The second part of our update will look briefly at one change to the infield group and then moves on to survey the outfield and designated hitters. Since our last report, both the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays have made upgrades to their roster whilst the Yankees have been slow to make moves. The outfield looks like one of the few areas that is reasonably well set.
Well, here we are in November. The San Francisco Giants deservedly won the World Series and the Kansas City Royals made a very creditable run from a wildcard slot to fall at the last hurdle. It was a great season and a fascinating season to follow and write about the Yankees who overcame adversity to finish with a reasonable record.
The question now is, can they turn those problems and strengths into a team that can challenge for the post season in 2015? Let’s take an overview of their roster at this moment in time and see where it looks like they’re going.
As we move on to the second half of our survey of the Yankees’ performance in September, we find a fairly surprising picture amongst the pitchers. Whilst the team averaged giving up between 3 and 4 runs a game which is pretty competitive, more surprising was that those who had been successful prior to September struggled and some new faces were successful.
As the end of the month passes let’s just round up the changes that happened to the Yankees roster after the trading deadline and before the close of August.
The Yankees made some surprising moves on the deadline day, primarily bringing in players who were not doing well elsewhere. Add this to a few changes caused by injury and waiver claims and the roster is looking rather different again. Let’s see what has happened.
The Yankees’ pitching is still threadbare. However, surprisingly, bringing in a few starters who were struggling elsewhere and coupling them with a bullpen that has been performing consistently seems to be working. Let’s see who was doing well in July:
The Yankees had a surprising month in July. New faces began to arrive and those that had struggled in the first half began to turn things around — but then as the month came to its conclusion they had a sequence of defeats. Go figure! Let’s see who did what at the plate:
The Yankees continue to change their roster around. Here’s an update on what has happened since the All-Star break.
There seemed no real possibility that the Yankees’ season could become more complicated by injury than it already had been. But somehow they managed it……
The Yankees, struggling to stay in contention to the extent that it is now as easy for them to win their division as it is for them to capture a wild card booth, are not making the task easy for themselves. And their injury situation is becoming more and more complex. Let’s see what happened amongst the pitchers in June.
