Yankees: 3 biggest differences between 2019 and 2020 Yankees

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Here are the three biggest differences between the 2019 and 2020 Yankees.

The New York Yankees finally returned to their winning ways on Wednesday night on the back of a strong outing from starter Deivi Garcia, who surrendered just two runs and struck out six Blue Jays across seven impressive innings.

In an additional sight for sore eyes, someone not named DJ LeMahieu or Luke Voit — though they predictably contributed — provided most of the offense, as Gleyber Torres finished 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBI.

As timely as that victory was, however, it still doesn’t hide the fact that the Yankees were still 6-14 in their last 20 games. The team still has to scoreboard watch on a nightly basis, as just a few games separate them from 11th place. That’s not how the team envisioned things.

To make matters worse, a potential division crown is nearly mathematically impossible as the Tampa Bay Rays hold a monstrous lead over New York with just 16 contests left to play.

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A betting man/woman would still predict New York to make the playoffs by season’s end, but they’re probably not watching this team on a daily basis. There’s no denying that there are stark differences between the Yankees of 2020 and 2019.

If we wanted, this list could go 10 deep. However, for the sake of time, we’ve managed to narrow it down to three. Without further ado, let’s dive into the greatest differences between last campaign’s wagon to this year’s underachievers.

Yankees vs Blue Jays (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images) /

3. Resiliency/Club Morale

The Yankees’ spirit during games has been egregious of late.

The first thing that comes to mind in terms of differences between the 2019 and 2020 Yankees is their shocking tendency to sulk amid controversy. Last year was an entirely different story, as the club endured just five losing streaks (three games or more) across 162 games.

Through just 43 contests this season, New York has already endured three lengthy losing skids, the most notable of which included a seven-gamer between mid- and late August. What’s so alarming about this drastic change is that the Yankees returned most of the same roster from last campaign. We love him to death, but was the now-retired CC Sabathia THAT essential to locker room morale?

These glaring stats speaks to a lack of leadership, and that is on manager Aaron Boone as much as it is on the leaders in the clubhouse, all of whom need to step up and start holding players accountable. Perhaps Luke Voit’s eye-opening remarks following Tuesday’s shambolic loss will serve as the kick in the rear the Yankees needed to right the ship.

Yankees INF Gleyber Torres (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

2. Inconsistency of the Offense

Despite injuries, the Yankees’ offense hasn’t lived up to its potential in 2020.

Among players on the Yankees with at least 80 at bats, only DJ LeMahieu (.355) and Clint Frazier (.288) have a batting average over .275. We fully understand that the prolonged absences of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton have put a dent into the depth of the lineup, but the two sluggers missed a combined 206 games last season and the club was still churning out wins.

As of this writing, the Yankees currently have six close-to everyday players — Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks, Gleyber Torres, Gary Sanchez, Mike Ford and Tyler Wade — slumping to a .235 or below average. Three of those players (Gardner, Sanchez and Wade) are hitting well below The Mendoza Line.

According to FanGraphs, New York’s offense ranked 18th through Wednesday’s play with a 4.7 WAR, 16th in runs scored and 21st with a .234 BA for the season. For context, the Yankees finished third, first (!) and fourth in those respective categories in 2019. Again, those stats would likely be different if Judge and Stanton were in the middle of the lineup everyday, but, just like it did last year, this team has plenty of firepower to get by while the two studs work their way back to the diamond.

The difference is that the Yankees’ current horses aren’t getting the job done. The defending AL East champs are too talented to rank last in the division in OPS.

Yankees RHP Adam Ottavino (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

1. Lack of Bullpen Dominance

The Yankees’ bullpen isn’t as reliable in 2020 as it was last season.

If you were to count how many meltdowns the Yankees bullpen has had already in 2020 (43 games), then compared it with the number for the entirety of last season, things would be way too close for comfort.

If there was ever a stat to could encapsulate the group’s struggles, it’s that the likes of Jonathan Holder and Luis Cessa have been two of New York’s three most reliable relievers. The other is Zack Britton, who’s posted a 2.57 ERA, eight saves and 12 strikeouts despite owning an 0-2 record.

The struggles of Adam Ottavino, Aroldis Chapman and Chad Green, in particular, have been the most alarming. The former is a shell of the stud he was in 2019, when he logged a 1.90 ERA and 88 strikeouts across 66.1 innings. Chapman has been largely useless since being activated following a spell with the coronavirus, and Green’s tendency to implode has drastically increased this year.

As a group, the Yankees relievers ranked 15th in MLB (through Wednesday’s action) with a 4.52 ERA and 24th with a 0.3 WAR, according to FanGraphs. Last season, they finished ninth (4.08) and second (7.6) in those respective categories. With the starting rotation being markedly unpredictable behind ace Gerrit Cole, the inconsistency of the bullpen, which was arguably the Yankees’ greatest strength in 2019, has really amplified their underwhelming showing as a team thus far this season.

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