Jhony Brito has been a spectacular in the early goings of this season, while collecting his 2nd win!
Quick Stats -
Winning Pitcher: Jhony Brito (2-0, 0.90 ERA)
Losing Pitcher: Cole Irvin (0-2, 9.35 ERA)
Save: Clay Holmes (2)
Home Runs (New York): Giancarlo Stanton (3)
Home Runs (Orioles): None
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Big Story - The Yankees were about to find themselves in a tough bind on the starting pitching front early on this season after recently sending down Jhony Brito to Triple-A on April 3rd. Given the 15-day limit on availability to be called back up to the major leagues after an option, the Yankees were going to have to be very creative while working around a bullpen game before they'd be allowed to get back their emergency starting pitching arm. However, injuries to both Josh Donaldson (hamstring strain)) and Jonathan Loaisiga (elbow inflammation) provided the opportunity to bring back Brito early.
While it's never good to lose a player to injury, this did work out very well this time for the Yankees. Especially because Brito was once again very good in his performance. However, banking on this to happen- regardless of who the player needing to step up will be- it is not a winning formula.
Outside of the pitching pickle, the Yankees have also found themselves into another problem with the offense and defense of the game. With Josh Donaldson out for the next 2 weeks, the Yankees signed Willie Calhoun. With this move, the Yankees depth/bench is the following:
Kyle Higashioka (who is a fantastic back-up catcher, and I won't hear any other opinions on this matter)
Franchy Cordero (a career .222 AVG/85 OPS+ hitter whose been with 4 organizations since 2019)
Isiah Kiner-Falefa (a trial-by-fire center fielder now? Hopefully they give him more reps at third than center field)
Willie Calhoun (a career -1.7 bWAR player...)
The Yankees, and Brian Cashman, have built a reputation as a place where failed players can have a huge revitalization. The problem is the key players to break-out for this feature (like a Miguel Sano) did not come to the Bronx. Instead, the Yankees are again playing with fire in hopes this works.
The Yankees did not build a team with depth as a winning formula.
And it's already being tested. Early.
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Player(s) of the Game - One offensive, One pitcher:
Jhony Brito: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 2 K's
Giancarlo Stanton: 2-4, R, HR, 1 RBI
Notable Performances - A solid game around the line-up and bullpen!
Aaron Hicks: 1-4, 1 RBI, K
DJ LeMahieu: 1-5, R, 1 RBI, K
Aaron Judge: 1-2, 1 RBI, BB, K
Anthony Volpe: 1-4, R, Triple, K
Michael King: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's
Wandy Peralta: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's
Clay Holmes: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Better to Forget - I had to pick one, sorry!
Oswaldo Cabrera: 0-4, 2 K's
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My Take - Like I said above, I see it hard to find a way to look at the Yankees with an overwhelmingly positive attitude this season. For too often we've been seeing the front office attempt to find magic in a bottle and it seems like this year they don't have the right pieces lined up to make that happen again.
Now, maybe Franchy Cordero or Willie Calhoun or Aaron Hicks or IKF or Josh Donaldson surprise me. However, the large odds would be in the favor of them living up to my expectations, which are, as of right now, incredibly low and with nothing major to expect. They are filler pieces on a team that has adopted an NFL-esque model for building their team:
Pay up for a few big names.
Aaron Judge. Gerrit Cole. Giancarlo Stanton.
That's your Quarterback, Wide Receiver, and Edge Rusher.
But those three guys are not going to carry you alone to anything great. Maybe a strong regular season. However, if the rest of the pieces out there are fillers and rookies, it's going to be a long grind to get them to the end.
Last night the Yankees played as a whole team unit. The defense was great with great plays by DJ LeMahieu and Oswaldo Cabrera. The offense saw contributions from all across the line-up. The pitching was mostly lights-out and provided very few threats.
It's not unexpected to have games where the accessory wide receivers and cornerbacks and linemen play well. Last night was a good night. However, I'm already holding my breath going forward.
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Next Up - The Yankees have one final game against the Baltimore Orioles, today at 1:35 PM (EDT). The Baltimore Orioles will be starting Tyler Wells (0-0, 0.00 ERA) in his 2nd appearance of the 2022 season (after a 5 inning scoreless debut), as the Yankees will be sending out Nestor Cortes Jr. (1-0, 1.80 ERA) to the mound as he continues to build upon a tremendous few years in pinstripes.
