Those were the famous words of Mariano Duncan of the Yankees back in 1996 during their world championship season. Well, the 2018 version of the Yankees are certainly, as of right now, playing that way. Even yesterday, when down 4-0 in the 8th inning with 1 hit and John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman saying how you can’t win them all, this year’s team rose from the dead to score 7 runs in 2 innings. It sure seems like they find a way to win every day.
Last year’s team had a terrible record in close games. It was why despite a high run differential, the won/loss record surprisingly did not match up. This year’s team is very different and is winning close games and winning close games late. That is a good formula. They are plowing through the toughest part of the schedule in great shape. If you are scoring at home, that’s 6 wins in a row over Cleveland. Now, as we all know in baseball, a lot of your success comes from when you play certain teams. The Indians’ bullpen is a mess and that showed up this weekend. But the Astros have been hot and so were the Angels.
The Yankees are benefiting from the youngsters and due to injury, Cashman did as SU has said right from the beginning. Play the young guys. German looks legit as a 5th starter. There is still a deal to be made later in the year for a front line pitcher and they have the chips now to make a deal. The team is only hitting .250 and many players have not hit their stride as of yet. SU says this could be a special season.
What could mess it up? See below:
- Matt Harvey: no reason to even talk to the Mets. Harvey has too much ego and this year’s team has a good feeling. Absolutely no need to kick the tires on Harvey.
- Jacoby Elsbury: luckily, he is so injury prone, SU cannot see how he makes it back.
- Sending Andujar down: if his average tails downward, Cashman will be tempted to send him down and bring Drury up. I believe there is a limit on how many games a player can rehab. We are no doubt getting close to that.
- Chapman: he needs to stay healthy and Boone should watch the appearances. They are playing a lot of close games. SU likes that Boone is trying to win them all but you don’t want to burn out the relievers. Guys like Paul Quantrill were very valuable over the years to come in and instantly lose games in extra innings. Jonathan Holder is that guy this year. Keeps the bullpen fresh by blowing games quickly.
The team is winning with minimal contributions from Stanton. The Red Sox come to town next. SU says do not get into the beanball war stuff with them. Nothing good comes from that except injured star players – either hit by a pitch or injured in a fight. It’s stupid. You can roll that out some other time.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
The Yankees are on too much of a roll to get into anything with the Red Sox. I’d even avoid any retaliation. I’d have every pitcher focus only on getting outs. Any bench-clearing situation could serve only as a diversion and right now they don’t want/need a distraction. This strategy may be revisited if the Sox take the first two games.
The Yankees do not have Mike Schmidt rehabbing in the minors. They have Brandon Drury. Drury may have been #1 on the depth chart in March but we’ve got two full seasons worth of stats for him and it’s hard to project that he’ll be much better than Andujar. Andujar is an exciting hitter and he’s contributed in some key moments. Maybe Drury is the next Didi, and the transition from Arizona to NY will result in a surge of production. But it’s also possible that he’s someone who hits .270 with 10-15 homeruns. If it’s the latter, then it would be a shame displace Andujar.
I don’t agree on sending Andujar down. What happens if Drury comes back and he has poor contribution offensively. Andujar is your future. Drury is a stopgap player. Hey, Gardner is now beginning to contribute more. People were suggesting he move down the lineup or take a seat on the bench. All players go through lulls. If Andujar continues this through May, only then would you consider moving him back down so he at least gets some playing time and maybe put him up for trade bait for a top line pitcher…. better than Gray please.