Review of the Yankees First Half of the Season
First half of the MLB season came to a brutal end for the Yankees on Sunday with the team limping into the All-Star Break failing to win a series since June 9-11, the Yankees have been 0-6 in series failing to win a series. Sunday was no different as they lost to the first place NL Central Milwaukee Brewers taking 2/3 games in the Bronx. The beginning of the year the Yankees were projected to be a middle of the pack team battling for 3rd place in the division or last because there were so many question marks going into the year with the new young players taking over. Will Luis Severino be the ace he potentially can be, will Judge be the everyday right fielder, how will Gary Sanchez do by being the everyday catcher, Greg Bird coming back from injury, can CC be a durable starter, and finally who was going to be the 5th starter? All those questions were answered in the two months of the season because the Yankees started off on a hot start with Aaron Judge and CC Sabathia leading the way. The Yankees were clicking on all cylinders and the Yankees were a tough team to beat. One game that stands out to me was on April 28th when the Yankees were in the Bronx taking on the Baltimore Orioles where they were down 9-1, then chipping away making it 11-8 with a Jacoby Ellsbury grand slam. Starlin Castro would later hit the game tying two run shot that would force the game to go to extra innings and in the 10th Matt Holliday would hit a walk off three run homerun to cap off a historic comeback for the Yankees. That game proved to many that the Yankees were a resilient team, and they weren’t going to go down early, no matter the deficit. This was just the beginning of what Aaron Judge was going to do with his bat and take the MLB by storm. Judge was hitting moonshots, CC pitching like the ace, and Starlin Castro playing like an all-star. The Yankees were one of the best teams in baseball in April and May, but when the Yankees went on their west coast trip starting in Anaheim, that’s when everything started to go downhill. They opened their west coast trip in Anaheim against a .500 team in the Angles and CC was on the mound and he later left the game with a hamstring injury. Jacoby Ellsbury was on the concussion DL forever, and the starters just couldn’t give enough innings a game, so the bullpen got imploded and got overused. Chapman missed a month with a shoulder injury, a mystery virus put Matt Holliday on the shelf, and finally Starlin Castro also got hurt with a hamstring injury. The Yankees were doing so well in the beginning sitting atop the AL East behind their rivals the Boston Red Sox. They saw their lead in the division dwindle down every day because they got swepted out of Oakland against a terrible Athletics team. They went home and took on a series against the Texas Rangers and only taking a game in a three-game series. So, with all the key injuries to their key players, Brian Cashman had to call up some key kids in the minor leagues in the likes of number 2 overall prospect outfielder Clint Frazier, utility player Tyler Wade, outfielder Dustin Fowler (who only played half an inning after getting hurt running into the wall), third basemen Miguel Andujar, and it’s been a horrific season out of first base. Joe Girardi has turned to 13 different players to play first base and most of them haven’t produced. They hit the road again in a series against the White Sox that didn’t help because they split that series against the White Sox, and they played the best team in baseball against the Houston Astros. They should’ve taken two games against them, but losing a heartbreaking loss on a Saturday night where they had a good lead, but like the bullpen has been over this tough stretch Dellin Betances, Tyler Clippard, and Aroldis Chapman haven’t been able to hold the lead. The bright spot of the team has been Rookie of Year and possible MVP of the year Aaron Judge. If the Yankees want to turn around this tough stretch of games, the four-game set after the All-Star break between the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park will determine what type of team the Yankees are going forward.
