Yankees 2018 week two edition: Who’s hot and who’s not

The injury bug and multiple extra-innings losses plagued the New York Yankees during week two. While the surging Didi Gregorius continues to develop into a superstar, the defending NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton drastically cooled off.

Down by one in the bottom of the 12th inning with Brett Gardner on second and Aaron Judge on first, Stanton made his way to the plate. He was already 0-6 during the day with four strikeouts, but if he got a big hit, fans would forget about his struggles. Instead, he struck out, and the Yankees lost in extras again.

An embarrassed Stanton struck out five times in a game for the second time in a week. With 17 K’s in 35 plate appearances last week, he’s already felt the cold hard reality of playing in New York. Yankees fans expect the best from their players, mainly $200 million imported All-Stars.

Stanton headlines the “Who’s not” list for week two, but he was not the only Yankee who struggled. Miguel Andujar and Gary Sanchez also performed poorly at the dish, and plenty of pitchers struggled. But first, let’s focus on the hot players.

Who’s Hot

Hitters

Didi Gregorius is on an absolute tear to begin the 2018 season. He’s also doing something I’ve never seen him do, and that’s walk. Maybe pitchers are finally starting to respect his bat, or perhaps he’s improved his plate discipline. Whatever it is, it’s working!

Joining Didi will be Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge, and both Ronald Torreyes and Austin Romine.  Both Torreyes and Romine may not be starters but both produced last week.  Combined they hit .423, scored four runs and drove in six RBI’s.

The value of Torreyes is really underrated. Our own Ben Green explained why he lights the fire under the team.

I was reluctant to add Judge to the hot list because of how he ended Sunday’s game. Hitting into a double play in the bottom of the twelfth with the bases loaded down by one run is not clutch. But his stats for the week as listed below are still impressive.

Didi Gregorius: 8-18, 7 R, 3 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 7 BB, 2 SB, .444/.615/1.111

Aaron Judge: 8-23, 7 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 6 BB, 1 SB, .348/.500/.652

Brett Gardner: 8-25, 8 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 5 BB, .320/.433/.400

Austin Romine: 6-12, 1 R, 4 RBI, 1 BB, .500/.538/.500

Ronald Torreyes: 5-14, 3 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI, .357/.357/.500

The Judge appears to have risen, now can he stay hot while Stanton and Sanchez find their mojo back? And will Didi continue his hot streak heading into the Yankees upcoming Boston series?  We’ll see, but we can’t forget about the Yankees dominating bullpen and their fired up ace.

Pitchers

Dellin Betances and David Robertson are heating up after being cold last week. The Yankees’ fearsome foursome of Aroldis Chapman, Tommy Kahnle, Robertson and Betances is back to their old dominating selves.

Chasen Shreve is the only member of the Yankees bullpen with a 0.00 ERA (besides recent call-up Luis Cessa). It’s time to highlight his play.  After a rough 2016, Shreve lowered his ERA down from 5.18 to 3.77 in 2017. His career high 11.52 K/9 could be a factor to last year’s success.

Joining the handful of pitchers on the hot list is ace starting pitcher Luis Severino for the second straight week. Sevy performed very well in his second start of the season. He looks primed for another stellar season after breaking out last year. His next start is tonight against Chris Sale.

Luis Severino: 1 W, 7.1 IP, 5 HA, 2 ER, 7 K, .200 BAA, 2.45 ERA, 0.82 WHIP

David Robertson: 4.2 IP, 0 HA, 0 BB, 5 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP

Chasen Shreve: 4.1 IP, 2 HA, 1 BB, 5 K, .143 BAA, 0.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP

Aroldis Chapman: 3 IP, 0 HA, 2 BB, 4 K, .000 BAA, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP

Dellin Betances: 3 IP, 1 HA, 2 BB, 6 K, .111 BAA, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP

The Yankees head into an early season rivalry series against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday. If the hot players keep it rolling, and some of these cold players fix themselves, the Yanks could exit Fenway above .500.

Who’s Not

Hitters

We know Giancarlo has cooled off, but what about Gary Sanchez and Miguel Andujar? Both are expected to rake at the plate, especially Gary, but they haven’t done much yet.

Andujar was forced up to the majors because of the incredible amount of position player injuries early on. As a rookie, Andujar is expected to struggle. As for Sanchez, he’s supposed to be a star.

Sanchez’s lone hit was a home run against the Tampa Bay Rays last week. It’s nice to see him at least get on the board with a homer. I’m sure in no time “The Kraken” will be unleashed again.  Unfortunately, a cramp in Sanchez’s right calf forced him to exit Friday’s game in the 14th inning.

Giancarlo Stanton: 3-28, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 16 K, .107/.162/.214

Gary Sanchez: 1-18, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 2 K, .056/.105/.222

Miguel Andujar: 3-18, 1 R, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, .188/.222/.188

The boos will be loud in Fenway, and the cheers will be louder everytime these guys get out. They will need to fix their ways if the Yankees are going to have a better chance against the Red Sox, but also these pitchers will need to improve:

Pitchers

On the mound, C.C. Sabathia got bullied by the Baltimore Orioles, as did fellow starting rotation staff member Jordan Montgomery. Bullpen arms Jonathan Holder, Domingo German, and Chad Green also struggled last week. Holder, as a result, was demoted from the active roster.

Jordan Montgomery: 9.1 IP, 12 HA, 5 ER, 1 HR, 6 BB, 8 K, 4.82 ERA, 1.93 WHIP

C.C. Sabathia: 4.1 IP, 4 HA, 3 ER, 3 HR, 0 BB, 3 K, 6.75 ERA, 0.92 WHIP

Domingo German: 2.2 IP, 3 HR, 3 ER, 1 HR, 1 BB, 5 K, 10.13 ERA, 1.50 WHIP

Jonathan Holder: 2.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 1 HR, 1 BB, 3 K, 23.14 ERA, 3.00 WHIP

Next: Yankees need Gary Sanchez to pick things up

Posting these numbers against the Rays and Orioles is alarming. Both of those teams are not expected to make a playoff run. Look for all four of them to bounce back soon, hopefully.