by Paul Semendinger
June 4, 2023
***
There have been a lot of reasons to doubt the 2023 Yankees. A lot. We've written about many of them on these pages...
There have been a ton of injuries
The Yankees lack left-handed hitting
The Yankees' lineup isn't all that great
The Yankees don't have an everyday left fielder
The bullpen seems to be a patchwork of guys...
I could go on and on.
And yet...
Here we are.
The Yankees are ten games over .500. With a win tonight, they'll match their season high of being eleven games over.
Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson, Frankie Montas, Carlos Rodon, Harrison Bader, Aaron Judge, Jose Trevino... on and on, have all been on the IL.
And yet...
Here we are.
The Yankees have won 35 of their first 60 games. They are on pace to win 95 games this season.
Only three teams in all of baseball, the Rays (41), the Orioles (36), and the Rangers (37) have won more games than the Yankees this season.
Not once have the Yankees had their entire roster whole, and yet only three teams have won more games than them this year.
The 2023 Yankees have never been under .500.
The Yankees have no .300 hitters in the lineup. In fact, the Yankees offense has a lot of holes.
The following players have accumulated at least 50 plate appearances and are (or were) hitting 220 or below:
Franchie Cordero (56 PA, .148)
Aaron Hicks (76 PA, .188)
Kyle Higashioka (93 PA, .218)
Jose Trevino (112 PA, .210)
Isiah Kiner-Falefa (131 PA, .220)
Oswaldo Cabrera (169 PA, .200)
Anthony Volpe (231 PA, .188)
YIKES!
Basically, the Yankees are getting very little offense out the catcher, shortstop, and left field positions. But somehow, they are staying competitive and... winning.
On the pitching side, almost every starting pitcher not named Gerrit Cole (2.82) has an ERA over 5.00. This includes:
Nestor Cortes, 5.16
Clarke Schmidt, 5.01
Jhony Brito, 5.58
Luis Severino, 5.28
The only starter who has an ERA under 5.00 is Domingo German (3.98).
And yet....
Here we are.
The Yankees, somehow, somehow... keep winning.
There are a lot of reasons to not believe in the 2023 Yankees, but the more I watch, the more I see that this team, in spite of all the reasons they should be losing... aren't.
And, at season's end, that is what matters.
I have been very reluctant to put my hopes in the 2023 Yankees. I can find so many reasons to be skeptical.
And yet...
They keep winning.
They might just make a believer out of me yet.
Let's Go Yankees!
