Ivan Nova tosses 6.1 scoreless innings in Yankees' win over Atlanta

By: Gavin Ewbank | Lead Writer

It was the Ivan Nova show at the Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida, as the Yankees right hander was on top of his game, tossing 6.1 scoreless innings Wednesday afternoon in the Bombers' 7-0 win over the Atlanta Braves.

Carlos Beltran had a good day at the plate, picking up a pair of RBIs, as well as Adonis Garcia, who also drove in two runs in the game.

Brett Gardner walked and stole second to begin the ball game, then after a flyout by Derek Jeter, who went 0-for-4, Beltran singled into right field to score Gardner, putting the Yankees up 1-0 three batters into the game.

Beltran's second RBI of the game came later in the 7th inning on another single into right field, scoring Antoan Richardson from third base.

Garcia's two RBIs extended the Yankees' lead from 1-0 to 3-0 in the 4th inning when he ripped a two-out double into left field off of Braves starter David Hale, who gave up three runs in 4.1 innings.

The Yankees plated one run, in the 7th, after the Beltran RBI single, Brian McCann grounded into what should have been a double play, but after getting the out at second, Andrelton Simmons' throw to first base went wide, letting Yangervis Solarte come around to score.

New York scored one more run in the 9th inning when Zelous Wheeler drew a bases loaded walk against Ryne Harper

While the offense was doing it's job to score runs, Nova was doing his part -- from what I could tell, the game was not on TV today.

He set down the Braves in order through the first tow innings, picking up three strikeouts. Atlanta didn't pick up their first hit until a Simmons single to open the 3rd inning.

Nova pitched his way into the 7th inning, retiring the first batter of the inning before most likely reaching his pitch-limit. His final line was 6.1 innings, two hits, zero runs, five strikeouts, no walks. It was the Nova that the Yankees are hoping to see a lot of this season.

Danny Burawa, Shane Greene, Cesar Cabral and Dellin Betances combined to toss the final 2.2 innings without giving up a run. Betances closed out the game in the 9th and issued the only walk of the day by a Yankees pitcher. The Braves, on the other hand, walked 11.

The Yankees are on the road again tomorrow, this time taking the trip down south to face the Boston Red Sox at Jet Blue Park in Fort Myers. David Phelps gets the call for the Yankees, and you can watch the game on ESPN.

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Spring Training Game 23: Yankees at Braves

By: Gavin Ewbank | Lead Writer

The Yankees make their first trip up to the Disney Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Florida today for a Grapefruit League game against the Atlanta Braves. Ivan Nova takes the mound for the Yankees, while the Braves hand the ball to David Hale.

Nova is making his fifth start of the spring, and we can assume that he'll throw at least five innings, or until he reaches his pitch-limit.

Even though spring numbers don't matter at all, Nova enters the game with an ERA of 5.40 through his first four starts. However, Nova has been showing some great control and feel for his pitches, with 16 strikeouts and only two walks in 13.1 innings.

Nova has really on had one good outing, in terms of giving up runs, so far this spring. He last took the mound in a split-squad game against the Philadelphia Phillies, getting knocked around for three runs on nine hits in five innings of work.

Regardless, he's penciled in to be the Yankees' fourth starter this season behind CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda and Masahiro Tanaka, although recent speculation could have Tanaka making his first start in the fourth or fifth game of the season, which means Nova's first start could be against the Houston Astros in the Opening Series.

Today's lineup at Atlanta:

Today's lineup vs ATL: Gardner 8, Jeter 6, Beltran DH, McCann 2, Soriano 9, Roberts 4, Johnson 5, Garcia 7, Gil 3, Nova 1.
— Gavin Ewbank (@GavinEwbank) March 19, 2014

Derek Jeter made the trip up Orlando today, the first time this spring that he has actually gone on the road with the team. The lineup card had a "2" listed next to his name as if he was going to be behind the plate today, but it was just a silly error; he's starting at shortstop.

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Nova falls victim to bad luck, Yanks fall to Phils in Clearwater

By: Josh Sabo | Minor League Writer

Ivan Nova suffered a tough loss today, as the Yankees lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-2, in a split-squad matchup in Clearwater, Florida.

Despite allowing three runs, Nova looked pretty good. He began the game with 4 strikeouts in the first two innings, but things began to unravel in the third, where he gave up all three of his runs in that inning. But even then he didn't look bad, rather the Yankees defense and poor luck was the reason that Nova struggled. The Yankees are probably one of the worst teams in baseball at employing the shift and this game showed how much it could cost them.

Nova began the third by allowing four straight singles. These singles were either bloops or ground balls that found a hole. These singles were hit by major league players: Ben Revere, Chase Utley, Marlon Bryd and Ryan Howard. Bryd's single scored Revere, and Howard's led to a bases loaded situation. The second run scored on a double-play ball hit by Carlos Ruiz.

Though all these hits and runs were the result of bad luck the third run was by far the luckiest, as it was set up by an infield pop-up single by Dominic Brown. Nova failed to get catch the ball, and that allowed the inning to continue, Darrin Ruf was the next batter and he made Nova pay by hitting a double to score the third run. On the play Brown got thrown out at home for the third out.

Nova rebounded in the next inning and even with his unlucky inning would have probably had a quality start. He gave up 3 runs in 5 innings with 6 strikeouts, and no walks. Yankee fans should be slightly worried about the defensive shifts this team employs, but it's not a big concern when you consider that this wasn't even their usual infield. Honeslty his zero walks are probably my main takeaway from this game, if he can keep his control in check he can be very good.

Shane Greene and Bryan Mitchell came out to pitch the bottom of the 6th and 7th innings and they both did very well.Neither pitcher  allowed a hit and they both struckout two batters. Greene was able to strikeout two major leaguers in Ruiz and Ruf, and looked pretty good doing so.

(The following link comes from Mike Axia and shows just how good his 2-seam fastball can be: http://i.minus.com/ibDBEIncf4faS.gif)

Greene is currently slated to begin the season in AA, but should be able to move pretty quickly and may be an option for a swing-man type role late in the season.

The same can be said of Mitchell, who struckout Freddy Galvis, and Cody Asche. Mitchell, like Greene, was added onto the 40-man roster this past offseason, and is looking like he may finally become the prospect that so many know he can be. He really has great stuff, and though it's a small sample size it's nice to see him throw strikes. If he keeps that up all year, he should be able to become a fairly good starting pitcher. He has a lot of upside.

Mitchell and Greene kept the Yankees in the game, and in the top of the 7th inning it really looked they might make a comeback. The inning started with a homerun by Jacoby Ellsbury to make the lead 3-1. After an out by Ichiro Suzuki, Mark Teixeira drew a walk and was pinch ran for by catcher Francisco Arcia.

The next batter was Kelly Johnson, who came through with a big double. Unfortunately Arcia was thrown out at home on the play. Johnson, however, advanced to third on the throw home, and was later pitch-ran for by Rob Segedin. Segedin scored on the very next play as  Francisco Cervelli continued his hot spring, with a single. Unfortunately the Phillies were able to end the rally by miraculously getting Yangervis Solarte to strikeout.

The two runs scored in the 7th would be the only runs the Yankees scored, but the Phillies had another 3 run inning in the 8th. Their runs all came versus Preston Claiborne who had his first bad outing of the spring. This is somewhat significant as he was considered a lock to be a part of the Yankees bullpen before the spring began. Now it seems that other players, like Matt Daley, and Dellin Betances, deserve it more. Claiborne couldn't even get out of the inning and needed Mark Montgomery to clean up his mess.

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Spring Training Games 16 and 17: Orioles at Yankees, Yankees at Phillies

By: Gavin Ewbank | Lead Writer

Half of the Yankees' squad is in Tampa today to host the Baltimore Orioles at George M. Steinbrenner Field. First pitch is set for 1:05 pm ET, and the game will be televised on YES.

The other half will be in Clearwater for a matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies, which will also start at 1:05 pm ET but can only be seen on MLB.TV.

Michael Pineda will make his first start of the spring, and his first appearance in front of TV cameras for the first time in two years.

Pineda made his spring debut last week against the Detroit Tigers and it was a very encouraging debut. He struck out four, including Miguel Cabrera, in two scoreless innings. His slider looked very sharp, and he was sitting in the low 90's, which was a good thing to see from a guy that Yankees would love to get a lot out of this season.

This will be my first time watching Pineda pitch, so I'm pretty excited to see how he throws, especially after the great reviews he got after his last game, which was not televised.

Getting the ball for Team-B today will be Ivan Nova, who the Yankees are also counting on as their No. 4 starter this season.

Nova has been a little up an down so far this spring. His first start was not great, while his second was very impressive, striking out four in three hitless innings against the Washington Nationals. But he take another step back in his last outing, giving up three runs on eight hits to the Houston Astros.

Today's split-squad lineups vs Baltimore and Philadelphia:

Today's lineup vs BAL in Tampa: Gardner 8, Jeter 6, Beltran DH, McCann 2, Soriano 7, Nuñez 5, Anna 4, Almonte 9, Canzler 3, Pineda 1.
— Gavin Ewbank (@GavinEwbank) March 13, 2014

Lineup vs PHI in Clearwater: Ellsbury 8, Suzuki 9, Teixeira 3, Johnson 5, Cervelli 2, Solarte 6, Sizemore 4, Flores 7, Romine DH, Nova 1.
— Gavin Ewbank (@GavinEwbank) March 13, 2014

Pretty much everyone will be in action today. Derek Jeter will be in Tampa, playing shortstop today, and Mark Teixeira is on the road and playing first base today. Francisco Cervelli, who hit two homeruns yesterday, will be playing in Clearwater with Asutin Romine as the DH, while Brian McCann is in Tampa to catch Pineda.

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Nova, Banuelos get roughed up in win over the Astros

Ivan Nova and Manny Banuelos gave up a combined six runs in 4.2 innings, but a two-run homerun by likely Opening Day third baseman Kelly Johnson helped the Yankees down the Houston Astros, 9-6, Saturday afternoon in Osceola County Stadium.

Mark Teixeira was in the lineup for just the second time this spring after getting yesterday off, and he had a good day at the plate, reaching base twice on a walk and a double in the 3rd inning.

After a very good showing his in second out of the spring last Monday, Nova was knocked around by a very young Astros squad.

He gave up two singles and a double to open the bottom of the 1st inning; the double from Jason Castro scored both Dexter Fowler and Jose Altuve to put Houston up 2-0. The Astros added another run off of Nova in the 2nd inning on a RBI single by Cesar Izturis.

Nova was able to get through the final two innings of his outing without giving up a run. Overall, it wasn't his best day, one of those outings that the Yankees hope to avoid this year. The Astros collected 3 runs on 8 hits off of him, and they also struck out five times against the Yankee right hander.

“Everything would stay up,” Nova said. “It was kind of hard for me to keep it down, and they took advantage of it. Even the second inning, they were hitting the ball real good.”

However, Yankees manager Joe Girardi thought that this was a good outing for Nova.

“You look at his outings so far, they've been pretty easy,” Girardi said. “Today I thought was a good outing because he found it. He struggled in the first inning finding some sink and finding his curveball, and I thought he did a good job of finding himself and giving us four innings and really not throwing a ton of pitches.”

Banuelos followed Nova in the 5th inning, but he couldn't get three outs before Girardi pulled the plug on his day.

After giving up a double to Altuve and a walk to Castro, Chris Carter took Banuelo deep for a three-run homerun. Banuelos was able to get the next two guys out, but he must have hit his pitch-limit because Girardi pulled him with two outs.

“I was happy for him that he got out there,” Girardi said. “He threw some strikes. It’s been a long road back, and he had a smile on his face because I think you appreciate a lot more. When you lose something for a while, you appreciate it a lot more when you come back.”

Down 1-0 heading into the 2nd inning, Dean Anna opened the inning with on of his two hits in the game, and then Scott Sizemore reached on a throwing error that scored Anna. After a Zoilo Almonte groundout, Mason Williams doubled to right field to bring home Sizemore.

An innings later, following the double by Teixeira, Johnson hit a homerun to right field off of Darin Down to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead.

“Honestly, that was pure trying to get him over, and I caught it out front,” Johnson said. “Always good to remember what it feels like. Better than not hitting one all spring and then going into the season trying to remember, ‘Back in September, when I hit my last one…,’ you know what I mean?”

The Yankees scored two more runs in the 6th inning on a sac-fly by Williams to bring Anna home, then Brett Gardner followed that with a single into center field, scoring both Sizemore and Almonte to put the Yankees up 7-6.

New York doubled their lead an inning later on a Zelous Wheeler single and a Ramon Flores fielder's choice.

Anna finished the game 2-for-2 with a walk and a pair of runs scored; an overall good day for him as he tries to make the team. Austin Romine also collected a pair of hits in two at-bats. And Yangervis Solarte went 1-for-2, his batting average this spring is .667.

Cesar Cabral threw a scoreless inning and didn't give up a hit, though he did walk a batter. David Herndon, Fred Lewis and Chris Leroux also threw scoreless innings. Apart from a couple of guys, the Yankees' bullpen has been solid this spring.

The Yankees are back in Tampa to host the Tampa Bay Rays tomorrow at The Boss. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 pm and you can see the game on YES.

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog

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Spring Training Game 12: Yankees at Astros

The Houston Astros sold out today's game against the Yankees at Osceola County Stadium. Derek Jeter will not be making that trip as they all hoped.

After last night's thrilling win against the Detroit Tigers that ended on a walk-off balk, and included an very impressive debut by Michael Pineda, the Yankees are up in Kissimmee today for their first game Grapefruit league game against the Astros this year, they same club they'll face on Opening Day.

Ivan Nova gets the call for the Yankees in this one, and he's looking to build off of his last start in which he looked really good, striking out four in three scoreless, hitless innings.

Nova is penciled in to be the Yankees' fourth start this season behind CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, and Masahiro Tanaka. So far this spring, all four of the the rotation locks have pitched well, and no one has gotten hurt (knock on wood).

For the Astros, this will be a split squad game, so most of their talented players might be on the road, with the other half home to face the Bombers.

Today's lineup vs Houston:

Today's lineup vs HOU: Gardner 8, Nuñez 4, Teixeira 3, Johnson DH, Cervelli 2, Anna 6, Sizemore 5, Almonte 7, Williams 9, Nova 1.
— Gavin Ewbank (@GavinEwbank) March 8, 2014

After playing shortstop for two straight days, Jeter gets the day off. Mark Teixeira is back in the lineup for the second time this spring after getting yesterday off. Scott Sizemore, who is trying to make the team as a utility infielder, is starting at third base for the first time. And Eduardo Nunez is starting at second base today.

Nova is scheduled to go at least three innings, and then Manny Banuelos will come in right after him, making his first appearance of the spring. Banuelos is one of the Yankees' top pitching prospects, and there has been talk of him possibly making the team out of spring training as he's coming off of Tommy John Surgery.

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog

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Ivan Nova sharp in Yankees' fourth straight spring win

Ivan Nova might be penciled in as the Yankees No. 4 starter to start the season, but today he pitched like a No. 1.

Making his second start of the spring, Nova brought his A-game, pitching three perfect innings while striking out four in the Yankees' 4-2 victory over the Washington Nationals Monday at GMS Field in Tampa.

“Love where he’s at right now,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

The Yankees were able to put together a four-run second inning off of Nationals starts Ross Detwiler and never looked back en route to their fourth straight victory of the spring.

Nova looked great from the start. Denard Span reached base on an error by Corban Joseph to start the game, but no body reached base off of Nova after that. He struck out the final two batters of the 1st inning, and then struck out Jose Lobaton to open the 2nd.

Nova compiled the four strikeouts over three innings, throwing 31 of his 36 pitches for strikes. He was attacking hitters, using his curveball very well, and overall, was pitching exactly how the Yankees are hoping he'll pitch this in the backend of their rotation.

"I was trying to attack the strike zone, trying not to walk anybody," Nova said. "You try to eliminate that here, not to carry that over, and then try to make adjustments. You try to be on a good roll for the start of the year."

Nova's battery mate, Brian McCann, was very impressed with the way that he threw the ball Monday afternoon.

"When you've got good stuff, you can pound the zone all day long and you can go right at hitters (ahead) 0-2," McCann said. "It doesn’t matter. He changes eye levels. He does so many good things. Today’s outing was beyond impressive."

The Yankees' four-run second inning started with back-to-back singles by Brian Roberts and Francisco Cervelli and then a double into left field by Kelly Johnson that scores Roberts and moved Cervelli to third. Ichiro followed with a ground ball to the shortstop that was thrown away, plating both Cervelli and Johnson from 2nd base.

Still with nobody out in the inning, Zoilo Almonte ripped a ground-rule double into the right field corner, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd. Corban Joseph followed up by grounding a single into right field, scoring Ichiro to make it a 4-0 game.

Brett Gardner struck out and Derek Jeter grounded into a double play to end the inning.

The Nationals didn't get on the board until the 5th inning when Zach Walter launched a solo homerun to center field off of Shawn Kelley, who only gave up the homerun in one inning of work, while striking out two.

Washington plated their only other run of the game in the 6th inning off of Danny Burawa, who was hurt by the ground ball. The Nats opened the inning with a couple of ground ball singles that put runners on 1st and 3rd, and then Jeter misplayed a double play ball, bringing home Eury Perez, cutting the Yankees' lead in half to 4-2.

David Robertson pitched the 4th inning behind Nova for his first outing of the spring. He hit the first batter he faces, but was able to get a flyout and a double-play for a pretty simple three-batter inning.

“It was OK,” Robertson said. “I got three outs. I can’t complain about that. I didn't walk anybody. I accidentally hit the first batter on my second pitch. It was a decent outing. I felt like my velocity was good. I was behind everything. I pulled maybe five or six pitches that I shouldn't have out of the zone. That was really it.”

Jeter is still looking for his first hit of the spring after going 0-for-3 today. Gardner doubled in the 5th inning after striking out in his first two at-bats. Cervelli collected two hits in three at-bats, continuing the odd trend of Yankees catchers hitting very well so far this spring.

The Yankees are back at it in Tampa tomorrow when they host the Baltimore Orioles at The Boss with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm EST. David Phelps will start the game for New York opposite Wei-Yin Chen for Baltimore. That game can be seen on YES.

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog

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Spring Training Game 7: Nationals at Yankees

The Yankees were far from being the Bronx Bombers last season, hitting over 100 homeruns less than they did in 2012. Of course, that had a lot to do with the vast amount of injuries suffered during the season last year.

The lineup's main power-hitters like Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira missed a lot of time, and yes, even Alex Rodriguez missed most of the season because of hip surgery.

But the Yankees are hoping to get back to where they were in 2012 after adding Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran to slot in with Alfonso Soriano and, hopefully, a healthy Teixeira. Jacoby Ellsbury is another guy that you could include, but other than his MVP-caliber 2011 season, he hasn't been a power hitter.

So far through their first five Grapefruit League games, the Yankees have already sent 8 balls flying over the fence, that's the most on the Grapefruit league and tied with the Milwaukee Brewers for the most in baseball.

Yeah, it's only spring, but homeruns are what make the Bombers the Bombers, and it's also good when you have the stars players like McCann (1) and Beltran (1) knocking them out of the park early.

The Yankees will be trying to tally up a few more long-balls today in Tampa as they take on the Washington Nationals at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

Ivan Nova will be on the mound for the Yankees making his second start of the spring. Nova is currently penciled in to be the Yankees' No. 4 start on Opening Day. A great second half to finish the 2013 season really helped him become a future star.

Nova gave up two runs in 1 1/3 inning in his first start against the Pittsburgh Pirates last week. He had a some trouble with his pitch-count, walking a par of batters before reaching the pre-set 35 pitch limit halfway through the 2nd inning.

Nova and the Yankees will be going up against Nationals starter Ross Detwiler.

Today's lineup vs Nationals:

Today's lineup vs WAS: Gardner 8, Jeter 6, McCann 2, Roberts 4, Cervelli DH, Johnson 5, Ichiro 9, Almonte 7, Joseph 3, Nova RHP
— Gavin Ewbank (@GavinEwbank) March 3, 2014

David Robertson and Shawn Kelley are among the pitchers slated to throw today. Robertson has not pitched in a game yet this spring, so today will be his debut. He'll pitch in the 4th inning. most likely, after Nova goes through his first three. John Ryan Murphy will come into the game as McCann's backup. Murphy has been hitting the ball very well so far, and could actually win the backup job if he outplays Francisco Cervelli.

Today’s second string: C John Ryan Murphy, 1B Jose Gil, 2B Zelous Wheeler, SS Addison Maruszak, 3B Jose Pirela, LF Ramon Flores, CF Mason Williams, RF Adonis Garcia.

Today’s scheduled relievers: Robertson, Kelley, Dan Burawa, Yoshinori Tateyama, Robert Coello, Jim Miller (Chase Whitley, Mark Montgomery and Brian Gordon are listed as available if necessary).

Today's game will be on YES, so you'll have that. You can also follow along on Twitter for updates.

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog

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Four-run 7th leads Pirates past the Yanks in Grapefruit league opener

Three of the Yankees' four big offseason acquisitions made their spring training debuts Wednesday, and two of the three made great impression in a game that the Yankees would end up losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5, because of a bullpen implosion, Tuesday in Bradenton, Florida.

Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran were all in the lineup for the Bombers in their first Grapefruit league game of the spring, and they got to work quickly.

McCann drove in the first run of the game after Ellsbury drew a walk to lead off the top of the 1st inning, moving over to 2nd base on a line drive up the middle by Yangervis Solarte. Solarte got to third base in the single by McCann and then scored on a base hit by Ramon Flores, who now has 2 RBIs in two games this spring.

With two outs in the 2nd inning, Ellsbury drew his second walk of the game that led to Solarte blasting a two-run homerun off of Edinson Volquez, giving the Yankees a 4-0 lead.

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Spring Training Game 2: Yankees at Pirates

Today the fake games get a little less fake.

The Yankees opened their spring schedule yesterday against Florida State University, and today they play an actual major league club in their Grapefruit League opener.

Ivan Nova will be on the bump for the Yankees in this one. He's already got a spot in the Yankees rotation this season as the likely 4th starter -- unless something very unexpected happens during the spring.

Preston Claiborne and Dellin Betances will be among the pitchers coming out of the bullpen behind Nova.

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Spring Training notebook: Day 1

TAMPA, Fla. -- Pitchers and catchers officially reported to camp yesterday, and on Saturday, the Yankees held their first workout of the spring. Pitchers threw bullpens, and then ran some laps around the field, to which not everyone was satisfied with.

Tanaka throws 32 pitches: Throwing alongside Ivan Nova and Hiroki Kuroda, Masahiro Tanaka threw a 32 pitchers bullpen session in front of more than a hundred media members, though manager Joe Girardi said none of the pitches were thrown at full-speed.

"I didn't think he was trying to do too much," Girardi said. "I thought he had a good plan when he went out there today of what he was trying to do, and I thought he executed it."

After getting off of the mound, Tanaka had to run four laps around the field -- the same thing as running a mile -- and said afterwards that it was more than he expected to do.

“I actually didn't know that I was going to run this much," Tanaka said through an interpreter. "I’m a little bit of a slow runner, but that part I really can’t help.”

"Everybody's talking about the guy, so when he threw a bullpen, even I stopped to watch him," Nova said. "He's really good, I mean in the bullpen, anyway. I saw some videos of him pitching, too. I'm excited that he's here. It was a huge upgrade for this team."

CC Sabathia also threw a bullpen on the four-person mound at the same time as Tanaka.

Banuelos: 'This is my year': Manny Banuelos has not pitched off the mound in live games in almost two years. He only threw 24 innings in 2012 before hurting his elbow and forcing him to undergo Tommy John Surgery.

But now Banuelos, who will turn 23 on March 13th, is healthy and ready to be a part of the Yankees' big league club this year.

"This is my year," Banuelos said Saturday morning.

Contrary to what you might think, Banuelos is not just in camp to gain some experience pitching to Major League hitters. He has a chance to be in the Yankees' bullpen on Opening Day as the second lefty.

"Banuelos has got that big arm," a front office source recently told ESPNNewYork.com. "If it's still there and the lightning still strikes then you're going to see people say, 'F--- it, bring him with us [on Opening Day].'"

Before the surgery, he was throwing the ball in the mid-to-high 90's, hitting 96/97 mph, and is now throwing around 93/94 mph. Pitchers in the past the have opted for Tommy John tend to come back throwing just as hard, if not harder, as they were before the surgery.

The next step for Banuelos will be to throw a bullpen on Sunday, then face live hitters on Wednesday.

Nova not giving himself a spot: We were been operating the entire offseason think that Nova would be the 4th starter in the Yankees' rotation this season. But wasn't was thinking like the rest of us.

Even though he finished off the great for the Yankees in 2013, Nova doesn't think that he is guaranteed a spot on in the starting rotation, and that he must fight for one during spring training.

“I’m still in a competition,” Nova said. “Nothing is sure. I know that CC can be sure, Kuroda, Tanaka. I'm one of the young guys. I've got to be doing the best out there in the competition.”

His manager, Joe Girardi, however, was a little bit more optimistic.

“We expect Nova to be in our rotation, but I love that attitude,” Girardi said. “You have to perform. The bottom line is it’s a performance-based business, so you have to go out and perform, but I love that attitude.”

Don't call him J.R.: Backup catcher candidate J.R. Murphy let it known on Saturday that he would rather have fans and media know him as John Ryan Murphy, his full name name.

Murphy said he was called John Ryan as a kid to distinguish him from his father, who is known as John Mark. He added that he doesn't really mind being called "J.R." or "Murph," but won't answer to just John.

"That's the only thing that annoys me," he said.

Up next: The team will be back at it on Sunday for Day 2 of workouts, with pitchers and catchers slated to hit the field around 10am EST.

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog, and you can follow him on Twitter (below).

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Yankees' rotation shaping up nicely with Masahiro Tanaka in the mix

It's official. He's coming. Masahiro Tanaka is coming to New York just like you wanted, all for the price of $155 million over seven-years.

We had been talking about it all throughout the offseason, that the Yankees needed to add at least one starting pitcher in order to actually contend next season, with Tanaka being the top target. They wanted him badly, and now they got him.

With Tanaka in the rotation, there is no long so many questions surrounding the Yankees' starting five. In fact, there aren't many questions at all.

On paper, the Yankees' will open the season with a rotation of CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Tanaka, Ivan Nova, and who ever wins the battle for the fifth spot during spring training -- if he comes in healthy, I'd give Michael Pineda the best chance to win the job.

And that applies to the rest of the rotation, too. Sabathia will be the biggest question mark of the bunch coming into the season.

Coming off the elbow surgery, Sabathia lost a few miles per hour on his velocity, and never seemed capable of making the adjustment to being a high-80's, low-90's pitcher, rather than being the mid-to-high 90's guy that everybody knew him as.

I don't want to state the obvious here, but I believe that had a lot to do with his career-worst season. A lot of people tried to blame it on the fact that he had lost quite a bit of weight during the offseason, and that's why he wasn't the same guy on the mound, but I don't buy it.

If you've seen the pictures that have been going viral around social media, you can see that Sabathia has lost even more weight this winter, some have estimated about 40 pounds.

I think that being a year removed from the surgery will be very good for him. He knows how bad last season was, and he is going to come back in 2014 looking to prove everyone wrong. I'm not saying that he'll be the ace of the staff one again, but a top of the rotation starter is all you can really ask for at this point in a pitchers career -- especially one that has logged as many innings as Sabathia.

With Kuroda, you pretty much know what you're going to get. He's a 39-year-old pitcher that is going to give you a lot of innings. You going to attack hitters, and he's going to get outs when he needs them. He's been very good for the Yankees in his two seasons in the Bronx, and really stepped up last season when the team needed him. Sure he broke down towards the end, but that doesn't make him a bad pitcher.

Because of all of this, and the fact that Joe Girardi likes to use his veteran guys, I think that Kuroda has earned the right to be the team's second starter, even with Tanaka, who will probably slide right behind him in the third spot.

Obviously Tanaka is going to come in with a lot of weight on his shoulder. He just got paid a massive amount of money, and you know that Yankees fans are expecting to pitch like he's worth $155 million.

A lot of scouts have compared him to Yu Darvish, and some have said that he'll be a second or third starter at best. The game is a lot different in American compared to Japan, and if Tanaka is able to be a second or third starter for the length of his contract, I'd say the Yankees did just fine in paying him what they did.

Nova has the potential to team up with Tanaka in a couple of years to create one of the best one-two combinations in the game. He broke into the leagues in 2011 and really showed what kind of pitcher he can be.

But we didn't see much of the greatness again until the second half of the 2013 season, when he came back from injury and spent some time in the minors, then got his chance in July and took off. He was fantastic in August, earning AL Pitcher of the Month honors after going 5-0 with an ERA under 2.00. If he could pitch just under, at least, the level he is capable of pitching, then the Yankees will have the best fourth starter in the game. Realistically, there aren't many fourth starters as talented as Nova.

Then that's where you reach the fifth and final spot in the rotation. Like I said above, I really think this will be Michael Pineda's job to lose. The Yankees were hoping that he would be the future ace of the staff, but injuries have kept him from throwing even one official pitch for them.

Luckily for the Yankees, giving up Jesus Montero hasn't worked out well for the Seattle Mariners, either, so at least they didn't lose much, technically.

Pineda was an all-star with the Mariners in 2011, and if he can come back to be at least half of that, you have to be very, very happy if you're the Yankees. A fifth starter should only be able to get you some quality starts here and there, and basically serves as an extra rest day for the top of the rotation starter, at least in my opinion. But if the Yanks can get something good out of him, the rotation will be extremely dangerous.

Even after saying all of this, I still think that the Yankees will have quite the competition in competing with the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East next season.

The Red Sox just won the World Series, and even though they didn't get a lot better -- I mean, how much better can a World Series champ get? -- but they didn't really get worse, either. And the Rays are the Rays.

They're going to put a decent team on the field, and Joe Madden is going to make every player much better than they actually are, just like he always does. And let's not forget to mention that Tampa will always be attacking you with their very talented young pitcher staff, led by David Price and Alex Cobb.

No matter how much offense you bring to the table, you need a solid pitching staff in order to win a championship. With the signing of one player, yes, just one player, the Yankees suddenly have that solid pitching in their rotation, and they're ready to be a playoff team once again.

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Five Yankees file for arbitration

Tuesday was a pretty low-key date in Major League Baseball. It was the final day for players to file for arbitration. The five Yankees that were eligible filed for arbitration today -- Ivan Nova, David Robertson, Shawn Kelley, Brett Gardner and Francisco Cervelli.

After filing today, the team and the players will exchange salary numbers on Friday, and they can't come to any agreement on a number, the two sides will take their business to an arbitrator for him to decided.

Based on the projections, the five players combined are expected to cost the Yankees somewhere around $15 million next season. Let's use the numbers projected by MLBTradeRumors.com to see what we have.

Robertson: D-Rod has been one of the leagues best relief pitchers over the past few seasons whlie setting up for the great Mariano Rivera as the Yankees' closer. Now that Rivera is gone, Robertson is expected to take over the closer role in 2014, and that in return should give him a bump in pay from the $3.1 million he made last season.

According to MLBTR, Robertson can expect to get a $2.4 million raise through the arbitration process, effectively earning him $5.5 million this season.

Nova: Nova has seen a lot of up and down throughout his short career with the Yankees. He got off to a rough start in 2013, but put together the best second half of the season on the Yankees' staff. He's 27 and going through his first year of arbitration, and is expected to get paid nicely for his performance this past season.

He'll be the Yankees' third starter in the rotation when the season starts, and MLBTR thinks he'll be making $2.2 million in the position.

Gardner: Gardner has found himself in an interesting spot heading into the final year on his contract with the Yankees. They can value him as their best trade piece, and he can value himself as a player close the talent level of Jacoby Ellsbury. He's probably going to have a nice payday one he hits free-agency -- or if the Yanks sign him to an extension.

The might trade him at some point this season is they don't get the starting pitcher they're looking for, but until that happens, MLBTR thinks they'll be paying him $4 million through arbitration.

Cervelli: Likely to be the Yankees' backup catcher behind newly acquired Brian McCann, Cervelli missed most of the 2013 season because of injuries, and would have missed 50 games because of a PED suspension -- of you don't remember, he was one of the 12 players that accepted suspensions in the Biogenesis case while Alex Rodriguez if fighting until he dies.

Well, he's back, he's presumably healthy, and he's ready to battle for the backup job with Austin Romine this spring. MLBTR also thinks he'll be ready to play under a $1 million salary.

Kelley: Kelly pitched pretty well out of the Yankees' bullpen last season as their go-to strikeout guy late in the game. He wasn't as great to end the season as he was in the first half, but he still could be one of the go-to pitchers out of the bullpen again this season.

MLBTR has him making $1.5 million through arbitration, which is a pretty fair number, if you ask me.

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Yanks Trying To Avoid Sweep In Mo's Last Game At Fenway

After tonight, Mariano Rivera will never play another game at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox. Rivera enters Sunday night with 58 save against the Sox, the most for any pitcher vs any franchise.

The Red Sox will be honoring Mariano before the game tonight, and the question on everybody's mind is what the Sox plan on giving Rivera as a retirement gift. From beach cruisers to broken bat rocking chairs, Mo's got it all, and tonight's gift might be something special.

To the game, the Yankees come into tonight's contest having lost the first two games of the series, including any disappointing start by CC Sabathia in Saturday's 5-1 loss. Sabathia gave up five runs on nine hits in six innings, continuing his downward spiral in 2013.

"It's very frustrating because everyone keeps telling me I'm close,'' Sabathia said. ”But I don't see it. I want results. I know the team wants results. I know the fans want results. It's just tough not being able to deliver.''

Tonight's Lineup at Boston:

Granderson CF
Rodriguez DH
Cano 2B
Soriano LF
Overbay 1B
Reynolds 3B
Ichiro RF
Ryan SS
Stewart C
Nova RHP

Pitching Preview:

While Sabathia continues to struggle on the mound -- along with Hiroki Kuroda, who's been a shell of what he was leading up mid-August when he's started to fall off the wagon since then -- Ivan Nova takes the mound tonight, needing to pitch like the ace that the Yanks have been looking for.

Nova left his last start against the Baltimore Orioles after just 79 pitches, giving up four runs on six hits and two walks in six innings because of tightness in his right triceps, but after throwing a bullpen session a couple of days ago, he has said that his arm feels good and he's ready to go.

"You never want to tell your manager, because they can push you back or skip you, whatever," Nova said Tuesday. "You just want to keep pitching."

Taking the  mound for the Red Sox in the series finale is talented right-hander Clay Bucholtz, who enters tonight's match up with a perfect 10-0 record, and a 0.79 ERA in two starts against the Bombers this season.

Bucholtz spent a couple of months on the DL, and when he came back, he picked up right where he left off, holding the Tampa Bay Rays scoreless over five innings while giving up just three hits and striking out six. He wasn't at his best, but it's certainly a good sign.

"It'd be great if he could go out and continue what he did down in Tampa," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "But as I mentioned [Friday], the stress of the pitches from his start to the end of his night, that'll have as much bearing as the number of pitches thrown."

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Nova Needs To Pitch Like The Ace The Yanks Don't Have

In 2013, the Yankees have used a franchise-record 55 players – with possibly a few more still to come – and 23 of those players have been pitchers, and yet, not one of them has taken the reins to become to true ace of the Yankees for the entire season.

Saturday in Boston, CC Sabathia -- the man the Yankees are paying to be the ace of the staff and win the big games needed the most -- was easily outmatched by Jon Lester, who went eight innings, giving up only one runs on three hits in the Red Sox’s 5-1 win over the injury depleted Yankees. For the second straight outing, and third time in his last six starts, Lester went at least eight innings.

"It's very frustrating because everyone keeps telling me I'm close,'' Sabathia said. ”But I don't see it. I want results. I know the team wants results. I know the fans want results. It's just tough not being able to deliver.''

For a team like the Red Sox that can proudly say they have two aces running out on the field, including Clay Buchholz’s, who takes the mound Sunday night for Boston with his perfect 10-0 record and 0.72 ERA in two starts against the Yankees this season.

They’ll head into Fenway for the final time this season and will look to avoid being swept by their longtime rivals on a night when Mariano Rivera will be celebrated by the Red Sox before the game.

But when the game gets going and the players take the field, Ivan Nova will be on the mound for the Yankees tonight, and he'll need to pitch like the ace that New York has been looking for.

With Sabathia’s season-long struggles and Hiroki Kuroda’s recent fall from the top of the rotation beginning in mid-August, the Yankees, who relied on their pitching more than anything early in the season, now find themselves having to deal with one of the most questionable pitching staffs in the Wild Card race.

Nova, who left his last start against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday after just six innings because of tightness in his right triceps, comes in having won seven of his last eight starts, with the only loss coming against the Red Sox last Thursday when he gave up three runs on 94 pitches in just five innings – failing to go at least six innings in a start for the first time since April 26^th.

The Yankees enter Sunday still very much in the Wild Card race, trailing both the Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers by just three games. But without a true ace, it’ll be tough for the Yankees to succeed over their last 13 games. With Ivan Nova on the mound Sunday, he has a chance to be the ace the Yankees desperately need.

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Pettitte Faces The O's, Going For 6th Straight Quality Start

If you thought that the New York Yankees were out of the playoff chase after losing four of the last five games heading into Tuesday night, then think again, because they're still right in the middle of the second Wild Card race.

Trailing 4-3 after seven innings of play, the Yankees exploded for a four-run inning against the Baltimore Orioles, kicking off the inning with a double by Alex Rodriguez, who would score on a base hit to center by Robinson Cano to tie the game. Alfonso Soriano followed a two-run homerun to take a 6-4 lead, and Mark Reynolds doubled home a tack-on run.

Mariano Rivera came out of the bullpen to record the Yankees' final four outs of the game, sealing the Bombers' 7-5 victory. With and win and a loss by the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees will enter play on Wednesday just two games back of Tampa for the second Wild Card.

Just as important as the Wild Card standings, A-Rod, Austin Romine and starter Ivan Nova all left last night's game because of injuries. A-Rod's left hamstring tightened up on him on his scoring play in the 8th; Nova left because of some tightness in his triceps; and Romine left with a possibly concussion after taking a foul-tip of his facemask.

Tonight's Lineup vs Baltimore:

Gardner CF
Rodriguez DH
Cano 2B
Soriano LF
Granderson RF
Reynolds 3B
Overbay 1B
Ryan SS
Stewart C
Pettitte LHP

Derek Jeter is out of the lineup for the fourth straight game because of his ankle; A-Rod is in the lineup, but it could be something that we'll know more on after batting practice; newly acquired Brendan Ryan is starting at shortstop, and he'll be wearing No. 35 tonight.

Pitching Preview:

Andy Pettitte got off to a good start this season for the Yankees, after about the first month of the season, he started to fall into a funk to suggest being 41-years-old was finally catching up to him. After a couple months of terrible pitching, Pettitte has once again found his grove on the mound, as he takes the mound in Baltimore looking for his sixth straight quality start.

Pettitte is coming off a good start against the Boston Red Sox last week, but the Yankees' bullpen couldn't back him up, as he would take the no-decision after giving up three runs on five hits over six innings.

"I felt good. I hate it," Pettitte said. "I wish I'd gone a little bit deeper in the game, but all my pitches were working. It was a game where you feel maybe like you could've got a little bit deeper."

Going up against Pettitte and the Yankees will be Orioles right-hander Scott Feldman, who;s coming off one of his best pitching performances of the season, going the distance against the Chicago White Sox, giving up just five hits over nine innings in the the O's 4-0 win.

"The first time through, they were kind of taking the first pitch a little bit, then after that, they got a little more aggressive," Feldman said. "So I was able to try not to live in the middle of the plate, kind of to hit the corners and hope they'd swing and get some early outs that way. If I go nine or seven -- whatever it is -- as long as we win, it's a good game."

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