Sweeping the Sawx

No, I did not expect the Yankees to be this good and certainly not this early in the season. After a much needed statement making sweep over the rival Sawx, the Bronx Bombers sit on top of the AL East with a three game lead over the Orioles. It’s still too early to get too excited, but after back-to-back seasons of utter mediocrity it’s nice to see the Yanks playing winning team baseball. Maybe it’s the new 1920’s era “Moonshiner” mustaches that just about everyone has adopted.

The three game sweep of the Sawx saw more of the same from the 2015 Yankees – efficient starting pitching, timely hitting, and a lights-out bullpen. C.C. Sabathia will never be the #1 starter he used to be but is capable of keeping the Yankees in close games. Nathan Eovaldi is developing into this year’s Brandon McCarthy as a pitcher who won’t rack up K’s but pitches to contact and is helped by an above average infield. And Adam Warren has yet to make it to the 7^th inning in any start but is a solid placeholder until Ivan Nova can return in June. Warren can be the new Ramiro Mendoza – available for long relief and the occasional spot start. I don’t know if enough Yankee fans are aware of how necessary such a role is or just how good Mendoza was at it during the late 90’s championship run.

Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner continue to rake and steal at the top of the lineup. If continued, I do hope they get the All-Star consideration that they deserve. The Yankees can very possibly have two 100 run/40 steal players in these two. Brian McCann and Mark Teixeira continue to provide plenty of offense. More importantly they are both showing power to the opposite field, especially Teixeira’s 2-run blast over the Green Monster in Sunday night’s victory. Glad to see these veterans find a way around the shift.

And the bullpen continues to impress. The Yankee front office and coaching staff deserve a lot of credit in putting this year’s pen together. Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller have been as good as advertised but David Carpenter, Justin Wilson, Esmil Rogers and Chris Martin have been the real finds. Joe Girardi has more than enough arms to choose from to get out hitters from both sides of the plate.

The Yankees seemed to drop back to Earth in last night’s 3-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays but should be encouraged by Chase Whitley’s best outing yet. Whitley pitched 7 scoreless but the offense remained stymied by knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. The Yankees bullpen failed for the first this year but I see it as a blip on the screen and not a harbinger of things to come.

The Yankees have 11 of their next 15 games on the road and look to improve on their current road mark of 10-4. Look for the Yankees to continue their winning ways. I am.

The Headley Plan

With the days of September quickly dwindling and the Yankees playoff hopes all but non-existent it’s time for this fan to look forward to next season. The Yankees did what they could with this year’s squad and even lucked into some fortuitous moves like the additions of Brandon McCarthy and Martin Prado, as well as the promotion of Shane Greene. But of all of the makeshift moves that were made my favorite was the trade for Chase Headley. Since joining the Yankees, Headley has not re-discovered his 2012 All-Star form but instead impressed me with this stellar defense and professional at bats. No, he has not taken advantage of homer-friendly New Yankee Stadium. But what he has done is be available everyday for Joe Girardi, play 1B when necessary, and work an impressive number of 0-2 counts into walks.

Next season sees the return of the freak show that is A-Roid and I think the Yankees would be smart to keep Chase Headley around. Ideally, I would love to see him as the Yankee starting 3B for the next few years but at the very least he should be kept on the bench to back up A-Roid as well as Mark Teixeira at 1B.

As far as A-Roid, I think that Yankees can agree that his remaining three years and $60 million plus salary are a drain and cannot be recouped. So, the Yankees have three viable options:

A) Cut A-Roid and just eat the money. The Yankees should have no illusions about getting out of this deal. More importantly, last year’s goal of coming in under $189 million was quickly quashed to sign Ellsbury, McCann, Beltran, and Tanaka. The Yankees can afford to be in the red for another three years, even if it means simply paying A-Roid to go away.

B) Trade A-Roid and offer to cover up to 75% of his salary. A-Roid may still have value to an AL team as a DH and would be very attractive at only $5-8 million a year. This is how the Yankees scored A-Roid from Texas back in 2004, they would just have accept being on the other side of the deal this time.

C) Keep A-Roid, but sign Chase Headley as backup. A-Roid will be coming off missing an entire year of baseball and will be 40 by the middle of the 2015 baseball season. He has had enough issues staying healthy since 2009 and it would be wise to have Headley waiting in the wings. Additionally, Headley would be solid backup for Mark Teixeira who continues to have health issues of his own.

Any of these options would make this Yankee fan very happy, especially option A. Regardless, Chase Headley is just the kind of hard-working, professional baseball player that the Yankees can use to slightly ease the loss of Derek Jeter and offset the ensuing circus caused by A-Roid’s return. Good luck, Yankees. Hope you choose wisely.

Another Day, Another Wasted Opportunity

After battering perennial Cy Young candidate David Price to the tune of eight runs in last night’s victory, the Yankees entered today’s game with a chance to leave Motown with a much-needed series win. And like so many rubber games in 2014 the Yankees came up short due to a lack of offense and an overused bullpen. I’m still a little puzzled as to why Dellin Betances was not called on for a 2nd inning of relief, even though Shawn Kelley was just one pitch from getting out of the jam before getting beat by Alex Avila for the game winning hit. But the Yankees continue to find themselves backed into these kinds of corners. Overall, the Yankees have made strides, having won 6 of their last 10, but if this team plans on making a playoff run they need to win games like this, especially against fellow contenders.

The offense keeps showing potential but is still not providing the type of consistent support that the solid starting pitching needs. Despite Brandon McCarthy’s loss on Tuesday, he has been the anchor on this patchwork staff. Michael Pinhead is back to early season form and Hiroki Kuroda along with Shane Greene have been first rate as of late.

Offensively, Jacoby Ellsbury has gotten hot again and Martin Prado is making a case to be the answer at 2B, this season and beyond. But Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran, and Brian McCann continue to struggle when it matters most. Until this Yankee squad can score five runs on a regular basis, this season will continue to be a matter of being mathematically alive for playoff contention, but realistically dead.

Up next is a series against the Blue Jays who seem to be in worse condition than the Yankees. The Yankees need a sweep to make a statement and provide Derek Jeter with hope of one more October.

One Step Up, Two Steps Back

The Yankees continue to underwhelm just when it looks as if they have everything moving in the right direction. After taking a big series from the Tigers with very little offensive output, Friday night’s 10-6 explosion against the visiting Cleveland Indians looked like a sign of things to come.

Instead, Saturday and Sunday saw the offense disappear faster than dollar bills at a strip club. Jacoby Ellsbury’s 9th inning solo blast saved the team the embarrassment of being shutout in back to back games. Coupled with subpar efforts from Brandon McCarthy and Hiroki Kuroda and the Yankees as a team are back to their 2014 pedestrian selves.

The lone bright spot of the weekend saw The Captain pass Honus Wagner for sole possession of 6th place on the all-time hits list. True, Friday night’s scoring decision was a gift but when you play as long as Derek Jeter has you can earn such consideration. Besides, he still has another 40-plus legit hits ahead in his final season.

This season is a never-ending search for consistent offense. Losing 80% of the season-opening starting rotation was a huge obstacle but pitching is no longer an issue or excuse. To this point, the Yankees have averaged exactly four runs per game. An extra run of offense per game is needed and not completely outside the bounds of reason. Right now, that extra run is the difference between a playoff run in October or another long offseason and disappointing sendoff for The Captain.

Up next is a pivotal series with the 1st place Orioles. Any hope of taking the AL East must be accompanied with a sweep of this surprising Baltimore squad.

Taming the Tigers

The Yankees continue to live on the razor’s edge that are one-run games and took three of four from the Detroit Tigers. I am happy to see the Yankees take down the the perennial AL Central champs but am still wary about 11 runs of offense over four games being enough to beat the rest of the league. Thankfully the ragtag Yankee pitching staff was enough to outduel the three most recent Cy Young winners and a Cy Young worthy Rick Porcello. The only black eye was being outlasted in Tuesday’s extra inning battle. It also helped that they kept Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez from taking advantage of homer-friendly New Yankee Stadium.

Shane Greene has subtlety segued into the Masahiro Tanaka role of rookie phenom. Additionally, Brandon McCarthy and Chris Capuano are building strong cases for being tent poles in the 2015 rotation. On the everyday player side, Brian Cashman’s acquisitions of Chase Headley, Martin Prado, and Stephen Drew are proving to be foolproof, both offensively and defensively. Headley and Prado in particular are providing flexibility in the infield and outfield.

The Yankees are still in contention for the 2nd Wild Card slot but need to find a way to score regularly if they wish to make a serious run at the AL East. The bullpen has been great, with Dellin Betances and David Robertson making few Yankee fans miss Mo, but at some point they will run out of gas. It’s times like this when an explosive offense is needed to outscore the competition.

Yanks on a Roll, Don’t Get Too Excited

After dropping the series opener to the lowly Texas Rangers, the Yankees rallied to win the remaining three games and have won six of seven on their current homestand. You would think such a statement would have this Yankee fan jumping for joy but there are still legitimate concerns. True, the Yankees won three of four from the Rangers. But the Yankees only scored ten runs in four games against a pitching staff that has the 2nd worst ERA in all of baseball. 2.5 runs per game may cut it against the Rangers but I doubt the Yanks will have any success with the same offensive output against the Tigers or A’s, or even the Blue Jays who are in the Bronx this weekend.

On the bright side, the new acquisitions are off to a great start. Jeff Francis finally saw his first action and pitched a scoreless inning to help the Yankees win the 14-inning marathon on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Chase Headley has ingratiated himself to fans with a great defensive stab in said game to go with a pair of run scoring singles since. And Brandon McCarthy is pitching like a Cy Young candidate with a 1.45 ERA over his three starts. McCarthy may turn out to be the best midseason pithcing acquisition since David Cone back in 1995. I hope recently signed Chris Capuano can enjoy the same revitalization.

So the Yankees are back in contention for the AL East, as well as the 2nd wild card slot. At least they are for now. Unless the Yankee offense shows significant improvement the quality pitching will go to waste. On a team with such notable names like Jeter, Ellsbury, Beltran, and McCann, the most reliable hitter should not be backup catcher Francisco Cervelli.

Yes, the Yankees can get hits but their inability to hit with runners in scoring position continues to be an Achilles heel. This was most recently highlighted by their 14-innning win against the Rangers. They outlasted a depleted Rangers squad, but only after squandering scoring opportunities in the 9th, 11th, 12th, and 13th. It was as if even the Rangers started to feel sorry for them and threw Chase Headley a pipe shot just to end the misery.

The Yankees need to take two of three this weekend against the Jays if they wish to stay in the race. Otherwise, they may continue a season-long strategy of playing catch-up. They may not have the time, and we know that The Captain doesn’t.

Off to a Good Start

The Yankees started the 2nd half of the season right by sweeping the Cincinnati Reds. True, it was a Reds squad missing both Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto, and it also helped that Brian McCann’s pop-up dropped in the midst of three Reds defenders in the 9th inning of yesterday’s win but sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. The Yankees have seven more home games in this home stand to see just how lucky they can get.

The weekend saw very good pitching from David Phelps, Brandon McCarthy, and Hiroki Kuroda. This caliber of starting pitching will be vital with C.C. Sabathia officially shut down for the season due to upcoming knee surgery. The Yankees will also require more depth from this staff with the bullpen relied on in all three wins. The Yankee bullpen is still one of the best in the game but overuse may come into play starting in August or sooner.

The Yankee offense also showed signs of life with needed contributions from Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann, who is steadily making his way back to a .250 batting average. Jacoby Ellsbury may not be the same superstar from 2011 but can still win games with his defense and his legs. Yesterday saw Ellsbury make a run-saving sliding catch in CF and in the 9th he led off with a single off of fireballer Aroldis Chapman, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and easliy scored when McCann’s bloop hit the stadium grass in short RF. Ellsbury, along with Brett Gardner, is giving Yankee fans a preview of the kind of heads-up hustle baseball that can be expected over the next few years.

As for The Captain, he has a five game hitting streak and looking rejuvenated from Tuesday’s All-Star game performance. The end of the week should see him pass Honus Wagner on the all time hits list. If he’s really hot, he will pass Yaz as well for 6th place.

Up next is a four game series with the disappointing Texas Rangers. The Yankees have the opportunity to make a statement and get back into the AL East race. Time to see what the 2014 New York Yankees are really made of.

Call the Red Cross, Raise the White Flag

I wondered how quickly it would take Masahiro Tanaka to get acclimated to U.S. baseball. Not so much the pressure of pitching in a big time market like New York but when he would succumb to the inevitable DL that awaits all starting pitchers, just like his Yankee mates before him. Tanaka has been diagnosed with a partially torn UCL which many are taking as good news, or at least better than the news that is accompanied by the name Tommy John. Let’s be honest, anyone who thinks that Tanaka will simply be back in six weeks as promised, ready to lead the Yankees back into the playoff race and into October is more delusional than Rick Perry handing out reparative therapy pamphlets at a Lady GaGa concert. Masahiro Tanaka is done for the year and the Yankees would be smart to protect the future of their investment, approve the TJ surgery and await his return at next year’s All-Star break.

As for the rest of “The Walking Dead,” they escaped Cleveland with a four game series spilt and head to Baltimore hoping to put up one last sign of fight in the last series before the break. Things continue to look middling at best for the Bronx Bombless. The starting pitching continues to tread water with solid efforts from newcomers Shane Greene and Brandon McCarthy but the offense keeps missing opportunities to win games outright. They blew early leads of 3-1 and 3-0 in both Cleveland losses. And Joe Girardi continues to tinker with the lineup looking for the right formula that turn the sputtering into anything that resembles a finely tuned engine.

I ask again, will the real Yankees please stand up? And if these are the real Yankees, can you pretend it’s 2007 and go on one more historic second half run, please?

Seems Like Old Times

The Yankees returned to form this past series and did what they do best: beat up on the Twins. The Yanks scored 23 runs in the process of taking three of four games from the Twins, who continue to be the one team that the Yankees can be beat on a regular basis be it regular season or playoffs. The Yankees saw offensive contributions from just about everyone in the lineup, including backup catcher Francisco Cervelli. Brian McCann may continue to have an uneven season ahead but it looks like the Yanks can count on Cervelli to provide a spark every fifth day or so.

Beltran, Teixeira, and Kelly Johnson continue to struggle but plenty of slack was picked up by Brian Roberts, Ellsbury, and The Captain himself, who finished the series by collecting his 3,400 career hit. Another twenty hits and Derek Jeter will surpass Honus Wagner and Carl Yastzemski for sole posession of sixth place on the all-time hits list. Another pleasant surprise was the debut of Zealous Wheeler who homered in his debut. Hoping he can continue to provide this squad with support the way Yangervis Solarte did for April and most of May.

On the not so the bright side was the starting pitching. Aside from David Phelps’ gem on Saturday, which the Yankees lost in eleven innings, the pitching only survived because of the plethora of run support. Tanaka and Kuroda did just enough to earn wins and Chase Whitley couldn’t even get to the fourth inning in his start despite being staked six runs. Thankfully, David Huff was masterful in long relief and should earn serious consideration to take over the rotation spot forfeited by the recent trading of Vidal Nuno. The Yankees need to have at least one lefty in their starting rotation.

Speaking of Nuno, he was traded to Arizona for Brandon McCarthy. McCarthy’s numbers may not impress but a veteran arm like his will be needed to eat up some innings especially with the announcement that C.C. Sabathia is most likely done for the season. The Yankees also designated Alfonso Soriano for assisgnment. After igniting last year’s squad, Soriano has been disappointing both at the plate and in the outfield this year. This means more playing time for Ichiro Suzuki who has been hittting around .300 most of the year and provindg his signature stellar defense.

Next up is a series in Cleveland. Last year, the Yankees dominated the Indians. Let’s hope that just like the Twins series, history can repeat itself.