Yankees take offensive mindset to a new extreme

Before this season began, the New York Yankees knew of their strengths and weaknesses as a team. A power heavy lineup burdened by a lackluster and rather old starting rotation. But instead of improving their shortcomings, the Yanks pledged to bolster their strengths.

An offseason flagged as successful brought the Yankees in two respected pitchers in LHP James Paxton and RHP Adam Ottavino; both signed in hopes of improving the rotation and the bullpen, respectively. But even with the addition of James “The Big Maple” Paxton, the rotation has been overwhelmed with injuries, just as the rest of the roster has.

Ace, Luis Severino has found himself on the 60-Day IL along with breakout power arm Domingo German landing on the 10-Day IL. To add to the injury parade is fill-in starter Jonathan Loaisiga as well as future rotation hopeful Jordan Montgomery, who hasn’t seen MLB game action since over a year ago.

The Yanks have also had their fair share of position player injuries, but a roster built with excessive depth has allowed the Bombers to overcome such obstacles. Now almost at the halfway point in the season and the Yankees still have a “weak” rotation, as seen from the occasional opener utilized as a fifth starter.

Weak for Yankee standards, as this rotation is actually ranked ninth in the MLB in ERA, 12th in strikeouts and seventh in WHIP. Compared to the Bomber bullpen, which ranks eighth in ERA, ninth in WHIP and sixth in strikeouts shows the pen isn’t actually all that much better as a whole. But the individuals can be vastly superior in the bullpen.

And how has the front office gone about fixing these weak spots? Well, by not fixing them at all. In lieu of improving the rotation and bullpen, the Yankees right now have decided it best if their focus is on the offensive half, simply overpowering the opposition’s defense. And it seems to be working.

With the most recent addition of yet another power bat in Edwin Encarnacion, the Yankees have only furthered their quest for the strongest lineup in baseball. And with the return of two of the heaviest hitters in baseball last week, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge, the Yankees lineup looks to be almost back to full strength.

The few missing pieces, Miguel Andujar, Greg Bird, and Troy Tulowitzki, won’t be missed too heavily as the Yankees offensive depth will fill their shoes plenty well. Now a fully powered death star, the Yankees offense, an offense that has scored the third most runs in baseball thus far, just added not one but two 50+ home run hitters back into the mix.

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And this season’s new approach has shown. The Yankees have shut out their opponents just three times this season. Out of their 47 wins, New York opponents scored at least one run in 44 of them. It seems to be no coincidence that this new hit first mindset aligns with the increased home run totals across the MLB and rumors of juiced baseballs.

Whether you believe the rumors or Commissioner Rob Manfred’s excuse of varying drag on balls in flight is not the point. The point is batters are hitting balls out of the ballpark at record highs, which the Yanks have taken full advantage of. It helps when they have the short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium so it’s really the perfect storm.

So while the Yankees’ pitching continues to “struggle”, you won’t want to leave the room when the Yanks are at the dish. With six Yankees having season home run totals in the double digits already, and many others nearing the ten mark, it really isn’t over until it’s over.