Thirty days ago, the Yankees were six games below .500, last in the AL East. Today, they are at .500 - fourth place - six down in the loss column. The difference: Two 4-game sweeps against the miserable As and Angels, the Yankee versions of Peter Thiel.
To the right are Yank stats over the last 30 days. What stands out: Didi Gregorius transitioned from Lenn Sakatahood to a Jeteresque .323 - (he's up to .270 for the year) - extending rallies that were getting Stephen Drewed (who is currently batting .226 for the Nats. See? His decline wasn't an aberration. It was his new reality.)
There's much to like in these numbers. Gardy and Jakebury are hitting. Even Headley, well, maybe. A-Rod remains a carbon sink, and Tex - dear Tex - is probably long gone, going gone or just going. Without those two contributing, it's hard to imagine the Yankees winning 85 games. Still, over the last 30 days, thanks to our West Coast tech billionaire cousins, they've done it.
What's scary in these numbers: Starlin Castro's school bus-like plunge over the Palisades. On the year, he's still hitting a respectable .258, but Castro began the season on fire, and he seems to have gone over to the dark side of swinging for the fences. The YES team spent the month of May enshrining Brian Cashman into the Hall of Fame for his incredible steal - Castro for the measly Adam Warren (3-1, 4.03 ERA for the Cubs) - but dare we say it? Castro might be Drew II.
Also of note: The continual void of time and space that has been defined by Aaron Hicks. The guy is hitting .203 on the year - actually worse than over his fetid last 30-days. The Yankees celebrated his trade by suggesting Hicks would be a break-out star. He's becoming the guy that, when he comes to the plate, you break out for the kitchen. Of course, the guy we traded - John Ryan Murphy was so bad that the Twins sent him to Triple A. It looks like the proverbial trade that hurts both teams.
The modern Yankee Purgatory: Still stuck at .500. Still unable to beat good teams. Still chasing the Wild Card.
I liked Murphy and thought he showed real promise, but when you get sent down by the Twins...although I guess in all fairness, all you can say is he's no Kurt Suzuki.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm no Alphonso, whose predictive skills have been eerily on the mark this season, but I'm sticking to what I said a couple days ago: "1-2 vs. Detroit, 3-1 vs. Colorado and 5-2 against Minnie. Figuring we beat the Angels again today, that leaves us at 39-35 before we get swept by Texas...but then there's the Padres. 42-39 by the fourth of July and in the thick of the wild card race."
Usually lousy at that kind of thing, but what the heck. It's gonna be a long season, might as well give it a shot.
I would feel much, much better if Drew was having a good season, thereby preventing Cashman for trading for him to fill in at first base.
ReplyDelete2016 stats:
ReplyDeleteDidi: OBP .299, SLG .374, OPS .673
Drew: OBP .292, SLG .500, OPS .792
BFD
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