In any other year, the loss of Aaron Judge, Max Fried, Giancarlo Stanton, Austin Wells and Trent Grisham could be enough to kill the Yankees. Yet somehow, this team, the 'run it back Yanks' that everyone thought would keel over, have kept moving even without them, won 2 of 3 against the Jays and retook the lead, deservingly, over Tampa. All by doing things that seemed confounding at the time but ended up working perfectly.
For instance...nobody really understood why the Yanks re-signed Paul Goldschmidt for this season. Very famously they have a 1st baseman, one who can hit, and Goldy's 2025 didn't end particularly well. But at 38, Goldy's still excellent defensively and a great clubhouse guy, so there were aspects that made sense. Ultimately, once Stanton got hurt he got more playing time, and then he got off to such a start that the Yanks kept finding ways to keep him in the lineup. Yesterday for instance they DH'd him and started Rice at 1st. I completely get it, because Goldschmidt has accumulated an .889 OPS, a .285 average and 31 RBIs just as a swing/backup bat. He's been insanely hot this month, and has become one of the team's most pivotal hitters...besides Rice of course [who had a 2-run bomb yesterday].
Then you have the infield depth thing. Bringing back Amed Rosario and putting weight on Jose Caballero seemed short-sighted, but both have been really helpful. Rosario's got 6 homers and 20 RBIs as a utility bat, McMahon and Chisholm are both heating up offensively, and Cabby's had a wonderful year so far, with 6 homers, 21 RBIs and 15 steals. His 3-run tank yesterday sealed the deal in the 9th, and while we didn't trade for him for the power material, it certainly helps. It's also cool that both Anthony Volpe and Cabby are surging right now rather than competing. Volpe was responsible for 2 RBIs yesterday, and is slowly building back up to where he was, despite some of his usual average issues.
And then Judge and Grisham getting hurt is a blow, but when it gives Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones time in the bigs, it turns into a win. Jones is getting truly hot at last, has his first MLB homer under his belt, and 5 RBIs to boot. Jasson is ramping himself back up, and had a pivotal homer Saturday night on Red Bull fumes. If these guys can stay hot and begin to take the reins of the team, it's proof that this team is more than just Judge and Stanton [especially with Schlittler, Cole and Rodon surging].
Right now Bellinger, Rice, Goldy and Chisholm are leading this team and keeping them a major competitor in first. Hopefully when Judge gets back they're still a major competitor. Hell, hopefully they're still a major competitor by Friday, I'll be at 161st that night.
Coming Tonight: After a down season, he comes surging back at all facets, ironically the exact season his former battery partner struggles to stay healthy again.
No comments:
Post a Comment