The Yankees are steamrolling their competition with 13 players on the IL

The Yankees are 28-17 atop the AL East Division standings despite having 13 players on the injured list. No one saw this coming.

Who would have thought the Yankees would sit in first place while having 13 players on the injured list? Over their last 30 games, they’ve won 22 and they’ve gotten there without guys like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Didi Gregorius, Luis Severino and Dellin Betances who are all still on the IL. That’s quite telling.

It’s absolutely impressive and you have to give credit to Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone on his handling of the club to start the season. I’m still not really keen on him as the Bombers manager, as I’d prefer Joe Girardi over him, but he’s done a great job getting his team ready to play every day.

The Yankees have had their depth tested, and boy has it succeeded, which is exactly why general manager Brian Cashman is a genius. He plans ahead by stocking up the farm system with guys like Gio Urshela. He’s always proactive with his attempts to add to the team externally with the additions of guys like Luke Voit last season and Cameron Maybin, Mike Tauchman and most recently Kendrys Morales so far this season.

One of the players who have made such a significant impact on the team is the aforementioned Urshela. Ever since Gio was called up to the majors on April 9th, 2019, he’s been stellar slashing .346/.400/.490 with two home runs, 16 RBIs and nine doubles in 36 games.

Another player Cashman brought in who’s had a huge impact is two-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove Award winner, DJ LeMahieu. Cash signed DJ in the offseason to a two-year, $24 million deal. In 41 games, DJ’s hitting .312 with 22 RBIs and 3 HRs. He’s been absolutely fantastic for the team on both sides of the ball.

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Last, but not least, Luke Voit has been complete on fire ever since the Cardinals traded Voit on July 27, 2018, along with bonus pool money, to the Yankees for Chasen Shreve and Giovanny Gallegos. Voit is slashing .250/.373/.488 hitting 11 HRs and driving in 34 in 44 games. He is leading the team in RBIs and has been very clutching with RISP (.353 AVG).

The Yanks don’t need to trade from their farm system for any more big hitters because guys like Stanton, Didi could be back by mid-June and Judge hopefully won’t be too far behind. What they could need is another ace starting pitcher with Luis Severino still out at least until the All-Star break and maybe longer.

In the meantime, this team is playing small ball to win and that’s been a great change in their playing style to watch. Nevertheless, they’ll still need Judge, Stanton, Didi, and Sevy all back if they’re going to win a World Series but moving forward in the coming weeks this team is in great shape.