Yankees Are Bang-Average

Cliché Alert: You can never have too much pitching. And pitching was a big concern for the Yankees going into the 2022 season.

So far, 4 games in, the pitching has not been the problem. By some margin, the bigger problem has been situational hitting.

Last night, the Yankees began a 4-game home series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Jameson Taillon started for the Pinstripes, and had the team's longest and best start yet: 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, no walks and 6 strikeouts. 

But he also allowed a 2-run home run to George Springer. Michael King pitched pretty well for nearly 3 innings, but allowed an additional run in the 7th.

The Yankees got only 4 hits, all singles by players who hadn't been hitting: 2 by Joey Gallo, and 1 each by Gleyber Torres and Aaron Hicks. And only 1 of those hits, a single by Gallo, came in the 1st 6 innings, as Alek Manoah pitched brilliantly for those pesky Blue Jays.

The Yankees went into the bottom of the 9th with a chance. Gallo led off with what should have been a double, but with his lack of speed was only a single. Still, there was hope. 

That hope was extinguished when Torres grounded into an easy 6-4-3 double play. It got infuriating when Hicks singled. Had Torres done so as well... but "Cashman's Jeter" didn't. And Kyle Higashioka struck out to end it.

Blue Jays 3, Yankees 0. WP: Manoa (1-0). SV: Jordan Romano (3). LP: Taillon (0-1).

Bill Parcells, a great New York coach in another sport, taught us, "You are what your record says you are." The Yankees are 2-2, and it says that they are a bang-average team: Capable of winning when they bang, but they don't do it in enough games, leaving them average.

Yogi Berra taught us, "It ain't over 'til it's over." And it's very early in the season. Then again, Yogi also taught us, "It gets late early out there."

The series continues tonight -- weather permitting. (It's raining as I type this.) Nestor Cortes starts for the Yanks, Yusei Kikuchi for the Jays. Maybe tonight, we'll actually get some, you know, runs.