Derek Jeter Returns to the Field

According to a report from Andrew Marchand of ESPN.com, New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter took 20 ground balls and 25 swings on the field for the first time in Tampa Bay on Monday.

This is encouraging news for Jeter, who broke his ankle in Game 1 of the ALCS against Detroit. Jeter underwent surgery in the offseason and was expected to be ready for Opening Day. After reinjuring his ankle during spring training, Jeter's timetable for return was pushed back to after the All-Star break.  

The Yankees started the season with Eduardo Nunez at shortstop, but he was stricken with the injury bug as well and has been on the disabled list for over a month.

Jayson Nix and Reid Brignac have platooned at short in anticipation of Nunez's return. Nunez fielded ground balls as well on Monday at the Yankees' minor league facility.

The Bombers play the first of a three game slate with the Oakland A's. CC Sabathia will take the bump opposing former Yankee Bartolo Colon.

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Andy Pettitte Wins His 250th Game in 3-1 Victory

It was an exciting day for the Pettitte family on Saturday afternoon. Shortly after Andy Pettitte won his 250th game of his career in a 3-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners, the New York Yankees drafted Pettitte's son, Josh, in the 37th round of the draft.

Pettitte pitched masterfully this afternoon, going 7 and 1/3 innings and allowing only one run on three hits and striking out six Mariners. His 250th win of his career was his fifth of the 2013 season and was one of his best starts of the year.

New York's offense didn't give Pettitte much run support-- scoring only three runs on 10 hits-- but it was all he would need against Seattle.

The Yankees got the scoring started when Robinson Cano singled home Mark Teixeira in the top of the first. After two innings of scoreless baseball, Michael Morse tied the game at one with a sacrifice fly.

Jayson Nix did the rest of the scoring for the Yankees, driving in Ichiro with a single in the fifth and then another single in the seventh to score Brett Gardner to give the Yanks a 3-1 advantage.

David Robertson recorded two quick outs in relief of Pettitte in the seventh inning and Mariano Rivera notched up his 22nd save of the season in 17 pitches to secure the 3-1 win.

The win brought the Yankees (36-26) to within one game of the first place Boston Red Sox.

Just hours after Pettitte made history with his 250th victory, the Yankees drafted Josh Pettitte with the 1,124th pick in the draft.

The 18-year old Pettitte attended Deer Park High School in Texas and is committed to Baylor University. He threw a no-hitter for his team earlier in the season.

It was a great day for the Yankees and an even better day for the Pettitte family. Tomorrow, New York concludes a four-game set in Seattle. David Phelps will try to win the series against Felix Hernandez.

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Yankees Day 1 Draft Recap

The New York Yankees made four selections on day one of the 2013 draft. New York's three first round selections were the most for the Yankees since 2001.

The Yankees went after power-hitting position players with its first two picks. With the 26th pick overall, New York took third baseman Eric Jagielo, a junior from Notre Dame. In 56 games, Jagielo hit .388 with a .500 on-base percentage. He hit nine home runs and drove in 53 runs.

Jagielo could be the future at the hot corner for the Bombers, especially with the news of Alex Rodriguez being linked, once again, to PED use.

With the 32nd pick that New York got from Cleveland for Nick Swisher, the Yankees picked center fielder Aaron Judge. Measuring at 6-foot-7 and 255 pounds, Judge hit .373/.461 with 11 long balls and 35 RBIs for the Fresno State Bulldogs. He also stole 12 bases, which is impressive for a player of his stature.

Judge is also an outstanding player in the field, making only nine errors in 165 games and posting a .978 fielding percentage in 2013.

With another compensation pick from Washington, the Yankees selected high school lefty Ian Clarkin 33rd overall. At James Madison High School in San Diego, Clarkin went 9-2 with a 0.95 ERA. Scouts have been dazzled by his curve ball and the upside is sky high for the young left-handed hurler.

The Yankees used its final draft pick of the day on another high school player, Gosuke Katoh. Hailing from Rancho Bernardo High School in California, the 18-year-old infielder hit .355 with 11 homers and 31 RBIs in just 33 games. The 2013 Rawlings Second-Team All-American models his swing off of current Yankee Ichiro Suzuki.

Day 2 of the draft continues today with Rounds 3-10. New York's first pick of the day will be at the 66th selection.

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Sabathia Strikes Out 10, Yankees Beat Boston

The New York Yankees ended a five-game losing skid in a 4-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox. CC Sabathia was stellar, going 7 and 1/3 innings and allowing only one run on six hits with 10 strikeouts.

Sabathia ended a five-game personal losing streak with his best performance of the season thus far.

This was an enormous win for the Bombers, who were just swept by the crosstown rival Mets for the first time in Subway Series history. New York (31-23) also pulled within one game of Boston (33-23) for first place in the AL East.

The biggest storyline of tonight's game was the return of first baseman Mark Teixeira and third baseman Kevin Youkilis from the disabled list. Teixeria went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored, while Youkilis went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

The Yankees struck first in the second inning when Jayson Nix brought home Teixeria with an RBI-single to give New York a 1-0 advantage. Ichiro Suzuki added another run to the board when he scored Vernon Wells on a single. New York scored again in the fifth inning when Youkilis singled home Suzuki to make it 3-0.

The Yankees chased Jon Lester out of the game after 6 and 1/3 innings. Lester was decent, giving up four runs on six hits with five strikeouts.

The Red Sox finally got to Sabathia in the seventh inning after back-to-back doubles from Dustin Pedroia and Mike Napoli brought home Boston's first and only run of the night.

David Robertson relieved Sabathia in the eighth and got Jose Iglesias to fly out and Daniel Nava to strike out to close out the inning.

Mariano Rivera gave up singles to Pedroia and David Ortiz in the ninth inning but struck out Napoli and forced Stephen Drew to ground out to finish a much needed victory for the Yankees.

Phil Hughes will try to keep the Yanks on the winning side of things tomorrow night against Felix Doubront.

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HIROK Hurt

Update at 9:00: Team announces a bruised right calf as the injury.

New York Yankees starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda ended his night much earlier than expected in Baltimore on Wednesday night. He walked off the mound in the third inning with manager Joe Girardi and team trainer Danny Donohue.

Orioles third baseman Manny Machado hit Kuroda in the right calf with a comeback liner to the mound in the second inning. The right-handed pitcher opened the third inning by retiring the first batter, but that would be all. 

He surrendered five runs in his 2.1 innings of work where he threw 55 pitches, 35 of which were for strikes. Preston Claiborne entered as the reliever for the Yankees. 

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Hafner Ties it, Wells wins it in the 10th for the Yankees

After a solo homerun by Travis Hafner extended the game in the ninth inning, the New York Yankees needed just one more inning to take the first game of the series against the Baltimore Orioles by a final score of 6-4.

Back-to-back doubles by Ichiro and Vernon Wells to lead off the inning gave New York the lead in the 10th inning. Hafner's heroics would continue in that inning as well as he added the Yankees' insurance run.

Earlier in the night, solo homeruns by Robinson Cano, David Adams and Lyle Overbay provided the Yankees' offense off Freddy Garcia and the O's bullpen. Adam's homerun was the first of his career.

Unsung hero of the game?

CC Sabathia started the game for New York and could not make it out of the seventh inning as he left with the Orioles leading 4-3. It was the left-handed hitters in the lineup that capitalized on the mistakes by taking him opposite field. He allowed 11 hits in 7.1 innings.

One of the more impressive performances to go under the radar is that of Shawn Kelley out of the bullpen. He did not allow a run and struck out three batters in his inning of work. He was called on to get out of Sabathia's jam with a runner on second base and just one out. His season numbers now have him at 32 strikeouts in just 18 innings of work. As David Pauley pointed out on Twitter, that's the highest K/9 among relievers in 15.58. He also leads the Major Leagues with 16 K/9 innings.

David Robertson got credit for the win with his scoreless ninth inning. Mariano Rivera remains perfect after recording his 17th save in 17 opportunities this season. It was also his 625th of his career.

The Yankees look to add to their divisional lead on the Orioles tomorrow by sending Phil Hughes to the mound.

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Scott Proctor Retires

Scott Proctor's MLB Career 2004 - 2013

Former New York Yankees reliever Scott Proctor has decided to retire from baseball after pitching in 307 career games. He was most recently a member of the Baltimore Orioles after being traded by the San Francisco Giants in late March. He was released by Baltimore on April 27.

Proctor spent the 2012 season pitching in Korea with the Doosan Bears. He was invited to Spring Training with the Giants, where he used the opportunity to pitch in 13 innings. There was even a point in which he offered to pitch as a starting pitcher for them.

He was acquired by New York along with Bubba Crosby in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Robin Ventura on July 31st, 2003. He would be assigned to Triple-A Columbus after the trade deadline and recalled by the Yankees on April 20, 2004.

Proctor was relied on by Joe Torre, the Yankees manager at the time, as one of the more durable pitchers in the bullpen. In 2006, he led the American League with 83 appearances and pitched in 102.1 innings while posting a 3.52 ERA. He collected his first career save that same season, which would be the only one of his career.

While Torre's use of him was pointed as a reason to his demise, Proctor told the San Francisco Chronicle he was a recovering alcoholic and that was the main reason for his downfall. Mariano Rivera was one of his teammates that helped him get help.

In honor of his retirement, let us all gather our own set of disposable belongings and make a bonfire in remembrance of the great career that was Scott Proctor's.
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"I'm just throwing like [junk]. I can't expect to throw the ball over the middle and expect to get an out of it."

- Scott Proctor 6/30/07

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Yankees Acquire Reid Brignac from Colorado

Brignac is a utility infielder.

According to a report from Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, the New York Yankees have acquired infielder Reid Brignac from the Colorado Rockies. Brignac, a utility infielder, was designated for assignment by the Rockies earlier in the week.

Heyman later reported that the Yankees will send Colorado $75,000 in exchange for Brignac.

Brignac has been in the majors for six seasons, five of which in Tampa Bay. In his first season in Colorado, he hit .250 with a .294 OBP, with one home run and six RBI.

Brignac's best quality is that he is a guy who can play almost everywhere on the diamond. He primarily plays at second base or shortstop, but has also played in left field, right field and third base. With so many injuries on New York's roster, Brignac could be used in numerous situations to give somebody a rest.

Brignac is the second player the Yankees have acquired from the Rockies this season, the first being Chris Nelson.

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Injury Updates: Pettitte headed to the DL; Nuno Called Up

UPDATE: Andy Pettitte will head to the 15-day disabled list after his back continued to spasm during his start on Thursday night against the Seattle Mariners. Vidal Nuno will be called-up to replace him in the rotation. 

The New York Yankees are in the process of receiving some of their injured stars back in the coming weeks. Yet, that won't stop the injury bug from biting the team.

Each day this week, manager Joe Girardi has hinted at the return of Travis Hafner. He did not pinch hit in the series against the Mariners, but if he does well before tonight's game the designated hitter would be available to pinch hit. (Via Joel Sherman of the New York Post)

Starting pitcher Andy Pettitte's status for his next start is yet to be determined. There will not be a trip to the disabled list for the southpaw. 

The Yankees' catching depth is already dwindling with Francisco Cervelli on the 60-day disabled list and Christ Stewart's availability is day-to-day with a groin injury. Girardi plans on using him in emergency cases for the next few days. An MRI returned clean. 

 Infielder Alberto Gonzalez, who also pitched on Tuesday night, would assume the third string catcher's role. Bobby Wilson is at Triple-A, but not on the 40-man roster. He is hitting .174 for the Scranton Railriders.

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17 years after first save, Rivera's dominance continues

John Wettland was unavailable for the final two outs of the New York Yankees' game against the Anaheim Angels on May 17, 1996 after getting hit by a ball in batting practice. All it would take would be his signature cutter to get a ground-out by Garret Anderson to second base to complete a double play and lock up Mariano Rivera's first career save.

Fast forward 17 years and we find ourselves marveling every time Rivera warms up in the bullpen, because we know it may be among the last.

Behind the plate for the beginning of history was Joe Girardi, who now makes the call before the playing of Enter Sandman before the ninth inning.

This year, the season began with questions as to whether or not Rivera would be able to dominate or even pitch close to his caliber before the torn ACL. 16 saves in 16 opportunities later, those questions are gone.

He has not allowed a run in his last five outings and has an ERA of 1.56 on the year. FanGraphs' Drew Sheppard put together a pretty cool analysis on his ability to break bats and although no official stat is recorded, he's been tracking it in 2013. Sheppard also notes that Rivera's win probability added, which measures the difference in win expectancy between the start and end of play, leads all Major League relievers with 1.86. The only person with a better statistic is Seattle Mariners starter Felix Hernandez.

The man's job is simple to describe. Rivera enters the game and is suppose to get three outs and close out a victory. Add in pressure from the atmosphere, match-ups, injuries to the defense and things get a lot more difficult, but there is only so much that can be analyzed for a man that dominates with one pitch.

2012

2013

Velocity may be down, but it has not changed the frequency of what he throws. The horizontal and vertical movement of his pitches are still there, if you want to peruse more of his charts.

In his first nine games, before the injury in 2012, Rivera had only eight strikeouts. He's on a similar track in 2013, if we were to look at such a small sample. The strikeouts may be down a bit, but he is still getting the job done.

Whether it's slamming it with a strikeout or gently closing it with a grounder to the infield, Rivera is shutting the door somehow for the save.

That's one thing that doesn't change 17 years later.

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