twilightdawning

A writer's thoughts – mainly about music, sport and theatre. Shakespeare, Bob Dylan, live shows, New York Yankees

The New York Yankees – The Batters in April (2016)

Posted on May 15, 2016 by twilightdawning

In an earlier article. I pessimistically asserted that I saw similarities between the Yankees squad of 2016 and that of 1989. The 1989 team finished 5th in the American League East. That was pre-expansion when there were 7 teams in the division. Consequently, that would mean that it was likely that the Yankees would finish 4th or 5th in the 5-team division and be well out of contention.

However, there were a few positive signs in Spring Training which gave me pause for thought. And then the real season began…

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The New York Yankees in Spring Training (2016) – Update 2

Posted on March 25, 2016 by twilightdawning

(up to and including March 23, 2016)

At the time of our last column, the Yankees stood at 5-8. Since then they have improved to 9-10 and they have seen Brett Gardner able to take regular at-bats and gain his first hits and RBI, and Jacoby Ellsbury take a pitch off his wrist which has limited his participation but, in general, the roster is taking shape.

Let’s survey the pitchers and who is likely to be on that roster as March turns into April.

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The New York Yankees – Off-Season Update – January / February 2016 – …And On the Eighth Day the Yankees Did Nothing…

Posted on March 4, 2016 by twilightdawning

In my last Yankees-themed article, (https://twilightdawning.com/2015/12/23/the-new-york-yankees-off-season-update-novemberdecember-2015-ludicrous/), I highlighted how in my opinion, in their trades and lack of free agency activity, the Bronx Bombers had actually managed to weaken their squad of players. This view was obviously contrary to the view of Hal Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi but it was difficult for me to see it any other way.

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The New York Yankees – The Pitchers in September and October (2015)

Posted on November 2, 2015 by twilightdawning

One of the interesting factors for the New York Yankees over the last several seasons is how they handle the roster expansion in September. This year, as in the past, Joe Girardi seemed to feel under an obligation to try to use everybody, almost as though the season was already over and it was just a case of giving people game time. But this wasn’t Spring Training, it was a crucial chase to catch the Blue Jays and watching players like Chasen Shreve, and Bryan Mitchell coming apart at the seams wasn’t helpful to them or to the cause. Let’s see what happened:

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The New York Yankees – The Batters in September and October (2015)

Posted on October 31, 2015 by twilightdawning

Well, that is in the little bit of October the Yankees were actually involved in this year. They made it to the playoffs but only by wildcard qualification. And then in the one-game wildcard playoff, they failed to produce a single run in their game against the Houston Astros. Let’s look at what went wrong… and one or two things that went right and look bright for the future.

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The New York Yankees – September Update – Truths revealed in the rain

Posted on September 28, 2015 by twilightdawning

What: The New York Yankees vs the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays

When: 7th September to 13th September 2015

Where: Yankee Stadium, New York, New York

Stood outside Yankee Stadium on the 10th of September as the rain begins to gently fall, you realise that perhaps this is not going to go to plan. When the series with the Orioles had opened and a Yankees win meant that the lead that Toronto had in the American League East was cut back to half a game, the world seemed filled with optimism. Even when Baltimore took the next two games, things hadn’t seemed so bad – results elsewhere had gone in the Yankees favour. And after all, one and a half games behind doesn’t look so bad when the team ahead of you is just about to arrive in town for four games and anything could happen.

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The New York Yankees – The Pitchers in August (2015)

Posted on September 7, 2015 by twilightdawning

So whilst the bats were labouring the New York Yankees really needed the pitchers to pick up the slack. As it worked out their ERA was only marginally worse – 3.70 to 3.83 but the lack of batting left them with only a 14-14 record on the month which left the field wide open for the Toronto Blue Jays to steal the lead in the American League East which they were quite happy to do. Lurking behind the stats were impressive months for Masahiro Tanaka and Adam Warren particularly but let’s see what the rest of the picture reveals:

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The New York Yankees – The Batters in August (2015)

Posted on September 2, 2015 by twilightdawning

Let’s consider some figures:

.275

.274

.249

.240

What do they represent? Well, unsurprisingly for this column, they represent the monthly team batting averages for the New York Yankees for every month prior to August. The top one on the list is July, the bottom is April. June and May come inbetween and reveal the way that the Yankees’ batting had improved every month this season – that is until August, the month when their batting performance fell apart. Let’s see where the disaster had its roots:

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The New York Yankees – The Pitchers in July (2015)

Posted on August 6, 2015 by twilightdawning

The Yankees showed a significant improvement in their pitching in July and if we combine that with their great batting form it is easy to see why they went from 15-12 in June to 17-7 in July. Having Andrew Miller back from injury certainly helped and the trio of Dellin Betances, Justin Wilson and Chasen Shreve delivered more than could be expected of them during the month. The team’s ERA fell to below 4 compared to the 133 run produced in those 24 games. It is not hard to see how so many games ended in the “Wins” column.

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The New York Yankees – The Batters in May (2015)

Posted on June 2, 2015 by twilightdawning

April 2015 was a bizarre month for the New York Yankees. They started with a 3-6 record and were bottom of the table. From there, they sprinted to 10 wins out of their next thirteen games, ending April one game ahead of the American League East and setting a pace which meant they should then relentlessly open up a gap ahead of all-comers.

And indeed, by the 11 of May with 8 wins out of their next 11 games, they opened up a 4 game lead. Journalists, experts and pundits were staggered as the Yankees’ bullpen and offense led them to performances that were far beyond anything that was predicted or anticipated — or even imagined by the most rabid fan.

And then the team returned quietly to the form of the early weeks of April as they crumbled against opposition from outside the division. The four game lead disappeared as they won 5 of their next 18 games. Will the real New York Yankees please stand up?

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