First half. First place. The New York Yankees in a familiar place, right where they belong. They’re flawed but also fighters. As they commence with the second half of the season, the American League East is their division to lose.
If past is prologue, the second half should serve to favor the Bronx Bombers. Even missing the playoffs last season, the Yankees played at a better clip in the second half (.544) compared to the first half (.500). As baseball spent the All-Star break promoting the 25 and under crowd, these veteran Yankees will only improve as the summer continues to heat up.
The club already has 116 home runs and 409 runs scored, both ranking second in baseball. A solid chunk of those 409 runs came with Jacoby Ellsbury on the shelf. Plus, the Yankees play 40 games at Yankee Stadium in the second half, where they’re 25-16 and the ball travels more than Patrick Ewing. In addition to those numbers, the Yanks are 21-17 within the division.
Health, as with any club, is an important factor going forward. Yet what is most encouraging as the Yankees are concerned, is the lack of drop off in talent. When healthy, these Yankees continue to play at a high level.
On the pitching side, two components are the driving strength of this squad: A solid bullpen and a strikeout staff. Despite making the third most errors in the AL (64), the Yankees staff has mitigated it somewhat, with its punch out prowess. New York has whiffed 743 batters, third most in the Junior Circuit. Meanwhile the bullpen complements an offense which typically scores first, by drastically shortening the game.
Glancing at the rest of the division, one can see why the Yankees should pull through.
Tampa Bay Rays – While the Rays got Jake Odorizzi back before the break, beyond Chris Archer, this staff isn’t dominant enough to make up for the lack of offense. Steven Souza paces the club with 15 home runs and he’s on the disabled list. There’s no one in the lineup hitting better than .287. Plus, the Rays are only 24-27 at home. It’s almost as though the Rays were running on the last fumes of the Joe Maddon era in the first half.
Baltimore Orioles – Smoke and mirrors and the genius of Buck Showalter, can only make up for so much. Coming into the season I still thought they were the most well rounded, bend but don’t break squad in the division, which I suppose is somewhat true. Along with perennial All-Star Adam Jones, a bounce back season by Manny Machado and a spark from Jimmy Paredes, has made up for the defections of Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis. That said, guys like J.J. Hardy and Steve Pearce have dropped off and Matt Wieters hasn’t made it all the way back to form. Additionally, the starting staff takes a sharp drop after the top two.
Toronto Blue Jays – I’ve never been a huge John Gibbons fan and depending how much stock you place in a manager, it doesn’t surprise me how the Jays always seem to come up shy by a handful of games. Toronto has the top heavy talent, Russell Martin, Josh Donaldson and Chris Colabello have made for spot on acquisitions. Their pitching however, is brutal. Take the save stat for what it’s worth but the Blue Jays have a league low 14 saves. Their pitching can’t put anyone away and Toronto’s road mark of 19-28 is brutal. Toronto’s run differential suggests they should be so much better and a club which went for it in the off season, really needs to make a push at the trade deadline.
Boston Red Sox – Somewhere, Bobby Valentine is smiling. They can buy and sell all they want but do they have a coherent strategy? Trading Yoenis Cespedes for Rick Porcello, was probably their worst move since not re-signing Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez and opting to go with Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez. I wasn’t impressed by their pitching staff from the outset but thought maybe they could pitch to the scoreboard enough for the offense to give them a chance. The “best” of the lot, Clay Buchholz, is likely gone for a month. Pablo Sandoval hasn’t lived up to his deal yet. Boston could use about eight more Mookie Betts’ and pitching, lots of pitching.
To conclude, I’m not saying the Yankees run away and hide with the AL East, they can be streaky and have shown the propensity to play to the level of their competition. However, they are best positioned to grit out a division crown and have the resources to make moves to create some additional distance in that regard.
