between the rotation and the bullpen and more importantly have success in both. As a starter he has pitched to a 3.81 ERA in 10 starts with his best start coming in the double header against the Blue Jays in which he pitched 6.2 innings of one run ball and struck out 6, in fact he has struck out 6 or more in four of his ten starts. Even more impressive may be his success coming out of the bullpen where he has a 2.50 Era over 40 innings and a impressive 41-11 strike out to walk rate.
Phelps story is even better because most people had Phelps behind Adam Warren, both as a prospect and on the pitching depth chart, likely due to his injury last season June. If you don't remember Phelps was going to make a spot start for the Yankees, but they instead signed Brian Gordon who made two starts before heading to play to Korea. Phelps was not even expected to make the active roster out of spring training, but he beat out Adam Warren and D.J Mitchell for the long relief spot after Freddy Garcia had to move to the rotation.
I don't know if it is somehow different from his previous approach but Phelps has been getting accolades for consistently pounding the strike zone, especially in relief where he has been needed due to the Yankees failure to acquire a quality middle reliever after Mariano Rivera's injury. However the  upside that Phelps has shown as a starter is one the Yankees will undoubtedly want to take advantage of as they try and rein in their spending. Phelps could be very critical next year as he may very well have a rotation spot, wither for the year or until Michael Pineda recovers from his injury. All in all the future is bright for David Phelps as a New York Yankee.

Ichiro turns back the clock and Dominates

Ichiro is pleased

Well Ichiro Suzuki turned back the clock and went 9 for 12 with three doubles a home run and four stole bases. He was the key cog in the Yankees sweep of the Jays, especially the second game of the double header in which he stole all four of his stolen bases and hit the go ahead run in the 8th. Perhaps the most impressive part of the series is how well he hit left-handers, he went 7 for in the series with all his extra base hits coming against lefties. Even better one of those doubles would have been an easy triple and very likely an inside the park home run, but it bounced into the stands.The Yankees acquired Ichiro to essentially be a platoon left fielder, but Andruw Jones has been so brutally ineffective in the second half that Suzuki will be pressed into full-time duty going forward and so far it looks like it will be well deserved. Also the speed element that Ichiro showed the last two days has been great as only he and Eduardo Nunez are true stolen base threats with Brett Gardner out and Ichiro wasn't even close to being out on any of his four steals. It cannot be overstated of how good Ichiro looked in this series and how pivotal he was to the sweep of the Blue Jays.

Its been said on this blog that everyone has just been waiting for Ichiro to be a Yankee and this series is exactly what everyone had in mind when they thought about Ichiro in Pinstripes. This series has also sparked many people to ponder the idea of the Yankees retaining Ichiro next season and it does remain a possibility, however if the Yankees retain Nick Swisher then there is no chance. Ichiro just had a great series, but don't forget he is 38 and entering the twilight of his career but these flashes of his former greatness should be great to see for all fans.

Andy Pettitte will start Tuesday

Well in addition to Ivan Nova taking Freddy Garcia's spot on Saturday, Andy Pettitte will take David Phelps spot on Tuesday when the Yankees take on the Toronto Blue Jays. Obviously David Phelps will move to the bullpen, but if Nova struggles then Phelps could take his spot after his good start against the Sox. Pettitte declared himself “ready” following his latest simulated game yesterday, though he’s going to be held to a 75-pitch count in his first start back. The Yankees will have to make a 40-man roster move to activate Andy off the 60-day DL and I expect Derek Lowe will be kicked to the curb.

PLAY CHRIS DICKERSON!!!

.226 that is what Raul Ibanez is currently hitting and its below .200 for the last few months and yet the Yankees continue to put out Raul Ibanez in the outfield. Chris Dickerson is clearly a better option than Ibanez right now and the Yankees need to stop playing Ibanez regularly as they afford the automatic outs. Dickerson is a better hitter than either Jones or Ibanez right now and is a better fielder so it makes no sense to keep running those guys out there, but the Yankees will likely keep Jones out there against lefties but it does not make any sense to keep playing Ibanez over Dickerson and I am calling out the Yankees on it right now. Chris Dickerson also gets credit for being a legitimate stolen base threat so in every single facet of the game Dickerson is the better choice. During this pressured pennant race Girardi has made some questionable decisions and to me playing Ibanez over Dickerson is chief among them.