The New York Yankees have the best record of the MLB. However, very few players in this team have already reached their top level. SPOX looks at the management, names the construction sites and shows which internal options can bring about improvement.
After exactly 40 games, the Yankees have the best record in baseball (28-12). They have got off to a flying start in April and have now taken over the top spot in the American League East again for the first time in some time.
Surprisingly, they did this without everything going like clockwork. Rather, manager Aaron Boone has a number of construction sites in the squad that should come to the fore more and more in the coming weeks.
After the big question arose during the Spring Training how the two positions Second and Third Base could be filled, this topic has now disappeared into thin air. Third Base is Rookie Miguel Andujar (99 OPS+) and Second Base Rookie Gleyber Torres (129 OPS+). Both have made an impressive impression and, in the opinion of General Manager Brian Cashman, are inviolable.
This was underlined in the case of Andujar by the quasi-degrading of Brandon Drury, who will stay in Triple-A for now.
A new construction site was opened on the first base: Greg Bird had to have a bone spur removed from his foot, it continues to fall out. By the end of May, however, it should also be operational again.
Until then, it looks like Boone usually prefers Neil Walker to Tyler Austin. With good reason actually, because Walker has been hot since the beginning of May and has an OPS of .976 with a few important clutch hits per month alone. However, Austin, who is in a deep depression, still gets his chances against left-handers. And it should be mentioned that he leads all AL rookies this year with six home runs and 19 RBI – despite limited playing time!
Unexpectedly, Center Fielder Aaron Hicks, who actually had the job safely due to his strong pre-season, also weakened. With an OPS of .684, it remained well below its potential and could get into trouble if the alternatives are behind.
In the case of Clint Frazier, this is already the case. The Outfielder has finally overcome his April concussion and is currently destroying Triple-A with a 1,125 OPS. He was part of the squad for the series in the National League Ball Park of the Washington Nationals, most of which fell into the water. Without the designated hitter, an extra position player was needed and Frazier was the obvious option.
He is fit, but will probably be sent back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre soon, because the Yankees prefer to have one pitcher more than usual in the team. But if Hicks continues to fight and Frazier continues to shine, there could be an exchange in the not too distant future.
Center Field is available, but everything is going according to plan in the corners. In Left Field Brett Gardner weakened for a long time in terms of his percussive performance, but he still kept on base. He has already completed 32 runs and thus the second most in the team.
Aaron Judge, on the other hand, is beyond any doubt. Last year’s Rookie of the Year leads his team in almost all relevant offensive statistics and is on the verge of exceeding his rookie season.
Giancarlo Stanton, on the other hand, who is currently oscillating between DH, Right and Left Field, found his form difficult to achieve, was not quite as well out of the starting blocks. However, if you look at the year-on-year comparison after 40 games, his numbers have basically not changed. He traditionally has problems at the beginning of a season, but these usually dissolve into pleasure – so does 2018?
Gary Sanchez has only beaten .211 so far, well below his career average (.271). And yet there is actually no reason to panic. On the one hand, Sanchez has the third-best “hard-hit-percentage” of all Yankees with 39.2 percent – everything over 40 is outstanding. Only Stanton and Judge, both in the 44 percent range, hit the ball more consistently “with authority”.
On the other hand, Sanchez is in the “BABIP hell”, much quoted under nerds, this year. BABIP stands for “Batting Average on Balls in Play” and describes how many balls that a hitter brings into play (everything except home runs and strikeouts) also become hits. This statistic says very little about the quality of a hitter and rather expresses how much luck and bad luck you have in a season. And Sanchez is so unlucky this year.
His BABIP is .207! Last year it was still at .304 and in 2016 even at.317. According to the law of probability, these statistics balance out over time. If someone had a great BABIP year last year, it is likely to be followed by a rather bad year and vice versa.
Nevertheless, Sanchez makes ten home runs and 30 RBI, both top 3 for the Yankees.
Didi Gregorius, on the other hand, is currently giving the reversed Walker. In April still the shortstop was the AL Player of the Month. In May, however, he beats .118 with a .324 OPS, which is completely disastrous.
However, no one expected Sir Didi to be able to confirm his 1,161 OPS from April, because it was overly good. Nevertheless, Gregorius is going through difficult times at the plate.
Of course, this does not put it up for sale. Manager Boone recently emphasized in the midst of an extended slump that he is not thinking of placing his number 3 hitter further down the lineup. But it has to increase in order to stay that way.
At the end of the day, however, there is little fault with the Yankees’ offensive performance to date. They lead the MLB with 234 runs and also have the best on-base and slugging percentage. And the one who comes on base most often also has the best chance of making runs – and therefore winning. Anyone who has read “Moneyball” has known this for a long time anyway.
Page 1: Position player of the Yankees
Page 2: The Pitching Staff and the Yankee Lazaret