Quick Yankee Notes

"Preferred Fan".  That sounds like a cute way of saying "scalpers".  

Yep...and, of course, all teams always use "dynamic pricing" when the Yanks visit. A few years ago when all AL/NL teams didn't always play each other during the regular season I went ahead and did the "Preferred Fan" thing so that I could get first crack at tix when the Yanks came in. I bought tix for Dodgers, Giants (NL West rivals) & Cubs games (lots of Cubs fans here) and was able to sell those thru Stub Hub...even made a profit. Because of that I was able to catch CC's 3000th K game.

I remember that game.  Looks like a great crowd on hand. 

Yankees 2024 Season Preview: Victor González
www.pinstripealley.com/2024/2/13/24071229/mlb-yankees-2024-season-preview-victor-gonzalez-bullpen-pitching-dodgers-trade

The Yankees bullpen has largely been a strength of the team for the least decade or so, and they hope that 2024 will be no exception. Among a few of the core arms who remain with the club, there are a few fresh faces. One new name is left-hander Victor González.

González, entering his age-28 season, was acquired in one of the Yankees’ quieter offseason moves via trade with the Dodgers in December. It’s unlikely he will be the one to push the team to the promised land, but he has shown flashes of excellence at the big-league level, and projects to fill a fairly important role with the team to start the 2024 season.

2023 Stats: 34 G, 33.2 IP, 4.01 ERA, 3.40 FIP, 3.76 xFIP, 1.10 WHIP, 8.02 K/9, 2.67 BB/9, 0.53 HR/9, 0.4 fWAR

2024 ZiPS Projections: 54 G, 54.0 IP, 4.53 ERA, 4.68 FIP, 1.35 WHIP, 8.87 K/9, 3.98 BB/9, 1.27 HR/9, 0.0 fWAR

Victor González has pitched in parts of three seasons thus far in his Major League career, all with the Dodgers. A native of Tuxpan, Mexico, the southpaw signed with LA as a teenager in 2012 and worked his way through the system before getting promoted in the shortened 2020. He pitched even more in 2021, but missed all of the 2022 campaign after getting surgery on his elbow that spring. 2023 was an opportunity to rebound, and he did so fairly well before being flipped to the Yankees along with Jorbit Vivas for former first-round pick Trey Sweeney.

Sadly, the most promising sections on his resume are also the oldest, that being his rookie year in 2020. In the truncated season, the lefty tossed 20.1 lights-out innings. He posted a 1.33 ERA and 1.67 FIP that season, while striking out 28.7 percent of opposing batters, and walking just a miniscule 2.5 percent. González maintained an elite 69.2 percent ground-ball rate, and when he did allow to ball in the air, it worked out well, as he didn’t allow a single homer. He came through in the postseason too, working 6.2 innings, giving up just a pair of runs in the Dodgers’ World Series run. All told, González was excellent, and though it may not be the most repeatable performance in the world, run prevention is run prevention.

In a bigger sample in 2021, his FIP ballooned to to 4.27 amidst a lowering K rate and a much increased walk rate. But, he still managed to be serviceable in his 35.1 innings of work. 2022 was even worse, in a way, as he was sidelined for the entire season after receiving elbow surgery in May. Last season was a chance to prove himself once again, and he did a nice job of it. Though it was a career-high ERA, True Blue LA editor Eric Stephen cited a small number of blow-up outings that made him look worse on the whole. His FIP was 3.40 in 33.2 innings, with a much more manageable walk rate.

As one might expect for a prolific wormburner specialist (21st in GB% since 2020), González works essentially as a two-pitch pitcher, alternating between his sinker (63.7% in ‘23) and slider (29.8%), while mixing in a rare changeup from time to time. The combination has served him fairly well, and is the same one that has fueled new teammate Clay Holmes’ success over the last couple of seasons. The opposite moving pitches have helped González maintain solid chase and whiff rates, avoid hard contact, and of course hoist his ground-ball rate.

It’s been hard to register a knockout blow against González, too. In fact, he’s allowed just five homers in 96 career innings, including the playoffs. That would be good for 0.46 HR/9. Oddly enough, now-teammate Oswaldo Cabrera was the last player to take him deep, back on June 3, 2023; González didn’t allow another across his remaining 18 games (plus 14 dinger-free games in the minors).

With Wandy Peralta headed for the West Coast with the Padres, González will likely have a legitimate role with the Yankees in 2024. Along with fellow newcomer Caleb Ferguson, he will be a useful left-handed arm for Aaron Boone to call on, and one with a propensity for groundballs, something the Yankee bullpen is already well-equipped for.

Yet another inf .

A hyped prospect that has yet to live up to his hype . What a shocker