Back To The Bronx, a Mattchu12 New York Yankees Franchise | 2023

[Mattchu12]

Platform: MLB 23 the Show on PS5

Rosters: TrueSim Franchise Roster V2 (Injury Free)

Sliders: TrueSim Gamplay for games played, TrueSim Simulation for simmed games

Roster Control: 30-Team Control With Injuries On

Play Style: I will be playing every Yankees game with TrueSim Gameplay Sliders on, and then simming to next game with TrueSim Simulation Sliders on.

Posting Style: I will be doing weekly recaps to avoid getting burned out, with some "reports" sprinkled in here and there as injuries, trades, promotions happen.

Roster Management Style: I will be controlling the Yankees on a day-to-day basis, but I will be going through each team every (2) weeks in game to adjust lineups and rotations/bullpens are necessary. I will also evaluate each team at the end of each month in game to access call-ups and send-downs that might be necessary.

Injuries Style: The general MLB Rosters will be injury free to start the season except for all injuries to the Yankees that happened prior to Opening Day. The Yankees will open the season with Austin Wells, Harrison Bader, Ben Rortvedt, Luis Severino, Tommy Kahnle, and Carlos Rondon at Single-A to replicate starting the season on the IL.

Frankie Montas, Lou Trivino, Scott Effross, and Luis Gil will miss the entire season. Jimmy Cordero will also be removed from the roster due to suspension. Undecided on whether to replicate the major Aaron Judge injury into the season, but I am leaning towards it.

[Mattchu12]

2023 NEW YORK YANKEES OPENING DAY ORGANIZATIONAL SNAPSHOT, July 1st

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2023 NEW YORK YANKEES TOP PROSPECTS

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2023 AL EAST STANDINGS, July 14th

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Team Statistics, July 14th

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OFFSEASON RECAP: NEW GM BANKING ON BABY BOMBERS

NEW YORK -- The Yankees had their end of Spring Training press conference earlier today, and while there are plenty questions about an aging team that has failed to win a World Series since 2009, the new general manager Matt Pierce says things are looking up in the Bronx. He's already begun to shake things up, and he thinks it's going to show in 2023.

"We've got a really great core of young players that are either here or on their way here, and I think we're going to see the emergence of that core as the season goes on and we chase another championship," said Pierce.

Pierce was named general manager after Brian Cashman was promoted to Team President this winter, ending a more than two decade run as the head of the front office. Cashman oversaw one of the most productive eras of Yankees baseball, and is widely respected as one of the best executives in the sport. Steinbrenner cited the need for new ideas but not a dramatic departure of what Cashman had brought to the team and allowed Cashman to choose his successor.

Cashman tabbed long-time front office member Matt Pierce for the job shortly after the new year. Pierce has long been considered a potential successor should Cashman step aside and made clear early on in his introductory conference that he was not going to blow up the systems that have been place for the Bronx Bombers.

"We might not have had the October success that we expect to have in a while, but this team is always in the hunt and a contender because we've been able to blend veteran talent with young players on the rise," said Pierce. "I intend to keep that same focus, trying to develop every we can, and capitalizing on outside talent when we need to fill roles we haven't developed for yet."

Already showing that he will back up his words, Pierce traded both veteran outfielder Aaron Hicks and infielder Josh Donaldson to open up paths for younger players to get playing time. He named Anthony Volpe the starting shortstop, Oswaldo Cabrera the starting left fielder, and Oswald Peraza the starting third baseman before the end of camp. Pierce said he offered reduced roles to both veterans before making the trades for players-to-be-named-later, but neither were interested in diminished playing time.

Hicks landed with the Baltimore Orioles while Donaldson will be suiting up for the Kansas City Royals.





This move comes as an extra bit of surprise considering that center fielder Harrison Bader will start the season on the injured list, as the Yankees could have at least carried Hicks on the roster until he returned. Pierce instead announced that Billy McKinney and Isiah Kiner-Falefa will pick up outfield duties as needed to bolster until the return of Bader.

"We liked what we saw from Billy when he was here before, and we liked what we saw this spring. I've always thought he could hit and he's looked great out in center so far. We want to give him a chance to show what he is capable of, and IKF has really taken to the outfield as well. We just felt like this was the better move for us as we want to see what we can get from these other assets," said the general manager.

Pierce has also gone out of his way to make clear that he will be aggressive with his young players in the system if they play their way into promotions. It was clear from just playing time that outfielder and arguably top Yankee prospect in the minors Jasson Dominguez is going to be given every chance to shoot up the ladder this season. Prior to his injury, Pierce had also noted that catcher Austin Wells could get a quick promotion to Triple-A if he hits the ground running at Double-A this season. He is expected to return to action by the end of April, and could put himself into a position for a call-up in the second half.

He has also endorsed Gleyber Torres as one of the key members of the club citing an improved approach this spring. Pierce didn't confirm or deny that the club has talked to Torres about an extension, but made it clear he expects Torres to be a bright part of the club's future.

"Gleyber has been a key part of this club since he's been up and I don't expet that to change anytime soon. He knows how I feel about him and he knows that I picture him as part of this new core with Judge, Volpe, Peraza, and the other young guys on the club. I think he's got big defensive potential at second and is one of the best pure hitters on this team," said Pierce.

Offensively, the Yankees do maintain a few veteran bats returning for 2023 in addition to the younger forces. Anthony Rizzo will return at first base, while Giancarlo Stanton will be back and seeing a lot more time in the outfield according to his new GM. Pierce noted that Stanton seems to stay healthier and be more locked in at the plate with defensive duties, so he came into camp with a focus on playing both left and right field. He'll see plenty of action when Judge finds himself roaming center until Bader returns.

DJ LeMahieu will also see some defensive variety this season. Pierce said that he views the LeMachine as a utility dynamo, playing all over the infield and getting reps at DH to make sure he stays healthy. The team seems to be planning to cycle players through the DH spot to keep them fresh to avoid the injury bug biting as hard as it has in years past.

Pitching wise, the Yankees will look very familiar out of the gate. Their two big pitching acquisitions, Carlos Rondon and returning fan favorite Tommy Kahnle, will start the season on the injured list. This will leave the Yankees with a mostly returning squad from 2022 where they admittedly pitched very well, with a few new faces like Jhony Brito and Ian Hamilton joining the fold.





"Pitching was a big weapon for us last season, we played very well off the mound and obviously Rondon will be a big guy for us this year, but we knew we liked what we had last year. I've got a few guys I'm excited to see take some steps forward like Clarke Schmidt. I think he's got the stuff to be a dominant force, he's showing great command this spring, I think he's poised to have a big year. Michael King is back and he was huge before he got hurt last season. We're excited about our pitching staff," said Pierce.

There were no major coaching staff changes this winter, but there have been rumors that the Yankees may shake things up if they get off to a slow start on the offensive side of the ball. Insiders within the organization had indicated that while Cashman tended to shy away from making in-season changes, there had been talks last year of Pierce pushing for more veteran leadership on the coaching staff to help with implementation of the more analytical driven data. Pierce had been a vocal fan of David Cone when the club hired Aaron Boone in 2018, either for the manager role itself or for one of the coaching positions. Jason Giambi is also another name to watch out for as he was in camp quite a bit and drew praise for his relationship with some of the younger hitters on the club.

There's no telling where this season is going to go to the Bronx Bombers. There's a very boom or bust nature regarding the roster. There was a lot of criticism regarding their offensive performance last season and they did not add meaningful pieces to the 2022 lineup. Adding youth in the form of Volpe and Peraza may help, but their inexperience is considerable. Counting on them to shift the tide that plate may not be a wise decision, but the Yankees seem to be counting on it.

"I think one of the big punches we got all winter was that we weren't contact oriented enough and we weren't speedy enough. I think we've got some real nice pieces in the lineup going into this season that we didn't have going into last year but I understand the pressure is going to be on us early," said Pierce. "I'll be aggressive to make moves as I need to, but I believe in this group."

For a rookie GM taking over a team that expects to win a World Series year but hasn't in over a decade, the pressure certainly will be on him early and it will be on him often. Time will tell if he is up to the task.

[Mattchu12]

THE BRONX IS BURNING, YANKS START SEASON 1-6

NEW YORK -- If the Yankees thought they were going to jump out to a great April start to open the season, they were about as wrong as they possibly could've been. After getting swept by the Giants to open the season, they lost their second series to the Phillies in what was nearly a sweep and have started out their road-trip with a loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

"We're obviously scuffling quite a bit out of the gate here. We just haven't been able to get in sync and it's showing on the scoreboard. When we're hitting, we've struggled on the mound. When we're dealing from the mound, we've been struggling at the plate," said manager Aaron Boone.

The "Big Inning" seems to be what is dooming the Bombers early. Gerrit Cole was dealing on Opening Day, but the Giants strung together some big hits in the fifth that put the team behind and ultimately led to a 3-5 loss. It was more of the same in game two as Nestor Cortes Jr and Michael King melted down in the sixth and allowed the Giants a five spot to take the lead, and then Jonathan Loaisiga gave up two more in the eighth to put the game out of reach for New York.

Offensively the Yankees hung right there with the Giants in the hits column, with Aaron Judge off to a big start to open up the season, but they have struggled behind him to drive in runs. Anthony Rizzo in particular has really struggled to open the season.

"Just not seeing the ball as well as I'd like," said Rizzo. "Coming up with Judge on base nearly every time you'd like to see more success there and drive him in, but I've been coming up empty."

A three run fifth and a four run seventh cemented the sweep for New York, getting blown out in game three. The club lost game four in extras as Loaisiga struggled to get out again for the Bombers. For a team that was expected to have offensive woes, it has been the pitching that hasn't gotten in done in these first few games. Domingo German pitched just one inning in the fourth game of the season, leaving with back tightness after the first. He is expected to make his next start.

The Yankees were able to clench victory from the jaws of defeat in game two against the Phillies after tying things up early, it looked like the Yankees would cruise to a win with a 3-1 lead going into the ninth.

With a taxed bullpen, Aaron Boone called on Clay Holmes to get a two-inning save in his first appearance of the season. Holmes got through hte eighth cleaning, but gave up four runs in the ninth to give the Phillies a 5-3 lead.

"Just not throwing strikes when I needed to. Walking three guys is not my game, and I just let the team down in a situation where they needed me to give them some distance. I have to wear that one and then try to get things back in the strike zone next time out," said Holmes.

The Yankees were able to rally back to tie it in the bottom half of the ninth, Aaron Judge driving in two with two-outs in dramatic fashion. The Yankees ultimately walked it off on a Jose Trevino single, red hot to start the season, giving them their first victory of the season.



"Huge win," said Judge. "Trevy has been hitting the ball great for us. I think he went four-for-five tonight and has been doing great work behind the dish. Hopefully we can use this to get us going and get the ship right here."

Gerrit Cole put the team on his back in rubber match to try and win the series. He pitched a complete game effort with a whopping fifteen strikeouts, allowing just a solo home run in the fifth to Rhys Hoskins in what could only be referred to as a Yankee Stadium Cheapie. Unfortunately, the Yankees were completely shut down by the Phillies staff. Zack Wheeler pitched six innings of shutout baseball and didn't allow a hit until the fourth. He walked two, but the Yankees never capitalized.

The Phillies sent out Matt Strahm, Jeff Hoffman, and Craig Kimbrel to close things out and the Yankees dropped their second series in a row to start the season. The boos were heard as the game ended.

"We deserve them," said Giancarlo Stanton. "We're better than we've played."

The Yankees had another soul crusher in their opening game of the roadtrip against the Baltimore Orioles as they finally scored a run in the 10th inning after both sides shut the offenses down. Clay Holmes gave up a run in the bottom half of the tenth to let the Orioles tie it, and then gave up the walkoff run in the bottom half of the eleventh as they couldn't close the door.

They've struggled to get in sync offensively and defensively, and it's showing in the standings. So far Anthony Volpe, Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Rizzo, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Oswald Peraza have really struggled. Jose Trevino, Aaron Judge, and DJ LeMahieu have had to do most of the heavy lifting. Judge leads the team with six RBI's, double of what the next player has done.



Starting pitching has been solid, Clark Schmidt was certainly better than his 7.20 ERA indicates. It's the bullpen that has really struggled. Key arms like Clay Holmes and Jonathan Loaisiga have really struggled out of the gate, while Michael Key has rebounded from a rough outing to open the year. The big heroes have been Wandy Peralta and Ian Hamilton in the early goings.

"We know that these guys are going to turn it around. You don't judge a season based on a week, even if it has been brutal like this has been. I get the frustration and everyone in that clubhouse is frustrated right now, but we have to go back out there tomorrow and win against Baltimore and start getting ourselves back in order," said general manager Matt Pierce.

Only the Pirates have been as bad as the Yankees this season, also at 1-6 to start the season. The Red Sox have opened the season 7-0, with the Ray and Blue Jays each sporting 5 wins. The AL East is going to be one of the toughest divisions in baseball, if not the toughest division in baseball. The Yankees cannot afford to fall much further back. Pierce may not have built the majority of this team but he will certainly be feeling the pressure if the Yankees don't back up his words.

If you don't believe us, just check out twitter. The Bronx is burning right now.

[Mattchu12]

YANKEES RECOVER FROM TERRIBLE START TO WIN 7 STRAIGHT

NEW YORK -- The demise of the New York Yankees may have been overstated. Since our last update, the Bronx Bombers went on a seven-game winning streak winning their series with the Baltimore Orioles, sweeping the Cleveland Indians, and have taken two of the first three of their series with the Minnesota Twins. They now sit at 8-7 with a winning record.

"Just really turned the corner after that off-day. Guys coming in and making big adjustments. You've got Rizzo showing up without batting gloves, Volpe tweaking his stance a bit to close off more, just a palpable energy of wanting to get this ship turned back on course," said manager Aaron Boone.

After a humiliating loss in game one, the Yankees came out swinging in game two against Baltimore. Huge games from Aaron Judge (2-4 with 4 RBI) and a three run shot from Anthony Rizzo as he finally showed life at the plate. Clarke Schmidt was excellent on the bump, taking a shutout into the seventh before Deivi Garcia finished things out with three innings of one-run ball.

They took the series finale in similar fashion with big efforts from oswald Peraza and Billy McKinney, each plating a pair. Rizzo again went yard sans batting gloves, a trend he plans to keep up as long as it's working.



"Just gotta have some more tape on the bat," he smiled.

The Yankees shutout Cleveland in game one on the back of a big effort from Domingo German, two innings from Michael King, and then an inning each from Jonathan Loaisiga and Clay Holmes. Gerrit Cole took a no-hitting into the eighth inning before giving up a solo shot to Andres Gimenez to tie up the game at a run each, but the Yankees ralied for three runs in the top of the 10th to win the game after Clay Holmes shut the door in the bottom half.

Nestor Cortes Jr matched Cole's effort in game one by taking a perfect game into the eighth inning. He ended up allowing a run and turned things over to the bullpen, but the Yankees were well ahead as they won this one 7-1.

"Just better at-bats, playing a lot more like the team we expect to be day in and day out," said Aaron Judge. "Putting in the work so that we can get our results in line with what we expect from ourselves. I wouldn't count us out just yet. We've got a lot of baseball left to play."

Judge is having a monster start to the season, but lately his teammates have started to back him up. Oswald Peraza is off to a great start while Billy McKinney has been a force and earned himself an everyday job. Anthony Volpe, Anthony Rizzo, and Gleyber Torres have picked it up as well.



Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu have seemed to hit a wall, though Stanton has adjusted his stance and the Yankees are hoping for big things from their other looming figure in the lineup.

"Feel like my swing just is a little off. A lot of late swings or early swings, not locking in with the timing. We did some work in the cages, we're hoping I can see the planes a little bit better going forward," said Stanton.

Pitching-wise, the Yankees seem to be coming back into their own. The rotation has been rock solid, Jhony Brito has been fantastic in his first three starts to the season. Gerrit Cole is winless, but he has dominated every time out thus far. The back end of the bullpen seems to be settling in, though a blister has been bugging Ron Marinaccio and the numbers show it.

He hasn't had to hit the injured list yet, but the Yankees aren't ruling out a move. They've already made one mid-April change, designating outfielder Willie Calhoun for assignment. Calhoun saw action in six games, picking up thirteen plate appearances but no hits. They called up Jake Bauers to replace him on the active roster, whom has been off to a hot start in Scranton.

"We talked with Willie and he just wasn't feeling comfortable at the plate. We hope we'll be able to have him at Scranton getting reps so he can get going because we do believe in his bat," said general manager Matt Pierce.

Calhoun wasn't as committed to the idea, saying that he would talk with his agent and see what makes sense for the corner outfielder. With outfielder Harrison Bader set to begin his rehab stint soon, Calhoun might've been on the chopping block as it was with his limited defensive abilities.

The Yankees have crawled out of the cellar spot to get to third place in the AL East behind the tied Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox. They've narrowly passed the scuffling Rays, while the Orioles have continued to sink in the standings. They remain a half-game out of a packed Wild Card race in the early goings, but the Yankees are starting to feel optimistic.



"As long as we keep playing our brand of baseball, we'll be where we need to be at the end of the year. We're excited about getting guys back, but we feel good about who we've got in the clubhouse right now. We've got work to do and we'll continue to look to do damage," said Judge.

If the Yankees can take game four from the Twins and win the series, they'll certainly be putting themselves in a good spot for when they face Shohei Ohtani and the Angels next week and what should be a fierce series with the Blue Jays to end the week. Things are looking up in the Bronx in mid-April.