COULD BAD SPRING WEATHER BREAK THE YANKEES' MOMENTUM?

Source: CBS Sports New York

The New York Times printed a piece today about the Yankees having to look for something to worry about.  The Times pointed to the worry of maintaining healthy players and I agree. We need to develop a strategy to keep our players healthy since we know that injuries are commonplace. But, do we have to worry about the weather outside of the bubble of pristine Florida temperatures to break our momentum as a team ready for a run toward a 2018 Championship?

Source: Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

According to AccuWeather, “The weather can impact every aspect of the game,” said Mike Collins, head baseball coach at Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania."  And although your first thought is snow outs, since today in the Northeast is yet another version of winter finding a way to spoil spring, it may be more than just precipitation to break the Yankee long ball momentum specifically.

Source: CBS Sports Boston

"Imagine watching a baseball game in the middle of April in colder weather and a batter launches a pitch deep towards the fence, only to have it fall into an outfielder’s glove. If the game is played during the summer months, you could see a ball struck similarly, only this time the outfielder positions himself to catch the ball only to drift farther and farther backwards as the ball carries farther than expected. A fly ball out in April could be a home run in August," says AccuWeather.

Source: Newsday

And our guys are long ball hitters, which is expected when Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez are in your lineup.  According to the Times, "Maybe the Yankees’ hitters will strike out too much; Stanton and Judge did combine for 371 strikeouts last season. Then again, they also combined for 111 home runs. The Yankees can live with that." 

Source: MassLive.com

I feel like we have to get things started early and build a big lead against our AL East opponents.  And bad weather in the spring could break that momentum and this time I do mean snow outs and later on, rain outs.

Source: YES Network

Last season baseball as a whole experienced 23 postponements between April 3rd and May 20th according to Forbes. "What’s important to note is make-up games often lag behind dates in which they were initially scheduled. They become parts of double-headers, or played on Mondays where attendance has historically been low. So, the rain outs will have an impact whether the games are made up, or not."  And long games, double-headers, and postponements break the momentum of a team further compromised by low attendance and extra travel in some situations.  All of these variables could also impact the health of players, which does support the Times' original premise.

Source: Newsday

The probable inclement weather this spring could impact baseball in multiple ways.  For the Yankees, the concern is their health, their long ball and their fatigue, having to go back to cities for makeup games later in the season.  So as we dig out from huge snow falls again this season, know that this isn't only a nuisance and concern for us, but for the Yankees too.

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof