The Full 408: New York Yankees Snap Out Of Hitting Funk

The New York Yankees looked to revive the offense after being swept by their division rivals last week. They were shut out two games in a row and luckily had an off-day to recoup and focus on getting back in the lead of the American League East. This week the Yankees visited Cleveland and Toronto once again following the off day. Here’s all you need to see and know in this week’s edition of The Full 408.

The Yankees went into Cleveland as hungry as they’ve been all year. After being swept by Toronto they were 1.5 games back and could not afford to get behind more than that with the Jays streaking. Though they were hungry, the struggles seemingly continued with the bats and the Yanks dropped the first two games in Cleveland. The first game was a heartbreaking walk-off loss after 16 innings. The next day the hitting (again) couldn’t help a very well pitched game by CC Sabathia as they lost 2-1. However, the Yankees would finally wake up the last game of that series, scoring eight runs with the help of Brian McCann, Brett Gardner, and Stephen Drew. That ended a five game losing streak for the Yankees and gave Nathan Eovaldi another win, improving his record to 12-2 on the season.

The next day the Yanks took a trip up to Toronto to face the Jays, who at the time were on an eleven game win streak. This turned out to be the Yankees biggest game of the season, as they would come back in dramatic fashion to end the Jays win streak and take back first place in the division. The following day the Yankees would get nine full from Masahiro Tanaka, who only gave up one run and tallied eight Ks. The Jays would come back yesterday to avoid getting swept, but the Yankees left Toronto with a lead in the AL East and that’s what matters.

The Good

Track

: A big key that I think lead to the overall success in Toronto was the 8-6 win in Cleveland the day before. Gardner and McCann recorded the Yankees six RBIs, along with Drew contributing two as well. If the Yankees went into Toronto with another loss I don’t want to know how the club would’ve felt. Instead they scored eight and get a good pick-me-up, ending a five game losing streak heading into a vital three game set with the Jays.

Wall

: Though

blew his first save of the season in Cleveland, him and

were the anchors for the next two games they were brought into. After

gave the Yankees a climactic pinch-hit-homer, it was no doubt Betances and Miller (DnA) would come out. After a twelve pitch at-bat with Troy Tulowitski, Miller and Betances would seal the two wins in Cleveland and Toronto. The two were then rewarded with a day off, as Tanaka went the full nine, which brings me to number three on this week’s list.

See Ya!

: An ‘Ace’ is that pitcher you can count on to come through when he is needed most, to help the team get a win even if it’s all up to that one player. This week

showed why he is the Yankees’ ace, and why the overreacting needs to stop. Tanaka gave the Yankees a complete game Saturday giving up just five hits and one earned. His velocity is one tick higher than it was last year, and in the last two months has looked like the pitcher he was earlier on last season.

The Ugly

Though he seemed to get back into the motions later in the week

was struggling heavily before that. You cant really expect him to keep up the pace he had earlier in the season coming back from an injury but it wasn’t looking good. He went through some practice with hitting coach Jeff Pentland and it appears to have him in the right direction again. All in all, the Yankees lead is down to a half game now, he needs to get it going again so the duo of ‘Gardsbury’ keeps the Yankees in first place.

continues to turn heads with his overall dominant starts for the Yanks. However, after three starts he has yet to get a win from a lack of run support, and it simply can’t keep happening. Severino started what would go on to be a 16 inning game, but after the six innings he pitched the Yankees could only get one run on the board. With Luis filling in for

they cannot afford to keep wasting these two run starts from him. Yesterday he was credited with a loss and three earned runs on what could’ve been an error on Beltran as he lost the ball in the sun with two outs. That was followed by the two run jack from

, and the Yankees would only come up with one run for themselves. Three runs is like one run to the Yankees with the power in this line-up, Severino should easily have at least two wins to his name by now, these are games they should be winning while Pineda is going through rehab.   The next topic correlates to the previous one which is run support on valuable starts from pitchers. I’m not saying I expect five+ runs a game, but when there are one or two run deficits the game plan has to be tweaked later in the game. For example,

has been doing the best job of this, which is shocking being that his focus is usually on hitting a home run every at-bat. When the power isn’t there, you have to start at the main focus, which is to get on base. Situational hitting, contact hitting, these things would be key in tight games, but nearly everyone in the lineup is able to hit for power, and they seem to think a bomb is needed immediately. Get on base, leave it up to the next guys to move you another 90 feet. This rotation wasn’t viewed as a strong point overall for the Yankees at the start of this season, things have turned for the better and when the pitching is on point, losing those close games hurts heading into the next day.

Weekly Performances

Keep It Up

: I’m choosing to go in a bit of a different direction this week. I could easily put

as he had a monster week for the Yanks and in crunch time when they needed it most, however I’m going to go with the rookie

. Yes, he is only 1-9 in his first two major league games, but it seems like he is still comfortable in his position. He is getting good contact on the ball as most of his outs seem to be flies, and you just get this feeling that he is meant to be here. His fielding has been great and he is also

giving Teix some time off

. This is what rookies go through, he isn’t dominating, but he seems composed and up for whatever comes his way.

Pick It Up

:

has been in a slump this week, only getting two hits total. Of course because it’s A-Rod, reporters are overreacting, but this is no reason to panic. A slump is just that, he hasn’t been on his game, but there’s no reason to think he’s done. With that said, he still needs to get his bat going, just as Jacoby.  Arod is just as important to this lineup, and with the Jays still in striking distance, this is not the time to struggle.

The Reel

Jacoby saves a run (which would prove to be extremely important)

Despite the shift on for a left-handed pull hitter,

makes a diving play.

Didi Gregorius continues to flash the leather

.

What’s Next?

The Yankees will be home for the next week and will be going up against the Twins and a quick rematch with the Indians. Look for Greg Bird to turn those flies into doubles and triples, Severino to keep up his dominance, and Arod to find his swing again.  See you next week on The Full 408!

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