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2022 Season | Series #5 | Guardians @ Yankees | April 22-24, 2022

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Wham with the Right Hand

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After getting swept by the Giants and then sweeping the White Sox the Guardians hit the Big Apple for a three-game weekend series. The Guardians are a bit screwed up right now by two things. A small COVID outbreak robbed them temporarily of their hottest hitter (Owen Miller) and a very good starting pitcher (Cal Quantrill). Secondly, back-to-back rainouts meant Bieber and McKenzie pitched on Thursday so they will not be available for this series.

With the Guardians down three starting pitchers they are forced to start two guys who are not in the rotation; Eli Morgan and Kirk McCarty. Aaron Civale gets the start Sunday.

The Yankees are 7-6. Like the White Sox they are off to a slow start offensively, ranking 25th in the majors in runs per game with a line of .220/.643. They are averaging 3.00 runs per game.

The Yankees are being carried by their pitching. In their seven wins opponents have scored a total of 14 runs. They rank third in the majors with a team ERA of 2.58. The Guardians rank first in runs per game, so it will be the best offense against the third best pitching. The Giants team ERA is 2.63 and the Guardians only managed to score four runs in three games, so hopefully they can do better this time. This could be a very low scoring series.

Eli Morgan, who starts tonight, started one game against the Yankees last year in Yankee Stadium and held them to one run in six innings. This year in three relief appearances he’s allowed three runs in six innings.

Kirk McCarty makes his major league debut on Saturday. In three starts in Columbus this year his ERA is 0.79.

Aaron Civale goes Sunday. He has struggled so far this season but last year in two starts against the Yankees his ERA was 1.59. So both Morgan and Civale were very effective in their starts against the Yankees last year.

The Yankees continue to be one of the oldest, if not the oldest team in baseball. They have six pitchers and seven position players age 30 or older. Gleyber Torres, at 25, is their youngest regular. Three of their starting infielders (Rizzo, LeMahieu, and Donaldson) are 32, 33, and 36. Their catcher is 32. So is their centerfielder (Hicks) and their DH (Stanton).

The Guardians might have the youngest team in the majors so this series is old vs. young and high payroll vs. low payroll. The Guards are 5th in team ERA so we have two of the top five pitching staffs going at it, although the G’s are depleted of three starters thanks to COVID and two rainouts.

However, even without Owen Miller they managed to score 19 runs in three games against the White Sox, albeit with a lot of help from the White Sox infield. The G’s had eight infield hits and I lost track of how many errors the White Sox infield committed, not to mention ground balls that could have been caught but were ruled hits, like the shot Naylor hit through Abreu’s legs.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see three close, low-scoring games where the little things become big things.
 
can someone break down McCarty for me? I dont ever remember hearing his name before this week
 
can someone break down McCarty for me? I dont ever remember hearing his name before this week

@MadThinker88 @petes999 @BimboColesHair you three may know way more than me. I am sure the casuals/lurkers I am sure are curious as well...


That's the most indepth scouting report I can find... lol

Essentially he is an athlete since he played QB as well as way a two way player (played OF) in high school. He is very small for a pitcher, his velo isn't bad, but he is more of an organizational depth piece. I'd put the closest comparison we have seen to be Merritt/a lefty Tomlinish type, that has good command and a good mix of pitches but little room for errors...
 
@MadThinker88 @petes999 @BimboColesHair you three may know way more than me. I am sure the casuals/lurkers I am sure are curious as well...


That's the most indepth scouting report I can find... lol

Essentially he is an athlete since he played QB as well as way a two way player (played OF) in high school. He is very small for a pitcher, his velo isn't bad, but he is more of an organizational depth piece. I'd put the closest comparison we have seen to be Merritt/a lefty Tomlinish type, that has good command and a good mix of pitches but little room for errors...

He's got better stuff than Merritt, but that scouting report isn't half bad.

He'll sit ~90 all game, touch 94. Hides the ball well and has a quick windup that adds some deception to make up for his lack of stuff. Slow loopy CB, show me slider, and a change he never really throws. Good at moving the ball inside to outside, up to down, etc.

I'd be shocked if his leash was all that long on Saturday, but that'll depend on what happens with Morgan tonight. Multiple piggybacks are ready and available.
 
I'm taking that Greyhound on the Hudson River Line... I'm in a New York state of mind...
 
Lefties are hitting .111 against McCarty so far this season. As a team the Yankees are hitting .200/.619 against lefties. LeMahieu is 5-for-9 while the rest of the team is hitting .164.

McCarty has a chance to have a Merritt type start where he went five innings and allowed one run in 2017.
 
I'm surprised that Pilkington isn't getting the start instead of McCarty. Is McCarty even on the 40 man?
 
Does anyone know why Civale isn't going tonight or tomorrow? He last pitched on the 17th ... so today is the 5th day. Yet, he isn't going until Sunday which is on 7 days rest. For me, I think this is stupid because

1) You want to limit the times that we need a McCarty or Morgan to fill in for Quantrill -- ride with your 5 .... so maybe saving a day or two here or there on Morgan/McCarty would mean only 1 or 2 starts....

2) I would have thought that splitting your newbies would be best ... so Morgan tonight and McCarty on Sunday so that you have 1 game where you don't need as many relievers with Civale. You could throw a Allen/Hentges 1-2 innings tonight and go again after a night off. Why try to go 18 innings with guys only able to go 2-3 innings - meaning 4 pitchers min per night.

Also CDAV -- I think they are going McCarty just to eat up innings (he can go 5) ... Pilk is not that stretched. They may see it as a free look at McCarty without using a 40 man slot (technically on it for the time he is off but cannot be claimed when they remove him and send him back to AAA). Plus, it is probably easier for him to come in from the start than trying to warm up during the game (less nerves in the comfortable role as starter?).

Edit -- Also if they would have put Civale on Sat and #5 guy on Sunday, it would have meant that Scott would have also become available.

Bimbo - any reason that they choose McCarty over the others who may have had higher profiles ... even Battenfield?
 
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I'm surprised that Pilkington isn't getting the start instead of McCarty. Is McCarty even on the 40 man?

When players are put onto the Covid IL, they are removed from the 40 man roster until they are cleared to play (usually ten days) so they can add anyone not on the 40 man roster to replace them until they are cleared to play again. So essentially we called up De Los Santos, McCarty and Tully to fill in for Miller, Quantrill and Castro. As Miller, Quan and Castro are cleared to play the other players will get sent back down. They do not have to go through waivers either with the Covid IL rules.
 
Also CDAV -- I think they are going McCarty just to eat up innings (he can go 5) ... Pilk is not that stretched. They may see it as a free look at McCarty without using a 40 man slot (technically on it for the time he is off but cannot be claimed when they remove him and send him back to AAA). Plus, it is probably easier for him to come in from the start than trying to warm up during the game (less nerves in the comfortable role as starter?).
Fair points, but I'd be surprised if Pilkington isn't as stretched out as McCarty. It's a free showcase if nothing else as the covid rule allows them to use someone not on the 40 man. I'm curious to see how he does even though he's never garnered my attention. I'm sure it lines up with his schedule as well and that may have been the biggest factor.
 
Fair points, but I'd be surprised if Pilkington isn't as stretched out as McCarty. It's a free showcase if nothing else as the covid rule allows them to use someone not on the 40 man. I'm curious to see how he does even though he's never garnered my attention. I'm sure it lines up with his schedule as well and that may have been the biggest factor.
I'd like to see Pilkington start and he likely will soon enough, but I LOVE that we are able to give an org soldier a chance to play ML baseball.
 

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