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You could say it's an intriguing week of Yankee any week of the year, but this one was filled with highs and lows, incredible pitching, indifferent offense, injuries, and the fact that I was watching all of these games in an 8 hour difference while visiting Dubai.
A jet lag of games that resulted in five wins and five losses. 2 of 3 against Baltimore and a split against Tampa. Even with the Blue Jays winning the past 5 and the Red Sox 7-3 in their last 10, they are still 33-15 with a 4.5 game lead in the AL East. I am not worried just yet.
To kick it off with the pitching, I mean you cannot think of a better starting five in the league, something the team has yearned for years.
Nestor Cortes: 1.70 ERA, 4-1, 53 IP, 61 SO
Jameson Taillon: 2.49 ERA, 4-1, 57.2 IP, 72 SO
Gerrit Cole: 3.21 ERA, 5-1, 50.2 IP, 39 SO
Jordan Montgomery: 3.40 ERA, 46.1 IP, 37 SO
Luis Severino: 3.38 ERA, 3-1, 48 IP, 51 SO
Longevity, Punch outs, and winning. The ultimate recipe for success. Even when they have an off night, the bullpen swoops in to save the day. Especially Clay Holmes, who hasn’t given up an earned run since opening day.
But when it comes to the starters this week, it was a piece of pure beauty. Gerrit Cole, 6 innings, zero runs, and 10 strikeouts. Jameson Taillon, 8 innings, 5 strikeouts and 2 hits. Nestor Cortes, 8 inning 1 earned run, 4 hits and 5 Ks. JP Sears even hopped in for a game, striking out 5 and only allowing 3 hits in 5 innings.
If only the offense came up with more then it would've been a perfect week. Aaron Judge is raking like an MVP, hitting the league leading 18th home run like it's easy.
Gleyber Torres is also so back it's beautiful. With not thinking about shortstop all the time, he's comfortable at the plate. His defense is sharp and he's batting a line of .243/.282/.467, +5 DRS. 9 homers. 2 walk-offs, and an .833 OPS in “late & close situations” .It took 516 plate appearances in 2021 to hit 9 homers. This season, just 161.
With all the good, there is some glaring bad.
Joey Gallo, Aaron Hicks and Kyle Higashioka are combined this season to hit .179/.282/.252 (.534), 63 wRC+ in 365 PA w/ 6 HR, 19 RBI, 32 R, and 5 2B)
What the fuck.
Thank goodness for Jose Trevino, but it's quite concerning from Higgy. Who know what happens
In the outfield department... yikes. At this moment it needs to be Judge in Center, Stanton in right (when he returns from the IL), and either Andujar, Carpenter, Florial, anyone. With Hicks being an automatic out and Gallo playing like Tyler Clippard or Sonny Gray, is it time to bring back Brett Gardner?
If not, I also see why they played with Torres in left field for a hot second
Now when you have three "starters" being pretty much useless, it doesn't help when the injury bug is starting to become present. Joining the longer list for May is Josh Donaldson with shoulder discomfort, Giancarlo Stanton with ankle inflammation, and Jonathon Loáisiga with a strained rotator cuff.
It got so bad that they decided to sign Matt Carpenter. The lifelong Cardinal and 3x All-Star, yes that Matt Carpenter.
I'll have a separate blog on this transaction and the most random players to become Yankees in their lifetime.
Overall and like I said, unlike most Yankee fans who feel the worlds falling from underneath them, I am not yet fully concerned.
The fellas had the day off for Memorial Day and the next series is going to be must watch TV. The Squid and T-Wade are coming home, as well as Jersey Boy Mike Trout and Sho-time Ohtani. The surging Angels just got swept by the Blue Jays, and I hope that we can recreate a similar outcome.