Yankees 10 Game (Plus 1) Report

Posted on by Charlie Ricker

With Major League Baseball having a shortened 60 game season in 2020, I thought we could cover the New York Yankees in ten game increments. I like the idea, to me it makes things more manageable as opposed to 81 game halves.

With that, let’s get to it. A disclaimer – the Yankees played a doubleheader yesterday against the Philadelphia Phillies, which were the tenth and eleventh games. They made a nice run in the late innings after laying an egg early in the first game, and played well in the second game, so I couldn’t omit that. Therefore, this entry will cover games one through eleven. The next report will canvas games twelve through twenty. 

Pitching

It all begins with Gerrit Cole, the “White Whale” of General Manager Brian Cashman’s last off-season. He’s been everything the Yankees expected so far. Cole is 3-0 with a 2.55 ERA, striking out 16 over his 17.2 innings of work. If not for a pair of rain-shortened outings, the “Cole Train” would likely have a couple more innings under his belt.

Jordan Montgomery and Masahiro Tanaka looked good in their first starts of 2020, and both appear healthy. Montgomery, beginning his first full season after recovering from Tommy John surgery in 2018, has regained his velocity and command. Tanaka, who took a 112 mph line-drive off the side of his head in Summer Camp, showed no ill-effects in his start against the Boston Red Sox on August 1. He will still be on a pitch count, likely 65-70 pitches.

James Paxton and JA Happ are points of concern for Aaron Boone and Pitching Coach Matt Blake. Paxton, coming off back surgery at the beginning of 2020, hasn’t regained his velocity. Over his two starts, the “Big Maple” has been sitting at 91-92 mph, about 5 mph short of his normal velocity. Paxton’s numbers are ugly – 12 hits and 8 runs allowed over four innings. Meanwhile, Happ is healthy but he’s not hitting his locations. He doesn’t have the velocity to cover a lack of command, and his results have been predictable. Happ owns a 10.29 ERA, walked eight over seven innings and allowed three long balls. Yikes.

The bullpen has done nice work, with Zack Britton converting all five save opportunities. Britton, Chad Green, Adam Ottavino and Jonathan Holder have all held opponents scoreless. David Hale and Michael King have pitched well when needed to give innings, and Jonathan Loaisiga has performed well at times. Nick Nelson earned his first major league win in relief of Tanaka, before getting hung out to dry in Game 1 of yesterday’s doubleheader (and being subsequently sent down afterward). Closer Aroldis Chapman is probably at least a week away, and the reliable Tommy Kahnle is lost for the rest of the season (and likely much of 2021) after undergoing Tommy John surgery on Tuesday.

Hitting

Welcome to the Aaron Judge Show! Seriously, Judge is white-hot right now. After starting the season 2-12, he went on a tear, hitting home-runs in five consecutive games. When Judge lowers the gavel, he doesn’t hit wall-scrapers, they get stuck in orbit.

 

Luke Voit has launched four homers over nine games and looks back to his second half of 2018 level. Giancarlo Stanton and Gio Urshela are also raking, with OPS’s of 1.028 and 1.088, respectively. Urshela came up early in 2019 when Miguel Andújar injured his shoulder and has firmly seized the 3rd base job. Andújar, now healthy, has struggled to the tune of 1-14 (.071) and was optioned to the Yankees “Alternative Site” (2020 version of being sent to Triple-A Scranton) last night. He could also be trade-bait if Brian Cashman decides to look for more help in the rotation.

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Gleyber Torres, Aaron Hicks, Brett Gardner and Gary Sánchez have struggled, to the consternation of many on Twitter. It’s a matter of time before they get going, particularly Torres ( I think Gary will also be fine as well). Gardner, now 36, may be best off in a platoon situation if the Yankees decide to bring Clint Frazier back up from Scranton. Mike Tauchman has earned a lion’s share of playing time, but only so many at bats are available with this log-jam.

Next time, we will cover games 12-20 and see if the Yankees can continue to stay hot.

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