(Music Pun Streak #11. Simple but still applies.)
I hate bringing a topical reference to this blog, but here I go.
The 2019 New York Yankees are currently playing out the baseball equivalent of Avengers: Infinity War. Only instead of Thanos claiming half the players, it's the IL. And several big guns, like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Luis Severino and Aaron Hicks (to name just a few) were claimed by injuries within the first few weeks of play. As numbers piled up, the team looked doomed.
...but, it's not really about the Yankees that were lost. It's about the Yankees who were left. And there are some pretty good ones left.
For instance, Luke Voit has been lighting up the AL in the past week, hitting 8 home runs, rounding his average up to .283, and making a ton less errors at first. Upon taking the 2nd base position, DJ LeMahieu has quickly returned to his Rockies numbers, has an average over .310 and is defensively shining for us. Hell, even Gio Urshela is playing well at third, and this is a guy who's bopped around several teams lately.
And even if we're down Sevvy and Gumby, we still have Tanaka pitching beautifully, Domingo German having a breakout year, and...James Paxton. I was worried when we signed him that we wouldn't get quality starts out of Paxton, but so far it's been unfounded. The dude's been throwing fire even in the losses, and he already has 51 strikeouts. Paxton could become a steady, Mussina-esque arm for us, and with this start I'm very, very excited.
The biggest indicator of the success post-injuries this year was what I saw in Scranton last year, in their AAA unit. I saw a ton of players who were at the right point to jump into the majors, and were just being blocked by the amount of talent that was already up. Guys like Tyler Wade, Mike Ford, Clint Frazier and Thairo Estrada, who are all getting their shot this year, and for the most part impressing, would still be down in AAA any other year, but now they're proving their worth. Even Cameron Maybin, who'd be toiling in the minors either way, is getting a shot and killing it. And that makes me happy.
Yes, it'll be nice when everyone comes back, but...the Yanks are still winning games, and playing beautifully. And that's all I could ask for.
Coming Tomorrow- Shortstop for a team we all thought would be doing a lot better about now.
Yanks fans have to feel great about where they stand considering all the injuries. Credit is due for keeping it together. BoSox have no excuses but it's a long season and I'm hoping they can turn it around.
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