After a start to the season that had Yankees fans panicking, the Bombers have finally heated up and they look dangerous.
At some point in every season, maybe even at multiple points, a team will go through a stretch that will not be pretty. Unfortunately for Yankees fans, that point came at the beginning of the season.
Heading into the first game of the series against the Blue Jays on April, 19, the Yankees were 8-8. It wasn’t just 8-8 though, it was a very frustrating 8-8. There were blown games by the bullpen, bad games from starters, hitters struggling mightily, and even a no-hit bid thrown in there at one point.
The 8-8 start even featured a low point of losing to the Marlins 9-1. The Yankees had already dropped series to the Orioles and Red Sox, but that loss to the Marlins just really put fans over the edge.
The mix of expectations and the stumbling Bombers led the Yankees fanbase (notorious for overreactions) to be very upset with the team.
Fast forward to now and the Yankees have been on an absolute roll, winning their last eight games, including a sweep against the Twins and series wins against the Jays and Angels. In those eight games, the Yankees have outscored opponents 62-17.
Those 62 runs have been a whole lot of fun too. We’ve seen Didi Gregorious hit home run after home run and take multiple curtain calls. We’ve seen Aaron Judge being Aaron Judge, Miguel Andujar the doubles machine, Giancarlo Stanton heating up, a Gary Sanchez walk-off home run and so much more.
The only player not hitting has been Neil Walker and it’s safe to say his teammates have picked him up.
It hasn’t just been the hitting for these Yankees, the pitching has been great over the eight games. Besides Sonny Gray, every Yankee pitcher has turned at the least one good start on the winning streak.
The Bombers won’t be on a tear like this for a full 162 game season, but it definitely is closer to what we can expect from them then those first 16 games were. Last year, the Yanks put up a run differential of +198, good for a 100-62 Pythagorean W-L.
That was a lineup that didn’t have Stanton, Andujar, or Gleyber Torres. Add them in and you’re looking at a team that could put up a run differential similar to that, maybe even better.
The Yankees are getting hot at the right time with series against the Astros, Red Sox, and Indians coming up. The team we saw the first 16 games is not the real Yankees. This relentless lineup, on an eight-game win streak, is the real Yankees, and they are not going anywhere.