NEW YORK YANKEES NOTES:
AT A GLANCE: The Yankees will complete their first road trip of the season with the final game of a three-game set at Cleveland (1-1 thus far)…also won two-of three at Baltimore this past weekend…return home on Thursday to begin a season-long 10-game homestand vs. Minnesota (Thurs.-Sun.), Los Angeles-AL (4/18-20) and Toronto (4/21-23).
Have won seven of their first 11 games for just the third time in the last 12 years (since 2012) and the fifth time in the last 20 years since 2004 (9-2 in 2020, 8-3 in 2010 and 7-4 in 2011 and 2017)…with a win today, would mark just the fourth time in the last 20 years (since 2004) that the Yankees have won at least eight of their first 12 games (9-3 in 2010 and 2020; 8-4 in 2017).
With a win today, would mark just the third time in the last 20 years (since 2004) that the Yankees won each of their first four series (won their first four series in 2020 and first five in 2010).
Are 3-0 in rubber games this season.
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The Yankees defeated the Guardians, 11-2, on Tuesday at Progressive Field…Yankees batters set seasons highs with 11R and 13H…RHP Gerrit Cole (7.0IP, 5H, 2ER, 2BB, 3K) started and earned his third win of the year…C Jose Trevino (1-for-4, 1RBI) hit an RBI single in the second inning…DH Willie Calhoun (1-for-5, 1R, 1RBI) hit a game-tying RBI single in the third…SS/2B Oswaldo Cabrera (1-for-4, 1R, 1RBI, 1SF) hit a go-ahead sac fly in the third…RF Franchy Cordero (1-for-4, 1R, 1HR, 3RBI) hit his third HR of the season with a three-run shot in the third inning…1B Anthony Rizzo (2-for-3, 2R, 2RBI, 1BB, 1HP) reached base a season-high four times…3B DJ LeMahieu (2-for-4, 2R, 1 double, 1BB), CF Aaron Judge (2-for-5, 1R) and LF Aaron Hicks (2-for-4, 2R) each picked up multi-hit games…2B Gleyber Torres (1-for-4, 1R, 1BB) reached base multiple times for the ninth time in 11 games… RHP Albert Abreu tossed 2.0 scoreless innings of relief (2H, 1K).
ON A ROLL: OF Franchy Cordero hit his third HR of the season on Tuesday with a three-run shot in the third inning…has 3HR in his last four games…according to Elias, Cordero is just the second Yankee in the Live Ball Era to record at least 10RBI in his first six games with the club, joining Robin Ventura (also 10RBI in first 6G with club in 2002).
Has reached base in each of his first six games.
PITCH PERFECT: Yankees pitchers have allowed just 30R over their first 11 games (2.73 R/G), their fewest runs allowed through their first 11 games of a season in the last 59 years since 1965 (last allowed fewer runs in 1964: 27R).
Have allowed 3R-or-fewer in eight of their 11 games this year…have held opponents to 2R-or-fewer in six of 11G and allowed one-or-zero runs in four of their games.
Rank second in the Majors in HR/9.0IP (0.57), fourth in ERA (2.69), K/9.0IP (10.11), opponents’ BA (.215), opponents’ OBP (.292), opponents’ OPS (.611) and WHIP (1.15) and rank fifth in strikeouts (109).
GLEYBER DAY: INF Gleyber Torres has reached base in 24-of-46 plate appearances this season, batting .371/.522/.657 (13-for-35) with 8R, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 2HR, 6RBI, 11BB and 5SB.
Has reached base multiple times in nine of his 11 games and has reached base at least three times in four games… has hit safely in nine of his 11 games.
Ranks second in the Majors in OBP (.522, first in AL), tied for third in stolen bases (5, tied for third in AL) and walks (11, first in AL) and fifth in OPS (1.179, fourth in AL)…also ranks sixth in the AL in BA (.371) and 10th in SLG (.657)…according to FanGraphs, his 10.9 strikeout percentage is the seventh-lowest in the AL.
Has walked 11 times while striking out just five times in 46PA this season…did not record his 11th walk in 2022 until his 52nd game of the year on 6/9/22 at Minnesota.
Is the only Yankee in the last 13 years (since 2011) to record at least 11BB in the Yankees’ first 11 games of a season…is just the third Yankee (fifth time) to do so since 2000 (last 24 seasons), joining Jason Giambi (14BB in 2004, 12BB in 2006 and 11BB in 2003) and Nick Johnson (13BB in 2010).
Is the first Yankee to record at least 11BB and 5SB through the club’s first 11 games of a season.
STANTON ISLAND: DH/OF Giancarlo Stanton has reached base in each of his nine games this season and has hit safely in eight of those games…marks the third-longest season-opening on-base streak of his career (12G in 2016 and 10G in 2013).
Five of his 10H have gone for XBH (2 doubles, 3HR).
Has hit safely in each of his last five games, going 7-for-20 (.350) with 3R, 2 doubles, 1HR and 4RBI.
CENTRAL PERK: Since 2022, the Yankees are 26-9 (.743) vs. the AL Central…are 37-13 in their last 50 games vs. the division (since 6/23/21) and 50-19 in their last 69G (since 9/12/19).
Have won 19 of their last 22 completed series vs. the AL Central (since 9/10/19)…have won or split 22 of their last 25 completed series (going 20-3-2 since 6/13/19) and 25 of their last 29 completed series (going 23-4-2 in series since 4/18/19).
BRONX BOMBERS: Yankees batters scored a season-high 11R and recorded a season-high 13H on Tuesday at Cleveland… scored 11R despite hitting just 1HR…marked just the second time in the last three seasons the Yankees have scored at least 11R while hitting 1HR-or-fewer (also scored 13R after going homerless on 8/25/22 at Oakland).
Have scored at least 4R in nine of 11 games this season… have scored at least 5R in seven of their 11 games.
Have hit 17HR in 11G this season, tied with Los Angeles-AL (17HR in 11G) for the fifth-most in the Majors, trailing only Tampa Bay (29HR in 11G), Los Angeles-NL (21HR in 12G), San Francisco (20HR in 11G) and Baltimore (18HR in 11G).
Rank fifth in the Majors in SLG (.453, third in AL)…also rank fourth in the AL in OPS (.783).
NOBODY BEATS THE RIZZ: INF Anthony Rizzo reached base a season-high four times on Tuesday…has reached base safely in each of his first 10 games this season, reaching base in 19-of-44 plate appearances…marks the third-longest season-opening on-base streak of his career (12G in 2020 and 11G in 2012).
Has collected at least one hit in nine of 10 games this season, batting .314/.432/.457 (11-for-35) with 5R, 2 doubles, 1HR, 6RBI, 6BB and 2HP.
Was hit by a pitch for the 203rd time in his career on Tuesday… his next hit by pitch will tie Chase Utley’s 204HP for the eighth-most career hit by pitch in Major League history.
Including the postseason, has reached base safely in 19 of his last 20 games vs. the Guardians, batting .343/.471/.571 (24-for-70) with 11R, 4 doubles, 4HR, 11RBI, 14BB and 3HP in that span (since 8/12/20).
EN GARD!: The Yankees’ current series vs. the Guardians marks their first series since defeating them in the ALDS last season…including the postseason, are 9-4 vs. Cleveland since 2022 and 15-7 against Cleveland since 2020.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: RHP CLARKE SCHMIDT (0-0, 9.45 ERA)
RHP Clarke Schmidt will make his third start of the season in today’s series finale at Cleveland…the 27-year-old will make the start on regular four days’ rest…made his second start of the season on Friday at Baltimore, surrendering 4ER over 3.1IP (ND, 5H, 3BB, 3K)…made his season debut on 4/1 vs. San Francisco, allowing 3ER over 3.1IP without recording a decision (5H, 1BB, 5K, 2HR)…made his second career Opening Day roster in 2023 (also 2022)…went 1-2 with a 5.03 ERA (19.2IP, 16H, 11ER, 4BB, 25K, 2HR, 1HP) in six spring games (five starts)…in 2022, went 5-5 with two saves and a 3.12 ERA (57.2IP, 46H, 23R/20ER, 23BB, 56K, 5HR) in 29 appearances (three starts) over four stints with the Yankees… in three starts, went 0-2 with a 4.63 ERA (11.2IP, 13H, 6ER, 2BB, 14K, 0HR)…as a reliever, went 5-3 with two saves and a 2.74 ERA (46.0IP, 33H, 17R/14ER, 21BB, 42K, 5HR) in 26 games…tossed at least 2.0 innings in 13 of his relief appearances and at least 3.0 innings in five of those relief appearances…was selected by the Yankees in the first round (16th overall) of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of South Carolina.
LAST TIME OUT: Made his second start of the season on Friday at Baltimore, allowing 4ER in just 3.1IP without recording a decision (5H, 3BB,
3K)…allowed 2R in both the second and third inning…his 4ER tied his career high (fourth time, first since 9/22/22 vs. Boston) and his 3BB
matched his most in a game (fourth time, first since 8/23/22 vs. New York-NL)…has pitched 3.1IP in each of his starts this season (also 3.1IP on
4/1 vs. San Francisco).
VS. CLEVELAND: Has made one career relief appearance vs. Cleveland in the regular season, allowing 3R/2ER in 2.0IP on 9/19/21 at Yankee Stadium (4H, 2BB, 4K).
Made two appearances in relief vs. the Guardians in the 2022 ALDS, going 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA (1.1IP, 3H, 1ER, 1K)…made his first career postseason appearance in ALDS Game 2 at home, entering the game in the 10th inning and stranding an inherited runner after retiring all 3BF (1.0IP)…took the loss in ALDS Game 3 at Cleveland after allowing a “walk-off” single to Oscar González in the ninth (0.1IP, 3H, 1ER, 1K).
Is 2-0 with one save and a 3.57 ERA (17.2IP, 17H, 8R/7ER, 8BB, 22K, 0HR, 1HP) in eight career relief outings vs. AL Central opponents… seven of those eight games were in 2022.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Has made 20 appearances (four starts) in his career on the road (one in 2023, 16 in 2022, one in 2021, two in 2020)… has gone 3-4 with one save and a 4.46 ERA (42.1IP, 45H, 26R/21ER, 20BB, 42K, 3HR).
In 16 games (two starts) on the road in 2022, went 3-4 with one save and a 3.62 ERA (32.1IP, 30H, 15R/13ER, 11BB, 34K, 2HR)…allowed 2R-or-fewer in 14 of those games, 1R-or-fewer in 12 of those appearances and nine were scoreless.
FOR STARTERS: Will be making his eighth career start…over his first seven career Major League starts (two in 2023, three in 2022, one in 2021, one in 2020), is 0-3 with a 6.08 ERA (26.2IP, 34H, 21R/18ER, 11BB, 28K, 3HR).
Has posted a 9.45 ERA (6.2IP, 7ER) and 8K without recording a decision in two starts in 2023…has tossed 3.1IP in each start.
Went 0-2 with a 4.63 ERA (11.2IP, 6ER) and 14K in his three starts in 2022 (6/16 vs. Tampa Bay, 8/28 at Oakland, 9/3 at Tampa Bay). 2022: In 29 games (three starts) with the Yankees, went 5-5 with two saves and a 3.12 ERA (57.2IP, 46H, 23R/20ER, 23BB, 56K, 5HR) over four stints with the club (4/8-5/1, 5/13-6/22, 7/23-8/1, 8/22-10/5)…made his first career Opening Day roster.
In three starts, went 0-2 with a 4.63 ERA (11.2IP, 13H, 6ER, 2BB, 14K, 0HR).
As a reliever, went 5-3 with two saves and a 2.74 ERA (46.0IP, 33H, 17R/14ER, 21BB, 42K, 5HR) in 26 games…tossed at least 2.0 innings in 13 of his relief appearances and at least 3.0 innings in five of those relief appearances.
Recorded five relief appearances of at least 3.0 scoreless innings, tied for the most in the Majors (also Los Angeles-AL’s Jaime Barria, Texas’ Taylor Hearn and Chicago-NL’s Keegan Thompson)…was just the second Yankees pitcher since 2003 to record as many such relief appearances in a season (also Alfredo Aceves’ seven relief appearances in 2009).
Tossed at least 3.0 scoreless innings in four consecutive relief appearances from 7/24-9/8, tied with Mariano Rivera (4G from 4/19-28/96) and Joe Page (4G from 5/28-6/3/49) for the second-longest such streak in franchise history, trailing only Wilcy Moore (5G from 8/7-24/27).
Tossed 3.0 innings in both of his saves…joined Luis Cessa (two in 2018) as the only Yankees relievers to record multiple saves of at least 3.0IP in a season since 2003.
His 10 relief appearances of at least 2.0 scoreless innings were tied for 10th in the Majors.
Tossed at least 2.0 scoreless innings in six straight relief appearances from 7/24-9/14, tied for the second-longest streak by a Yankees reliever in franchise history, trailing only Mariano Rivera (8G from 4/19-5/12/96)…Bud Daley (6G from 7/25-8/11/62) and Wilcy Moore (6G from 8/6-24/27) also recorded six-game streaks.
Combined to make three postseason appearances, going 0-2 with a 11.57 ERA (2.1IP, 3ER)… made his first career postseason appearance in ALDS Game 2 vs. Cleveland…entered the game in the 10th inning and stranded his inherited runner after retiring all 3BF…took the loss in ALDS Game 3 at Cleveland after allowing a “walk-off” single to Oscar González in the ninth (0.1IP, 3H, 1ER, 1K)…also took the loss in ALCS Game 1 at Houston (1.0IP, 2H, 2ER, 2BB, 2HR).
Made eight starts with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre, going 2-1 with a 3.27 ERA (33.0IP, 26H, 13R/12ER, 9BB, 46K, 1HR).
SPRING BREAK: In six games (five starts) this spring, went 1-2 with a 5.03 ERA (19.2IP, 16H, 11ER, 4BB, 25K, 2HR, 1HP)…made his last spring start on Monday vs. Tampa Bay (ND, 4.1IP, 3H, 2ER, 1BB, 7K)…in his fourth spring appearance (third start) on 3/16 vs. Pittsburgh, tossed 5.0 perfect innings with 7K…made his lone appearance in relief on 3/3 vs. Detroit (1.2IP, 3H, 4ER, 1BB, 2K, 1HR, 1HP).
CAREER NOTES: In parts of four seasons with the Yankees (2020-23), has gone 5-6 with two saves and a 4.21 ERA (77.0IP, 74H, 43R/36ER, 37BB, 77K, 8HR) in 36 career games (seven starts).
Made his Major League debut in Game 2 on 9/4/20 at Baltimore after never having pitched professionally above Double-A in his career.
Did not pitch in 2017 while recovering from “Tommy John” surgery on his right elbow.
Was drafted by the Yankees in the first round (16th overall) of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of South Carolina…in three seasons at South Carolina (2015-17), produced a 15-9 record and 3.21 ERA (229.2IP, 82ER) in 45 games (36 starts).
CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
YANKEES ROLL VIA 11 UNANSWERED RUNS
The Guardians shouldered their first lopsided defeat of the season on Tuesday night at Progressive Field, falling to New York-AL by an 11-2 margin in the middle installment of this 3-game set… most runs allowed by Cleveland since an 11-4 loss on July 5, 2022 at Detroit…coming off a 5-2 road trip thru Seattle (3-1) & Oakland (2-1) to start the season, club is 2-3 entering the finale of this 6-day, 6-game homestand against Seattle (1-2) & New York-AL (1-1)… Cleveland (7-5) has won 2 of 3 and 7 of last 11…Guardians hold sole possesion of 2nd place in the AL Central standings, one halfgame behind Minnesota (7-4).
Cleveland’s offense got off to a promising start with a pair of runs in the 1st inning against Gerritt Cole before the right-hander settled
in on his way to a 7.0-inning quality start (7.0IP, 5H, 2R-ER, 2BB, 3SO, 97 pitches); Guardians started the contest with 3 consecutive hits, including an RBI-double from JOSÉ RAMÍREZ, and added their second tally on JOSH NAYLOR’s sac fly…beginning with the Taylor sac fly, Cole retired 10 of the next 11 and 19 of the final 23 batters he faced, scattering a pair of hits and a pair of walks.
HUNTER GADDIS (3.0IP, 8H, 8R-ER, 2BB, 3SO, 1HR, 1HB, 67 pitches) held the Bombers to a single run the first time through the order, but ran into trouble the second time thru, as Franchy Cordero capped a 5-run 3rd with a 3-run blast to RF; Gaddis allowed hits to each of the three batters he faced in the 4th before exiting… TIM HERRIN came on and logged a pair of scoreless frames, while XZAVION CURRY matched Gaddis’ pitch count (67), covering each of the last 4.0 innings (4H, 3R-ER, 1BB, 3SO) to ease the burden on Cleveland’s ‘pen.
A BATTLE WITH THE BRONX
After splitting the first two games of this three-game series, the Guardians and Yankees square off in a rubber match to decide a series winner…New York-AL looks to win 2 out of 3 games in their fourth consecutive series to start the 2023 season and Cleveland looks to avoid losing their second consecutive home series to start their 2023 homestand…the Guards tallied an 8-6 record in rubber matches last season, whereas the Bronx Bombers had a 7-9 record in series-deciding games.
The Guardians went 1-5 against the Yankees last regular season, going 2-3 at Progressive Field and 1-5 at Yankee Stadium…2019 marks Cleveland’s last home series win (6/7-6/9/2017) and season series win (4-3 overall) against the New Yorkers…the Guards hold a 5-10 record in their last 15 regular season games against the Yankees…overall, Cleveland holds a 507-526 home record against New York-AL and an overall record of 910-1152-6 against the franchise since 1901…the Guardians will travel to the Bronx for a three-game series in the final regular season matchups between the two clubs on May 1-3.
HOMER-LESS HOMESTAND?
If Cleveland hits no home runs in today’s game, it will mark their first homestand of six-games-or-more with no long balls since April
24-29, 2012…the club split that homestand 3-3 against Kansas City and Los Angeles AL, and have a chance to also go 3-3 in their
2023 opening homestand with a victory today…the Guardians’ five round-trips rank as the fewest in the AL and are tied for fewest in MLB with Washington.
GUARDIANS OF THE BASEPATHS
The Guardians lead MLB in steals with 19, two ahead of Arizona (17), and have only been caught twice in 21 attempts…on Monday, the Guardians had 4 steals, the club’s high-mark this season and most since September 23, 2022 at Texas (4)…this is the 11th time in club history and the first time since 1994 that Cleveland has 19 steals in the first 12 games of the season…the last team to have 19-or-more steals through the team’s first 12 games was the 2002 Royals.
MYLES STRAW ranks T1st in MLB with 6 stolen bases with Baltimore’s Jorge Mateo…the Guardians feature five players in the top 12 in MLB in stolen bases (also Ramírez, Giménez, Kwan and Rosario) the most of any MLB team…ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ continues to lead MLB in runs scored this season, reaching home plate 14 times through 12 games…Straw accomplished the same feat last season…Giménez and Straw are the first pair of Cleveland teammates to score 14+ runs in 12-or-fewer-games in consecutive seasons since Grady Sizemore in 2007 and Travis Hafner in 2006.
BLUE-COLLAR BASEBALL
Cleveland hitters have found early season success by both reaching base via walks and driving runs in with sacrifice flies… among 2023 MLB clubs, Cleveland leads MLB in sacrifice flies (8), ranking ahead of Los Angeles-NL, New York-NL, and Pittsburgh (6)…no other AL team has more than 4…after drawing a seasonhigh 9 walks on Monday, T3rd-most in any game this season, the Guards 58 walks on the season rank 1st in the AL ahead of Los Angeles-AL’s 48 free passes and 2nd in MLB behind Los AngelesNL’s 60 base on balls…Cleveland also leads MLB with 9 intentional walks, with Houston as the only other MLB team with 3+IBB.
PATIENCE AT THE PLATE
Though the season’s first 12 games, STEVEN KWAN leads MLB with 251 pitches seen, just 5 more than Atlanta’s Matt Olson (246) …two other Guardians are in the top 30 in pitches seen with AMED ROSARIO ranking 27th (208) and JOSÉ RAMÍREZ 29th (207)…as a team, the Guardians lead MLB in pitches seen (1,921) ahead of the Atlanta Braves (1,918).
CLEVELAND AT THE CAPITAL
After today’s contest, the Guardians will have an off day and travel to take on the Nationals for a 3-game series from April 14- 16…Cleveland has faced Washington just 19 times ever…the two sides first squared off in 2002 when the Nationals were known as the Montreal Expos, then squared off in 3-game sets in 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019…Cleveland holds an 8-11 record all time against Washington and a 2-7 record in away matchups…the last time the two sides squared off was September 27-29 and saw the Nationals sweep all three games in decisive fashion (8-2, 10-7, 8-2)…as of today, this series would feature the two teams in MLB with the fewest home runs (5).
TODAY’S STARTER – #50 PEYTON BATTENFIELD RHP
WELCOME TO THE BIGS
The 25 year-old right-hander is making his Major League debut in the final matchup of this 3-game set with the New York Yankees… he is the second Guardian to make their Major League debut in 2023 after TIM HERRIN debuted on April 2 at Seattle…Battenfield got the call after AARON CIVALE went on the 15-day injured list with a strained left oblique…he was originally selected in the 9th round (286th overall) of the 2019 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros…was traded to Tampa Bay during the 2020 season and later traded to Cleveland for Jordan Luplow and DJ Johnson on July 30, 2021…he was on the roster during the 2022 season while the club was playing in Canada playing Toronto, but did not pitch.
LAST TIME OUT/2023 CACTUS LEAGUE
His last start came on April 4 against Charlotte while he was with the Clippers…he suffered the loss, allowing 3R/2ER on 2 hits with 3 strikeouts and one walk…his lone mistake on the day was a 3-run home run in the third inning as opposing hitters hit .105 (3- for-19) against him in the contest.
Battenfield made 3 Cactus League appearances in 2023, totaling 5.0 innings of work with a 1.80 ERA (1ER/5.0IP), 4 strikeouts and 3 walks…worked 2.0 innings in 2 of his 3 outings…held opposing batters to a .067 average (1-for-15) as 2 of his 3 outings were hitless and scoreless.
ROAD TO THE SHOW
2022: Spent the season at AAA Columbus leading the International League and organization with 153.2 innings, it was the 4th-most in all of Minor League Baseball…he finished the season 4th in the International League with a 3.63 ERA (62ER/163.2IP)… threw 21.0 more innings pitched than anyone in the system…made his Triple A debut in his 36th career game (142.1IP)
The right-hander posted a sub-3.94 ERA in each of the first five months of the season before posting 7.48 ERA over 5 September starts…he earned International League Pitcher of the week from 8/15-21 after throwing 6.0 scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts and 2 walks, it was hit fifth shutout start of the season.
2021: He combined to go 7-1 in 21G/19GS with a 2.53 ERA (29ER/103.0IP) while striking out 131 batters and walking 19 across two levels (A/AA) and two organizations…he did not allow a run over his first 17.2IP…was traded to Cleveland on July 30… at the time of the trade he was 5-0 with a 2.14 ERA (16ER/67.1IP) with 95 strikeouts and 12 walks in 14G/12GS.
2019: Across 14G/5GS he posted a 1.60 ERA (7ER/39.1IP) with 46 strikeouts and 15 walks…only went 3.0-or-more innings in one of his starts.
MONTH BY MONTH
Owns a 2.70 ERA (9ER/30.0IP) with 22 strikeouts, 11 walks and a .189 opposing batting average (21-for-111) across 6 April starts during his career.
BATTENFIELD SPLITS BY MONTH, CAREER
Month ERA G/GS IP ER
April 2.70 6/6 30.0 9
May 2.29 10/9 51.0 13
June 2.30 13/11 62.2 16
July 3.36 14/10 67.0 25
August 1.95 12/8 50.2 11
September 5.90 9/9 39.2 26
