Yankees: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Yankees are cruising in first place in the American League East, but they still have some very ugly aspects of their team. 

Technically speaking, the “Dog Days of Summer” fell between July 12^th and August 20^th of this year, which happens to account for every day since the Yankees resumed play after the All-Star Break. In that span, the Yankees have gone 26-11 while seeing their division lead increase on the Rays and Red Sox by four and eight games, respectively.

Although this stretch has boded very well for this group of Savages, it hasn’t all been sunshine and rainbows. Presenting the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the Yankees Dog Days of Summer.

The Good?

The Offense

The most obvious answer here is the offense and the production they have had from top to bottom of the lineup since the break. Take a look at this production by the numbers and where it ranks among the entire league after the All-Star Break:

• Batting Average: .290 (1^st)
• Slugging: .545 (1^st)
• OPS: .903 (1^st)
• Runs: .240 (1^st)
• Home Runs: 77 (1^st)

You can see by the numbers alone that the Yankees have been undoubtedly the hottest offensive team in baseball since the second half of the season began. No one is more thankful for this offensive production than the starting rotation—which leads us to The Bad.

The Bad?

The Starting Rotation

Almost as big of no brainer as the offense being “The Good” is the starting rotation being “The Bad”. Paxton can’t get out of the 1^st inning, Happ just completely forgot how to pitch, Tanaka can’t keep the ball in the park and CC hasn’t won a single game in which he started since the break including Sunday when he gave up 4 ER in just 3.0 IP. Brace yourselves for the numbers and league ranks of the Yankees starting rotation since the break:

• ERA: 6.09 (28^th)
• HR/9: 2.60 (29^th)
• FIP: 6.01 (29^th)
• WHIP: 1.40 (20^th)

Given the fact that the Baltimore Orioles are still technically considered a Major League baseball team, being ranked 29^th out of 30 teams is as bad as it gets. The craziest part of this all is that thanks to the offensive firepower, the starters have still accumulated a record of 17-9 which ranks as the 2^nd most wins in the league since the break.

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The Ugly?

The Injured List

Although this has been something that has plagued the entire 2019 Yankees season to an extent I haven’t seen before, the additions to the list since the All-Star break has continued to pile up. Since the second half of the season began, the following players have hit the Injured List:

• Gary Sanchez (groin)
• Brett Gardner (knee)
• CC Sabathia (knee)
• Luke Voit (hernia)
• David Hale (back)
• Edwin Encarnacion (wrist)
• Aaron Hicks (elbow)
• Jonathan Holder (shoulder)
• Stephen Tarpley (elbow)
• Thairo Estrada (hamstring)

That list of players alone would sweep the Orioles and that’s just who the Yankees have placed on the IL in the last month. Luckily for the Yanks, the first 3 players on that list have been reactivated while Luke Voit is rumored to be making good progress and could make his return in the near future.