Yankees: 3 Players Who Could Struggle in Shortened Season

Let’s not ignore the fact there are some Yankees who could struggle in 2020’s 60-game season.

The impending 60-game MLB season will be a major adjustment for every player on the New York Yankees. With a long layoff and stop-and-go “spring training,” many players may find themselves out of rhythm as their normal routines and lives have been uprooted thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

New York is loaded with superstar talent and depth up and down the roster. On paper, the Yankees are the team to beat in the American League. But the circumstances are different and plenty of players on the Yankees could get off to a slow start and end up crawling through the finish line of this 60-game sprint.

Often, big leaguers have a tendency to start slow, even perennial All-Stars. Think of former Yankees’ first baseman Mark Teixeira who consistently needed a month or so to start swinging the bat well. While in a 162-game season a rough 30-game stretch is hardly a concern, a few bad weeks could be a disaster during the shortened 2020 campaign.

At the same time, 2019 led to a preposterous amount of injuries for the Yankees. Although New York appears to be in good shape health-wise, there’s no telling how players will respond in live game action after missing a lot of time last year. If players aren’t able to get the feel quickly, 2020 could turn into another lost season for a number of Yankees.

Let’s not forget to take into account the endless list of things that players will need to deal with in 2020: the lack of energy a home crowd can bring and life in quarantine without seeing family or friends for an extended period of time, just to name a couple.

While we’re hoping this is far from the case, here are three Yankees who could be adversely affected by the unusual circumstances.