Yank For the Roots.
It's June and I feel like I should give a progress report on the Yankees since I haven't already.
If I had a time machine and met myself just this past March, and I told myself that the Yankees would be 2 games over .500 and 7.5 games behind the Red Sox, I would probably be a little upset. Then if I told myself that the 33-31 record and 7.5 back was actually a good thing by comparison to several weeks prior, I would probably throw sharp things at myself. Needless to say, when the season began, this isn't exactly what I envisioned by the nearing of the midway point. I wouldn't have exactly been completely upset with being behind Boston in the standings. But by that much? That's still upsetting. The fact that the lead was double what it is now just 2 weeks ago is very upsetting. Yankee fans are trying to keep faith thinking that 14.5 is definitely capable of coming back from. And a 9 game+ winning streak does help. But the fact remains that Boston still holds the biggest division lead than any other division leader. It doesn't matter that the lead has gone from as much as 11.5 (when Toronto and Baltimore were in 2nd place) down to 7.5. Because if you woke up from a coma with no knowledge of recent happenings, you'd see 7.5 games behind and think the first place team was running away with the division. Gaining 7 games in 2 weeks is always nice, but 7.5 more is still a pretty tall hill to climb. But that's just it; now it's a hill to climb, and less of a mountain. I'm still holding out hope, of course. What Yankee fan doesn't have renewed hope with this resurgence? But the Wild Card is looking more like a possibility. The Tigers are within a stone's throw at 3.5 ahead. Problem is it's pretty crowded in the Wild Card pool with Minnesota and Seattle both also ahead of the Yankees. So they'll need 3 teams to start losing to take advantage of the extra playoff spot. But still 3.5 is a lot prettier than 7.5. I'd be willing to let go of the 9 year stranglehold we had on the AL East if we managed the Wild Card. Hell, it might be for the best as the AL East championship did us no good in recent years. And the luck of the Wild Card has, since a Wild Card team has made the World Series every year since 2002. So we'll see how the standings look in a week from now.
Well, I mentioned the winning streak previously. I'm pretty sure this is exactly what the team needed to bust out of the shell. This is basically how I knew the team was capable of playing. The starting pitching has been absolutely stellar. During the winning streak, 6 pitchers have gone 7 innings or more, giving some much needed rest for that maligned bullpen. Hell, now they're underused as Torre had to yank Andy Pettitte after 8 innings, even though he clearly could've gone the distance yesterday, just to get Scott Proctor an inning of work since he hasn't pitched since Sunday. The bullpen, while still not stellar, has improved. They've patched up some of their holes. Mariano has returned to gameover level. The offense is hitting on all cylinders. Abreu, Cano, and Cabrera--players who recently had been in the middle of slumps--are white hot. It's all coming together. The winning streak is nice, but what's going to be the most important thing is how they play after they get their next loss. Let's face it, they're not going to win the next 98 games in a row. It's about damage control. Bouncing back and playing well after a loss. Nipping all losing streaks at 3 at the most. If they can continue to play above .500 ball for the rest of the season, they'll be in real good shape. Like I said, maybe that won't be good enough for the division, but I think that'll be good enough to edge out the Wild Card.
Overall, I'm a little unpleased with the season thus far. But as for recently, I'm pretty sure I couldn't ask for more... well, except for the winning streak to advance to 12 with a sweep of the struggling Mets. And it kinda hurts me to say since the Mets are my NL team of choice. But I sure as hell didn't flinch when they swept the Pirates (other favorite NL team), and anything that benefits the Yankees is always going to get my vote of confidence. So a sweep to the struggling Mets and at least 2 of 3 from the Giants would make me grin.
Philip Hughes had a setback with his ankle in coming back from his hamstring injury and now wont' be back until August. That makes me frown uncontrollably. Finding that 5th starter is proving to be a hit-and-miss reaction. Tyler Clippard has the spot for now, but if he has a repeat meltdown like he had against Chicago, he wont' have the job that long. Ohlendorf and Sanchez would've gotten the call long ago, but now their both out for the year. Hughes had 2 starts and now he's gone until August. Chase Wright is back where he belongs in AA. I honestly think the Yankees need to pull a rabbit out of their hat and pull out another Shawn Chacon deal. They're more apt to go after a first baseman or middle reliever though.
All Star Break is in a month. We'll see how the game shapes up at that point.
If I had a time machine and met myself just this past March, and I told myself that the Yankees would be 2 games over .500 and 7.5 games behind the Red Sox, I would probably be a little upset. Then if I told myself that the 33-31 record and 7.5 back was actually a good thing by comparison to several weeks prior, I would probably throw sharp things at myself. Needless to say, when the season began, this isn't exactly what I envisioned by the nearing of the midway point. I wouldn't have exactly been completely upset with being behind Boston in the standings. But by that much? That's still upsetting. The fact that the lead was double what it is now just 2 weeks ago is very upsetting. Yankee fans are trying to keep faith thinking that 14.5 is definitely capable of coming back from. And a 9 game+ winning streak does help. But the fact remains that Boston still holds the biggest division lead than any other division leader. It doesn't matter that the lead has gone from as much as 11.5 (when Toronto and Baltimore were in 2nd place) down to 7.5. Because if you woke up from a coma with no knowledge of recent happenings, you'd see 7.5 games behind and think the first place team was running away with the division. Gaining 7 games in 2 weeks is always nice, but 7.5 more is still a pretty tall hill to climb. But that's just it; now it's a hill to climb, and less of a mountain. I'm still holding out hope, of course. What Yankee fan doesn't have renewed hope with this resurgence? But the Wild Card is looking more like a possibility. The Tigers are within a stone's throw at 3.5 ahead. Problem is it's pretty crowded in the Wild Card pool with Minnesota and Seattle both also ahead of the Yankees. So they'll need 3 teams to start losing to take advantage of the extra playoff spot. But still 3.5 is a lot prettier than 7.5. I'd be willing to let go of the 9 year stranglehold we had on the AL East if we managed the Wild Card. Hell, it might be for the best as the AL East championship did us no good in recent years. And the luck of the Wild Card has, since a Wild Card team has made the World Series every year since 2002. So we'll see how the standings look in a week from now.
Well, I mentioned the winning streak previously. I'm pretty sure this is exactly what the team needed to bust out of the shell. This is basically how I knew the team was capable of playing. The starting pitching has been absolutely stellar. During the winning streak, 6 pitchers have gone 7 innings or more, giving some much needed rest for that maligned bullpen. Hell, now they're underused as Torre had to yank Andy Pettitte after 8 innings, even though he clearly could've gone the distance yesterday, just to get Scott Proctor an inning of work since he hasn't pitched since Sunday. The bullpen, while still not stellar, has improved. They've patched up some of their holes. Mariano has returned to gameover level. The offense is hitting on all cylinders. Abreu, Cano, and Cabrera--players who recently had been in the middle of slumps--are white hot. It's all coming together. The winning streak is nice, but what's going to be the most important thing is how they play after they get their next loss. Let's face it, they're not going to win the next 98 games in a row. It's about damage control. Bouncing back and playing well after a loss. Nipping all losing streaks at 3 at the most. If they can continue to play above .500 ball for the rest of the season, they'll be in real good shape. Like I said, maybe that won't be good enough for the division, but I think that'll be good enough to edge out the Wild Card.
Overall, I'm a little unpleased with the season thus far. But as for recently, I'm pretty sure I couldn't ask for more... well, except for the winning streak to advance to 12 with a sweep of the struggling Mets. And it kinda hurts me to say since the Mets are my NL team of choice. But I sure as hell didn't flinch when they swept the Pirates (other favorite NL team), and anything that benefits the Yankees is always going to get my vote of confidence. So a sweep to the struggling Mets and at least 2 of 3 from the Giants would make me grin.
Philip Hughes had a setback with his ankle in coming back from his hamstring injury and now wont' be back until August. That makes me frown uncontrollably. Finding that 5th starter is proving to be a hit-and-miss reaction. Tyler Clippard has the spot for now, but if he has a repeat meltdown like he had against Chicago, he wont' have the job that long. Ohlendorf and Sanchez would've gotten the call long ago, but now their both out for the year. Hughes had 2 starts and now he's gone until August. Chase Wright is back where he belongs in AA. I honestly think the Yankees need to pull a rabbit out of their hat and pull out another Shawn Chacon deal. They're more apt to go after a first baseman or middle reliever though.
All Star Break is in a month. We'll see how the game shapes up at that point.