twilightdawning

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

New York Yankees – The Pitchers in May (2018)

Posted on June 20, 2018 by twilightdawning

The Yankees had set out their stall for 2018 with a starting rotation of Luis Severino – Masahiro Tanaka – CC Sabathia – Sonny Gray – Jordan Montgomery. Now this looked a little weaker than a team who were hoping for a World Series booth might field but it became a more pronounced lack when Jordan Montgomery went onto the disabled list in May. Further problems lay ahead when it was announced that Montgomery would need season-ending Tommy John surgery. What would carry the Yankees forward? Fortunately, the bullpen had begun to meet, if not exceed, all expectations.

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New York Yankees – The Batters in May (2018)

Posted on June 19, 2018 by twilightdawning

May 2018 was a strange month in the annals of the New York Yankees. They had a game which started on the 15th of May and didn’t finish until the 18th of June. To think that in my country of birth, they say that cricket Test matches are long because they end five days after they started.

When the game finally came to its conclusion the Yankees lost to a home run from a player for the Washington Nationals (Juan Soto) who hadn’t made his debut yet. All of this in what was a month which saw the Yankees become once again the lead team in all of Major League Baseball. As I keep saying, in these articles,…confused – you will be.

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New York Yankees – The Pitchers in March and April (2018)

Posted on May 9, 2018 by twilightdawning

If those assessing the Yankees chances in the 2018 season picked out one flaw, it was the starting rotation which they saw as middling at best. The bullpen, they argued, was going to be the best in baseball.

In the opening period of our analysis (the last few days of March and all of April), it didn’t quite work out that way. The starters delivered up a very respectable 13 wins, 5 losses and 10 no-decisions. Of those 10 no-decisions the bullpen won 5 and lost 5 and 5 members of the bullpen produced an ERA of 4.50 or over. Confused? You will be…

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New York Yankees – The Batters in March and April (2018)

Posted on May 8, 2018 by twilightdawning

The Major League Baseball season was quickly out of the traps this year with the New York Yankees’ opening game coming as early as the 29th of March. Unfortunately, the team were not as quick getting started (neither was the weather, the 2nd of April home opener was snowed out) and the team looked decidedly average and lukewarm until the middle of April. After that things came together in a very exciting way.

Let’s see who the players pushing that momentum were. Batters up first:

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The New York Yankees in Spring Training – An Overview – Part Two (2018)

Posted on March 28, 2018 by twilightdawning

So, moving on from the batters, we come to survey the pitchers who have made the opening day roster and those who were around in Spring Training but didn’t quite make it. No real surprises here and once the team had decided to re-sign CC Sabathia, everything was settled except the last couple of relief appointments.

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The New York Yankees in September – The Pitchers (2017)

Posted on October 10, 2017 by twilightdawning

Including 1st October (End of regular season)

The Yankees’ pitching has been amazing in 2017. Every time someone under-performed, someone else stepped up to fill the gap. When Aroldis Chapman lost his way, it just happened that Dellin Betances was on form. When Betances struggled, Chapman regained his form. Adam Warren injured? Chad Green pitches phenomenally to fill the gap. Masahiro Tanaka not quite up to the ace billing? Then here’s Severino doing everything as a starter he couldn’t do in 2016 and CC Sabathia doing more than his aging limbs should allow. Let’s look at the whole picture

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The New York Yankees in September – The Batters (2017)

Posted on October 8, 2017 by twilightdawning

includes 1st October (to end of regular season)

The New York Yankees were sensational with their bats during September – especially Jacoby Ellsbury who was so consistent and Aaron Judge who having struggled with his mechanics since the All-Star break suddenly bounced back with immense power. Let’s look at how the whole line-up performed:

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The New York Yankees – The Pitchers in August (2017)

Posted on September 5, 2017 by twilightdawning

The Yankees’ pitching staff continued, in August, to do more than enough to keep the team in the game on most days. After the signings of Jaime Garcia and Sonny Gray, they had given themselves 6 regular starting options – most of whom are more than holding their own. The bullpen has been more than solid with the exception of Aroldis Chapman. Chapman is perhaps the reliever that the Yankees expected most from but who is delivering least.

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The New York Yankees – The Batters in August (2017)

Posted on September 2, 2017 by twilightdawning

Aaron Judge was hot and untouchable in the first half of the season. Now either the opposition pitchers have caught up to him or something else is wrong. Fortunately, Gary Sanchez who was very much in his shadow before the All-Star break, has exploded offensively in the last month. The Yankees are clearly concerned about some defensive kinks he has behind the plate but it is thanks to him and guys like Didi Gregorius that the Yankees’ ship is still afloat and in a promising position to take the first wildcard spot -although they are looking increasingly less likely to catch Boston for the division lead.

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The New York Yankees – The Pitchers in July (2017)

Posted on August 12, 2017 by twilightdawning

In July, the Yankees strengthened their bullpen by adding David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle although these moves meant they had to subtract Tyler Clippard. Then right on the deadline they strengthened their starting rotation with the addition of Sonny Gray from Oakland and Jaime Garcia from the Minnesota Twins.

Whilst it would be in August that we will see whether Gray and Garcia provide an upgrade, the arrival of Robertson and Kahnle was evidently a master-stroke especially since Clippard’s season was falling apart at the seams.

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