My Thoughts on the Yankees
By Vincent DiGeronimo
We are now more than a few games into the new MLB season. It is still April, but early impressions are starting to come in. Most teams have performed how they should be. However, there is one team that’s catching fans by surprise, and not by a good way. The New York Yankees are in last place in their division and have the worst record in the American League.
I’m here to tell you, the Yankees struggle is no surprise at all.
Let’s start with the off-season. The Yankees did not get anyone important, but they lost their second best pitcher in Masahiro Tanaka. The Yankees are NOTORIOUS for getting players past their prime, and they brought in Jay Bruce, Corey Kluber, and Rougned Odor, three guys that have no value and should have never been signed in the first place. They just barely re-signed DJ Lemahieu, and did not add any bats in a lineup that they needed. If you look at their lineup, which has been the same from the past few years, they are average at best. On top of that, in the playoffs, that lineup is atrocious, with many guys batting .250 or lower. Even though they make the playoffs every year, their lineup is awful when that time comes. The Yankees do not hit for average, and it is the reason they lose every year.
Going into today’s game, they have only a few guys batting above .250. Their offense, the same offense that has been flat for years in the playoffs, has come out flat to start the season. I am old school, so my opinion is biased, but the Yankees pride themselves on the long ball, when that clearly does not work for that lineup. They strike out like crazy, and they are towards the top of the league in ground balls. There is no desire to play, no life in the team, and zero excitement around them.
Going forward, it sounds unreasonable, but the Yankees need a complete overhaul of their team. They collectively do not hit, there is no leadership on that team, and a poor manager. Their pitching is very good, but it only gets you so far. So long as they continue to have an awful team batting average, they are not going to win anything. If they continue with this lineup, and the same coaching, the already 11 season drought is most certainly going to continue.