Yankees Year 1 News and Notes
March 2024 News and Notes
The Yankees had a very busy Spring Training to begin 2024. A couple of high school draft picks made a lot of impressions and have locked in positions on the 26 man roster heading into 2024.
Jacob Herzberg SS/2B (A Rated Prospect) - The "Herz Train" as he was called in his hometown of Parkland Florida was selected in the 6th round of the 2023 amateur draft from Marjory Stoneman Douglas which is considered the top 7A high school baseball program in the country. Winners of 3 straight State and National titles (2021/2022/2023) from Perfect Game, Max Preps and Prospect America he comes with a great pedigree (5’11 180 lbs) of being fundamentally sound and used to the grind of practicing and playing hard for a top program. More importantly high character and supreme mental toughness was deemed to be a huge strength. A team player through and through Herzberg brings sub 6.7 60 speed, a great line drive gap to gap approach, and an elite set of soft hands to vacuum up hard hit balls on the diamond. The Yankees saw his prowess quickly in Rookie A and High A and gave him a shot at AA near 2023’s season end where he shined vs MLB caliber pitching. In the spring he rocked at the plate hitting .360, stealing 4 bags and hitting 2 HR’s. He also made every single play sabe for one errant throw at SS and 2B. He clearly outplayed heralded 2nd year SS Anthony Volpe.
Hunter “Dumpy” Nelson C/OF (B rated Prospect) - Herz Train’s best friend who played at a rival high school was also taken in the 10th round of the 2023 Amateur draft. Hunter brings a 6’0 195 lb frame to the table and has shown sneaky power and a deadly arm from behind the dish. He does need to improve his plate discipline but he has shown an uncanny ability to call a game at the age of 18. Both he and Herzberg played together for 2 summers with their high school showcase teams and roomed together in rookie A, high A and AA as they moved up the ranks together. Nelson has won the backup Catcher job to Trevino over Austin Wells who was a former 1st round pick. Dumpy had some nice key hits in ST and showed he can throw out runners consistently. More importantly he developed great chemistry this spring with the Yankees big free agent signing of LHP Blake Snell.
GM Michael Sword was busy this off season making those draft picks and signing some key free agents to bolster the pitching staff.
LHP Blake Snell
LHP Josh Hader
RHP Marcus Stroman
Sword also pulled the trigger on trading away two disgruntled prospects.
SS/2B/3B (A prospect) Oswald Peraza was dealt to the Orioles for 3B/1B and former Stoneman Teammate to Herzberg Coby Mayo (A Prospect). Coby is on the 26 man roster and will be the primary backup to both DJ LeMahieu and Anthony Rizzo at 3B and 1B respectively. Mayo has a blue chip frame of 6’7 and 230 lbs and continues to develop his raw power and bazooka arm. A great deal for both teams.
CF/OF (B Prospect) Jasson Dominguez was dealt to another AL East Rival in the Boston Red Sox for another Stoneman High School teammate of Herzberg in CF/OF Roman Anthony (B Prospect). Anthony won the 2022 National Title with Herzberg and is now reunited with him. It seems GM Michael Sword loved what he saw from Herzberg and felt "let me grab some more of these Stoneman kids”. All of them are high character, team players with unquestioned work ethics.
The days of giving 16 year old prospects millions seems to have come to an end with GM Michael Sword taking over the reigns from Brian Cashman after the flame out of 2023.
The projected lineup/batting order for your NY Yankees for opening day:
SS - Jacob Herzberg
CF - Aaron Judge
LF - Juan Soto
2B - Glyeber Torres
1B - Anthony Rizzo
DH -Giancarlo Stanton
RF - Alex Verdugo
C - Jose Trevino
3B - DJ LeMahieu
Bench
Utility Oswaldo Cabrera
3B/1B Coby Mayo
C/OF Hunter Nelson
Rotation:
Gerrit Cole
Blake Snell
Marcu Stroman
Nestor Cortes
Carlos Rodon
Bullpen:
LRP Luis Gil
MRP Victor Gonzales
MRP Tommy Kahnle
MRP Wandy Peralta
MRP Scott Effros
MRP Ian Hamilton
SU Jonathon Loaisiga
SU Clay Holmes
CP Josh Hader
The Yankees are set to begin their season tonight. Opening Day live on Twitch ArmorAndSword
At home vs the Giants to begin a 3 game set then the Phillies come to town before the Bombers head to Baltimore to face the strong and young Baltimore Orioles in Camden Yard.
Welcome to Yankees baseball on The Show 23!!!!
April 16th 2024
Yankees 15 games (6-9) into the season searching for some answers both offensively and in the rotation and pen
The Yankees are off to an uneven start to their 2024 campaign. A season opening winning series vs the Giants quickly turned into 7 game losing streak that found the Bombers asking some questions. They were able to get out of that funk reeling off a series sweep at Cleveland but now find themselves down 2-1 in a 4 game set vs the tough Twins.
Here are the game results from the first 15:
vs SF W 1-0
vs SF W 3-1
vs SF L 4-0
vs PHI L 9-7
vs PHI L 8-2
vs PHI L 2-0
@BAL L 4-0
@BAL L 8-1
@BAL L 6-1
@CLE W 4-3
@CLE W 7-2
@CLE W 5-2
vs MIN W 6-3
vs MIN L 9-5
vs MIN L 9-5
Leading Hitters Based on Minimum 30 AB’s
Giancarlo Stanton .364 3HR 6RBI
Juan Soto .291 3HR 10RBI
Aaron Judge .242 4HR 5RBI
SP
Blake Snell 2-1 2.01 ERA 1.03 WHIP 22.1 Innings 22 K’s
Gerrit Cole 1-1 1.23 ERA 0.73 WHIP 22 Innings 29K’s
M.Stroman 0-3 5.30 ERA 1.82 WHIP 18.2 Innings 10K’s
So it has been a tough go so far but GM Michael Sword feels patience is key here. “We have a great mix of veterans and young guys and they are learning to gel together and play for each other. We are undergoing somewhat of culture change here in NY and learning about more small ball, contact hitting and the transition has been tough. I need these guys to be more patient at the plate and Booney and I have had long late night discussions about getting away from sabermetrics and back to basics. He is embracing that. I believe this team is ready to get their instincts back......start playing more loose and free but with discipline at the plate and getting in their work on off days in the cages.
We will get going here very shortly. If we can split here with the Twins....we have another 6 straight games at home vs the Angels and Blue Jays and all of a sudden we reel off some wins here.....we are right in the thick of it.....this season is a marathon not a sprint and the press needs to relax a little here.
We are just getting started.
A lot of questions have been aimed at Boone and Sword about starting rookie Jacob Herzberg over Anthony Volpe. A late rounder over a first rounder. Also we have seen some Coby Mayo and Hunter Nelson and it seems the Yankees have a strong belief in their youngsters.
Aaron Judge was quoted “Herz is a great kid and he is one of us.....he will surprise all of you....just give him some time. Also Volpe will play a role and he will need to be here and be successful for us to achieve our goals going term. We love our new young guys.....Coby and Dumpy (Nelson) are gonna also produce when needed”
The Yankees play the Twins tonight in the series finale with Gerrit Cole on the bump vs Pablo Lopez.
April 27th 2024 Yankees (14-12) Reel Off 8 wins in their last 11
Heading into the last game vs the Twins the Yankees were looking to even this series and get back on track. The Yankees had won 5 of their last 7 heading into this series finale with the 1st place Twins. With Gerrit Cole on the bump the confidence level was high for a Series finale win. But things simply did not start that way. 3 runs in the top of the 1st put the Bombers behind the 8 ball out of the gate. And by the time we reached the bottom of the 9th the Twins had a 5-3 lead.
With Twins closer Jhoan Duran in it looked bleak. But a lead off single from Anthony Rizzo followed by another single from Alex Verdugo gave the Yankees hope. 2 on and no outs enter struggling 2B Gleyber Torres.
He would jack a first pitch fastball deep to LF for a walkout 3R HR!!!!! Yankees win!
Here are the game results since that riveting walkout win vs the Twins
vs Twins W 6-5
vs LAA W 8-7
vs LAA L 8-4
vs LAA W 13-2
vs TOR W 2-1
vs TOR W 5-4
vs TOR W 1-0
@MIN W 5-4
@MIN L 5-4
@MIN L 6-5
@TEX W 6-5
The Yankees would head out on a road trip that started in Minnesota and my goodness. All 3 games were walk off’s. The Yankees would walk off game 1 5-4 then the Twins would dramatically walk off games 2 and 3 in the series.
The Yankees then headed to Texas and won game 1 of their 4 game series 6-5.
We will have a full April statistical recap as we come to a close in our first month of the season. on May 1st the Yankees come home to face the Guardians whom they swept in Cleveland.
We will have that April recap this weekend. In the meantime every single game is on Twitch!!! I hope to see more of you join us live for 2024 Yankees baseball Year 1!!
2024 Yankees Year 1 May Recap
The Yankees came into May struggling with an overall 14-15 record. SS Rookie sensation Jacob Herzberg has been struggling at the big league level, Anthony Volpe has been sent down, some injury issues happened in May with Cole missing a start, Stanton and Torres landing on the IL as well. However the Yankees finished May 17-12 and end the month winning 7 of their last 10 heading into June.
Also some very shrewed moves were made by GM Michael Sword:
The Yankees traded:
SP Nestor Cortes Jr
SP Carlos Rodon
3B/2B/1B DJ LeMahieu to the Marlins for
LF Bryan De La Cruz
SP Jesus Luzardo
Lizard has been struggling big time and the Marlins wanted to move on from him....they got two proven LHP’s as well as DJ in return.....but the Marlins were not as they then dealt DJ to the Mets who wanted a veteran utility bat for Catching prospect Kevin Parada. The Marlins also unloaded veteran bullpen arms to the Mets in that deal dealing J.T. Chargois and RP David Robertson.
Sword was not done either. He then turned around and dealt CP Josh Hamer and reunited him with the Brewers for:
CP Devin Williams
RP Joel Payamps
Then Michael Sword went to the wire and signed veteran 3B Justin Turner to fill the hole at 3B the rest of this season. He was signed to a modest 1YR deal.
So your current lineup heading into June looks like this:
Jacob Herzberg SS
Aaron Judge RF
Juan Soto LF
Giancarlo Stanton DH
Anthony Rizzo 1B
Glyeber Torres 2B
Just Turner 3B
Alex Verdugo RF
Jose Trevino/Hunter Nelson C
Here are your YTD player statistics for your NY Yankees
2024 New York Yankees Stats - HittingNAMEABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSOSBCSBAOBPSLGAaron Judge2314569802250126500.299.332.619Jacob Herzberg2183554901122259264.248.322.303Alex Vergudo207164911021654300.237.256.319Juan Soto19741621101946214900.315.408.660Giancarlo Stanton1832250301024196600.273.342.454Anthony Rizzo171254510092794400.263.295.480Gleyber Torres167223841925123800.228.279.425Bryan De La Cruz158254980521152523.310.368.456Hunter Nelson12811378121133600.289.305.414Anthony Volpe7855100203600.064.076.153Jose Trevino78418302552600.231.299.346Franchy Cordero41511402601300.268.268.5122024 New York Yankees Stats - PitchingNAMEGPGSWLSVQSHLDIPHERHRBBSOWHIPERABlake Snell12126208077.17131423791.223.61Marcus Stroman12112706072.29036722471.544.46Gerrit Cole12123306072.058271013850.993.38Jesus Luzardo11111503044.158311016511.676.29Jonathan Loaisiga2201110731.2331042241.112.84Domingo German552202028.1341432211.274.45Luis Gil812101024.1271136241.364.07Victor Gonzalez1503000224.11972219.0862.59Devin Williams24001170023.02613710321.575.09Clay Holmes1805110321.01562522.0952.57Joel Payamps18021001019.222954141.324.12Wandy Peralta1201120317.0201119111.715.82Clarke Schmidt511101017.01510111121.535.29Tommy Kahnle1201100211.2221452162.0610.80
MLB Standings - Updated: Jun 1, 2024AL EASTWLGBRSRABlue Jays3225243209Orioles31250.5247239Yankees31271.525 3277Red Sox29272.5240243Rays28304.5274265AL CENTRALWLGBRSRATwins3819291214Guardians263011.5218 214Royals243213.5234261Tigers223315.0182226White Sox223616.5185255AL WESTWLGBRSRAAstros3521300235Rangers33221.5266 217Mariners32243.0240224Angels263210.0262270Athlet ics184018.0195291AL WILD CARD RACEWLGBRSRARangers3322Mariners3224Orioles3125Yank ees1.0Red Sox2.0rays28304.0NL EASTWLGBRSRABraves3819307215Mets36222.5249195Phill ies35212.5257228Marlins213617.0241308Nationals1838 19.5173273NL CENTRALWLGBRSRAPirates3025282270Reds29293.0270262B rewers26304.5229251Cubs26304.5262258Cardinals24337 .0226248NL WESTWLGBRSRADodgers3720269191Diamondbacks34233.029 3230Giants29288.0259229Padres243212.5191248Rockies 174120.5170262NL WILD CARD RACEWLGBRSRAMets3622Phillies3521Diamondbacks3423Gi ants29285.0Reds28296.0
Key Injuries Around The League
Orioles
Jackson Holiday 2-3 Months
Ryan Mountcastle 1-2 months
Red Sox
Connor Wong 3-4 weeks
Rafael Devers 2-3 weeks
Yankees
Jesus Luzardo 15 days
Luke Weaver 1-2 months
Rays
Isaac Paredes 1-2 months
Blue Jays
Whit Merrifield 1 week
Tigers
Matt Vierling 1-2 months
Royals
Freddy Fermin 3-4 weeks
Twins
Byron Buxton 5-6 Months
Astros
Jose Altuve 1-2 months
Rangers
Marcus Semien 3-4 weeks
Jacob deGrom 1-2 months
Nathan Eovaldi 2-3 weeks
Phillies
Alec Bohm 1-2 weeks
Zack Wheeler 3-4 weeks
Bryce Harper 1-2 months
Reds
Elly De La Cruz 1-2 months
Hunter Greene 2-3 weeks
Will Benson 5-6 months
D-Backs
Evan Longoria 2-3 weeks
Rockies
Charlie Blackmon 5-6 months
Dodgers
Mookie Betts 1-2 months
Teoscar Hernandez 1-2 months
Enrique Hernandez 3-4 weeks
Giants
Mike Yastrzemski 4-5 months