The New York Yankees’ first 94 games can be summed up by one phrase: treading water.
They sat at .500, 47-47, at the All-Star break with the same glaring holes they’ve had all season — a wildly inconsistent and often discouragingly poor offense and a depleted rotation that has seen four of its five starters go down with serious injuries.
C.C. Sabathia, who many considered to be the ace of the staff before Masahiro Tanaka took the league by storm before getting injured himself, is out indefinitely with a knee inflammation. Ivan Nova is out for the year after undergoing Tommy John Surgery. The often-injured Michael Pineda has begun throwing in the bullpen, but is still at least a couple weeks away from returning. And Tanaka, who many had pegged obvious choice for Rookie of the Year, became the latest casualty with a torn ligament in his elbow.
Without Tanaka, who is currently rehabbing but may end up needing Tommy John surgery, and the other three, the Yankees’ rotation is moving forward with an unreliable and inexperienced group around lone holdover Hiroki Kuroda.
To have any shot at making the playoffs or challenging for the American League East Division crown, David Phelps, Brandon McCarthy and youngsters Shane Greene and Chase Whitley will have to continue to be solid and hold the fort for as long as needed.
It hasn’t been the pitching that’s been the main culprit, although it has contributed to the downslide on occasion. The issue that has plagued New York throughout their first half struggles has been the offense, which, somehow, despite its obvious firepower, is 13th in the AL in runs scored. Even more inexplainable is that the Yankees are ninth in the AL in home runs and eighth in team average, which are both far too low given the potential they possess.
The most frustrating aspect of the Yankees’ struggles, though, is that no player in particular that can be singled out and blamed for the offense’s struggles. Each player, one through nine, is having issues. No one, other than 40-year-old Ichiro Suzuki at .297, is anywhere near .300. The next highest average belongs to Jacoby Ellsbury, who’s hitting .282, well below his career average.
The Yankees’ power hitters — Brian McCann, Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran — have all been disappointing. Not only have they not hit anywhere near their career averages, but they haven’t provided the power numbers or the RBI that they were signed to produce.
But, McCann and Teixeira have begun to show signs of life as of late. Teixeira has 17 home runs and 48 RBI, while McCann has added 10 homers and 39 RBI while hitting .364 in the final eight games of the first half.
Beltran's been hurt for much of the year, but the Yankees need him to be some raise his .631 OPS.
If they can continue to trend upward and provide power in the middle of the order and Ellsbury, Derek Jeter and Bret Gardner can get on base and get big innings going, then the offense has the potential to put up some crooked numbers. But they need their big sticks to do what they’re paid to do: hit it out of the park and drive in runs at a higher clip than they have been.
On the mound, the Yankees need the starters they’ve plugged in to give their offense a chance. In other words, they need to avoid the big inning and keep the opponent from running away with the game.
Somehow, the Yankees are right in the thick of the AL East and AL Wild Card races despite their struggles. They are just 3 1/2 games back in the wild card, and five back of the first-place Orioles in the East. They will have an easier time making up the ground on the Orioles, though, since they play them nine more times.
The other factor working in favor of the Yankees is that 41 of their final 68 games are at home. They’ve struggled at home, going 18-23 in the first half, but if they can reverse that trend, it is definitely an advantage.
The Orioles, meanwhile, have the toughest second-half schedule in baseball, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney, with only 36 games at home, and 32 on the road. Even worse, Baltimore's first 26 games after the All-Star break are against teams with records of .500 or better, and their last seven games, should the race come down to the wire, are on the road, with four games at Yankee Stadium and three in Toronto.
The Yankees are not out of the hunt, especially if their pitching continues to hold down the fort and their offense continues to heat up.