Tag: Abiatal Avelino

Yankees Acquire McCutchen from Giants for Avelino, De Paula

JP Hadley on August 31, 2018

With Aaron Judge‘s wrist injury taking far longer than the original three-week recovery timetable, Brian Cashman has got the Yankees some badly needed outfield help. After clearing waivers August 22, the Bronx Bombers have acquired right fielder Andrew McCutchen from the San Francisco Giants for a package of Abiatal Avelino and Juan De Paula.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported the deal was gaining moment him, and Buster Olney of ESPN reported that the deal was done. McCutchen is a clear offensive upgrade over Shane Robinson in right field, and allows Neil Walker to return to his usual role as an infielder for the Yankees.

In his first (and only) season in San Francisco, the 2013 NL MVP was batting .255/.357/.415 (115 wRC+) with 15 homers and 55 RBI. Those numbers are, undoubtedly, affected by him playing his home games at AT&T Park, which is more pitcher friendly than PNC Park.  He’s been hot of late, batting .277/.404/.468 (140 wRC+) since August 15.

After a few seasons too many in center field for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Giants converted McCutchen to right field full-time in 2018. He’s made just two errors in right this season, and is worth +2 defensive runs saved. Ultimate Zone Rating has him at -0.9, which is just barely below average.

The Yankees are sending two prospects to San Francisco as they will be splitting the remaining financial commitment to McCutchen. It’s unclear when McCutchen will be activated by the Yankees, but I would guess he debuts in pinstripes after the September 1 roster expansion date.

Part of the group headed to San Francisco will be infield prospect Abiatal Avelino, ranked as the No. 23 prospect in the Yankees system. The 23-year-old enjoyed a breakout early in the season with Double-A Trenton, but has slowed down offensively with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

His overall .287/.333/.446 line is quite impressive in 123 total games, but it is buoyed by a .337/.392/.553 line in 49 games for Double-A Trenton. His power and on-base skills have sort of vanished in the International League, where he’s hitting .252/.291/.372. He does have 25 stolen bases, and can play third, shortstop and second base. Avelino will be a minor league free agent after the season if he is not added to the 40-man roster, and is eligible for the Rule 5 draft.

The other piece in the deal is righty Juan De Paula, whom the Yankees acquired from Seattle in the Ben Gamel trade two years ago today. The 20-year-old was in his second straight season with Short-A Staten Island, pitching to a 1.71 ERA in 10 games (nine starts). De Paula was ranked as the team’s No. 26 prospect.

Mets 3, Yankees 10: Stanton Smashes Yanks to Blowout Win

JP Hadley on March 10, 2018

Giancarlo Stanton smacked his first Yankees home run off Matt Harvey, and the other Yankee bats combined to score 10 runs in a rousing win over their crosstown rivals.

The Stanton homer came in the fifth inning, where the Yankees already had a 3-to-1 advantage. Aaron Judge walked prior to Stanton’s at-bat. The home run resulted in the removal of Harvey from the game after 4⅔ innings.

Brandon Drury and Kyle Holder each knocked in two runs as well, with other RBIs coming from Tyler Austin, Abiatal Avelino and Shane Robinson. Estevan Florial almost had one, but the play was ruled a fielding error by right fielder L.J. Mazzilli.

Luis Cessa was on the ropes fairly quickly in this game, getting the hook after 1⅓ innings with the bases loaded. David Robertson made his spring debut in the second, and promptly Houdini’d out of the inning without allowing a run.

There was a funny moment in the fifth inning where no one came out to pitch for the Yankees. Described as “some issues” by Aaron Boone in his YES Network mid-inning interview, Dellin Betances had gone into the clubhouse to shower and get changed because he was only supposed to throw one inning. Adam Warren, the next scheduled pitcher, apparently never got the memo to warm up. So, Betances put his uniform back on and faced one more batter. Luis Guillorme singled, then Warren came in to relieve Betances.

Notes:

  • Tyler Wade dove for a ball hit by José Reyes, and rolled his wrist trying to make a play. It looked really bad at first glance, and Wade was in a lot of pain. He was replaced by Kyle Holder, and I was truly holding my breath because Wade has really impressed me this spring. But, reports from the clubhouse indicated that he needed “ice but no tests,” and that he would return to action Monday. It is unclear if he was already scheduled to sit out Sunday.
  • Aaron Judge got his first multi-hit game of the spring today. His timing looks to be back, and that’s a great sign for a player coming off of offseason shoulder surgery. Boone mentioned during his interview that Judge was also getting reps in left field with Stanton on the back fields while the team was away playing road games. We’ve yet to see Judge out there in an exhibition game, but something tells me we won’t have to wait long for that to happen.
  • Both Chad Green and Adam Warren threw for more than one inning today, which should surprise absolutely no one. These two are the main multi-inning relievers for the Yanks, and they will probably get stretched out to throw up to three innings before Opening Day gets here.

Tomorrow’s Game:

Masahiro Tanaka looks to rebound from his poor spring debut in a matchup against Jacob Turner and the Miami Marlins. The Yankees will make the long trek to Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter for that game. No word on who’s going, however.

Yankees 6, White Sox 5: Yanks Avoid Bullpen Collapse, Take Series Opener

JP Hadley on June 27, 2017

What looked like a sure win for the Yankees turned dicey once Jordan Montgomery handed it over to the Yankee bullpen.

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Montgomery turned in one of his best starts of the year, allowing just one run on a Todd Frazier solo home run. He allowed just four other hits, one walk and struck out eight batters. The bullpen had a tough time keeping it together after that.

The Yankee offense scored at least six runs for the second consecutive day. Tyler Austin recorded two RBIs on a sacrifice fly in the fourth and a solo home run in the sixth. Ronald Torreyes and Austin Romine each hit sacrifice flies too, in the fourth and sixth, respectively. Chase Headley added an RBI single on his 3-for-4 night.

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Jonathan Holder entered in the eighth, and looked to be out of the inning on a double play ball. But, second baseman Rob Refsnyder, who entered when Starlin Castro was injured, pulled Austin off first base with his throw. Joe Girardi then brought Dellin Betances to strike out Frazier and put out the fire.

In the ninth, things unraveled to make the final frame quite uncomfortable. Chasen Shreve allowed consecutive singles, and then Tim Anderson hit a three-run home run to make it a 6 to 4 game. Enter Aroldis Chapman. The closer gave up a single to Melky Cabrera who scored on a double by José Abreu. But, Chapman beared down to get a ground out and fly out to end the threat.

Castro went down in the third inning with what was diagnosed as a strained right hamstring. Reports indicate that he will be headed to the disabled list, and the Yankees will promote utility player Tyler Wade to take his place. Wade, the Yankees No. 11 prospect, has been training at every position except for catcher and first base for the Yankees. The club has not confirmed the move yet.

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The move has caused a ripple effect through the Yankee farm system. No. 4 prospect Jorge Mateo was promoted to AA Trenton to replace Abiatal Avelino, who is headed to AAA Scranton to replace Wade.

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