They spent most of the first half of the year playing catchup with the Rays but that task is over, now they just need to hold off the hot Red Sox, and the fading Rays. The bombers have the best team in baseball, in the best division in baseball. They have experience and youth, pitching and hitting (wOBA .355), and defense. They are the most interesting team in baseball.
Some of that is not true. The reality is that the Yankee's are winning with offense. The pitching is average, and the defense average. Robinson Cano has gone crazy, and is making up for the weak start of Teixeira. We are going to face two above average pitchers, one who is hitting his previous Cy Young stride in June, while the other is having one of the better age 38 years in Yankee history. The scariest part of the Yankee offense is that Jeter, Arod, and Teixeira have yet to get going. Even when Cano slows down, you can expect those three to more then make up for it.
The record is 45 - 27
Scored 395 runs, Allowed 293 runs. Pythagorean W-L: 46-26
On the DL - Nick Johnson
Old Friend - Chan Ho Park
Position Breakdown
1st Base- Mark Teixeira, stud, slow start, will bang with the best when he gets going, and he is heating up. Watch out.
2nd Base-Robinson Cano, MVP candidate, does best work in 2nd half. Watch out.
SS- Derek Jeter, future HOF, one of the 10 best shortstops to ever play the game. Mediocre start to the season.
3rd Base- Alex Rodriguez, future HOF, one of the five best shortstops to ever play the game. Compared to his normal MVP type numbers, very mediocre start to the season.
C- Jorge Posada, one of the best hitting catchers in the history of the game, might end up actually having a HOF case. However with Nick Johnson out, Posada is the DH a good % of the time. Some dude named Francisco Cervelli is the catcher when Posada is the DH. Since they don't get the DH, Posada will probably catch all three games. .
CF - Curtis Granderson is replicating his 2009 season, so I'd say he's been a disappointment.
RF - Nick Swisher is having his best year at age 29. I think we can officially call that trade a huge win for the Yankees. His BABIP of .350 is way above his career average of .282 so that should normalize but by the time it does we will be done with them.
LF - Brett Gardner is the 2nd biggest surprise on this team. Sure his .322 average is being helped by his .368 BABIP but his .OBP of .402 is the result of an 11% walk rate.
Bench - Good thing the regulars rarely get hurt because the bench is thin. Marcus Thames might see some at bats. Randy Winn was cut loose. Ramiro Pena, Kevin Russo fill it out.
Starting Pitching for our Series:
Game 1- CC Sabathia gets the nodd against Padilla. While CC is not having a CY Young season he has been the Yankee's best starter in the month of June. He heats up when the heat heats up, and will probably make mincemeat out of our lineup just like he did the last time he pitched here. 10 K's, one walk in 7 innings, but no decision.
Game 2 - A.J. Burnett is not very good, this is the game we need to win. His high 4.83 ERA is right in line with his FIP of 4.97. If he goes Pineiro on us, I'm giving up the season.
Game 3- Phil Hughes against Kershaw is a marquee match-up of two of the best young pitchers in the game. Hughes leads the best team in baseball in pitching with a 3.27 FIP. Andy Pettite gets the call for the final game as one of the best veteran left handers in the business goes against one of the best young left handers in the game. Pettite is having a solid year in his age 38 year. He leads the starters in ERA at 2.48, and ERA+ of 165.
Bullpen- Best closer in the history of baseball. Joba Chamberlain is not a weak link even if the ERA is 5.00 as he has a huge split between ERA of 5.17 and FIP of 2.25. That 2.17 x-FIP is the best on the team. David Robertson is not doing what he did last year but he is still a solid setup man, and has been the best man out of the bullpen in June. Gaudin is the long man, if we see him we did our job with the bats. Marte and Logan will be used to neutralize Andre.
We lost five of six to the AAAA Angel Lineup, so I expect we will sweep the best team in baseball to even things up. Not because we are any good, simply because baseball is only here to confound and confuse us.