With the All-Star break rapidly approaching, it’s time to take a look at how the season has gone so far in the Bronx. The New York Yankees have been hovering around the .500 mark for most of the season and seem destined to be sellers at the trade deadline. Here are some takeaways from the first half.
Yankees 2016 Midseason Report
Biggest Surprise
As tempting as it was to list C.C. Sabathia here, his last few starts have brought the big lefty back to earth. Instead, the biggest surprise for the Yankees so far this season has been Didi Gregorius.
Gregorius got off to a slow start in April, but he’s been quietly hitting the cover off of the ball since mid-May. As a result, Gregorius now has an impressive .298/.327/.468 slash line to along with an OPS+ of 105. Additionally, Didi is hitting for more power this year, as he’s already hit ten home runs, passing his previous career high of nine.
When the Yankees acquired Gregorius from the Arizona Diamondbacks before the 2015 season, they knew they would be getting a great defensive shortstop. With Gregorius emerging at the plate, the Yankees may have found their shortstop of the future much sooner than anyone expected.
Biggest Disappointment
Yeesh, there are so many choices here. The easiest choice would be Jacoby Ellsbury, given his large contract. Alex Rodriguez is another easy target, but seeing as how he’s a 40-year-old with two replacement hips, it was hard to believe he could duplicate last year’s production.
While the starting pitching has been rough to watch at times, the Yankees just can’t score any runs, and when the team trots out a cleanup hitter who has a batting average of .193, the problem begins to come into view. Mark Teixeira has easily been the biggest disappointment so far his season.
Look, injuries have been a problem for the guy for the last several seasons, and like A-Rod, it was probably a bit unrealistic to expect the same numbers from last year. However, Tex’s offense has fallen off a cliff.
He only has seven home runs, nineteen RBI, and a fifty-nine OPS+ in fifty-eight games played. The slash line of .188/.269/.315 is horrific. To put that in perspective, Teixeira has the ninth highest slugging percentage on the team. Even the defense (admittedly still very good) has taken a step back this year as well.
It’s not fair to place all the blame on Teixeria for the team’s offensive failures, but his struggles are the perfect microcosm for the entire season.
Midseason Team MVP
So while most of the old guys have been a flop, Carlos Beltran has proven to be the Yankees best player by a wide margin. Although he isn’t the defensive stalwart he used to be, the 39-year-old has more than made up for it at the plate this season.
It’s no secret that the Yankees have struggled to score runs, but imagine where they would be without Beltran. He’s got a .297/.337/.553 line with a 132 OPS+. Additionally, Beltran leads the team in home runs and RBI, and is deservingly heading to the All-Star game this year. Beltran is having one of the best years of his career, and is on pace to set a career high in both home runs and RBI.
The bullpen trio of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, and Aroldis Chapman has been as good as advertised, but without Beltran’s amazing age 39 (!) season, No Run-DMC would have very few games to save this year.
What to Watch for in the Second Half
With the team sitting on the fringes of competing for a Wild Card spot, expect the Yankees do something they haven’t done in years: become sellers at the trade deadline.
The truth is, this team is not good enough to win anything this season. It doesn’t make sense for the team to spin its wheels and finish with eighty-three wins.
They may not trade all of these players, but expect some combination of Chapman, Miller, Beltran, Teixeira, and Brian McCann to find new homes before the end of July.
As the calendar flips to August, and specifically September, be on the lookout for call ups from a number of high level prospects, including Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, and Ben Gamel, in addition to the return of Luis Severino to the rotation.
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