The Pinstriped Baseball Lane

The Yankees got their first win of 2020 last night, but it came in an unorthodox way. By now the word, “unorthodox”, is a term that everyone should be familiar with because everything is being done outside of the norm in 2020.

After five innings of play and only the sixth inning started, the New York Yankees captured their win of the season due to a rain delay by a score of NYY 4-1 WSH. Here is a breakdown of the game for those who couldn’t get to see it:

Top of the 1st:-Aaron Hicks grounds out sharply to 2nd baseman Starlin Castro-1st baseman Eric Thames. (1st out)

-Aaron Judge singles sharply to LF Andrew Stevenson.

-Gleyeber Torres grounds out softly to SS Trea Turner-1st baseman Eric Thames. Judge went to second. (2nd out)

-Giancarlo Stanton hits a 459ft homer on a fly ball to center field. Aaron Judge scores. (2-0 Yankees).

-Brett Gardner strikes out swinging. (3rd out)

Bottom of 1st:-Trea Turner flies out to CF Aaron Hicks.

-Adam Eaton homers on a fly ball to right center field. (NYY 2-WSH 1). {1st out}

-Starlin Castro grounds out to 3rd baseman Gio Urshela- 1st baseman Luke Voit.{2nd out}

-Howie Kendrick called out on strikes. {3rd out}

Top of 2nd:- Gary Sanchez strikes out swinging. (1st out)

-Luke Voit strikes out. (2nd out)

-Gio Urshela strikes out. (3rd out)

Bottom of 2nd:-Eric Thames hit-by-a-pitch. (after this, it was smooth sailing for Gerrit Cole)

-Kurt Suzuki flies out to RF Aaron Judge. (1st out)

-Asdrubal Cabrera flies out to LF Brett Gardner.

-Andrew Stevenson strikes out on a foul tip.

Top of 3rd:-Tyler Wade walks.

-Hicks strikes out swinging. (1st out)

-Judge doubles on a line drive to LF Andrew Stevenson. Tyler Wade scores. (3-1 Yankees).

-Torres pops out to 2nd baseman Starlin Castro.

-Stanton strikes out.

Bottom of 3rd:-Victor Robles strikes out. (1st out)

-Trea Turner flies out to RF Aaron Judge. (2nd out)

– Adam Eaton flies out sharply to Judge. (3rd out)

Top of 4th:-Gardy called out on Ks. (1st out)

-Gary Sanchez called out on strikes. (2nd out)

-Luke Voit grounds out, 3rd baseman Asdrubal Cabrera to 1st baseman Eric Thames. (3rd out)

Bottom of 4th:-Starlin Castro flies out to Judge. (1st out)

-Howie Kendrick lineout to 2nd baseman Tyler Wade. (2nd out)

-Thames lines out to CF Aaron Hicks. (3rd out)

Top of 5th:-Urshela walks.

-Wade singles on a bunt ground ball to SS Trea Turner, deflected by 2nd baseman Starlin Castro. Gio to 2nd base.

-Hicks grounds into a force out, 21st baseman Eric Thames to SS Trea Turner. Gio Urshela to 3rd. Wade out at 2nd. Hicks to 1st. (1st out)

-Judge called out on Ks. (2nd out)

-Torres walks. Hicks to 2nd.

-Stanton singles on a line drive to RF Adam Eaton. Gio Urshela scores. Hicks to 3rd. Torres to 2nd. (NYY 4-1 WSH)

-Gardy strikes out.

Bottom of 5th:- (1st out)Kurt Suzuki flies out to Aaron Judge in foul territory.

-Cabrera walks.

-Andrew Stevenson goes down swinging. (2nd out)

-Victor Robles called out Ks. (3rd out)

Top of 6th:-Gary Sanchez strikes out swinging. (1st out)

-Voit walks.

-Gio Urshela singles on a line drive to left fielder Andrew Stevenson. Luke Voit to 3rd base.

Game 2 Info: July 25, 2020 @ 7:15PM -Yankees @ Nationals

Nationals Park-Washington, DC

Starters: Stephen Strasburg, RHP (0-0,—ERA vs. James Paxton, LHP (0-0,—ERA)

The 2020 baseball season is finally here and today will go down in the baseball record books as “Opening Day“. Yes, you read that right, “TODAY IS OPENING DAY!” and what better way to kick-off the long awaited season than having a match-up in the nation’s capital.

The Opening Day competition will take place at Nationals Park and the hype on my end could not be more extreme. I am excited to see what the Yankees will do in this 60 game season. As I have been dedicated to following the New York Yankees for quite some time now, I hope I can maintain my bragging rights against my family and friends that follow other baseball teams.

Just the other day, when I saw my uncle Brad and aunt Lauren, I was being convinced to join the Texas Rangers fanbase. Whether it is over social media or meeting them in person, I can’t run from the fact that Lauren and Brad Kresge of Prodigal Overland will always try their hardest to convince me to trade in my Yankee attire for a Texas Rangers attire. The same scenario can be said for my other relatives and friends, they know who they are, but I will NEVER turn my back on my Yankees.

As this pandemically-fractured season will finally get underway this evening at 7PM, here are the teams’ lineups:

Projected lineup

Nationals: Washington returned most of its roster from 2019, but there were glaring questions in the batting order and on the field following the departure of third baseman Anthony Rendon in free agency. Carter Kieboom, the Nationals’ No. 1 prospect, is expected to man the hot corner and share time there with veteran Asdrúbal Cabrera, especially depending on matchups with the opposing hitters. Starlin Castro and Juan Soto are likely to bat third and fourth in the order, with Trea Turner and Adam Eaton returning as a 1-2 punch at the top.

1) Trea Turner, SS
2) Adam Eaton, RF
3) Starlin Castro, 2B
4) Juan Soto, LF
5) Howie Kendrick, DH
6) Eric Thames, 1B
7) Asdrúbal Cabrera, 3B
8) Kurt Suzuki, C
9) Victor Robles, CF

Starter: RHP Max Scherzer

Yankees: The shutdown allowed the Yankees to get back to full strength — had the season started as scheduled on March 26, they would have been missing several of their big bats and at least one starting pitcher. Instead, New York’s lineup appears to be a juggernaut once more, coming off a season in which it paced the Majors with 942 runs scored while mashing 306 homers — second only to the Twins (307), and the second-most ever slugged by a big league club.

1) DJ LeMahieu, 2B
2) Aaron Judge, RF
3) Gleyber Torres, SS
4) Giancarlo Stanton, DH
5) Aaron Hicks, CF
6) Gary Sánchez, C
7) Luke Voit, 1B
8) Brett Gardner, LF
9) Gio Urshela, 3B

Starter: RHP Gerrit Cole

With these two teams going head-to-head tonight, it should give each organization a pretty good idea of how they will do this season. This match-up should be an epic way to start the season, as you will have the defending World Series champs go up against a 27-time championship organization. Right out of the gate, this should be a heated battle among the two leagues. If I were the Prodigal Overland jeep haulers that could be found on YouTube or any other ball-club fans, I would be paying attention to how these two oppositions play tonight, because they could be potential blocks to your team.

July 23,2020

New York Yankees vs. Washington Nationals, 7-23-2020, Free MLB Picks, Predictions and Odds

New York Yankees (0-0) @ Washington Nationals (0-0)

MLB Baseball: Thursday, July 23, 2020 @ 7:08 PM (Nationals Park)

Gerrit Cole (RHP, 0-0,—ERA,–Ks) vs, Max Scherzer (RHP, 0-0,—ERA,–Ks)

Spread:-1.5(+138) NYY, +1.5(-162) WASH

Yankees 2020 Win Totals: 37.5 Wins – Over: (+102) | Under: (-124)

Nationals 2020 Win Totals:33.5 Wins-Over: (-102)/ Under (-102)

World Series Odds: NYY (+400)/ WAS (+1800)

Yankees vs Nationals Stats

– The Yankees averaged 5.77 runs per game last season (No. 1 in MLB).
– Washington averaged 5.31 runs per game last season (No. 4 in MLB).
– The Yankees allowed 4.49 runs per game last season (No. 10 in MLB).
– Washington allowed 4.39 runs per game last season (No. 7 in MLB).

What You Need To Know For The First Game Of 2020

Due to the pandemic, what is normally a stretch of 162 games, is now a sprint of 60 games. This year’s unorthodox season will kick off with a world series preview with the Washington Nationals hosting the New York Yankees at Nationals Park.

No doubt the matchup will be fierce, but I will be paying extra attention to the duel on the mound. It will be a battle of righties on the mound, as two of the game’s big named starters will battle it out.

Cole, the newly acquired Yankee ace, will make his long-awaited start in pinstripes. The Yankees’ right-handed ace paced the AL with a 2.50 ERA and led the Majors with 326 strikeouts last year. He finished second to former Astros’ teammate Justin Verlander in the AL Cy Young voting.

Max Scherzer will be Cole’s counter part, and he will be taking the mound to add another season under his belt. This will be Scherzer’s 13th season in a Nats’ uniform. As the Nats will be looking to defend their World Series title, the three time Cy Young winner will make sure to help his team in a big way. The Nats’ righty led all NL pitchers with a 12.7 strikeout rate per nine innings. With those Ks compiled in 2019 and his work to shutdown 37 out of 30 bats in the postseason innings, he should make a good match for the Yankees’ ace.

MY TAKE

At the end of the day, I am a huge Yankee fan and I am excited to see our new ace take on the rest of baseball in this shortened season.

I get it, we all need some entertainment in our lives, but is it worth it in 2020? The world of sports is doing its best to bring back games to fans, but I don’t think it is worth doing. Why? Well, I will give you my reasons:

No doubt, I want to see baseball games and I was waiting to see the New York Yankees compete this year, but how could that be possible with COVID-19? All across the sports world, athletes are contracting the virus, and the players who are healthy are deciding to opt-out from this year’s season. How could there be any professional games played, when there is an invisible opponent that is looking to remain number on the medical charts?

Forget politics and business, I believe humanity is worth more. I don’t see one team or a single athlete benefiting from playing a sport this season. First off, looking at baseball specifically, the virus seems to be making itself known. It has attacked key players on various teams. Secondly, like I mentioned the guys who have good health are deciding to step away from the word of sports.

With those two scenarios, you tell me how will any of sport teams be able to play at their full capability?

The answer is, “They CAN’T. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE!!!” The sports world needs to be closed. Yes, I am aware of financial measures that will be hit, but would you rather work in environments that may serve as a petri dish for the virus or stay safe in quarantine? Which option are you going to choose?

Baseball, as well as any other sport, can’t be played while the virus is drastically spreading worldwide. It doesn’t make sense. In recent news, we saw Aroldis Chapman, who was getting jacked in quarantine, go down because of the corona pandemic. We also saw Mookie Betts (click on the Mookie Betts link to get the latest on what going on with him), who recently traded in his Red Sox uniform for a Dodgers uniform, say that he is considering to op-out of this season. While one player was directly impacted, another was indirectly hit. Those are just two figures that baseball could be losing due to this pandemically-fractured season. Even in more recent news Salvador Perez said he is asymptomatic after testing positive for the virus. Also, Buster Posey made the decision to walk away from this year’s baseball to protect his recently adopted twin girls.

Whether teams are impacted directly or indirectly by the pandemic, I believe it isn’t safe for the players and staff to carry out this season. At the end of the day, everyone in the sports world has families and friends. It just isn’t safe to carry out the baseball season or any other sport in 2020.

With so many star players not on the fields or arenas, what is the point to a 2020 season? Also, I know one thing is for sure, I don’t want to see a basketball or a baseball game, if it means that guys are just playing for business purpose. No one should have to play professional sports or work in an unstable environment. It just isn’t worth having to live with the guilt of knowingly or unknowingly circulating this virus. If it were up to me, I would just shutdown all sporting events this year.

Following yesterday’s workouts in the Bronx, Aaron Boone delivered the latest on Jonathan Loaisiga, Clint Frazier, Masahiro Tanaka & other key Yankees. I want to focus on a key issue that he spoke about during the press conference. When Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News asked Boone to follow up on last night and give some clarification on how the team is using the baseball, Boone gave a breakdown on how he and his club are taking extra COVID-19 precautions. As far as my opinion, I think the Yankees are taking the right steps, and I am not just saying that because I am a long-time Yankee fan.

Boone told Ackert, “So…it is absolutely discouraged to throw the ball around, but I think there is a bit of discretion with throwing the baseball around….” I always wondered, with this new way of life, “Teams that have to use balls for a long durations, how will they take precautions to play full length games?” I think Boone cleared that up for me, when he went further into details with his response to the New York Daily News reporter. Boone detailed that, “…You know if a number of guys handle a ball over a course of play…that ball is typically thrown out…” I got to say, I like that course of action and it is great to know that it has been going on before this COVID period. As a matter fact, the Yankee manager made it a point to say “…you watch any game now, balls get thrown out…Pre-COVID, balls get thrown out pretty quickly anyways…”

With all that has been going on, the virus has managed to spread all across the global and with that said, it has hit the sports world hard. From basketball to baseball, and other sports, the coronavirus has managed to mess up everyone’s routines. If you have been keeping up with the news, then you know that a growing number of athletes across each of the sports have concerns. The initial plan to start up sporting events again entailed a plan to have empty bleaches. Even with that plan in affect, we have seen the virus

In the end, I take what Boone said as a good sign that baseball will be one of the sports that will progress this year. I don’t want to get my hopes to high, or anyone else’s, but if the Yankees are taking such tight precautions, my hope is that the rest of baseball is doing the same. This year’s baseball has me on edge, as I am sure it has everyone feeling the same way, but hearing Aaron Boone in the press conference has to ease everyone’s uncertainties. At least, I know I am not as nervous as I was before Boone made his statements yesterday. Quite frankly, that is the only reason why I would like to believe that baseball will have prominent outlook in this year’s championship run.

Now more than ever, with all that is happening in the world, the baseball world will provide everyone with some much needed entertainment to help them cope with everything. Baseball is back and the sport will do its best to bring unity across the United States.

On 9/11, a day that will forever be etched into our memories, the two New York baseball teams will face off at Citi Field. In terms of unity and what the coronavirus is putting us through, this year’s 20th anniversary of the terrorist attack will no doubt be filled with so much emotions.

While many of us remain uncertain about what form the 2020-2021 season will take for the Yankees, even after Monday night’s schedule reveal, we finally have an event on the 2021 calendar. With so much uncertainties in the the world today, I know one thing is for certain, that night will obviously be very emotional. As both teams will meet in 2021 to once again commemorate the tragic lives lost on that fatal day, the Yankees and Mets will do their best to put together a special presentation that may help people get through the dark history of the terrorist attacks that rocked our nation.

BASEBALL!!!!!!, also known passionately as America’s Pastime, is now more than ever needed in this country. Time and time again, baseball is one of the many sports that has brought this nation together. Hopefully, if this pandemic allows the baseball season to go all the way in this shortened season, the game of baseball should provide some sense of understanding and unity. To me, there is no better way to bring the New York community together, even through a time where we all must stay socially distant.

This year has been an awkward year, but one thing has not changed and that is the passion of the Yankee youths. As everyone is cautiously reporting to Yankee Stadium for Spring Training 2.0, the hype to see the prospects is very high. With that being said, I want to talk about a prospect that I believe could be a perfect fit for the Yankees’ major league rotation. Whether he plays a role in the starting rotation or pitches out of the bullpen, I believe Clarke Schmidt can play a key role in helping the Yankees succeed this season.

On July 6th, he was drawing a lot of attention to himself with his demeanor on the mound. As far as I am concerned, the righty is most likely primed and ready to be in the majors. He attended Yankees Stadium as a New York Yankees’ non-roster invitee to take part in an intra-squad game.

According to Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media, “Clarke Schmidt has pitched exactly as many games in the majors as you. Yet, the Yankees’ top pitching prospect said he believes he’s capable of pitching in the majors right now….” Kuty made it clear that he doesn’t doubt Schmidt’s belief and I don’t either.

Hey, if you are good at your craft and you know you are good, then why not be confident in your ability?

“I think that I can produce at this level. I think that I can get outs at this level,” Schmidt told reporters after squaring off against J.A. Happ in the intrasquad game in an empty Yankee Stadium on Monday. Honestly, I can’t argue with the guy because he was pretty amazing against Happ. My opinion is no understatement because he had to perform against some big names in the Yankees’ major league lineup.

It is no easy feat to pitch against guys like Stanton, Judge, Torres and others. I tip my Yankee cap to him because he stood his ground as a non-roster invitee. It is also impressive that he did it on the major league stage of Yankee Stadium’s mound.

I don’t know about you, but the highlight of Schmidt’s outing has to be when he squared off against Aaron Judge. It was pretty impressive that the righty forced the right-handed slugger to ground out to third.

Schmidt emphasis that he is ready to be in the majors by saying, “I think I’m a Major League Baseball player and I can show these guys that I can be good at this level, day in and day out”. It was pretty cool to watch him on the mound against some aggressive Yankee bats.

I am just a fan, but I am not the only one with high hopes for Schmidt. Manager Aaron Boone had some good things to say about the young righty. “It’s kind of what I expected…”, Boone said. “…First off, that’s the scouting report and the makeup reports that I heard about him going into spring training, and then he showed that to us while we were down there. He’s continued to show it here….” The Yankee manager also made it a point to say that, “….I can’t really say I was that surprised. He’s a confident kid that, when he goes out on the mound, he expects to be good.”

To me those are some encouraging words said by the pinstriped manager. You know, I can’t say that I disagree with Boone’s take. Since we got Cole in the minors and finally inked him to a $324 million contract, I been keeping an eye on the unique growth of the Deivi Garcias and the Clarke Schmidts of the Yankees’ farm system. At this point, Cole is seen as the best pitcher on the planet and he passed through the Yankees’ system, so then I have to wonder what is in store for the Clarke Schmidts of the Yankee world.

As far as teammates’ reaction to Schmidt’s non-roster invitee spring debut, Happ gave his take on the prospect’s performance. Considering that Happ took on Schmidt in intrasquad play, his take is very important. Happ said, “In spring training, he seemed like a nice kid, very confident…” Happ continued by saying, “…I think that shows on the mound. He’s got that confidence, a bit of that swagger. You see his stuff, how it plays…”

When all is said and done, veteran J.A Happ said that he believe Schmidt has a bright future and I believe the same thing as well. I hope to see him soon on the major league roster because all Yankee fans know that pitching is a huge component to the Yankee blueprint.