Gregory Hold | Yankees Fan

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Sabathia Brilliant Despite Losing Record

June 6, 2016 /

There were a lot of question marks next to the name C.C. Sabathia before the season started. No one really knew what to expect out of him. Would he be the ace of old or the out-of-shape, “average” pitcher that he has been the past couple of years. His performance so far this season has undoubtedly shown shades of the ace of old.sabathia

Despite sporting a losing record of 3-4, Sabathia leads the Yankees rotation with an ERA of 2.85 through 8 starts. While he isn’t striking out as many batters as he used to, he is finding a way to keep the ball inside the park. He’s only given up 2 home runs so far this season while the rest of the Yankees starters have given up 38 total homers. He’s also been extremely consistent, never giving up more than three earned runs in a start.

Now the reason he has a losing record is another story. The lack of production from the Yankees lineup. In his four loses, the Yanks have put up a total of only 6 runs. Come on offense, give the big guy some support! Hopefully Sabathia stays healthy and keeps up this stellar performance as we get deeper into the season.

~ Gregory Hold

May Home Game Promotions

May 2, 2016 /

I find it difficult sometimes to find out what promotions are coming up for home games, so I figured I’ll consolidate them all here for anyone seeking that information. So here’s the promotions that the Yankees are running for their first 5 games in May:

Saturday May 7th vs. Boston: Sunscreen Day

Hopefully there’s a need for sunscreen that day. The way the weather has been so far this spring, who knows? It could be snowing.

Monday May 9th vs. Kansas City: Cap Night

Cap day sounds a lot more appealing than sunscreen day. According to the Yankees website it looks like a nice green Yankees cap, that every fan in attendance will receive.

Tuesday May 10th vs. Kansas City: Dunkin Donuts Card Night

It doesn’t say how much the card is worth, but I imagine it being for $5. Definitely a solid promotion as most people will be able to put it to good use

Thursday May 12th vs. Kansas City: Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center Commemorative Bookmark Night – Free Museum Admission Ticket

This is a nice promotion. Maybe not so much for the bookmark that will likely never get used, but for the free ticket to the museum. I’ve never been, but it looks like a good place to bring the kids.

Friday May 13th vs. Chicago: Yankees Reusable Tote Bag Night

You have to love reusable tote bags. I use them all the time (and also lose them all the time) so it’s great to have as many as possible.

 

Check back for more posts on upcoming Yankee game promotions.

 

~Gregory Hold

Yankees Spring Training Staying in Tampa Through 2046

April 25, 2016 /

MLB.com writer Bryan Hoch reported the Yankees plan on keeping their spring training home in Tampa Bay through 2046, after announcing the extension of their licensing agreement to renovate George M. Steinbrenner Field.

The renovation is expected to cost over $40 million dollars and will include a new outfield concourse that will provide fans with a 360-degree view of the field. Improvements will also be made to the entrance of the stadium for easier access to fans. The funding for the project will be split evenly between the Yankees, Hillsborough County, and Florida’s Spring Training Retention Program.

I believe Tampa Bay is a great place for the Yankees to play their Spring training games and I’m glad that they are staying there for the foreseeable future. It’s a great atmosphere down there and I know there are a lot of Yankees fans down in the Florida area.

Read more at http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/171731292/yankees-agree-to-terms-on-spring-training-home

Player Spotlight: Didi Gregorius

April 18, 2016 /

Since it’s been a little over a year since the captain decided to hang up his cleats, I figure it’s a good time to take a look at his replacement, Didi Gregorius. Let’s start out by looking at his stats from the 2015 MLB season:

GP: 155

AB: 525

R: 57

H: 139

2B: 24

HR: 9

RBI: 56

AVG: .265

It’s hard to deny that Didi had a solid season last year. While these aren’t comparable to Jeter numbers (even in his first season as Yankee), it’s hard to complain. He hit .02 points above the average of all qualified shortstops last season, which is a promising statistics What I’d like to see from him is a little more power. He’s a big guy, standing at 6’3”, so the potential is certainly there for him to go off for a 20 home run season.

Didi Gregorius New York Yankees shortstop

Didi Gregorius

So far this season Gregorius has gotten off to a hot start, hitting .333 through 5 games with 3 RBI’s and a homerun. I expect him to improve on most if not all of his numbers from last year as he should be settled in now and there’s less pressure for him to follow in Jeter’s footsteps.

~Gregory Hold

Prospect Nick Rumbelow to Have Tommy John Surgery

April 15, 2016 /

It has been reported that Yankees pitching prospect Nick Rumbelow will need to undergo season-ending Tommy John Surgery. Rumbelow, who made 17 appearances for the Yankees last season, is generally noted as one of the Yanks highest regarded prospects. While he didn’t make the Major League roster coming out of Spring Training, there’s no denying that he had some serious potential of making an impact for the Yankees later on in the year.

New York Yankees relief pitcher Nick Rumbelow

Nick Rumbelow (Photo: Chris O’Meara, AP)

It seems to me that there have been a lot more Tommy John surgeries being performed over the last 5 or so years, which is surprising due to the pitch limits that a lot of teams are applying to young pitching prospects. Thankfully, recovery processes from Tommy John surgery are always advancing, allowing pitchers to come back faster and with little to no detriment to their velocity. I wish Nick the best of luck with his surgery and am anticipating his return to the club next year.

~Gregory Hold

Report: Nick Swisher Nearing Minor League Contract

April 11, 2016 /

Veteran utility player Nick Swisher is reportedly close to striking a minor league deal with the New York Yankees. Swisher, 35 was a key part of the Yankees World Series winning roster in 2009, hitting 29 home runs and driving home 82 RBI’s. He should provide the Yankees with increased depth at first base, outfield, and DH. While it can be argued that the Yankees already have adequate depth at these positions, Manager Joe Girardi has always stressed how important depth is to a successful baseball team.

While Swisher has had declining mobility over the past couple of years due to a recent knee surgery, he could still provide the team with some serious power. This will be an interesting story to follow, and I’m looking forward to seeing how well Swish performs in the minors and if he gets another chance to help the Yankees reach the postseason.

~Gregory Hold

Reactions: Front End of the Starting Pitching Rotation

April 7, 2016 /

The Yankees top 2 starters, Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda, were called upon to start the opening two games of the season against the Astros. Here are my reactions to their performances.

New York Yankees Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda Gregory Hold

Masahiro Tanaka (left) and Michael Pineda Photo: Getty Images; Andrew Theodorakis

Tanaka: In his opening day start against the Houston Astros, Tanaka allowed 2 earned on 4 hits through 5 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out four. While not a bad start by any stretch of the imagination, it’s hard to not be left wanting more as a Yankee fan. He did look sharp against most batters he faced, but it’s a shame he couldn’t pick up an opening day win. The hanging splitter he left up for a home run against Carlos Correa was not a pitch that is expected by a player purchased for over $150 million dollars.

Pineda: Michael Pineda kicked his season off with a very poor couple of innings to start the Yankees second game against the Astros, giving up five runs. Luckily for him, the Yanks were able to tally 9 runs during that same stretch of time. To my surprise, Pineda was left in the game for another three innings. During those three innings you could tell he was much more dialed in and he started to look like the great pitcher we are expecting to see this season. In total, Pineda gave up 6 earned on 6 hits through 5 innings pitched. His most concerning stat of the day was the 3 home runs given up. He needs to keep the ball in the park in his next few starts to get his confidence back.

~Gregory Hold

Reactions: Back End of the Starting Pitching Rotation

March 28, 2016 /

Overall, the bag end of the starting staff performed pretty average in my eyes. There were some flashes of strong promise and some things that just made me shake my head. Here are my reactions:

New York Yankees C.C. Sabathia - Gregory Hold

C.C. Sabathia in 2011. Credit Barton Silverman/The New York Times

Eovaldi: Another subpar start by a pitcher who is expected to do big things this season. Eovaldi gave up five earned on six hits through 5 innings pitched. He most notably gave up back to back home runs in the second inning to put the Yanks in an early hole. He was able to strike out 7 and the Yankees did come back to win the game, so I guess there’s no reason to be too upset with his performance.

Severino: While Severino got absolutely no help from the Yankees bats, he didn’t do himself any favors either, and quite frankly should have suffered an ERA much worse than he did. He got smacked for 10 hits over 5 innings of work, however only conceded 3 earned runs. His ability to get out of jams was promising, but I think we would all have much less anxiety if he didn’t get into the jams in the first place.

Sabathia: Leave it to C.C. to have the Yankees best start over the first 5 games of the season. Sabathia put in a very solid 6 innings of work, giving up three earned runs on four hits. A worry for fans however is the four walks that he conceded. Control has always been a bit of an issue for C.C., so hopefully this season it’s not any worse than it has been in the past. Either way, his start to the season was more promising than anything.

~Gregory Hold

Castro an Early Season Spark for Yanks

March 20, 2016 /

I mentioned in an earlier post that I’m excited for Starlin Castro’s arrival to New York, and so far he’s certainly lived up to expectations. Throughout the team’s first five games, Castro hit at a .450 clip, while leading the team with 8 RBI’s. He is also tied for the team lead with 2 home runs. His stats don’t even tell the whole story. Watching him play throughout the first week of the season showed me what he has a real passion for the game, and that’s really all you can ask for from a member of your team.

Gregory Hold Yankees Starlin Castro

Starlin Castro

It will be interesting to see where the Yankees decide to settle him into the lineup. He batted 8th in the team’s first 3 games. He jumped up to the 3 spot in game number four before being pushed back to batting 7th in the fifth game of the season. If he continues to bat the way he is it wouldn’t surprise me to see him permanently at the beginning of the lineup, but with all the big bats the Yankees have, it is hard situation to manage.

~Gregory Hold

Yankees 2016 Projected Lineup (Rotochamp)

March 14, 2016 /

While doing one of my weekly searches for Yankees news and team updates, I came across a Here is their batting order projected by rotochamp.com:

  1. Jacoby Ellsbury OF
  2. Brett Gardner OF
  3. Alex Rodriguez DH
  4. Mark Teixeria 1B
  5. Carlos Beltran OF
  6. Brian McCann C
  7. Chase Headley 3B
  8. Starlin Castro 2B
  9. Didi Gregorius SS

A few thoughts regarding their projection:

  • Will A-Rod be able to continue providing “3-spot” numbers? There are plenty of people out there that think there is no chance that Rodriguez has a season like he did last year.
  • Teixeria needs to hit 30 HR’s this season. The Yankees need his power to give them a boost in the middle of the lineup, so Big Tex is going to need to prove to the Yankees that he still has the power that made him such a highly sought after player.
  • Not one of these projected starters hit over .270 last season. This is going to need to change if the Yankees want to make a serious run at the world series. If Ellsbury, Gardner, and Castro can all muster a .280 average or better, I think the Yankees will be in very good shape.

Can’t wait until the start of the season, it can’t come soon enough.

~Gregory Hold

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