Luis Cessa Archives - Page 4 of 16

Game 121: Win the Series, Please

August 16, 2018 by Domenic Lanza Leave a Comment

The Yankees lost last night, in one of the more frustrating games in recent memory – though, to be fair, that’s largely due to the fact that the Rays are the most annoying team in Major League Baseball. And the edge in the season series is on the line this afternoon, as they’ve split the first fourteen games thus far. Let’s end the series on a high note, gentlemen.

As an aside, this is the Yankees last series against a team with a winning record until they visit Oakland on September 3. Their next five series are against the Blue Jays (55-65), Marlins (48-75), Orioles (36-85), White Sox (44-76), and Tigers (50-71). This is as good an opportunity as they’re going to have to put some distance between them and the A’s (and maybe even gain ground on the Red Sox) as they’ll have the rest of the way. Winning this series would be an ideal start.

Here are the lineups:

New York Yankees
1. Aaron Hicks, CF
2. Giancarlo Stanton, DH
3. Miguel Andujar, 3B
4. Didi Gregorius, SS
5. Gleyber Torres, 2B
6. Neil Walker, RF
7. Greg Bird, 1B
8. Kyle Higashioka, C
9. Shane Robinson, LF

RHP Masahiro Tanaka

Tampa Bay Rays
1. Mallex Smith, RF
2. Joey Wendle, 3B
3. Jake Bauers, 1B
4. Tommy Pham, LF
5. Ji-Man Choi, DH
6. Kevin Kiermaier, CF
7. Willy Adames, SS
8. Brandon Lowe, 2B
9. Michael Perez, C

LHP Blake Snell

It’s going to be a hot one in the Bronx today, with temperatures slated to hit the 90s by the early afternoon. Thankfully, there’s no rain in the forecast. The first pitch is slated for 1:05 PM EST, and the broadcast will be on YES.

Roster Moves: Luis Cessa was sent back to Scranton following last night’s game. Tommy Kahnle was recalled to take his place on the roster.

Game 120: Middle of the Homestand

August 15, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

Somehow there are still five games to go on this homestand. It’s a long one. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. Love me some home games in Yankee Stadium. Just feels like the Yankees have been home all month, yet somehow they have only played one more home game (60) than road games (59) this year. Such a weird schedule this year.

Anyway, the Yankees won last night’s series opener and they are 4-2 six games into this eleven-game homestand. They’re 7-2 in their last nine games overall. The Yankees have been kicking butt at home all season and hopefully it continues tonight. Here are the lineups:

New York Yankees
1. LF Brett Gardner
2. DH Giancarlo Stanton
3. CF Aaron Hicks
4. SS Didi Gregorius
5. 3B Miguel Andujar
6. 1B Greg Bird
7. RF Neil Walker
8. C Austin Romine
9. 2B Ronald Torreyes

RHP Luis Cessa

Tampa Bay Rays
1. RF Mallex Smith
2. 3B Matt Duffy
3. 1B Jake Bauers
4. 2B Joey Wendle
5. DH Ji-Man Choi
6. CF Kevin Kiermaier
7. SS Willy Adames
8. LF Brandon Lowe
9. C Michael Perez

RHP Jake Faria

Clear skies and warm in New York today, and, for the first time in a few days now, there’s no rain in the forecast. Tonight’s game will begin at 7:05pm ET and YES will have the broadcast. Enjoy the game.

Injury Updates: Aaron Judge (wrist) received a cortisone shot. Brian Cashman said they expect Judge back this season, but it is obvious his return is not imminent … Gary Sanchez (groin) is tentatively scheduled to begin a minor league rehab assignment next Friday. That is not set in stone yet. Depends how he progresses between now and then. That’s just their target date … Gleyber Torres is fine. Just a day off. “Pressing a little bit,” said Aaron Boone, stating the obvious.

Roster Move: George Kontos was designated for assignment to clear a roster spot for Cessa, the Yankees announced. They have an open 40-man roster spot now. My guess is Cessa will be sent down tomorrow for another reliever (Tommy Kahnle?) since the Yankees won’t need a fifth starter for a while.

Game 108: Bounce Back

August 3, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

Gosh, did last night’s game suck, or what? That was no fun. Forget about that and focus on tonight. Speaking of tonight, the Yankees really need a win. Not only for the sanity of the fan base, but also to stay alive in the AL East race. They’re five back in the loss column with 55 games to play. Doable. They just don’t want the deficit to get any worse. I mean, duh.

Big start for Luis Severino tonight! For a few reasons. One, Sonny Gray and CC Sabathia combined for 5.2 innings the last two games, so the pitching staff is a bit of a wreck. The Yankees need innings. And two, Severino himself has been kinda crappy the last few times out. We need to see the good version of Severino again and soon, as in tonight. The Yankees need to bounce back as a team and Severino needs to bounce back personally. Here are the lineups:

New York Yankees
1. LF Brett Gardner
2. RF Giancarlo Stanton
3. SS Didi Gregorius
4. CF Aaron Hicks
5. 2B Gleyber Torres
6. 1B Greg Bird
7. DH Miguel Andujar
8. C Austin Romine
9. 3B Neil Walker

RHP Luis Severino

Boston Red Sox
1. RF Mookie Betts
2. LF Andrew Benintendi
3. 1B Steve Pearce
4. DH J.D. Martinez
5. 2B Ian Kinsler
6. 3B Eduardo Nunez
7. SS Brock Holt
8. C Sandy Leon
9. CF Jackie Bradley Jr.

RHP Rick Porcello

Another hot, humid, and cloudy night in Boston. Sticky to your seat weather. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10pm ET and you can watch on WPIX locally and MLB Network out-of-market. Enjoy the game.

Injury Update: Aaron Judge (wrist) is progressing well and he could begin taking dry swings and hitting off a tee very soon, as in before the end of the weekend. Good news … Gary Sanchez (groin) is doing some light rehab work. He hasn’t been cleared to start running or to resume baseball activities yet.

Roster Move: Welcome back, Tommy Kahnle. He was called up and Luis Cessa was sent down, the Yankees announced. Kahnle might only be here for one day since Chance Adams is coming up to make tomorrow’s start. Interestingly enough, Aaron Boone said today the Yankees considered a few different options for Cessa’s roster spot today, including some outside the organization. Hmmm.

Game 107: Round One

August 2, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

The biggest series of the season? The biggest series of the season. Certainly the biggest series of the season to date, at least. There’s still 50-something games to play after this weekend. Anyway, the Yankees and Red Sox open a four-game series at Fenway Park tonight, and here are the AL East standings at the moment:

Red Sox: 75-34
Yankees: 68-38 (5.5 GB)
Rays: 56-53 (19 GB)
Blue Jays: 48-59 (26 GB)
Orioles: 33-75 (41.5 GB)

A two-team race. The Yankees and Red Sox have the two best records in baseball, and this is the first time they’ve met this late in a season with the game’s two best records since the Game 163 tiebreaker in 1978, if you can believe that. The Yankees are trying to gain ground to make the division race an actual race. The BoSox are looking to bury the Yankees and run away with this thing.

Obvious statement is obvious: A split is the absolute bare minimum this weekend. Winning three of four would be swell. A sweep would be incredible. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. The Yankees seemed to do that yesterday against the Orioles. Felt like they got caught looking ahead to this series. Worry about tonight’s game and tonight’s game only. Gotta win one before you can think about winning two or three or four. Here are the lineups:

New York Yankees
1. CF Aaron Hicks
2. RF Giancarlo Stanton
3. SS Didi Gregorius
4. 2B Gleyber Torres
5. 3B Miguel Andujar
6. 1B Greg Bird
7. DH Luke Voit
8. C Austin Romine
9. LF Brett Gardner

LHP CC Sabathia

Boston Red Sox
1. RF Mookie Betts
2. LF Andrew Benintendi
3. 1B Steve Pearce
4. DH J.D. Martinez
5. 2B Ian Kinsler
6. 3B Eduardo Nunez
7. C Blake Swihart
8. SS Brock Holt
9. CF Jackie Bradley Jr.

LHP Brian Johnson

It is cloudy, warm, and windy in Boston this evening. Not ideal baseball weather but it’ll do. Tonight’s game will begin at 7:10pm ET and you can watch on YES locally and MLB Network out of market. Enjoy the ballgame.

Rotation Update: Sonny Gray has been moved to the bullpen, mercifully. He’ll be available starting Saturday. “I’ve struggled and they’ve given me ample opportunity to figure it out … I don’t think my days as a starting pitcher in this league are over, but right now it’s all about winning and doing my part, and my role right now is in the bullpen,” he said. Lance Lynn will take Gray’s rotation spot.

Injury Update: J.A. Happ has been placed on the 10-day DL with his hand, foot, and mouth disease. Crazy. The move is retroactive to Monday, so he can return as soon as next Thursday. He’ll miss just one start. Sucks he had to miss a start this series though. What can you do? … Aaron Judge (wrist) has been running and going through agility drills and all that. He is inching closer to swinging a bat.

Roster Moves: Both Luis Cessa and Luke Voit have been called up, the Yankees announced. Voit is wearing No. 45. Something tells me he won’t fit into Chasen Shreve’s jersey. Voit’s up as an extra right-handed bat for the weekend. As for Cessa, he replaces Happ — they had to use Happ’s disabled list stint to bring Cessa back because it hasn’t been ten days since he was sent down — and right now Saturday’s starter is TBA, but it’ll be Cessa unless he’s needed out of the bullpen tonight or tomorrow. Tyler Wade was sent down to make room for Voit. Shane Robinson remains on the roster and Neil Walker is now de facto the backup infielder. My guess is Voit will go back to Triple-A after this series and Ronald Torreyes will return.

Game 101: Back Home

July 26, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

The quick three-game road trip is over — when’s the last time the Yankees had a three-game road trip? — and the Yankees are back in the Bronx for a six-game homestand against the teams with the two worst records in baseball. Four against the Royals (31-70), then an off-day Monday, then two against the Orioles (29-73).

The Yankees are 8-8 this season against the three current place teams in the AL (O’s, Royals, Rangers) and there’s nothing they can do about that now. Those games are in the bank. All they can do is take care of business going forward. This homestand is a great opportunity to beat up on some bad teams and rack up some wins. One game at a time though. Here are the starting lineups:

New York Yankees
1. LF Brett Gardner
2. DH Aaron Judge
3. SS Didi Gregorius
4. RF Giancarlo Stanton
5. CF Aaron Hicks
6. 2B Gleyber Torres
7. 1B Greg Bird
8. 3B Neil Walker
9. C Austin Romine

RHP Sonny Gray

Kansas City Royals
1. 2B Whit Merrifield
2. RF Rosell Herrera
3. 3B Mike Moustakas
4. C Salvador Perez
5. 1B Lucas Duda
6. DH Jorge Bonifacio
7. LF Alex Gordon
8. CF Brian Goodwin
9. SS Adalberto Mondesi

RHP Jacob Junis

It is a bit cloudy in New York this evening but there is no rain in the forecast, and that’s all that matters. Tonight’s game will begin at 7:05pm ET and you can watch on WPIX locally and MLB Network out-of-market. Enjoy the ballgame.

J.A. Happ Update: In case you missed it earlier, the Yankees traded Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney to the Blue Jays for Happ this afternoon. It’s a done deal. Happ is on schedule to start Saturday, though Aaron Boone said they’re probably going to push him back a day or two just to give him some time to get settled in. Makes sense.

Roster Moves: Zach Britton is with the Yankees and is active tonight. They already had an open 40-man roster spot, and Luis Cessa was sent down to make room on the 25-man roster Also, Britton is wearing his usual No. 53. Third base coach Phil Nevin will change numbers, if you care about such things … Shane Robinson was called up to replace Drury. He takes his 25-man and 40-man roster spots. Robinson played in Triple-A Scranton’s doubleheader this afternoon. Assuming he gets to the ballpark in time, he could play in two Triple-A games and one MLB game in the same day. That’d be neat. Anyway, the Yankees will have to make another move to get Happ on the 25-man roster in the coming days. No 40-man move is required because he’ll take McKinney’s spot.

Game 100: Gleyber Returns

July 25, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

Game 100 is always an interesting milestone for me. The season is more than halfway over and has been for a while now, but seeing that triple-digit game number really drives home the point that damn, we’re getting into the home stretch here. Crazy how fast the baseball season can go by. At least it’s been a fun one so far. Lots of teams out there are basically running out the clock and waiting for the season to end.

Anyway, welcome back Gleyber Torres! As expected, he was activated off the disabled list today. He missed 15 games — was it really only 15 games? — and, during those 15 games, his second base replacements hit .255/.328/.455 with five doubles and two homers. Neil Walker hit .294/.415/.471 in 41 plate appearances while Gleyber was out. Huh. Who knew? Anyway, glad Torres is back. He’s good and fun. Here are this afternoon’s lineups:

New York Yankees
1. CF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. SS Didi Gregorius
4. LF Giancarlo Stanton
5. 2B Gleyber Torres
6. 1B Greg Bird
7. 3B Miguel Andujar
8. DH Neil Walker
9. C Kyle Higashioka

RHP Luis Cessa

Tampa Bay Rays
1. CF Kevin Kiermaier
2. 3B Matt Duffy
3. 1B Jake Bauers
4. DH C.J. Cron
5. LF Joey Wendle
6. 2B Daniel Robertson
7. RF Carlos Gomez
8. SS Willy Adames
9. C Adam Moore

RHP Ryne Stanek

Nathan Eovaldi was supposed to start for the Rays today, but he was scratched this morning because he’s been traded to the Red Sox. So much for that. Anyway, it is hot and raining outside in St. Pete and nice and cool inside Tropicana Field this afternoon. Today’s game will start at 12:10pm ET. I didn’t accidentally post the game thread early. It is a 12:10pm ET start. YES will have the game locally and MLB Network will have the game out-of-market. Enjoy the ballgame.

Roster Moves: Gio Gallegos was sent down after last night’s game and Luis Cessa was called up this morning to make today’s start. He’s taking Domingo German’s rotation spot … Tyler Wade was sent down to Triple-A Scranton to clear a roster spot for Torres.

Injury Updates: Aaron Hicks jammed his shoulder sliding into second base the other night and is doing better. He took batting practice the last two days and everything went well. Hicks is available to play today, though the Yankees are giving him that one extra day to rest up … Brandon Drury is going to avoid the disabled list after taking that pitch to the hand last night. He is day-to-day.

Zach Britton Update: Zach Britton is not with the Yankees and isn’t on the active roster for today’s game. He’ll meet the club in New York tomorrow for the start of the homestand. The trade went down late last night and there’s no sense in making him travel to Tampa, arrive late to today’s game or possibly miss it entirely, and then turn right around and fly to New York with the team this evening.

2018 Midseason Review: The Depth Players

July 19, 2018 by Steven Tydings Leave a Comment

Austin and Drury: Scranton Bash Brothers (Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

A team is only as good as its weakest link, so the saying goes. The Yankees have had a series of bench players, mop-up relievers and forgettable characters so far this year. Why not grade them?

Ronald Torreyes

The skinny: Torreyes got the chance to start plenty of games at second base until Gleyber Torres was called up and Toe did nothing but rake in that interim. It was mostly singles, but he finished April with a .390/.405/.488 line. He has been sent down and called up twice with the Yankees not having room on their infield for even semi-regular time. Gotta love Toe.

Best game/highlight: He’s had a trio of three-hit games this season, but one of his one-hit games stands out. On Apr. 19, he knocked in a run early before walking and scoring the go-ahead run in a 4-3 win vs. Toronto.

Midseason Grade: A

Brandon Drury

The skinny: The Yankees acquired Drury with the idea he’d be their starting third baseman, but vision problems and the emergence of Miguel Andujar have kept him away from the big league club. He has just eight hits as a Yankee thus far, though he excelled in Scranton. Hopefully, he’ll receive a larger chance now that his vision is better and he can make an impact in the second half.

Best game/highlight: In the second game of the year, he drove in two runs while going 2-for-3 with a walk. His double in the second inning came mere inches away from going out of the park.

Midseason Grade: C/Incomplete

Tyler Wade

The skinny: Wade’s first stint with the Yanks in 2018 was seriously disappointing. Though he provided the Yankees with stable defense at second, he simply didn’t hit. He had a real chance to win playing time at second base to start the year and blew it. His second opportunity in replacing Gleyber has been much better with six hits in his last 13 ABs with some good defense as well. He’s going to play a role down the stretch, even if it’s just as a pinch runner.

Best game/highlight: Last week, Wade came a triple short of the cycle, knocking his first career home run to right field at Camden Yards. It’s surprising a player that fast doesn’t have a triple in his career yet.

Midseason Grade: D

Clint Frazier

The skinny: Frazier is a victim of the Yankees having one of the best outfield rotations in baseball. He’d be starting in a corner for most other teams. When he’s been with the big league club, he’s shown strong patience and sports a .390 OBP. He was robbed of a game-winning home run by the monstrosity that is Tropicana Field. He’ll get an opportunity soon if he’s not traded for a top-line starting pitcher.

Best game/highlight: His first game of the year came on May 19 in Kansas City and he lined a double, drew two walks and scored a run. Always nice to see him show off both a strong approach and his Legendary Bat Speed.

Midseason Grade: B+

Tyler Austin

The skinny: Austin was the fill-in first baseman for Greg Bird for the first month and a half and was perfectly adequate. He hit eight home runs and put up a .471 slugging percentage. However, he didn’t get on base often enough and was prone to prolonged slumps. The 26-year-old remains a solid contingency plan waiting in Triple-A, though you’d rather see Bird out there for sure.

Best game/highlight: He has two two-homer games this year and the second one was an impressive day in Kansas City. He drilled a pair of two-run shots to knock starter Eric Skoglund out of the game and begin a blowout win.

Midseason Grade: B-

Billy McKinney

The skinny: Two games. Four at-bats. One hit. One injury. That’s a basic summary of McKinney’s big-league career thus far. He was called up for Game No. 2 after Aaron Hicks went down with an injury and was sidelined himself in his second start by banging into the left field wall at Rogers Centre. Not ideal. He’s been good once again in Scranton.

Best game/highlight: Obviously, it’s his one full game where he recorded his first career hit. March 30 in Toronto, a win to boot.

Midseason Grade: Incomplete

Luis Cessa

The skinny: Anyone else forget Luis Cessa was in a mop-up role in mid-April? He apparently threw four innings that month before suffering an oblique strain. He came back up in June, threw two innings of relief and then had a forgettable spot start in Philly. He then started in Baltimore during last Monday’s doubleheader with further detail below.

Best game/highlight: July 9 in Baltimore wasn’t a pretty day for the Yankees, but Cessa helped them salvage a win against the last-place O’s with six shutout innings. He put on six baserunners but pitched well and had two double plays turned behind him. Not bad!

Midseason Grade: B

David Hale

The skinny: Hale was up and down as a mop up reliever, taking almost exclusively the lowest leverage innings and saving the rest of the bullpen, all before receiving an unceremonious DFA. He threw exclusively multi-inning outings and also had one game with the Twins. While his last outing was impressive, he won’t be making another with the Yankees this season as he has signed with the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO.

Best game/highlight: He saved the best for last in relief of Sonny Gray. He threw 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball against the Blue Jays in a 6-2 loss. While he gave the team a chance to win, it was more important that he simply absorbed innings.

Midseason Grade: A

Gio Gallegos

The skinny: Like Hale, Gallegos has come up to take on mop up innings. In four multi-inning outings, he hasn’t come in with a leverage index higher than .30. It’ll be tough for him to earn any sort of permanent role with the Yankees this season, so it’s the up-and-down role the rest of the way. He’s one of three Yankees with a save as he threw three innings to close Cessa’s win in the doubleheader.

Best game/highlight: In Cessa’s other start vs. the Phillies, Gallegos came in out of the bullpen and dazzled hitters with his stuff. Three innings, two hits, no runs and six strikeouts. Six! It was his best outing as a Yankee. Two of the Ks were the opposing pitcher, but he also punched out Cesar Hernandez and Rhys Hoskins.

Midseason Grade: B

Jace Peterson

The skinny: McKinney, Hicks and Jacoby Ellsbury all were on the disabled list in early April, thus giving Peterson a shot. He got a chance to play three games (two starts) in the outfield, going 3-for-10 with a walk over 10 days. He joined Baltimore afterwards and, funny enough, has played as many games against the Yankees as he has for the Bombers.

Best game/highlight: He manned left field in his first Yankee start on Apr. 7 and saved the game with a nice catch to rob Pedro Alvarez of two go-ahead RBI in a game the Yankees would go on to win.

Midseason Grade: B+

Shane Robinson

The skinny: With the Yankees still short on outfielders and facing lefties in Boston, Robinson got the call-up in place of Peterson. He went 1-for-3 with two walks and a stolen base in his two games in pinstripes.

Best game/highlight: He pinch ran for Tyler Austin and stole second base on Apr. 11 in Boston. I guess that counts as a highlight?

Midseason Grade: Incomplete