Stamford, CT: The first series of the second half went a lot like their first half for the Yankees – two games where they looked like world beaters and two games where they looked like a flawed baseball team. The team currently sits a game and a half back from the Orioles, who have the same number of wins, but three fewer losses. What’s it gonna take for the Jekyll & Hyde Yanks to return to their early season form and make a push for that elusive 28th championship? With Soto possibly only on board for one year, and Cashman feeling his seat warming up, this team really has no choice but to push their chips in and be aggressive at the deadline.
What’s Worked
The Judge and Soto combo has worked out great. Ya think?
Judge has benefited from Soto hitting in front of him to the tune of 35 bombs and 89 RBI with a week left in July. Soto has been as advertised, an impressive combination of patience and power. He’s chipped in 25 dings and 71 RBI to go with a .311 BA and .435 OBP.
I have a hunch that this guy is gonna get a big contract next year.
What Hasn’t Worked
But offensively, they don’t have much going on besides those two. Verdugo, who seemed like a great fit early got really cold, I’m talking North of the Wall cold, for the last month or so. LeMahieu, before his homer on Monday, looked like an easier out than Ogilvie from the Bad News Bears. Volpe has been inconsistent. Gleyber has been disappointing. This is not a dynamic offense when you get past the three spot.
Despite all the talk of Giancarlo’s off-season work to prevent another injury, he is on his annual IL stint. Shocker. What is a surprise is how much they miss him. His .246 average was respectable and that big bat after Judge provided 18 homers and 45 RBIs. The cleanup spot has been a revolving door since Verdugo crapped the bed.
How’s the Pitching?
The starters were overachieving in the first half without Cole. But when Cole came back they all starting sucking at the same time. Not ideal.
Luis Gil seems to have found his form again after a few rocky ones. If he can regain his early Cy Young form, he would make a nasty one two punch with Cole. If the mediocre trio of Rodon, Strohman, and Nestor can be at least decent, they should be able to get rolling again.
The bullpen is solid but they started to struggle when they had to work extra innings due to the struggles of the starters. It’s a solid group, but they should be looking to add here. They don’t have a lot of swing and miss stuff on the back end. And while Holmes has nasty stuff, he can’t always control it.
Moves Coming
With the added wildcard team, there are not that many teams that are clear sellers. But the Yanks will be looking for upgrades. But there a lot of ways they can go.
Clearly they’ll be looking for a bullpen arm or two. They might try to add a starter but they’ll have to move someone and that wont be easy. Gil has shown ace stuff. Promising youngster Clarke Schmidt is also coming back soon.
With the hitters, there are a lot of ways to go. They need another outfielder as they’re not getting enough out of Grisham and Verdugo. Superstud prospect Jasson Dominguez would be a huge jolt right now, but he’s hurt again. Sigh.
Yankees fans have turned on Gleyber, with his mediocre hitting and lack of hustle. He seems likely to be gone after this year as the Yankees save every penny to try to resign Soto. A change of scenery might do him some good and a more dynamic infielder might do the Yankees some good.
Is Ben Rice the guy at first? He can sure hit a fast ball but has struggled with the curve. Will Rizzo fight off getting Pipp’d and return to form?
How long do they wait for DJ to look functional? The offense works a lot better when he is Le Machine. But right now he’s more like Le Pugh. Do you go with Cabrera instead or try to upgrade?
Can you count on Stanton coming back the same? He’s been bad post injury the last two seasons.
There you have it. I’ve asked lots of questions and provided few answers. Cashman has his hands full, it should be interested.
Come back tomorrow for Angry Ward.
