Glimpse Into the Future: Why Yankees Middle Infield Is Cheated By Cheat Sheet

Peek into the future:

Here we are New York Yankees fans. It’s game seven of the 2016 American League Championship Series. The Yankees, winners of the American League East over the overrated Toronto Blue Jays, are facing the Kansas City Royals for the right to go to the Fall Classic.
The surprise of the year for the Yankees has been the play of their middle infield, shortstop Didi Gregorius and second baseman Starlin Castro. But we should have seen it coming all the way back in spring training, when Gregorius batted over .320 and Castro hit  .444.

But of course, at the time, their hot springs were seen as just that. So it was no wonder that Cheat Sheet.com rated the Houston Astros’ Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve as the majors best middle infield.

Second place went to the Red Sox Xander Bogaerts and Dustin Pedroia, followed by the San Francisco Giants’ Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik. Fourth place went to the Cleveland Indians Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis, and in fifth place was the Colorado Rockies’ Jose Reyes and DJ LeMahieu. Looking at the stats, there was strong precedence for the picks. In particular,  Correa’s 22 home runs and Altuve’s .313 batting average in 2015 seemed to set the bar. So the Yankees were left out in the cold.
But what Cheat Sheet failed to take into account was the intangibles, and that Gregorius and Castro were just heading into their prime. Gregorius, with the pressure of replacing Derek Jeter all but evaporated, started at shortstop for the 2016 American League All Stars. His consistent bat caused manager Joe Girardi to move him up to the second spot in the batting order.

And Castro, playing with a chip on his shoulder, batted over .300, showing the Cubs that they made a big mistake in letting him get away.
So with a victory tonight, the Yankees will claim the American League Pennant. Ironically, that will move them on to a match up with the Cubs in the World Series. Graciously, Gregorius has repeatedly brushed off the cries of those who have labeled him as the Yankees MVP. And Castro, he’s just looking forward to starring against the Cubs.