The New York Yankees are not the team they were in the first months of the season, but they have improved from the form that they were showing in June and July.
In August, they went 14-12. They managed to return to 1st position in the American League – and opened up a 1 1/2 game lead over the Baltimore Orioles. It could be better, but not what’s not to like right?
Continue readingSo, the Yankees June slump has come and gone. And the July trading deadline has come and gone too.
Sadly, things don’t break down into nice monthly intervals in the real world or in the sports world.
So, between the beginning of the month and the 9th of this seventh month, the Yankees won 1 and lost 6. Between then and the 26th, the Bronx Bombers went 5-7. Finally, it did appear that they had turned the corner in the last 5 days of July with a 5-0 sprint to end the month.
Continue readingIf the Yankees batting fell apart in June (with the exception of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge – it’s becoming like a mantra), then the pitching, particularly the starting rotation also hit massive problems.
In May, the Yankees were probably tied with the Philadelphia Phillies as the best team in baseball. They were certainly the best team in the American League.
In June, it all began to collapse around them, On the month, they were only 14-13 (compared to 21-7 in May). More remarkably and significantly, in the second half of June they were 4-9.
Aaron Judge and Luis Soto remained strong, but what had gone wrong?
The New York Yankees had a sensational month in May. They went 21-7 and dominated the league and their division.
Aaron Judge, who had struggled in April, bounced back with strength. Juan Soto continued at the high level he set in April. Their starting pitchers exceeded expectations. The bullpen had as much depth as anticipated.
Continue readingAnd so we turn our attention to the Yankees pitchers. The starting rotation has had some necessary changes. The bullpen has changed beyond recognition.
Obviously, the major need is to cover for the absence because of injury of Gerrit Cole. He’ll be out until June.
Continue readingThe Yankees settled into their groove right from the beginning of the season this time out. By the end of March, they were 4-0 and in first place in the American League East.
By the end of April, they had slipped back to 2nd in the division, but only by one game behind the Baltimore Orioles.
Continue readingAt the end of August, Brian Cashman (Yankees’ General Manager) said “It’s been a disaster of a season. We’re embarassed by it”.
This came, of course, with the Yankees’ usual gift for hyperbole. It was what the less thoughtful fans wanted to hear, and it just built things towards the inevitable firestorm.
For Hal Steinbrenner, and those at the financial helm of the Yankees, it had of course been disastrous. They looked like they were going to miss the post-season (they still had an outside chance when the statement was made – and that would be a tremendous financial loss. They had cut Aaron Hicks, and Josh Donaldson was about to go down the same route. They would carry the can for those poorly chosen signings and their contracts.
But they have finished the season over .500, and were just about to pull themselves up by their bootstraps with a 17-11 last month plus of the season, and move above the old enemy, Boston Red Sox into 4th place in the American League East.
So, really not good, but not a disaster. It gave them a chance to look at some developing young players (not everything went smoothly as we shall see), and to re-examine their priorities. Some fans will still spit and cuss, but that’s a given. Here’s the batting stats for September and October.
The Yankees needed to see a massive improvement in their performance in July, Instead, they went 10-15 on the month.
The Yankees wanted to narrow the gap on the teams ahead of them in the wild card race. Instead, they slipped out of contention and finished the month in fifth place in the American League East.
The logic had been that psychologically the Yankees were struggling without their captain, leader, and best player, Aaron Judge. His time out of the team went on and on and it was the 28th of July before he returned.
But the Yankees need to be more than just a one-man club, however significant that absentee was.
The Yankees in the month of June have run 11-12. During that time, they have four new faces added to the injured list.
Crucially, Aaron Judge went in that direction. When he made an amazing fielding play whilst crashing into the wall in front of the bullpen, it seemed both amazing and humorous. Now, it doesn’t seem so funny anymore. Judge is injured, with no timetable for his return. And the form of others has nose-dived as the team in general seem to feeling his absence psychologically.
Also newly injured and unavailable are Nestor Cortes, Greg Allen and Willie Calhoun.
Returning? Ian Hamilton, Harrison Bader, Giancarlo Stanton, Tommy Kahnle, and Josh Donaldson.
Ryan Weber went from the 15 day injured list to the 60 day list.
On balance, if it wasn’t for the Judge injury, you’d think that the Yankees’ roster had gained in June, but if you consider that some of the returnees are notorious under-performers in recent times, then it doesn’t look quite that good.
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