Yankees: Five questions the team needs to ask themselves, pronto!

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The Yankees, like most teams still alive in the race to the Playoffs, reach a point in the season where some issues about the team need to be answered promptly because the sun is setting earlier every day now. Here’s a few they should be asking themselves.

The Yankees have been through the wringer this season. Some would argue they only have themselves to blame and maybe there’s an element of truth to that. But anyone who has followed this team for at least decade has to think long and hard to remember a season that’s been as odd as this one.

The prognosticators all picked the Yankees as a .500 team in the middle of transitioning from an ancient and expensive team to a young, athletic, and vibrant team that would tough to beat in a couple of years.

As we know, it didn’t work out that way, and here we are at the three-quarter pole, and the team holds the first Wild Card spot with an outside chance of snaring the Division from the Red Sox, despite the fact they’ve played sub-.500 baseball since getting off to a 21-9 start.

Injuries aside, because all teams have them, the Yankees, under the direction of Joe Girardi, have gelled both on and off the field. The veterans on the team have taken on new leadership roles in guiding the kids and making sure they learn all there is to know about the Yankees brand of baseball.

But there comes a time in the season when issues about the team need to be addressed by the Yankees soon, and especially the ones that have been kicked down the road for a while. How these issues are handled will, of course, have a significant bearing on where and how the Yankees end their season.

Here are a few of those issues and questions.

(Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /

Does The Team Have A Plan To Limit Innings Pitched?

The Yankees have two young starters, which if the season progresses as it has, will both pitch more innings than they ever have before. And that’s just for the regular season, with no allowance for additional innings in the playoffs.

Both Luis Severino (above) and Jordan Montgomery are a cause of concern for the Yankees. Severino is a big strong guy, and the issue with him is probably not one of stamina, but more about protecting that golden arm and spelling wins for the team over the next decade.

Montgomery is more of a finesse pitcher who relies on a taxing twelve to six curveball as his out pitch. He was sent down by the Yankees as the odd man out when trades brought Sonny Gray and Jaime Garcia to the team.

But with CC Sabathia hurting his knee during his last start in Cleveland, his spot in the rotation could become open again if Sabathia needs a trip to the DL. Montgomery would be the most likely and natural call-up to replace him.

All of which leaves the Yankees in a quandary as to whether or not they have a plan to address the matter, or do they intend to take it one start at a time. And if they decide to treat it, what is the plan they intend to implement.

September call-ups might provide some of the answers, allowing someone like Chance Adams to take a turn or three in the rotation, skipping both Severino and Montgomery.

But what the Yankees don’t want is a repeat of what the Mets experienced in 2015 when they overpitched their young starters in an all-out effort to make it to the World Series, only to be met with defeat and the disintegration of their entire staff the following season, and beyond, even as they come to Yankee Stadium next week with only Jacob deGrom as their Lone Ranger.

It’s not a new question for the Yankees, though. Brian Cashman has been living with the same problem all season. He’s resisted calling up “the kids” until he was forced into a corner, when, for example, Aaron Hicks went down, and Clint Frazier was called up prematurely.

It’s a head scratcher, no doubt. But it’s one the Yankees will have to answer sooner and not later.

M Andujar (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

How Many Players Get Called Up In September

In a couple of weeks, the Yankees will be faced with the task of deciding which players deserve a call-up from the minors to play with the big club in “The Show.” Typically, there’s an effort to pick guys who not only have had good seasons, but they also worked hard to get where they are now.

It’s the traditional “Cup Of Coffee” reward to travel and be with the team for a few weeks, and often it’s used as an incentive used by the team to encourage the player to perform even better next season.

Now, if you are the San Diego Padres just playing the string out, that’s one thing. But if you are a team like the Yankees fighting for their lives trying to secure a spot in the playoffs and making some noise when they get there, that’s a whole other ballgame.

No one, including management or players, likes the roster expansion rule and it is soon to be amended as a contract addendum. I’ll write more about that soon, but suffice to say, for now, having these extra players around, especially at crunch time, is a headache for everyone from the Travel Secretary to the Clubhouse Manager, and especially, Joe Girardi, who is tasked with finding playing time for each player.

The number of players the Yankees bring up is entirely up to them. Though not likely, they could call up no one.

By now, the chemistry of the team is set. And make no mistake, that’s something Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi have worked on all season. The Sonny Gray’s and the David Robertson‘s were all vetted before they were brought into the clubhouse.

Obviously, the Yankees will take advantage of the opportunity to add players who can help the team, but how many of those players are there, three or four?

So the question as a team is, do they go beyond that when the time comes?

(Photo by Joseph Garnett Jr. /Getty Images) /

Do They Go With Offense Or Defense In The Catching Spot?

In a different world, Joe Girardi would no doubt prefer to write Yadier Molina‘s name in the lineup every day and forget about it. But he can’t, and he knows it.

He has a young 24-year-old catcher in Gary Sanchez, who lit the world of baseball up in September of 2016, was proclaimed to be the Yankees next Captain, and still had time to make sandwiches for the startled customers at a New York Deli over the winter.

There’s just one problem, though. His defense hasn’t added up to its billing, and one could even say it’s regressed over the course of this season. He’s still got the bat with the power, but even that is not matching the prediction of 35 home runs and 100 batted in.

Still, Sanchez remains the Yankees catcher of the future, and because of that, Girardi has bent over backward keeping him in the lineup, even as he continues to learn while making mistakes on the job.

Then you have the more “normal” definition of a catcher in the Major Leagues in Austin Romine, an excellent defender with no hitting abilities to speak about. In essence, you have Joe Girardi himself, who made a career of being exactly that.

So, which way do the Yankees go, especially when the Playoffs roll around? With Romine, you know what you are getting. With Sanchez, not so much.

Girardi has not minced words, either publicly or privately with Sanchez, and his patience seemed to have run out a few days ago when Sanchez was noticeably given a seat on the bench for one game.

Girardi has a bit of time to work this out, and this means Sanchez does too. And he can answer the question for Girardi simply by making the strides necessary behind the plate.

But either way, don’t be surprised to see Romine behind the plate when the playoffs begin. Just a hunch, that’s all.

(Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

What Is The Yankees Rotation Now?

The influx of Sonny Gray and Jaime Garcia to the rotation came about seamlessly in the series against Cleveland last weekend, with both pitching back to back with an extra day of rest.

But exactly what is the Yankees rotation now? And more importantly, what will it be when the short series playoff games begin?

Potentially, the team has two number ones at the moment, and that’s not likely to change. But who will the Yankees pitch in the one-game shootout against the other Wild card team to get further into the playoffs?

Will they go with Severino or Gray? Mmm, that’s one to think about, isn’t it? And then, does one automatically follow the other, or do you squeeze Sabathia in there if he’s healthy, or Jaime Garcia? And what about Tanaka, the Yankees newest version of up and down Michael Pineda?

Or, do you toss a wild card in there and let Jordan Montgomery throw that curve ball in the dirt all day getting those all important swings and misses.

As of today, no one can say the rotation is set. They’re haphazardly thrown together, and right now it doesn’t matter very much. Soon, it will though. And you would think Girardi wants to get something set by the middle of September that at least comes close to the rotation he intends to use in October.

A lot will depend on the next month of the season, which could include injuries and one guy getting hot while another doesn’t, affording Girardi the opportunity to substitute at will at season’s end.

Once again, the wheels inside his head need to be turning, even as soon as now.

What’s The Best Yankees Batting Order?

Lord knows, Joe Girardi has tried every mix and match he could think of, and probably a few from some of his coaches, to come up with the “best” batting order for his team.

Some of the jugglings, of course, has been due to injuries, but the bulk of it has been just trying to find the right combination that puts the team in the best position to score runs.

And judging by the Yankee’s recent offensive output, Girardi is still looking for that right combination.

And as recently as the other night against Toronto, Didi Gregorius was manning the cleanup spot in the order.

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The main question appears to surround Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, and Clint Frazier if his injury isn’t serious and he is selected to be on the playoff roster. Initially, Girardi had Sanchez hitting second, followed by Judge, and then Matt Holliday batting cleanup.

But that was when Judge was the best hitter on the team and slotted in the traditional three slot for the player having that title, and Holliday was a regular in the lineup. But that was then, and this is now.

And now it’s a huge mess that Girardi needs to figure out. Brett Gardner is a mainstay as the leadoff hitter, and after that, it’s a crapshoot depending on who’s healthy, who not, who’s hot, and who’s not.

So, it may be that Girardi simply does what he’s been doing all season, which is flying by the seat of his pants with the hope and prayer that he’s pushed the right buttons on any given night.

Next: Are the Yankees fooling everybody, or just themselves

Yankees teams of the past have won with no set lineup, and Casey Stengel was one of the best at platooning his players based on nothing more than a hunch.

And perhaps, Girardi will do the same – successfully.

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