Are The New York Yankees good or just a Hot Team?
Baseball is a marathon and not a sprint. However, it doesn’t hurt to get out to a fast start to begin the season. The New York Yankees are living proof that a team that gets out early can be considered the favorites to win it all. But can they?
Are the Yankees a good team or are they just a HOT team this early?
There is a difference. A good team will demolish all challengers while a HOT team will start the season 0-5 then go on a 15-game winning streak then lose 5 in a row and then start another winning streak. A good team will be consistent throughout by winning 3 here, lose 1 game then win 4, lose one game, well you get the point. But where do the Yankees fall?
In their first 5 games, the Yankees were 1-4. However, after a 4-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on April 8th the Yankees began to play like a team that wanted to win, instead of win that wasn’t expected to. Following that loss against Baltimore, the Yankees would go on to win 9 of their next 10, including an 8-game winning streak in which they took 2 of 3 from the Chicago White Sox and swept the Tampa Bay Rays and the St. Louis Cardinals.
But here is where the Yankees have distanced themselves from the majority of the teams in MLB.
While some have been hot or cold, the Yankees have been downright consistent. After dropping 2 of 3 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team decided to strut their power over the next 4 series against the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago Cubs by winning 9 of 11. Being HOT is one thing, but playing dominate baseball against some of the top teams in the league is another.
The Yankees are an offensive powerhouse. They are currently 2nd in Runs Scored, 7th in Hits, 3rd in Home Runs, 3rd in RBI, 5th is SB and 4th in BA. All this coming from a team with a ton of young guys from trades and their so-called depleted Farm System. As for the youth at the plate, think about this. The Yankees are in the bottom portion in Strikeouts and 4th in BB. Not only are they hitting at a high rate, they also are showing patience, something you rarely see from a power-hitting or young team.
As for their pitching, the Yankees are 4th in ERA, 1st in Hits Allowed, 3rd in Runs Allowed, 8th in Strikeout and 1st in BA. This is not the makeup of a HOT team. What the Yankees are doing is providing a blueprint on how the game is to be played. Most fans outside of New York have not heard of or is just catching wind of players like Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Starlin Castro or Ronald Torreyes.
That’s just fine with them. The HOT players are always mentioned in the headlines while the consistent players are not heard of until the World Series.
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
