Yankees Editorial: Biggest Surprise Of The Season So Far Is?

Heading into the season it was no secret that the New York Yankees had more questions surrounding the team than the organization would like to realize. Injuries, returns, age, departures, all things that plagued the team heading into the 2015 season, and some still there. However, after last night’s 4-1 victory over the Rays, the Yankees are now 12-8, sitting alone in first place in the AL East. Though it’s only April, the team has still made a good number of statement wins this season. So out of all the questions and concerns passed around this off-season, what is the biggest statement that has been made player wise?

Alex Rodriguez

Probably the biggest story for the team this off-season was Alex Rodriguez coming back from his year long suspension. Every move Alex made in Tampa was noted, every swing and every out in every at bat was watched and judged (that is no overreaction by the way). During the spring league, all aspects of his game were taken into consideration when judging if he could still play in the majors.

The Yankees are now 20 games into the season, and Alex is one of the Yanks top three sources of offense. In 63 at-bats, the not-so-old man has five homers and 13 RBIs (that’s tied for seventh in the league this year). Whether he keeps this offense up for the rest of the year, isn’t the case right now. This is about the current nature of the team, and whether you like it or not, Alex has been a huge factor in where the Yankees are right now. So is this the biggest shock (which most would think) when it comes the Yankees team so far? Is it a fairly big one? Yes, but it might not be the most shocking. Alex isn’t the only one making statements in his play this year.

Starting Rotation

A bigger eye-opener thus far might be the recent success of the Yankees’ starting rotation. The team spent this off-season mostly upgrading their bullpen. Almost all of the team’s fielding lineup was set, especially with the contracts weighing down the possibility to find new batters.

Though it started off a little rocky, all aspects of the team have been (for the most part) on point. A majority of the rotation is making the bullpen’s life much easier, and making other team’s lives much harder. There was a black cloud of doubt surrounding almost every pitcher in the five man group coming into the season, but as of right now they are showing out in style.

If there were questions surrounding one part of the team, more than another, it was the rotation. Masahiro Tanaka and his “ticking time-bomb” of an elbow has been lights out. Michael Pineda is pitching like the he’s the future of this team, just as expected. Nathan Eovaldi seems to be getting better with each start. His control is helping him reach his potential inning by inning, and with the help of being on a team who can actually hit, the stress that has darkened his career is being lifted. The main thing fans must realize with Eovaldi is he’s a work in progress, but in no way has he been a disappointment this far.

Next you have Adam Warren, who last year was a young piece to a strong bullpen. If you were expecting Warren to be pitching like Tanaka or Pineda, you had another thing coming. However, Warren is pitching fairly well, he’s getting himself out of trouble, just as he was getting starting pitchers out of trouble last year. He beat Esmil Rogers out of the water for that fifth rotation spot in the spring training, and he’s doing his job. You have to take into consideration his circumstances when judging him thus far, and for starts to come. A young mid-game pitcher, who was used to his previous role and did it well. All indications point to Warren heading back to the bullpen when Chris Capuano or Ivan Nova are ready to return, but after the way he pitched on Monday v. the Tampa Bay Rays, it seems this may not be the case. If Warren can string together a few more quality starts, he may very well win another internal battle to remain in the Yankees rotation.

Lastly we go to CC Sabathia, who so far is inconsistent to say the least. His last start was straight out terrible, but before that, he pitched eight innings with two earned runs. CC’s velocity is the highest it’s been in three years, and now it seems he just needs to get back his command. Just as Eovaldi, CC is a work in progress. His next start will be after the Yankees three game series against the Rays, and will take place Friday night in Boston. Before that he has an extra day of rest, which he will need with his struggles against the Red Sox over the last couple of years.

With both situations explained, what do you think is the biggest surprise of the Yankees season so far? Is it 39 year old Alex Rodriguez leading the Yankees through April with power, or is it the starting pitching showing the potential the team knew they had?

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