What’s Wrong With The Yankees?
First, to date, this Yankees team has not batted well with runners in scoring position (RISP). The Yankees OPS with RISP this season is .718 – and that’s 12th worst in the A.L. (The Twins lead the A.L. in OPS with RISP at .841 and the worst team in the league here, with an OPS of .667, is the Blue Jays.)
And, this Yankees team does not do well against “Power” pitchers. (“Power” pitchers strike out or walk more than 28% of batters faced – with stats based on the three years before and after, when available, and the season for when the split is computed.)
The Yankees OPS versus “Power” pitchers this season is .672 – and that’s 9th worst in the A.L. (The Rangers lead the A.L. in OPS versus “Power” pitchers at .810 and the worst teams in the league here, with an OPS of .636, are the Tigers and A’s.)
Those are the two biggest issues for the Yankees in terms of their offense. How about their pitching?
The Yankees starting pitcher’s ERA this season is 4.87 – and that’s 11th worst in the A.L. (The Blue Jays’ starters lead the A.L. in ERA at 3.49 and the worst team in the league here, with an ERA of 5.26, is the Mariners.)
The Yankees relief pitcher’s ERA this season is 3.84 – and that’s 7th worst in the A.L. (The Blue Jays’ bullpen leads the A.L. in ERA at 2.90 and the worst team in the league here, with an ERA of 5.15, is the Rangers.) However, when you factor in Mo Rivera’s 25 IP and ERA of 0.36 here – you realize why the Yankees rank as high as seventh in the league. Take that away and this New York bullpen is closer to the bad ones than it would be to the good ones in the league.
So, the Yankees pitching this season is bad. What else is new? This has become a staple of Yankees teams built by Brian Cashman that are devoid from any Bob Watson or Gene Michael pitching left-overs.
But, the batting failures for New York is something that we’re not used to seeing in Yankeeland over these past few seasons. So, let’s drill down on those. First, Yankees batters against “Power” pitchers, to date, this season:
Batter PA OPS Matsui 103 .899 Abreu 108 .796 Rdriguez 71 .783 Damon 99 .769 Posada 40 .660 Moeller 31 .647 Molina 46 .646 Jeter 92 .638 Cabrera 96 .606 Giambi 91 .605 Duncan 26 .603 Ensberg 35 .504 Gnzalez 27 .487 Cano 102 .462 Betemit 10 .400
Here, Cano and Giambi are terrible. And, Jeter and Cabrera are not far behind.
Next, Yankees batters with RISP, to date, this season:
Batter PA OPS Posada 14 1.095 Damon 48 .993 Abreu 64 .958 Moeller 19 .874 Matsui 62 .859 Jeter 61 .801 Cabrera 56 .756 Rdriguez 48 .687 Molina 24 .626 Giambi 59 .555 Gnzalez 16 .500 Cano 64 .472 Duncan 23 .460 Ensberg 26 .352 Betemit 12 .333
Once again, we see Cano and Giambi towards the bottom here – with Cabrera and Jeter not all that far away.
Now, the Jason Giambi thing is a tough call – because he was terrible and April and stellar in May (with the bat). So, maybe we should see how he does in June before grouping him with Cano, Melky and Jeter?
But, for the most part this season, Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera and Derek Jeter have not been what the Yankees had expected. There’s not much to do with Jeter – other than hope he comes around – and he has gotten off to a hot start in the month of June.
Cano & Cabrera? Well, you could bench Melky and call up Brett Gardner to play center – and see if that helps. However, there’s no one in the Yankees organization, close to the majors, that would allow you to bench Cano. Basically, the team is stuck with him – unless they want to play someone else who would probably be worse.
Those great Yankees teams of the 1990’s were so strong, offensively, up the middle with Posada, Jeter, Duncan/ Knoblauch/Soriano, and Williams. This season, with Posada out and Jeter, Cano and Cabrera struggling, has been the exact opposite of those teams.
Now, add to that the sad state of Yankees pitching – with had been a weapon for them from 1996 through 2003.
Some picture, huh? Basically, everything that was great about the Yankees teams from 1996 through 2003 is now their biggest weakness. No pitching and no offense up the middle. And, that’s what’s wrong, this season, with the New York Yankees.
Well, that and the guy who put this team together. The buck has to stop somewhere, right?
