Another Day, Another Injury, Melky II On His Way

The Captain won't be around to greet Melky II this time.

First game back after the All-Star break and the injury list grew ince again. Zoilo Almonte who has had a pretty good introduction to the Major Leagues is the latest victim of the now you see 'em, now you don't conspiracy. It was just more rancid icing on a progressively stale piece of cake that is the Yankees season. To make matters worse it occurred during a 4-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox that dropped the Bomberless Bombers seven games out of first place in the AL East.

Almonte lunged at the first base bag in attempt to beat out the back end of a double play ball and the bag won. A sprained left ankle is the diagnosis with a pair of crutches the newest part of Almonte's wardrobe. A trip to the 15-day DL is the grand prize as Almonte joins Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis, David Phelps, Francisco Cervelli, Jayson Nix, and (temporarily) Alex Rodriguez on the sidelines.

If this were an episode of the Andy Griffith show, Sheriff Taylor would be saying, "Sarah, get me (Scranton GM) Rob Crain on the phone." RailRiders beat writer Donnie Collins reported that Melky Mesa and Thomas Neal are headed to Boston to join the team for the remainder of the weekend series.

Melky II, this time it's personal, got into three games last September and October and was 1-3 with an RBI. Mesa had a good shot to make the team out of Spring Training and the front office remains high on him despite the fact he's got the lowest OPS (.710) of his career since he was in rookie ball in 2007. Most worrisome are his 93 strikeouts in 242 at-bats and just seven walks. Mesa struck out 118 times in 2012 in 502 plate appearances.

I won't be a total Debbie Downer though- Mesa does have a solid .430 slugging pct. with 9 HR, 10 doubles, and a trio of triples. He's also stolen seven bases in eight attempts. He's been primarily a centerfield in his minor league career, but the Yankees will count on him to play the corner outfield spots. Plus the Yankees can unload the "Got Melk" t-shirts that have been laying around since Melky Cabrera was traded.

Neal got into four games with the Yankees this year and was 2-11 (.182) with one walk and four strikeouts. Entering Friday's play Neal had a nice slash line of .318/.392/.407 with 23 walks in 65 games for Scranton. Unlike Mesa, Neal's career in the outfield has been primarily played in left and right fields.  The Yankees signed him as a free agent this past January 18.

Alberto Gonzalez and Luis Cruiz dodged a bullet Friday when Brennan Boesch was released to make room on the 40-man roster. One of them is likely to go this time, with my guess being Gonzalez, as it was on Friday for Brent Lillibridge's entrance.

Boesch Gets the Boot

When the Detroit Tigers released Brennan Boesch on March 13 the Yankees quickly scooped him up two days later to help fill out an injury plagued roster. It was a low risk/high reward move considering Boesch was only 28 and showed very good power with the Tigers. Today it was the Yankees turn to release Boesch to free up room on the 40-man roster for Brent Lillibridge.

Unfortunately, things did not work out the way the Yankees or Boesch wanted. His playing time was limited, though he produced decent stats given the chance. He was demoted to Scranton on June 3 and left a game two days later with a strained shoulder. He was placed on the minor league DL and hasn't been able to play since.

As long as his shoulder is not seriously injured he'll find a taker somewhere.

DJ to the DL

One game was all Derek Jeter could muster before he made a return to the 15-day disabled list on Friday. The Yankees' captain missed the first 91 games of the season due to a broken ankle and then strained his right quadricep in his first game back with the team.

When queried about his availability for this weekend's series in Boston, Jeter didn't give his patented answer of "I'll be in the lineup". Instead he said that he would have to wait and see how things were after the All-Star break. That was all you needed to know that Jeter's leg was not responding the way he wanted and needed it to.

Utility man Brent Lillibridge was called up from Scranton to take Jeter's place on the 25-man roster. No move has been made as of yet on the 40-man roster, which is maxed out at the moment. In all likelihood, either Alberto Gonzalez or Luis Cruz will be designated for assignment. My guess would be Gonzalez.

Jeter's return came against the Royals in a sparsely attended afternoon game in the Bronx a week ago Thursday. Jeter was originally supposed to return that Friday for a three game series with the Twins, but injuries to Brett Gardner and Travis Hafner made it necessary for him to return a day early. As the DH he went 1-4 in the game with an RBI and a run scored, but felt something tighten after his third at-bat. Gardner pinch-hit for him when his turn came up again in the order.

Lillibridge is a former Red Sox, who has shown some pop in his bat in the past (13 home runs in 2011), but he owns a career .609 OPS. He was acquired from the Chicago Cubs on June 21 for a player to be named later or cash. The 29-year old produced 7 HR and 15 RBI in 23 games for Scranton along with a .341 batting average and a .709 OPS. He also swiped five bases in seven attempts.  Yankees will remember him for the two spectacular 9th inning game-saving catches he made while a member of the White Sox.

Lillibridge and Nova Among the Latest Comings and Goings

Lillibridge robbing the Yankees

 
The Yankees designated Reid Brignac for assignment earlier today and recalled utility infielder Alberto Gonzalez from Scranton. But Gonzalez may not be up for long- the Yankees have acquired the versatile Brent Lillibridge, who can play both the infield and outfield.

Lillibridge was playing for the Cubs Triple-A team in Iowa City and came at the cost of a player to be named later or cash considerations. The move is a little puzzling since Lillibridge's offensive numbers (career split of .207/.271/.339) are comparable to Brignac's, thought the 29-year old's ability to play the outfield is a plus.(You might recall a Yankees game against the White Sox in which Lillibridge made back to back diving catches to win the game for Chicago.)

His best year came with the White Sox in 2007 when he posted career highs in average (.258), OPS (.845), HR (13) and RBI (29). The Yankees are his seventh organization after he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2005, dealt to the Braves, dealt to the White Sox, dealt to the Red Sox, dealt to the Indians, and finally signed as a free agent with the Cubs. He was 1-24 for the Cubs before his demotion to Triple-A.

Ivan Nova will be recalled to start Sunday's series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays. It remains to be seen who will be removed from the roster to make room for Nova. The righty was 2-0, 2.04 in three starts for Scranton with 17 strikeouts and four walks in 17.2 innings. He's 2-1, 5.16 in four starts and two relief appearances for the big club.

The Yankees also added outfield depth to the Scranton squad by inking veteran Corey Patterson to a minor league deal. The Mariners had released him earlier this month after he posted less than a .500 OPS at Triple-A. The Yankees are Patterson's 12th organization, though he has not played in the Majors for all of them.

Not done yet - the Yankees acquired Texas Rangers right-hander Yoshinori Tateyama earlier Friday afternoon. Tateyama has spent the entire season at Triple-A Round Rock and is a right-handed specialist.

Mike Zagurski, probably unknown to most, was picked up by the Yankees after the Pittsburgh Pirates let him go. The left-hander has 88 games of Major League experience, 45 of them spent with the Arizona Diamondbacks last season. A career 6.84 ERA and 1.733 WHIP won't be get him called up any time soon (if ever).

Throw it against the wall and see what sticks.

Holy Bat Attack, Yankeeman

"Can I get a Hallelujah?"

Something really weird happened at Yankee Stadium tonight. There were singles and doubles and triples and home runs. Oh my. Hitless skids came to an end. Homer-less streaks came to an end. Lineups batted around. And runs were scored, oh yes my friends, they were scored. The Yankees obliterated the Chicago White Sox in what seemed like a never ending 5th inning en route to a 12-3 rout and a split of the four game series.

The Yankees took a 2-0 lead off White Sox starter Edwin Jackson without the aid of a hit. In fact the Yankees didn't have a hit until Brett Gardner led off the 5th with his third home run of the season. Left fielder Brent Lillibridge, the hero of Tuesday's game when he was in right field, then misplayed Eduardo Nunez's drive into a double. Curtis Granderson followed with an RBI triple off the wall in right and Nick Swisher snapped an 0-19 streak with a single to right-center for a 5-0 lead. It almost meant the Yankees hit for the cycle in the inning with just the first four batters. Jackson was done for the evening, but the Yankees offense wasn't.

Robinson Cano greeted reliever Tony Pena with a single and Alex Rodriguez followed with an RBI double. After an intentional walk to Eric Chavez, Russell Martin brought home one run with a single to left and Jorge Posada drew an unintentional walk to force home the sixth run of the evening. Pena got off the hook by having leave the game with an apparent injury.

CC Sabathia was the recipient of all the good fortune and picked up his second win of the season with seven solid innings. He threw shutout ball into his final inning when a Nunez error at short (Derek Jeter got a routine day off) led to three unearned runs. Those runs were immediately taken back in the home half of the 7th, which included Swisher's first home run of the season.

Notes

The White Sox have scored three runs or fewer in 13 of their last 14 games.

After getting ejected from Wednesday night's game, Ozzie Guillen took to Twitter..or supposedly did. It's difficult to tell if it's Ozzie or one of his sons or someone else. Guillen complained about the umpiring and said his ouster was a joke. Now, word comes that MLB is looking into the matter to see if any rules were violated. Reportedly there is a rule prohibiting communicating via electronic devices from 30 minutes prior to game time until the game ends.

Who's Sori Now?

Rafael Soriano is lucky in one regard. More people are talking about the White Sox Brent Lillibridge this morning after the utility player made two spectacular game savings catches in the 9th inning to preserve Chicago's 3-2 win over the Yankees.

Lost in the shuffle was an outstanding 6.1 inning start by Ivan Nova and solo home runs by Brett Gardner and Robinson Cano off of starter Gavin Floyd. Not forgotten by anyone was another poor performance by Soriano. The right-hander who was signed to closer money this past off-season, has averaged nearly two hits and walks per inning and has a bloated 7.94 ERA.

After striking out Alexei Ramirez to start the 8th inning, Soriano hit Carlos Quentin in the shoulder with a breaking pitch. It's possible Lillibridge would have been a defensive replacement for Quentin in the 8th or 9th inning, but it became a certainty when he pinch-ran for the right fielder. Soriano then grooved a pitch down the middle of the plate to Paul Konerko, who launched it into the left field seats for a 3-2 Chicago lead.

As they did the night before, the Yankees got the lead off man on in the 9th, this time on a Derek Jeter infield single. Curtis Granderson successfully bunted the captain into scoring position to set things up for Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez. Matt Thornton walked Teixeira to put two men aboard and prompted Ozzie Guillen to call on Sergio Santos to face A-Rod. The DH in last night's game, Rodriguez hit a laser to the right field wall. Lillibridge raced back and made an outstretched catch to take away an extra base hit for the second out of the inning.

Before fans could get over the outfield thievery, Cano ripped a line drive that was destined to be a game tying hit, but Lillibridge made a full out dive to stab the ball before hit the ground. Just like that the game was over, but this morning Yankees' fans are still sitting with their mouths agape. And somewhere Jack Buck is yelling, "I can't believe what I just saw."