So the Bronx Bombers are a 1st place club. They are living up to their famous nickname. They hit the ball out of the park. They hit with ducks on the pond…aside from Stephen Drew, who leaves more ducks on the pond then a blind hunter. They are playing good defense. They are pitching at both ends.
Sure, there is room for improvement…aside from Betances and Miller who are OUTRAGEOUS. These two make Batman and Robin look like the “Other Guys” in Gotham. In short there is a good vibe in the Yankee Universe.
Here is my one and only concern…is it sustainable? We are getting offense from Tex, ARod and Charlie Spur, aka Carlos Beltran. But these guys are older; will a long season zap their strength? Can Gardy, Ells, Mac and Chase be enough pop?
And then there is the pitching. CC has been much better than his record, but that knee…it’s like being in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon and worrying that when you tell Chewie to “PUNCH IT!” it will break down and leave you vulnerable.
Nasty Nate has shown that his upside is for real. He has a swing and miss heater and his breaking stuff is way ahead of schedule. I think he will be there as a true #2. What about the back end? Tanaka? I won’t bank on him.
I won’t. I think the elbow is an issue. Even if he says it doesn’t hurt, he will over compensate to avoid injuring it further. And anyone that has played a game of any kind KNOW that when you change something to take pressure off a weakness you hurt something else. We get Cap and Nova back…but that’s like getting tickets to “The Producers” on Broadway and then learning the roles of Bialystok & Bloom would be played by Steven Weber and Nathan Lane’s understudy instead of Broderick and Lane. No offense to those guys, but they aren’t exactly reinforcements. I will also lose sleep on whether GI Joe will overuse the pen…The Binder isn’t always great with the back-end arms.
The good news is the AL East is fairly weak. Every club has issues. The Sox can’t pitch. The O’s have Adam Jones and…crickets. The Rays aren’t THE RAYS anymore even though they beat us 3 times this week, and Toronto? Well, when you hear rumblings about them possibly shopping Joey Bats. Well, there you have it. The Yankees are the most complete team in the division in my humble opinion. And, with the way they handled the Motown Cats, I think they can certainly contend with the rest of the AL. Nobody is a run away favorite at this point…but it’s early.
The Yankees are looking more like a team. They are gelling like that 1996 team. They seem to realize that they could and should be there in October. Yes, questions abound, but that is the way it is. The Yanks have to answer them game by game, series by series. They need to keep their heads down and just do the work in front of them. They need to put a loop of Mariano Duncan on the Clubhouse sound system saying, “WE PLAY TODAY, WE WIN TODAY! DAS IT!”
I’m guardedly excited about the recent play. There is a LONG way to go, but “Start Spreading The News…” the New York Yankees are showing up each and everyday…and guess what…they look like the New York Yankees again.
** I am still AMPED up from the Ranger win in Game 7! This is for them and the 2015 New York Yankees! Let’s Go Boys!! RIGHT NOW!! **
--Mike O'Hara
Senior "Features" Writer
Twitter: @mikeyoh21
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