Yankees Midseason Report Card
At the halfway point of the 2006 regular season, the New York Yankees stand at 46-35, four games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox. The Yankees are on pace for a 92-70 season, which probably won’t be enough for a Wild Card birth or a divisional title. Things have not panned out exactly as they may have liked, but with all things considered, the Yankees aren’t in the worst of shape. We’re going to be giving the Yankees a grade and explanation for the following categories: Hitting, Starting Pitching, Relief Pitching, Fielding, Managing, and Team Chemistry. After grading all of these areas, we will then give an overall grade to the Yankees. In the immediate future, there will also be a Mets Midseason Report Card published, so Mets fans: hang in there! The first category we’ll start with is hitting. Hitting: A-
Even with the absence of Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield, the Yankees are third in the entire MLB in runs scored. They rank second in the MLB in OBP (.365) and fourth in the MLB in BA (.283). Melky Cabrera and Bernie Williams have filled in nicely for Sheffield and Matsui, although they can’t provide the same offensive output that those two men added to the lineup. The Yankees are missing arguably their most clutch hitter, and their most feared hitter in the lineup, and they’re still putting up runs. Derek Jeter is having a career year and Johnny Damon is hitting for more power and stealing more bases than ever. Jason Giambi ranks in the top five for homeruns, and has an incredibly high .424 OBP. Alex Rodriguez isn’t on his MVP pace like last season, but he’s starting to drive in runs and getting his average up, after a miserable month of June. Jorge is having a renaissance year of sorts, after three straight declining years which led many to question whether or not he could continue to be an everyday catcher for the Bombers. Posada is quietly putting up very good numbers, and has been the most pleasant surprise for the Yankees thus far. Starting Pitching: C+
Let’s face it, there has been absolutely nothing consistent about Randy Johnson’s season so far, except for possibly the talks of him being over-the-hill. The Ace of the staff has an ERA of 5.25, which is anything but impressive, but he is in the top ten for wins (9) and strikeouts (92). Randy followed up seven innings of shut-out ball and nine strikeouts, with eight runs allowed to the cross-town rival New York Mets. If the Yankees are going to make a playoff push, they’re going to need some sort of consistency out of the Big Unit. As aforementioned in previous publications on the site, Shawn Chacon has been awful, and has been demoted to the bullpen. Jaret Wright hasn’t pitched more than six innings in any start this season, but he has at least flashed some glimpses of promise in his limited work. If the grade was going to be based entirely on the performance of these three underachievers, I don’t even think a F would serve their performance, thus far, justice. The only thing rescuing this staff has been the pitching of All-Star snub Mike Mussina and young sensation Chien-Ming Wang. Wang has been eating up innings for the Yankees, and leads the innings in double-plays. Mike Mussina is having a Cy Young caliber year for the Yankees, posting a record of 10-3 and a 3.24 ERA. The Moose ranks in the top five of the AL in eight different pitching categories: Wins (10), SO (108), WHIP (1.08), CG (1), IP (122.1), ERA (3.24), Win% (.769), and BAA (.225). It’ll be tough to make a pennant run with a two-man pitching rotation, so the Yankees are going to need to make a deal for a pitcher or some sort of production from the Chacon/Wright/Johnson trio. Relief Pitching: B-
The pitching of old reliable Mariano Rivera (18 S, 1.80 ERA, 0.93 WHIP), and newcomers Mike Myers (1.65 ERA, 1.16 WHIP) and Ron Villone (1.99 ERA, 1.23 WHIP) have made the bullpen somewhat reliable. Heavily touted and highly paid Kyle Farnsworth has been a huge disappointment, as was Tanyon Sturtze, before he was injured. Scott Proctor was off to a great start for the Yankees, but besides April, he has been awful; his ERA is a staggering 4.58 and he has allowed nine homeruns already. However, Proctor is young and there is promise in his future for the Yankees; on the other hand, Kyle Farnsworth has been the real stinker for the Bombers this season. His 4.62 ERA and 1.59 WHIP are causes of immediate concern, as Farnsworth was to serve as a setup man for The Sandman. Farnsworth’s reputation has always been that he excels in the regular season, but can never pitch in a big spot; for me, forget about pitching well in a big spot, how about pitching decent in ANY spot Mr. Farnsworth? At this point, the only thing Farnsworth is good for is getting out David Ortiz, which is something none of the other Yankee pitchers can seem to do. I’d really like to see Torre make use of Villone more often in later innings, and not just mop-up roles; also, I’d like to see Mike Myers get more action against righties, in addition to lefties, as Myers has demonstrated that he is able to get most hitters out. It’s halfway through the season and Rivera already has 45 innings on his tab; Rivera has never pitched more than 80 innings as a closer, and the fact that he’s on pace for 90 is a bit scary to me, especially with Mo at the age of 36. He’s as good as ever, but it’s important for the other relievers, most notably Farnsworth, to step up and give Mariano a rest during the Summer months; we’re going to need Mo at this best down the stretch. Fielding: C-
The Yankees rank 23rd in the MLB in fielding percentage, which is hardly an impressive statistic to boast. Johnny Damon has played very well in center-field, covering ground that had not been covered in a number of years for the Yankees, but his arm is well below average. Bernie Williams was forced into the everyday role of starting right-fielder for the Yankees, and there are many times in which he looks completely lost out there. Bernie frequently drops balls, misplays balls off the wall, and is slowed by his speed in reaching fly balls, resulting in base hits. This is all in addition to an arm that could possibly be the weakest in all of baseball, at a position in which it’s a prerequisite to have a strong arm. Melky Cabrera has provided solid defense in left-field for the Bombers after an unsuccessful start; his catch against the Red Sox makes up for some of his misplays as it was such a phenomenal catch, at such a crucial point of the game. A-Rod has already made 13 errors, which is one more than he made all of last year. A-Rod went through a miserable stretch there, both fielding and hitting, but I think he’s over that phase of the season. I’d take him over many third basemen in the MLB, any day of the week. The rest of the infield has played as expected, with Andy Phillips demonstrating his defensive prowess, and Robinson Cano playing surprisingly well at second base. Occasionally, he has a slip-up but he’s still a youngster. The Yankees have been making a lot of errors, but this wasn’t built to be a strong defensive team to begin with. Managing: B
I’m usually a pretty big critic of Joe Torre, but I think he is doing a pretty decent job this year, balancing the lineup and keeping the Yankees in the thick of things. He doesn’t really have to do all that much, but one thing that he has done is keeping the team from spiraling out of the race. Torre doesn’t let the team get too down on themselves, nor does he let the team get too high after big wins either. One thing that I do think Torre needs to better manage is to let his starters go deeper into the game; the quick-hook of Joe Torre will burn out our aging bullpen once again, and there are times in which you need to let your pitchers go over 100 pitches. Joe needs to also stop over-working Mariano Rivera and place some faith in other parts of the bullpen, even if they aren’t performing. I know we need every win that we can get, but if you’re going to be pulling pitchers so early, then you need to look to other relievers to get the job done. Joe Torre has and always been a very good players manager; he knows how to treat his players with respect, and he gets the most out of his players. Another one of Torre’s top qualities has been the way he handles things off the field, and his dealings with Steinbrenner in one of the most pressure-filled environments. Torre will forever only be an above-average baseball manager, but he excels in the way in which he handles his players, the media, and the ownership, which are arguably as important as baseball skills. Team Chemistry: B+
Derek Jeter and Joe Torre have continued to keep the other players happy and have led by example. There has yet to be on quarrel between players, even with one of the most volatile players in the league on the roster. All of the players play hard, and seem to have a genuine respect for each other. The younger players aren’t criticized by their superstar counterparts, and they all seem to get along. Johnny Damon adds a fresh breath of air to the team as his constant smiling and joking nature are something that the Yankees desperately need. Randy Johnson’s constant scowling take away from the team’s personality, and I’m surprised he hasn’t been called out yet for his poor pitching, or his even worse attitude. The players seem to tolerate the hissy fits that he brings to the table, which I suppose is all the more credit to them. Overall: B-
Taking everything into consideration, I don’t think the Yankees have had that bad of a start to the regular season. It’s true that R.J., Chacon, and Wright have been absolutely awful, but their poor efforts have been slightly hidden by the success of Wang and Mussina. Damon has been everything the Yankees have could’ve asked for; Jeter has been Jeter; Giambi is hitting for power; and Posada is having a year that far surpasses what most people thought he would have. Alex Rodriguez definitely needs to continue hitting well for the Yankees, and I’d like to see Giambi get his average up a little bit. For years, people have said that the Yankees have no farm system, but with the emergence of Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Andy Phillips, and Chien-Ming Wang, all of the critics have been proved wrong. When Matsui and Sheffield return to the lineup, it’ll be kind of wrong to bench Cabrera and Bernie, but it’s something that has to be done. I expect these guys to return in late-August/early-September, as the Yankees make a frantic push for a ninth consecutive AL East title. The New York Sports Headquarters is a site devoted to providing the latest news and insight to all things New York Sports. We will be covering issues regarding professional baseball, football, hockey, and basketball. Under special circumstances, we will also be covering other sports, such as golf, soccer, auto racing, and horse racing. We will provide insight, up to date news, opinion pieces, and all sorts of other information regarding the New York Sports world. http://www.nysportshq.com/ |
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