One-Third Checkup: Yankees Look Good, But Worries Persist

Last Monday, the Yankees began a 4-game home series against the Seattle Mariners. They got a good start from Marcus Stroman. They got 3 hits from Alex Verdugo, and 2 each from Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Anthony Rizzo. They led 4-1 going into the 9th inning.

But Clay Holmes, who hadn't allowed a run all season up to that point, collapsed: After getting the 1st out, he allowed single, walk, RBI single, RBI single, walk, RBI sacrifice fly, RBI single. Except for a Soto single with 1 out, the Yankees went down quietly in the bottom of the 9th. Mariners 5, Yankees 4, ending a 7-game winning streak.

The next game was also no good. Clarke Schmidt had a decent start, but, again, the bullpen didn't do the job. Outside of a Gleyber Torres home run in the 7th inning -- and even the 2 men he drove in got on without the benefit of a hit -- the Yankees simply didn't hit. Mariners 6, Yankees 3.

The next night, they woke up. Judge hit a home run in the 1st, Soto in the 3rd, Soto another in the 6th, and Verdugo in the 8th. Nestor Cortés pitched 5 shutout innings, and the Yankees won, 7-2.

The following afternoon, Luis Gil was brilliant: 6 1/3rd innings, no runs, 1 hit, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts. Judge and Giancarlo Stanton homered. Judge, Anthony Volpe and Oswaldo Cabrera each got 2 hits. Holmes was a little worrying in the 9th, turning a 1-hitter into a 3-hitter, but kept the shutout. Yankees 5, Mariners 0, for a split.

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The Yankees then headed out to the Coast. It was Juan Soto's 1st game in San Diego since the Yankees traded with the Padres to get him. Sensibly, the home fans cheered him for his 1st at-bat, to say, "Thank you" for what he did for them, and then booed him thereafter.

The Yankees turned the top of the 3rd into a nightmare for Padre starter Yu Darvish. Austin Wells singled. Jon Berti struck out. Volpe bunted Wells over. Soto hit a long home run to right field. Judge hit an even longer homer to left field. Verdugo nearly hit one out, but only got a single off the wall. And Stanton hit a long drive to left field. That's 4 shoulda-been homers, 3 actuals, 5 runs.

Torres led off the 4th with a homer. Carlos Rodón pitched 6 shutout innings, and the bullpen preserved the 3-hit shutout. Yankees 8, Padres 0.

Stroman started on Saturday night, and pitched 6 innings of 3-hit shutout ball. Judge hit another homer, giving him 17 on the season. He, Verdugo and Volpe each had 2 hits. Yankees 4, Padres 1.

The Padres salvaged the series finale. Schmidt did not have good stuff, nor did the 1st reliever, Victor González. Verdugo hit another homer, but, for the most part, the Yankees didn't hit. Padres 5, Yankees 2.

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So here's where things stand on Memorial Day, the traditional, if not necessarily numerical, end of the 1st 1/3rd of the season:

We have played 55 games, or just under 34 percent of the regular season. The Yankees are 37-18, having had a 7-game winning streak, 2 5-game winning streaks and a 4-game winning streak. Our winning percentage is .673, so that's a pace to go 109-53.

Keeping in mind that the teams have not all played the same number of games: In the American League Eastern Division, we are 2 games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles, 9 ahead of the Boston Red Sox, 10 1/2 ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays, and 12 1/2 ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays; but, in the all-important loss column, are tied with the O's, 8 ahead of the Sox, 10 ahead of the Rays, and 11 ahead of the Jays. In all of MLB, the only teams with a better record are the Philadelphia Phillies and the Cleveland Guardians.

In the AL, the Yankees are 1st in runs scored, 1st in on-base percentage, 1st in total bases, 1st in slugging percentage, 1st in home runs, 1st in walks (by a whopping 30 over the Jays), 2nd to the Houston Astros in hits and batting average. Two concerning stats: We also lead the AL in grounding into the most double plays and most men left on base. All that has been done with DJ LeMahieu unavailable through injury all season.

As late as April 26, Judge was batting just .178. He is now up to .279. Worrying spots: Torres is still batting only .228, Stanton is at .232, and our catchers, Austin Wells and Jose Trevino, are, combined, batting .243. Cabrera is at .247, and Rizzo is only at .250.

Pitching-wise: The Yankees are 1st in runs allowed/per game, 1st in earned-run average (ERA, by a big 0.22 over the O's), tied with the Guardians for 1st in saves (despite concerns over Holmes as the closer), 2nd in fewest hits allowed behind the O's, and 3rd in strikeouts behind the Minnesota Twins and the Guardians.

The ERAs of the starters, all of who have started at least 9 games: Gil 2.11, Schmidt 2.52, Stroman 2.76, Rodón 2.95, Cortés 3.29. Here are their WHIPs: Gil 1.012, Cortés 1.066, Schmidt 1.137, Rodón 1.180, Stroman 1.242. Gerrit Cole has been out all season, but could be back in around 2 weeks. Who do you take out to make room for him?

A concerning stat: We have 7 balks, the most in the AL. We are tied with the Kansas City Royals for most runners stranded on base, meaning we can let men get on, but we don't necessarily let them score.

Baseball-Reference.com ranks the Yanks 1st in the AL in "Defensive Efficiency" -- whatever that means. We are tied for 5th in committing the most errors, but it doesn't seem to have hurt us much.

So, while the Yankees look good, some worries persist.

Despite today being a holiday, the Yankees have the day off: No matinee doubleheader, not even one game. Tomorrow night, they continue their roadtrip, against the Los Angeles Angels, and then the San Francisco Giants.