Yankees position players get their first-half report cards

The Yankees have reached the traditional half-way point in the season. They all get incompletes on the season, but how do the position players score on their first-semester grade?

The Yankees are poised along with the other twenty-nine major league teams to make the push that will determine the eventual outcome of their season. The Yankees season can be divided equally into two quarters, one outstanding and the other a dismal relapse.

The team has seen some additions and deletions to their 25-man roster, mostly due to unforeseen injuries with players here today and gone tomorrow.

But for the most part, there has been a core of position players who have been there all the way. It is those players who we’ll concentrate on as we assign them grades for their first half performance. Always, of course, subject to debate. We’ll start with the outfield.

Brett Gardner LF

There is not a player in the Yankees clubhouse who has given the team a greater effort than Brett Gardner. How’s that for openers? But seriously, Gardner, who will reach 34 years of age shortly, has played in all but five of the Yankees 86 games this season.

That, in and of itself, has been a comfort to Joe Girardi in being able to write his name in the lineup almost every day. As the team’s leadoff hitter, he’s done the job. Plus, he’s added some pop with 15 HRs and 40 runs driven in.

He’s been a stolen base threat, perhaps to the dismay of some who would like to see him run more, but he has also been mindful of the power coming up behind him that has allowed him to score 58 runs for the team.   GRADE: A

Jacoby Ellsbury CF 

Jacoby Ellsbury is what he is, and that’s brittle. In the early part of the season, he caught some attention when he appeared to be on the way to having a season that showed why the Yankees were willing to give him a contract that pays him 20 million+ dollars.

But the bottom line is that Ellsbury has played in only 62% of the games his team has played. And that is not a recipe that calls for making a major contribution that you were being counted on to make at the start of the season.

He ran into a wall while trying to make a sensational catch reminding of the same frustration managers and team owner’s used to feel when they saw Ken Griffey Jr. doing the same thing. Like, I like what you’re doing, but I’d like it much better if you were in the lineup contributing to the team today.

Ellsbury is not the answer for any of the Yankees current or future issues in the outfield. He’ll be in there whenever he’s healthy because of the money he’s making. But don’t count on him to be in there for long.   Grade: D

Aaron Judge RF

Any superlative you can think of applies. Where would the Yankees be without him? An easy one. Grade: A+

Around the Yankees infield

Chase Headley 3B

Headley is a small cog in a big machine, nothing more and nothing less. He’s not Manny Machado or Josh Donaldson. He runs hot and cold. He plays a decent third base.

A career .263 hitter, Headley is holding steady in that range (.263 .341 OBP). He’s down in the power department with only four home runs but should reach his usual 55-60 RBI by the end of the season.

The subject of incessant trade talk, Headley is still with the team, and he has one year remaining on his contract before the Yankees cut ties with him. Grade: B-

Did Gregorius SS

Since 2015, when Gregorius first joined the Yankees, he has improved each season. This year is not different as he projects to finish in the .290-.300 range for batting average and will equal his 20 home runs and 70 RBI of last season.

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And if not for an injury that forced him to lose the entire month of April, he probably could have eclipsed those numbers.

Not the flash-bang Ozzie Smith type of shortstop, Gregorius make all the plays the Yankees need him to make. To date, he’s made only two errors this season.

Not the type of player who is going to carry his team, Gregorius makes his mark through steady and reliable play.

Only 27, Gregorius has seven or eight prime years remaining in his career and has an excellent chance to reach 2000+ hits before he reaches the end. Grade: A-

Starlin Castro 2B

Castro was voted to represent the American League as their second baseman in the All-Star Game. This pretty much tells you the kind of season he is having in 2017.

With his .313 batting average, Castro has been in the Top Ten in that category since the season began. He’s shown some pop too with 12 home runs and 45 RBI. He’s also among the leaders in hits with 92 and has an outside chance to reach 200 for the season.

Like his counterpart at short, Castro is also only 27, and he has already passed the 1000 hit mark (1239) in his career, giving him a real chance to reach the coveted 3,000 mark by the end of his career.

Hampered by an injury, he was forced to miss the All-Star Game but will be ready to resume play this Friday when the Yankees meet Boston at Fenway. Grade: A

Kitchen Sink 1B

What first baseman? You get it, everybody’s played there but the K____S_____. And if you want to point to one thing and one thing only that’s plagued the Yankees over the course of the first half, this would be it. Front Office Grade: F-

Gary Sanchez C

Sanchez is not having a great season ( .276, 13 HR, 40 RBI), but he’s having a good season, at least offensively. Good enough to be selected as a reserve on the All-Star team and to knock Giancarlo Stanton out of the Home Run Derby Contest.

Despite improvements, he’s still challenged defensively. And at least once, his manager, Joe Girardi has called him out for it.

All things considered, he’s having a pretty good sophomore year in spite of the fact that many fans were planning on more production based on the explosion he set forth at the end of last season.

As the set-up guy when he bats second for Aaron Judge, he sees better pitches to hit and as time goes on, he needs to find ways to capitalize on that and cut down on his strikeouts, which are now in the 25% range. Grade: B

The Yankees Reserves

Because of the revolving door of late, I’m only going to do two of the reserves.

Ronald Torreyes, Bench Player

In a lot of ways, Torreyes has been the backbone of this team. Always ready to, anywhere anytime, he is the one guy Girardi has been able to depend on as his go-to guy when he needs a replacement.

At only 5’8″, fans die for pictures of Torreyes and Judge standing together. And maybe, the best way to describe his style of play would be “pesky.” His .278 batting average this season is his best and he has a tendency to be in the middle of anything the Yankees do well.

The only knock on Torreyes is that he goes up there ripping and if a count gets to 1-1, that’s a long at-bat for him. Still, he has to be listed at the top of the team’s MVP vote. Grade: A

Austine Romine, Backup Catcher

Romine’s stats are not going to wow anyone with a .231 batting average and only two home runs. He functions, arguably, as the team’s best receiver and a reserve first baseman, having played nine games there this season.

Next: Bryce Harper starting to rub Yankees fans the wrong way

And the one thing you can’t help but notice when Romine gets the call is he’s in the game 100%. As backup catchers go, the Yankees would be hard-pressed to do better that Romine. Grade B

Coming Next: The Pitchers