Mid-Season Report Card, A Day Early
Since I was a day late with the mid-season Yankees report card last year, I decided to do it a day early this season.
Overall Team Batting: C+
Comments: Overall, the Yankees have been, through the first half of this season (TFHS), very good with the bat. But, that’s overall. Because of their weak performance over the last month, New York goes from a “B” to a “C+” here.
Batting at Home: C
Comments: In terms of Home OPS over TFHS, the Yankees are 7th out of fourteen in the AL. That’s just average.
Batting on the Road: B
Comments: In terms of Road OPS over TFHS, the Yankees are 3rd best in the AL. This and the last grade (above) go hand-in-hand because the Yankees have so many batters – like A-Rod, Bernie, Damon, and Cano – who have hit so much better on the road this year than at home (so far).
Batting with Runners in Scoring Position with 2 Outs: B
Comments: As much as the mind wants to say that the Yankees are bad here, in TFHS, the stats say they perform to the tune of an OPS of .811 in these spots (which is the 3rd best mark in the AL).
Overall Team Pitching: B-
Comments: How many teams in the AL, over TFHS, have a better team ERA than the Yankees? Just three. As funny as this might sound, it’s been the Yankees pitching that has kept them in the race this last month when their batters went south.
Starting Pitching: C
Comments: This is the hardest grade to assign. Mussina and Wang have been good enough to offset Johnson and Chacon. And, Wright, while he doesn’t go deep, has provided a fair amount of decent starts – especially in May. Overall, for TFHS, I think the unit deserves a “C.” That’s better than last year – when they got a “D-” here.
Bullpen: A
Comments: In terms of Batting Average allowed, only the Tigers have been better than the Yankees over TFHS in the AL. It might be conventional wisdom to say that the Yankees need help in the pen this year; but, according to the stats, New York’s bullpen has been just fine so far.
Outfield Defense: C+
Comments: This is the average of an “A” in LF, a “B” in CF and an “F” in RF.
Infield Defense: D
Comments: Last year, here, I wrote: “Giambi at first is very poor. Cano needs to be more consistent. A-Rod at third has gone backwards. Jeter, while sure-handed and capable of big plays on pop-ups, lacks the range of younger, quicker, SS in the league.” There’s no change to that this season.
Catching/Game Calling: C
Comments: Posada and Farnsworth are pissy with each other. First Stinnett is working with Unit all the time. Then, he’s working with Wright all the time. It just seems like the pitchers don’t enjoy working with Posada. Also, Posada, over TFHS, has nailed 33% of his baserunners attempting to steal. That’s about average. There’s no reason to give the Yankees an “F” or a “D” here – but, there’s no reason to give them an “A” or a “B” either.
Overall Fielding: C
Comments: Same as above. There’s no reason to give the Yankees an “F” or a “D” here – but, there’s no reason to give them an “A” or a “B” either.
Overall Team Grade: B-
Comments: This is a hard final call. It could be a “C+” or it could be a “B-” just based on overall averages. Last year, here, for TFHS, the Yankees earned a “C+.” When I look at the team last season, and then this season, both at the half-way mark, I see this team as being better. Therefore, I’m going with the “B-” here. The credit for this grade goes to the team batting in April/May and the team pitching in May/June. Still, this overall mark should not be a sign that all is well in New York. They still have many areas where they need to improve (and can) – like batting at home, fielding at 3B and RF, and pitching from the back end of the starting rotation.
Is there ANY question that the team would be better, as a whole, with a Thompson/Reese or Bubba platoon in RF over Bernie? Honestly, sometimes Torre’s stubborness knows no limits.
Shouldn’t you also assign a grade to the manager and coaching staff?
As an aside, you should’ve graded the team on time instead of early. Tonight’s game is a disgrace.
Funny, as I was watching (no pun intended) TJ Beam get pounded tonight, all I could think of was “There goes that pen BA allowed stat……”
As Jack Black would say: F+
Cano’s fielding has improved.. though still inconsistent… Phillips is a huge upgrade over Giambi at first… A-rod have been a mess though, I suppose once A-rod gets back on track and Cano returns from the DL the Infield defense is pretty decent…