Welp, that sucked.
As the first month of the regular season is coming to a close, the New York Yankees are playing less than inspired baseball.
The offense is in shambles, the pitchers have been erratic, and Chase Headley still can’t buy an extra base hit.
There is a lot of doom and gloom around the Bronx right now, and the offense in particular has been concerning, as the Yanks as a team have posted a .220/.289/.325 slash line. For the as rough as the first month of the season has been, I’m going to be an optimist and tell you that it’s not quite time to give up on the Bronx Bombers!
Not Time For Yankees to Panic
Let’s start with the offense, shall we?
When you average 2.47 runs per game, it’s going to be tough to win a lot of ball games, and the aforementioned slash line leaves a lot to be desired. However, for as bad as the Yanks have been in the early going, it is highly unlikely (not impossible) that they can maintain such a weak hitting lineup.
Take a look at the stats for yourself. Of the everyday players, only Carlos Beltran and Starlin Castro (at least he’s working out so far!) are the only regulars hitting over .260. Now Brian McCann, Mark Teixeria, and Alex Rodriguez might not be quite the hitters they used to be, but they still have some pop in their bats, and should begin to start driving in more runs as the weather gets warmer.
Jacoby Ellsbury has been one of the Yankees worst free agent signings in recent memory, but he should start to get on base a bit more to align with his career on base percentage and at some point Headley will begin to hit the baseball (I promise!).
Now let’s talk pitching!
The first turn or two through the rotation was pretty rough, but if you take a look at the last few weeks, you’ll see that the rotation is starting to settle in a bit, specifically with Masahiro Tanaka and Nathan Eovaldi. Yes, Michael Pineda and especially Luis Severino have really struggled to start the season; but both are young pitchers who will experience ups and downs over the course of the season.
Severino especially is susceptible to hitting the dreaded “sophomore slump”. For as great as Severino was last year, it’s crucial to remember he threw the most innings of his career last year and he’s only 22 now. Of course most Yankee fans would have wanted Severino to hit the ground running this year, but it’s not totally shocking to see the youngster take a step back.
At this point, CC Sabathia is what he is, and if he can continue to soak up innings and give up a handful of runs every fifth day, the Yankees will live with that.
What’s been getting lost in the Yankees disappointing start, is how dominant Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller have been in the early going. As River Ave Blues points out, Miller and Betances have struck out 56.7% of the batters they have faced, which is absurd.
Add in the fact that Aroldis Chapman will be back in less than two weeks, and the Yankees strength becomes that much more dominant. Having those three guys in the bullpen will put less pressure on the starters and drastically shorten games for the opposition.
Assuming the offense course corrects itself in the next few weeks, the pitching staff continues to right itself, and the bullpen remains dominant, the season is far from over for the New York Yankees.
Yes, the season has gotten off to a rough start, but the baseball season is a long grind. Remember, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.
