Expectations are a funny thing. When they’re high, disappointment is more painful and when there are none, success more enjoyable. Any Cubs fan this year will tell you their biggest fear is that the Cubs are expected to win the World Series – even though it hasn’t happened in 108 years.
After an unsatisfying but overall encouraging 2015, the Yankees had high expectations for this season. With the offseason additions of Aroldis Chapman and Starlin Castro, the team planned on competing by blending youth and veteran resurgence.
It didn’t happen.
By late July the Yankees were a .500 team with 4 painful months of samples to convince Brian Cashman and ownership the team, as constituted, was not going anywhere. Out went Chapman, Andrew Miller, and Carlos Beltran (and Ivan Nova, who has a sub-1 WHIP in 7 starts with Pittsburgh) and in came a plethora of prospects highlighted by Clint Frazier and Gleyber Torres, which was enough to reassure fans the future was bright.
Then, everything changed.
As the makeover commenced, under our very noses, the Yankees responded. On August 5, Gary Sanchez became the everyday catcher and began a three-week run that rewrote the history books. On August 13, a day after Alex Rodriguez was sent home packing, Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge became the first duo in MLB history to hit back-to-back (and belly-to-belly) homers in their inaugural at-bats. Soon, Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann became afterthoughts and Luis Cessa and Chad Green opened eyes.
Despite trading two of the most dominant relievers in baseball, the Yankees bullpen ERA in August ranked first in the division. Their offensive production increased by more than a full run despite trading away their best hitter. Nothing made sense, and that’s just how these new Yankees liked it.
When Gary Sanchez tweeted that the Yankees just might be young and dumb enough to shock the baseball world, he meant it. The rallying cry grabbed the attention of us fans, but until we saw it materialize on the field, did not believe it. Since that day (August 20) the Yankees are 12-6 and leapfrogged 3 teams in the standings. Despite their slim playoff odds, these Yankees don’t care.
#Yankees playoff odds are 9.7% per Baseball Prospectus. The young and dumb Yankees say: pic.twitter.com/ulWuncdhQ5
— The BP Show (@YankeesPodcast) September 8, 2016
Tuesday’s wild win vs Toronto personified the Yankees attitude in August. They were being shut down by one of the games young breakout pitchers (Aaron Sanchez), yet their own breakout starter (Luis Cessa), was matching him pitch for pitch. Trailing by a run in the 7th, the Yankees rookie first baseman/utility player (Tyler Austin) hit a mammoth opposite field go-ahead home run — and he even pimped it! As if that weren’t enough, they were able to rebound from a partially mismanaged, partially mis-executed 8th inning to take yet another lead, only to have their lockdown closer (Dellin Betances) struggle to record just one out. The bases were left loaded for a journeyman who wasn’t even in baseball last season (Blake Parker) who somehow, someway, managed victory.
Cowabunga dude. #Yankees pic.twitter.com/obUaQm7PuC
— Andrew (@Yankees_talk) September 7, 2016
There are 23 games remaining on the schedule. Twenty-three more days for us to look forward to. Twenty-three more chances for the young and dumb Yankees to shock the baseball world. No matter what happens — win or lose, make the playoffs or don’t — these two months of Yankees baseball will go down as two of the more memorable and weird in team history.
