Coming out of spring training, the first goal of any championship-caliber team is to win the division. In 2020, the New York Yankees will be attempting to win back-to-back division titles for the first time since 2011-2012. Here are five things that will help to lead to that outcome.
- Go at least 15-4 against the Baltimore Orioles. Nothing is guaranteed in sports, but the Yankees and Orioles are a giant mismatch. These are the easiest games on the schedule, and the Yankees need to take advantage. The Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox will also get to feast on Baltimore, so it is critical the Yankees don’t slack through these games. One of the biggest reasons the Yankees won the East last year was their superb 17-2 record against bird land. Grab the low hanging fruit first.
- Gerrit Cole needs to make 25+ starts. We’re barely into spring training. James Paxton is out until June. Luis Severino’s status is totally up in the air. It is absolutely imperative that Gerrit Cole stays relatively healthy due to the complete uncertainty in the middle of the rotation. One thing we learned from last year: waiting on injured pitchers to get back can be a foolish exercise. It is only fair to expect setbacks with any injured Yankee pitcher. Cole can miss a few weeks or so, but anything more than that could prove detrimental.
- DJ Lemahieu and Gleyber Torres need to avoid the IL again. These two were the only position players not to land on the IL last year. They combined to help make up for the losses of pretty much all of their teammates. Without Didi Gregorius, there is now a huge drop off if one of these two get hurt. Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gary Sanchez just seem like guys that will miss time each year. DJ and Gleyber need to make up for that by staying healthy again.
- Aaron Hicks needs to come back at full strength. Last year, Didi came back from Tommy John and wasn’t even close to his normal self. This hurt the Yankees as a team and it hurt Gregorious in free agency, as he couldn’t even get a multi-year deal. Hicks is a toolsy two-way player, but he is also pretty erratic when coming back from injuries. He was out way longer than expected last year with a mysterious back injury, but then he miraculously returned in the ALCS from an elbow injury after many (including me) had counted him out for 2019. Will Hicks come back on time? Will he be full strength? The answer is very important to the 2020 Yankees season.
- Aroldis Chapman must continue to dominate. A bullpen is only as strong as it’s closer, and the Yankees are set with Chapman. There is a common refrain that the Yankees “have a bunch of relievers with closer stuff,” That may be true, but closing its own animal. Other than Zack Britton, none of the other relievers in the Yankee pen have shown a consistent ability to close. Chapman is lights out under pressure, and his Alpha dog presence helps keep our other relievers calm. He needs to lock down the games the Yankees are supposed to win.
