Minutes before the first pitch of Wednesday night’s game:

It took a couple years, but some members of the MSM are finally starting to talk about it. Check out our Twitter conversation with ESPN NY’s Wallace Matthews (just scroll and look for our logo).

My pronk takes your Diamondback

Brett Gardner’s plate discipline is awesome. It has allowed for him to make the jump from “fourth outfielder / defensive whiz” to “viable part of any lineup” with aplomb. Gardner’s patience and batting eye have been well documented in other corners of the Internet. However, a quick glance at the numbers this year reveals that something is…different.

O-Swing % (2013 / Career): 26.9% / 19% — (outside strike zone)
Z-Swing % (2013 / Career): 60.9% / 45.4% — (inside strike zone)
Swing % (2013 / Career): 44.4% / 33.6% — (total swing percentage)

Something something something small sample size. That mandatory disclaimer aside, it’s hard to ignore how much higher Gardner’s overall swing percentages have been in limited action to date.

And this is what Gardner’s swing chart looks like for 2013:

As you can see, Gardner has been swinging at some pitches fairly far removed from the strike zone. Was this a philosophical mandate from The Binder or is it just Gardner working out the kinks in the first month of the year? It’s very early in the season, but if this trend were to continue, it would be worth watching the effect it has on Gardner’s overall numbers at the plate.

Robinson: 2-4, 3-run monster HR

42: Just doing what he does to close the door on suckas.

And the Yankees tipped their cap to Boston with this tribute, although it was greeted with mild/confused fan reaction.

Note: Triple-A Scranton had 4 straight days of rainouts on the club’s trip to Buffalo (Blue Jays affiliate). Therefore, due to lack of plate appearances, none of their hitters will make this week’s MLPW.

– Covering April 8th through April 14th games —

Pitcher:
Vidal Nuno, 25, LHP, AAA
7 IP, 6 K, 0 BB, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 HR
Notable: SPOILER ALERT – He might win next week’s award too after Monday’s performance

What else can we say about Vidal Nuno? We’ve repeated the story so many times: Cut by the Indians after 2010 season; played independent ball for 41 innings in 2011; Yanks signed him; pitched very well at each stop; breakout season at Double-A Trenton in 2012.

And now he’s knocking on the door.

Hitter:
Peter O’Brien, 22, RHB C, A
.375/.411/.875 in 17 PA
Notable: 2012 2nd-round pick

Drafted out of “The U” in 2012 (after transferring from Bethune-Cookman), O’Brien is off to a nice start to the young campaign, after he spent 2012 mainly recovering from a broken wrist suffered in college. He hit 2 home runs on the week, and is currently hitting .306/.333/.639.

MiLB lists him at 6’3. His U of Miami profile lists him at 6’5″. Either way, that’s big for a catcher and comes with the normal big catcher disclaimer/warnings about defensive limitations.

One of the stats that jumps off the page in his small sampling of 39 PAs is a 12-to-1 strikeout/walk ratio. He’s K’d in 30.8% of his PAs, while walking only 2.6% of the time — let’s hope that improves.

Despite the strikeouts, the power display on the week was impressive, and we’ll continue to track him to see if he becomes another highly-coveted Yankee catching prospect.

Honorable Mentions:

Charlie Short, 24, RHP, A
3 IP, 7 K, 1 BB, 3 H, 0 ER
Signed out of independent league in July 2012

Gabe Encinas, 21, RHP, A
6 IP, 6 K, 0 BB, 3 H, 1 ER
Struggled last year at Staten Island, 4.97 ERA / 5.00 BB Per Nine

Zach Nuding, 23, RHP, AA
6 IP, 7 K, 2 BB, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 HR
6’4″ / 255 — this is a big boy

Gary Sanchez, 20, RHB C, A+
.304/.360/.696 in 25 PAs
Well, he did have another great week.

Walter Ibarra, 25, RHB SS, AA
.393/.413/.500 in 29 PA
Hit 1 HR on the week, hit only 1 HR in 188 PAs last season

Robert Refsnyder, 22, RHB 2B, A
.363/.417/.455 in 24 PA
2012 5th-round pick

JR Murphy, 21, RHB C, Double-A
.409/.458/.500 in 24 PAs
Stalled last year at Trenton hitting .231/.306/.408 in 170 PAs

We covered Vidal Nuno closely during his 2012 breakout season at Double-A, and most recently wrote about him in late March.

The lefty pitcher has continued to impress, and in three starts at AAA this season, here are his numbers:

17.2 IP, 20 K, 1 BB, 1.53 ERA

Can’t be long.

Received in the NoMaas inbox:

Game 9: Adam Jones blows bubble, game (Yankees 5, Orioles 2)
Game Notes:
- Adam Jones gift wrapped the win for the Yankees with this error in the 7th inning
- Baltimore’s young star Manny Machado reached a huge milestone, grounding into the first triple play of his career
- That triple play went 4-6-5-6-5-3-4, the first such occurrence in MLB history
- CC Sabathia: 8.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R (only 1 earned), 0 BB, 9 K
- For the second time this year, Eduardo Nunez had to leave a game after being hit by a pitch. Yet he still hasn’t broken someone’s collar bone

YES Player of the Game: N/A
Our Player of the Game: Adam Jones (-.165, and that doesn’t even factor in the error. Vernon Wells, who went 0-4, actually had the game’s highest WPA at .187, because he hit the fly ball that Jones dropped, allowing the Yankees to take the lead.)

Game 10: Baltimore shows Hughes O Face (Orioles 5, Yankees 3)
Game Notes:
- Phil Hughes: 3.0 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
- David Phelps: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
- Vernon Wells and Travis Hafner both homered
- Unfortunately so did Nick Markakis, Nolan Reimold, and Ryan Flaherty
- Brennan Boesch pinch hit for Jayson Nix’s anemic bat in the 8th, forcing Robinson Cano to play shortstop and Francisco Cervelli to man second base in the 9th

YES Player of the Game: Jason Hammel (.033 WPA)
Our Player of the Game: David Phelps (.154 WPA) – yes, really. WPA was wild for the first two games

Game 11: Hey, sexy lady (Yankees 3, Orioles 0)
Game Notes:
- Hiroki Kuroda dominated, tossing a complete game shutout
- Brett Gardner crushed a home run to left field. He currently has twice as many home runs in 2013 as Miguel Cabrera
- Jayson Nix misplayed two balls – one was a transfer on a would-be double play, the other a grounder in the 9th. Apparently the Yankees have a shortstop who can’t throw (Nunez), a shortstop who can’t field (Nix), and a shortstop who can’t move (Jeter)
- John Kruk’s commentary annoyed the hell out of everyone watching the game

ESPN Player of the Game: Hiroki Kuroda (.457 WPA)
Our Player of the Game: Hiroki Kuroda (.457 WPA)

The Yanks took 2 out of 3 and improved to 6-5 on the year. They are 1 game back of the Red Sox in the AL East. Monday is an off day and then Arizona comes to town for a 3-game set starting on Tuesday at 7:05 pm.


- Buy Yankees Tickets

Kuroda with the Yankees’ first complete game shutout of the 2013 campaign — 9 IP, 5 K, 0 BB, 5 H, 0 ER

Bombers disrespectfully take two out of three from Baltimore.

And props to RUN BMG for a 2-run blast in the 5th, which put the Yankees up 3-0.