The Yankees have their first game of the season under their belt, but will the hitting eventually return to form?
Now hear me out. There are 162 games in an MLB season. The New York Yankees are only three games deep. It’s April 4. There are still 159 games left to play. I get that. I get all of it. But so far, through the three games we’ve seen, the Yankees have a hitting issue. Is it something to panic over? No, silly, of course not. Is it something that should be at least addressed? Absolutely.
The Yankees Struggle Against Toronto
Opening Weekend was a little underwhelming for the Bronx Bombers and their fans, to say the least. On the bright side, the pitching, both starting and bullpen, looked fine for the most part. Yes, Domingo German had an awful outing in his first game back since 2019, but besides that, everyone else looked at least somewhat competent. Who would’ve thought Michael King would sit down 16 straight batters, right? More so, the pitching held the Blue Jays to nine runs in three games, which is considered quite the achievement when looking at how potent this Toronto offense can be. The Jays scored three runs in each game of the series.
That’s the positive, now we gotta look at the elephant in the room. The Yankees scored a total of eight runs this weekend. Two in the first, five in the second, one in the third. You don’t need to be a savant to know that that’s not that great. As the Yankees get ready to host the 3-0 Baltimore Orioles, New York is currently hitting just .167 with runners in scoring position. I don’t mean to be a downer, but that’s just not gonna cut it. However, I do give the Yankees credit. Other than Sunday’s absolutely flat performance, The Yankees have been getting guys on base, now they just need to drive them home. Point is, they have the first step to scoring runs down: get people on. Now they just have to, you know, get them home to finish the job. For reference, the Yanks left 28 men on base this weekend.
Once again, it’s good that hitters are reaching base, not so good that they’re not scoring. Oh, yeah, and there’s a bit of a power outage for the Yankees, too. They only hit two home runs, both by Gary Sanchez, in their first three games. This criticism goes for just about everyone not named Sanchez or Clint Frazier. Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks, and even players like DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge will need to step up.
So, What Does This Mean?
Right now, I wouldn’t stress too heavily. The only cause for some concern is that situational hitting has seemed to be the Yanks’ biggest bugaboo for a few years now, especially in the postseason. Having said that, I’m optimistic that the Bombers will turn it around in the coming days. Maybe seeing a new team and getting their first series under their belt will put them in a better frame of mind going forward. Obviously, I can’t guarantee an offensive explosion over the next month, but I remain confident that the bats will be fine.
It goes without saying, however, that with the hitting the Yankees displayed over three games. It will be very tough for anyone — not just the Yankees — to have long-term World Series aspirations, which we all know is the end game for the Pinstripers.