Let the Luis Severino Era Begin

Luis Severino is ready to bring his electric stuff to the Bronx.

There was a time that most fans of the New York Yankees didn't care about the team's farmhands. They didn't even know their names. But all that changed with publications like Baseball Weekly and Baseball America and the advent of social media.

While some fans still will quickly fork over top prospects for a current or former star, more and more fans want to see home grown ball players don their team's uniform for more than Spring Training.

The Yankees farm system was derided for some time after poor scouting, drafting, and trades for veterans left it bereft of ready for prime time players. Now the farm system has become replenished with top grade prospects. Those prospects were in demand during last week's trade deadline, but General Manager Brian Cashman refused to part with any of the cream of the crop. Aaron Judge, Jorge Mateo, Greg Bird and tonight's Yankees' starter Luis Severino remained in the Yankees system, much to the delight of the Yankees fan base.

While there is no such thing as a sure thing, the Yankees front office, manager Joe Girardi, and pitching coach Larry Rothschild expect a lot from Severino, the Yankees top rated minor leaguer.
It's not the first time a pitcher made his highly anticipated debut in the last decade. Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain both turned in some terrific performances in their initial lengthy recall with the team. Neither of them are in the organization any more, and Cashman is hoping (and probably praying) that will not be the case with Severino.

You probably need to go all the way back to 1964 to find a time when a Yankees staff was counting this heavily on a rookie this late in the season. Long before he was the Yankees coach, Mel Stottlemyre made his debut as a 22-year old stud on August 12, 1964. "Stot" went 9-3 with a 2.06 ERA in 12 starts and one relief appearance. He had five complete games in a time when starting pitchers still went the distance. He also made three starts in the '64 World Series, finishing 1-1 against a St. Louis Cardinals team that captured the championship in seven games. It would be the only postseason appearance for Stottlemyre.

Severino made eight starts for Double-A Trenton this season and averaged over 11 strikeouts per 9 innings before a promotion to Triple-A Scranton. He excelled at the challenge of facing hitters in a hitters' league, the International League. Severino compiled a 7-0 mark with  a 1.91 ERA in 11 starts. He allowed less than a base runner per inning, with just 40 hits allowed in 61.1 innings.

And now he'll put on #40 and face the Boston Red Sox in Yankee Stadium.

Nova Activated, Betances Back to Scranton

Hello..is this my agent..they're putting me in the bullpen!

Ivan Nova was activated from the 15-Day disabled list Friday night, and for the time being was placed in the bullpen. With Friday night's starter David Phelps outpitching Nova this season, and the Yankees wanting to take another look at Vidal Nuno, the bullpen move made sense.

Nova went on the DL on April 27 with an inflammed right triceps. He worked with pitching coach Larry Rotschild on Thursday to simulate situations a reliever would be in. Nova has appeared in just four games as a reliever in 70 regular season Major League appearances.

Joe Girardi plans to bring Nova in at the start of an inning, but of course sometimes game plans go out the window. After a 16-4 rookie season, Nova has struggled the last two years. He was 1-1, 6.48 with a 1.860 WHIP in four starts this season.

Dellin Betances was sent down to Scranton to make room on the 25-man roster.

Phelps, Nova battling it out

If David Phelps and Ivan Nova were heavyweight boxers they would be in the middle of the ring, standing toe-to-toe, and throwing haymakers.  Thankfully, their competition is more peaceful as they battle for the number five spot in the Yankees starting rotation.

Nova was the latest of the two pitchers to step up with a solid outing. Against a Tampa Bay Rays team that featured just a few regulars, Nova tossed four scoreless innings on Tuesday afternoon. He allowed four hits, didn't walk a batter, and struck out two.

In three starts this spring Nova has allowed just one earned run in nine innings pitched and also issued one free pass. He's had to be that good, because Phelps has been his equal if not better.

The Notre Dame product has allowed one earned run in 14 innings pitched, 10 hits, walked three and struck out six. Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman do not have an easy decision ahead of themselves. That could change if Phil Hughes isn't able to go when the regular season starts. Nova and Phelps would then fill the number four and five spots.

On Monday Hughes threw his first bullpen session since mid-February when a bulging disc was discovered in his upper back. The Yankees are being extremely cautious in getting Hughes' back and arm back into game shape.

Next up for Hughes will be throwing batting practice on Thursday and then a simulated game at some point. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild has a schedule set up for Hughes, but declined to share it with the media.

Burnett Must Go

It's one thing when a pitcher struggles, when he can't find his command, when he can't find any consistency. Those things can sometimes be corrected. Sometimes they cannot depending on the pitcher. A.J. Burnett has struggled with consistency and all of the above issues for his entire career. But in tonight's game, one in which Burnett was horrible from start to not-even-coming-close to the finish, he overstepped the bounds of the pitcher-manager relationship...again.

Burnett had already allowed four runs to the Minnesota Twins and had loaded the bases with two outs in just the second inning of play. When Burnett issued his third free pass of the inning, Joe Girardi had seen enough. In past starts, Burnett's body language had made it clear he was not happy with Girardi's decision to pull him from the game. Tonight, Burnett went beyond that. He walked off the mound, turned back and said "This is fucking bullshit!". Girardi didn't acknowledge his pitcher's wrath, but when Burnett took it one step further by leaving the dugout while the runners he was responsible for were still on base, Girardi had seen enough. He followed Burnett down towards the clubhouse, and though we don't know what was said (which will surely be downplayed by Girardi), Burnett returned to bench.

Burnett then saw his ERA blow up even further when all three inherited runners crossed home plate against Luis Ayala. It was a fitting punishment for the walking tantrum that Burnett has become. Last season in a fit of frustration Burnett cut both his hands when he slammed them against a shower door. It all shows that A.J. Burnett has to be gone after this season. His teammates may publicly defend him and stand by him, but behind the scenes you can bet this doesn't sit well, particularly with Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera.

Burnett may apologize, and may say all the right things, but that doesn't change things. I was critical of GM Brian Cashman's recent defense of Burnett's performance this year, but now I understand that Cashman has to keep things positive if he is to trade Burnett in the off-season. Let me re-phrase that, when Cashman trades him in the off-season. He has no choice. And with "just" two years and a little over $20MM remaining on Burnett's deal, Cashman should be able to find a taker, esp. in the NL.

The Yankees don't have the same swagger when Burnett is on the mound and you can bet they don't have confidence in him. It's no coincidence that Burnett gets so little run support. It's not a scheme, as I have joked about in the past, but a player's psyche definitely affects their play. It's no different than seeing a team's defense back on their heels because a pitcher is walking the park. When the Yankees were down 7-0, they were already beaten. Yes, they've gotten Burnett off the hook before, but to be down that much, that early, the team was literally in a no-win situation.

It's time for Burnett to languish in the bullpen. No one needs to be reminded by Girardi or Cashman about the big win Burnett had in the road to the championship two seasons ago. That's ancient history. The Yankees NEED to win the AL East and get home field advantage, at least for one round of the playoffs. That is their best shot. It's also in their best interest to be running both Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova out there every fifth day when Freddy Garcia returns.

The Yankees are almost assuredly going to the post-season, but Girardi has no idea in his mind right now who will follow CC Sabathia in the playoff rotation. But one thing is clear, A.J. Burnett is not an option.

FullCountPitch - Total Domination

If you live in the metropolitan area you’ve seen the commercial hundreds of times. Two car rental agents sit around the break room talking about the prior night’s New York Yankees game. One refers to it as “Total domination”.

You can bet today there are plenty of workers sitting around their break room, standing by the vending machines or watercoolers, discussing last night’s Yankees game and using the phrase “Total dimination” with regularity.

That’s because last night CC Sabathia was about as good as you can be without throwing a perfect game. Granted, his opponent was the hapless Seattle Mariners, but that doesn’t make 27 up and 27 down any easier to do. From the 1st inning on though it appeared Sabathia might just have a date with “baseball immortality” as Yankees’ radio man John Sterling likes to put it.

Sabathia breezed through the first three innings and then the Mariners bats made a breeze as Sabathia struck out the side in the 4th and 5th innings. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans and you could tell by the 5th that a rain delay was imminent.

Lightning lit up the sky and it began to drizzle as the Mariners came to bat in the 6th inning. This was no Roy Hobbes story though. Sabathia struck out Mike Carp, for his seventh straight K, to start the frame. But then the skies opened up and rain came down in sheets. A 31 minute delay interrupted what appeared to be destiny calling.

There was no question Sabathia would come out after the relatively short delay. He kept loose throwing underneath the stands and re-took the mound to face rookie Greg Halman. Sabathia retired him…but on a pop up. Suddenly contact was made. The next batter, Chone Figgins, grounded out to Derek Jeter to end the inning.

18 up, 18 down, but Sabathia’s location was a little off and bat was meeting ball. Sabathia struck out Ichiro to start the 7th, but quickly fell behind 2-0 to Brendan Ryan and then let a 94 mph fastball get too much of the plate. Ryan slapped it in to left-center field for the Mariners first and only hit of the night. Sabathia bounced right back and blew away Dustin Ackley and Miguel Olivo for his 13th and 14th strikeouts (a new personal high) on the night.

Read more about Sabathia's game and the Mariners' July demise at FullCountPitch.com, where the content is always free.

Yankees Still On Break

The Yankees have had two games since the All-Star break, but apparently no one has notified them yet. Thursday they started with an embarrassing 16-7 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. Friday night the Yankees were doubled to death by Toronto in a 7-1 loss. The two games have exposed the elephant in the room/stadium. The Yankees starting pitching staff is still a question mark.

The rotation had exceeded expectations during the first half, but cracks began to show when Bartolo Colon went on the DL with a hamstring injury. Colon has made two starts since being activated and is pitched poorly both times out. After Thursday night's first inning exit, Colon admitted he's been tentative due to his leg injury. Colon's success in the first half was due to his blazing fastball and aggressive approach.

Colon's allowed five runs in 5.2 innings against Tampa Bay on July 7, but things went worse for him last evening. He had trouble getting over to first base to cover on a grounder to Mark Teixeira and couldn't move quickly enough on a pair of swinging bunts on the third base side of the mound.

In fairness to Garcia, he entered Friday evening on a streak of five straight starts with three runs or less allowed and at least six innings pitched. But Friday night Garcia hung one breaking pitch after another to the tune of five doubles in five innings. That is the problem when you have two aging starters whose best days are behind them. Colon has had physical issues for a number of years, while Garcia is no longer the hard thrower he once was. If he's on, he's terrific, but when he's not you get games like tonight's.

The Yankees still need to improve the rotation for the long haul of the second half. Whether it is Ivan Nova or a pitcher acquired through a trade, something needs to be done.

FullCountPitch - Is There A Market For Carlos Zambrano?

The season is barely over a month old, but it’s never too early to speculate on who will be moved during the 2011 trade deadline.

The first name that comes to mind is the hot-headed, hard throwing, anger management candidate (did I mention hot-headed?), Carlos Zambrano of the Chicago Cubs. Before I go any further, let me point out the obvious sticking point with Zambrano – and I don’t mean the hot-headed thing – his contract. The Big Z makes $17.875MM this season and $18MM in 2012 (there’s also a vesting option for 2013 worth $19.25MM).

First off, what in God’s name were the Cubs thinking in giving Zambrano the contract? But now back to basics. The Big Z is publicly trying to rehabilitate his image, at least on the mound. After he averaged better than 200 innings, made three All-Star appearances, and finished in the top five in the NL Cy Young voting three times during the period from 2003-2008, things went south for Zambrano. (Not that there weren’t issues during that time- the dugout scuffle with Michael Barrett comes to mind.)

Read the rest of this free article at fullcountpitch.com

A.J.'s Awesome Spring Break

I never put much value on spring training performances, but it's important to note those players that are trying to improve from the prior year. Especially when said year was miserable. Such was the case for A.J. Burnett, who over the winter tweeked his mechanics with new pitching coach Larry Rothschild.

Burnett says he no longer has to think about the change in his leg kick and his physical adjustments, and so far the pay off has been great. Will it remain that way? Who knows, but for now you have a pitcher that was clueless in 2010 feeling confident in 2011.

"I didn't want to go one inning, give up four homers, come out and say, 'It's just my second start,'" Burnett said. "The fact that I was in control, the fact that the last batter I faced, the last five pitches were all down-and-away in the perfect spot, I'm able to repeat easier. My mind is clear. I'm not thinking about this or that; I'm just attacking."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2011/03/08/2011-03-08_new_york_yankees_starter_aj_burnett_throws_three_perfect_innings_in_spring_win_o.html#ixzz1G0z8EYFX

Yesterday Burnett retired all nine batters he faced in the Yankees 7-1 win over the Phillies. That gave him five scoreless innings for the spring, in which he has allowed just two hits and, more importantly, has not walked a batter.

Freddy Garcia makes his second spring start against the Braves this afternoon. Garcia and Ivan Nova are the front runners for the #4 and 5 spots in the rotation, but Bartolo Colon continued to make a case for himself when he tossed three scoreless innings last Friday against Boston.

Eduardo Nunez contined his quest for the utility infield spot with a 3-run HR off Roy Oswalt on Monday.

Mark Prior tossed a scoreless inning in his second inning of work.

Burnett Passes His First Test, Garcia Up Next

Burnett delivers a curveball for strike three on Wednesday

In a post-game interview with YES' Kim Jones on Wednesday, starter A.J. Burnett was humble and admitted he had a lot of hard work ahead of him before his pitches are ready for prime time.

That being said Burnett did a fine job yesterday in his first appearance of the spring schedule. Facing the Houston Astros in Tampa, Burnett allowed a pair of hits in two scoreless innings and showed off his new modified delivery. He referred to his leg movement as a "swinging gate", something new pitching coach Larry Rothschild has worked with Burnett on during the winter.

Right now Burnett realizes he always has to get used to the new delivery so that he's not thinking about it while he's on the mound, and that's what spring training will take care of.

The Yankees took care of the Astros with a five run 9th inning thanks to poor defense and lack of pitching command by the Astros' kids. Down 5-1, Russell Martin started the inning off by reaching on an error by 3rd baseman Michael Kvasnicka. Dan Brewer followed with a sharp grounder that ate 2up nd baseman Jonathan Villar for a base hit, though it too could have called an error.

Shortstop Jiovanni Miller then got into the act with a throwing error that allowed Martin to score and Brewer to reach third to cut the Astros lead to 5-2. A wild pitch by Doug Arguello allowed another run to score before Melky Mesa's 2-run single tied things up.

Mesa was thrown out stealing for the inning's first out, but Eduardo Nunez hit another sharp grounder through Villar for a base hit and Kevin Russo followed with a walk. Bradley Suttle hit a potential inning ending double play grounder, but Kvasnicka bobbled the ball at third and could only get Suttle at 1st base for the second out.

When Brandon Laird walked to load the bases, former Yankees prospect Lance Pendleton came on to face Martin as the Yankees batted around. Pendleton threw just four pitches, one which could have gone for a strike, and walked in the winning run. It was a no pie walk-walk off 6-5 victory, and a good day all around.

Hector Noesi continued to impress with two scoreless innings; Joba Chamberlain put two men aboard in his one inning of work, but got a double play grounder to escape the jam.

Freddy Garcia will toe the rubber today for the Bombers as they play the Rays in Port Charlotte (1:05 ET). Dellin Betances and Ivan Nova will also be among the hurlers Joe Girardi puts out there today.

A-Rod, A-Brack, A-RunOutOfNames

Alex Rodriguez is happy, his life is like a nice fresh bag of popcorn. Yeah, A-Rod even joked about the Super Bowl popcorn incident. (And I thank a handful of Twitter followers who told me the A-Rod popcorn tantrum turned out to be false.).

The Yankees 3rd baseman came to camp 10 pounds lighter for a little more flexibility and to try to improve on 2010. "All seven other guys in the lineup other than 'Swish' and Robbie (Cano) probably feel there's room for improvement. I know I have to play at an elite level for us to do well. We all have a very bad taste in our mouth after leaving Texas (defeated by the Rangers in the ALCS last year."

A-Brack is a made up name and hopefully he'll never be called that for real. But the Yankees staff has been impressed with Brackman's early work this spring. Brackman had this to say, “My first two camps, those B.P.’s would have been awful, nowhere near the plate or anything like that,” Brackman said. “I don’t know, the further away I get from surgery, the more comfortable I get on the hill.”

Joe Girardi took note as well. “He had a hard time consistently throwing strikes, where now it appears that that’s behind him,” Girardi said. “You look at what he did the second half of last year and what he’s done here in spring training – he’s throwing a lot of strikes. That’s a big part of the battle when you’re pitching.”

New pitching coach Larry Rothschild has been a positive influence on Brackman as well. “I think that’s what kind of hurt me my first year, second year, as a young guy coming up,” Brackman said before referring to the team’s new pitching coach, Larry Rothschild. “All the big guys are behind there watching you, and you want to say, ‘Oh, I can do more with this pitch, or I can make this breaking ball better.’ But, you know, Larry gave me some really good advice the other day: your stuff comes second. It’s all about repeating your mechanics. Just keep repeating, and your stuff will come. It’s been good advice so far.”

From the former files...thanks to @heelsonthefield for pointing out this article on former prospect George Kontos. I was sorry to see Kontos leave the organization via the Rule V draft. After having elbow reconstruction surgery in 2009 he was bouncing back nicely last season. I saw him pitch in one game for Trenton and his fastball looked good. Good luck to him in San Diego.