What if I told you…the Yankees were without Gerrit Cole and DJ LeMahieu, with Aaron Judge hitting .178, Gleyber Torres .192, and Alex Verdugo .200? Will they start the season 10-3?
Even the most voracious Yankees fan would have signed up for a start like that by the time the team wrapped up camp in Tampa two and a half weeks ago.
The Yankees haven’t been firing on all cylinders from the start, but they have several hot batters, a new offensive approach that hits every at-bat, an inspired starting pitcher, and only two arms left from last year’s relievers. Strong bullpen despite not having any left.
“You can’t take them.” [wins] Off the board, they’re just as important now as they’ve always been,” manager Aaron Boone said this week. “You could say it’s early. That’s true, but there’s a long way to go. But when you can play a game like this for a long time, you definitely sign up and take advantage of it. Most of all, Win or lose, no matter what, at this point in the season I’m happy with how the group is competing, how they’re coming together and their objective. We have to continue with the same focus. It won’t.”
