SU checked the calendar and it’s still early May. The Yankees have basically run the table against the best teams in the AL – Angels, Indians, Astros and now the Red Sox. As a Yankee fan, you pretty much cannot ask for more. But SU says, it’s a long season and in baseball, especially with pitchers, you have to deal with injuries. But let’s discuss:
- The team batting average is still only around .250. If you look at the line up, they roll out 3 players a game with averages hovering around .200 (Sanchez, Walker, Gardner).
- You cannot lose sight that this year’s team has won a lot of close games late and come from behind late several times. Now, does that have staying power all season long? Perhaps – we see that over the years that teams have a confidence (Astros last season).
- Offensively, they are being carried by hot hitters here and there – but that is typical of most teams except the 1998 Yankees which had strength up and down the line up as well as veterans on the bench like Tim Raines and Darryl Strawberry.
- The bullpen continues to be a question mark although some of the injured pitchers like Kahnle and Warren will return. Long-time SU subscriber A. Grossman points out that they lack a lockdown lefty (Andrew Miller type) which is true although the hard throwers get everyone out.
- The game has changed. It’s no longer about stealing, hit and running, small ball. Today it’s wait for the 3-run home run and take your strikeouts.
SU says you are never as good as you look when you’re hot and you are never as bad as you look when you are cold (although I do make exceptions for Todd Frazier and Chase Headley). The Yankees are winning pretty much all of the close games right now. I don’t think that rate is sustainable. Aside from the record, SU enjoys watching this team for its youth, enthusiasm, good guys and the feeling that they are just having fun out there. It’s not about millionaires going through the motions. This team is great. Cashman will make his tweaks – SU looks forward to Greg Bird’s return – and we will see if the starters can stay healthy.
Is this year’s team on a historic pace for wins? Can you really project wins in baseball?
Finally, the Mets are advertising for a part-time position to make out the line up cards. It’s a couple of hours a week. Copying skills are a must.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Cannot get carried away about how they look when all is going well. But they do look good and as you say in the post, it’s not like everything is going well. They still have players going through slumps. But other players have been able to pick them up.
I actually find them playing more small ball than we’ve become used to over the last decade or so. Yesterday Hicks tried to take third when nobody was paying attention. Umpires sent him back and he stole third anyway. We also saw two batters make productive outs to move runners over and then the benefits when the other team had to move the fielders in.
Earlier in the season there were a couple of games where Boone looked bad. Well yesterday Cora looked bad. The early entry by the closer was odd but I guess he felt that those were the key outs in the game. But what about playing the outfielders so shallow with a one-run lead in the 8th? I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. That’s something to do when the winning run is on third and a deep fly ball would lose the game for you no matter what. But in this case, the deep fly ball resulted in two runs and a lead change. Really bad call.
As impressive as Chapman can be, he’s one guy that really bothers me. He can throw but he just always seems a little confused. He interfered with a runner at first in a pretty bad way. I’m surprised the umpires didn’t award 2nd base. But more importantly, what was Chapman thinking? He wasn’t trying to interfere but he looked like he had no idea what was going on or where he was. It’s strange and hard to explain. He’s a great athlete and can do incredible things with his arm but he just doesn’t seem to really get baseball.
Seth, I agree about the small ball the last couple of games. Andujar had a great at bat in the 8th inning to move Walker to 3rd with a ground out to the right side. Can you picture Mark Texeiria doing that? Uh, no. I think all of the Yankee pitchers struggle to pitch to Sanchez. He is terrifying in late close games for wild pitches and passed balls. Romine is much superior and calls a better game. I suspect that Sanchez had DH in his future over his career. Agree about Cora. Panic move bringing in Kimbrel there in the 8th and even against Judge, their center fielder was playing behind 2nd base on that home run.
Any player on the starting lineup plus a few on the bench would start on most teams. They can all hit. Most can hit the long ball. Including the rookies all seem unfazed by the pressure. They are only getting better as well. Lately, however we have used the small ball game, including some sacrifice flies o score runs. That’s truly the mark of a balanced team. Yes, its a long season, but its that way for all. As the season actually gets deeper and those teams which realize that they will be Sellers that will only make the games we play against those teams even more winnable than they are at this point.
Rarely are there pitchers, like a Greg Maddox that come along and just don’t make any mistakes. We saw that once against Verlander a few games ago in which we struck out 14 times and only had 2 hits….. but Gray was also super that night. Most teams only have a couple of good pitchers, but the last 4 teams we played, including Boston all have numerous great pitchers, all I believe with a better collective group of Starters than what we have…. but not by much. Even if we did not dominate them, we made them throw a lot of pitches and then we went to work against their relievers. Yes, we have a 252 average. that’s 8th in the AL….but look at the OBP. We lead the league. That seems a more accurate stat to base your team’s offense effectiveness. Slugging we are #2 and OPS we a re also #2… bot slightly behind Boston. Not the shocker… we at #2 in ERA…#2 brothers and sisters. Houston holds that #1 position by a lot. Boston is #3. Also we are #2 in KO’s and #9 in giving out walks…. 4th in the league in striking out but by far #1 in walks received. Yes, the 252 stat comes into play but not as much as you think.
Last night, Boston’s ace threw a tailing back fast ball that simply got too much of the plate against both Judge and Gardner. It happens.
We are on track to win 117. I’ll stick with my 103 wins prediction though we just may be in for a very special year…
It is a great time to be a Yankee fan, especially if you like watching the full games. I tried not to miss any innings in the Houston, Cleveland and Boston series–it feels like playoff baseball. Before commenting on Yankees, I do have to say that Mookie Betts is some kind of hitter–almost in the Trout (who I Iove) Harper (who I don’t) category.
In team golf they call it ham and egging it when one team member does well on one hole and then the other member does well on the next. That is the Yankee line-up right now. Gardner looked like he was ready for retirement and comes up with 2 (and almost 3) double last night. Didi was all American in April but oh-for May. Stanton goes to sleep for a while, hits 2 homers and goes back to sleep. Sanchez is hitting on the Interstate but drives in a pile a runs. Walker/Austin ham and egg it now that Walker is hitting. Andujar is a doubles machine in April, cooling off but still a great rookie. Only Judge (may not hit 50 but will be in the forties with walks and RBIs) and Gleybar (second coming of Robby Cano) have not slumped. This is how a team should be built for the long haul, not on 2 or 3 guys (who if one goes down, you are scrambling–see Dodgers). This may not be 1998 but it does have a certain feel to it.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a let down against Oakland and Washington in next two series (both are good teams and Washington is hot) but Angels and Astros are coming back to our house after that. Boston is not going anywhere so we will have a nice division race for most of the year (preferable to running away with it, as long as we win it and don’t have to go the wild card route). Pitching is fine and while we always worry about injuries to the starting 5 (who would have guessed that Montgomery would be first to go down), German was outstanding (see Jim Beattie from 1978 post-season)–a surprise rookie is always a nice story. Kahnle, Warren, Bird coming back just gives us more to look forward to. This could be the 90s all over again–let’s hope so.
Nice to have an exciting, October like series so early in the season. It has been a tough 3 weeks as a Mets fan, but as a baseball fan, it’s hard to get a better game in May than last nights Yankees vs Redsox. The line ups on both teams, 1-9 are impressive, with a great mixture of youth and prime age veterans. It will be a fun battle all year long.
The major Achilles heel I see for the Yankees is their starting pitching. How long can Cashman wait before pulling the trigger on a major trade? Who is out there that may be available? (Archer, Baumgartner, Fulmer, Hammels)
Aside from Sevorino, who really looks like he has taken the next step into Ace territory, who can the Yankees rely on? Does anyone have a high degree of confidence that the rest of the staff will stay healthy and effective into the fall? It’s always better to trade from strength when you are not desperate to make a move. I’d say better to over pay now for 5 months of an Ace than wait until the trade deadline. Who could they get for a package of Andujar, Scheffield and Frazier? Go big or go home!