Maybe This Is a Different Yankee Team

The Yankees continued their West Coast roadtrip, and were joined by DJ LeMahieu, coming off the Injured List to make his season debut.

They got off to a poor start on Tuesday night in Anaheim. Nestor Cortés got into the 6th inning, allowing only 2 runs, Juan Soto hit a home run, and the Yankees took a 3-2 lead over the Los Angeles Angels into the bottom of the 8th inning. But Luke Weaver wobbled, and the Angels won, 4-3.

Luis Gil started on Wednesday night, and was actually allowed to pitch 8 innings, and was brilliant. Alex Verdugo hit a home run, and the Yankees won, 2-1.

Carlos Rodón had a decent start on Thursday night, and the Yankees led 2-1 after 6, including another long home run from Aaron Judge. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Verdugo led off the top of the 7th with a walk. This was followed by a single from LeMahieu, and popup by Gleyber Torres, and then 3 straight walks: Jose Trevino to load the bases, Oswaldo Cabrera to force in a run, and Anthony Volpe to force in another run. Then Soto cleared the bases with a triple.

The Angels got 2 runs back in the bottom of the 7th, but the Yankees got another run in the top of the 8th, and won, 8-3.

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Judge grew up in Linden, California, in the San Joaquin Valley. Although the closest major league team was the Oakland Athletics, and the closest minor-league team was the Modesto A's, an Oakland farm team, he grew up as a fan of the San Francisco Giants. So, when he was a free agent in the 2022-23 off-season, it was believed that the Giants might outbid the Yankees for his services. They didn't.

This weekend, Judge showed the Giants what they were missing. On Friday night, Marcus Stroman pitched into the 8th inning, and he was backed by 2 homers from Judge, and the Yankees won, 6-2.

On Saturday night, Judge hit another, and so did Giancarlo Stanton. Clarke Schmidt went on the Injured List, and Gerrit Cole isn't back yet -- he's scheduled to make a rehab start for the Class AA Somerset Patriots tonight -- but Cody Poteet stepped into Schmidt's slot, and pitched 5 decent innings, and the Yankees won, 7-3.

On Sunday afternoon, Judge did not hit a home run. Soto hit 2, including the capper of a 4-run 9th inning that allowed the Yankees to come from behind to win, 7-5. Michael Tomkin got the win, in relief of an ineffective Cortés.

Overall in this series, Judge went 6-for-9 with 3 home runs, 3 walks and 6 RBIs. A batting average of .667, an on-base percentage of .750, and a slugging percentage of 1.333.

In the 1980s, the August trip to the West Coast always seemed to be a harbinger of doom for the Yankees. They always seemed to lose 7 of 9, what I, a Star Trek fan, would later retroactively refer to as as a "Borg roadtrip." This time, in San Diego, Anaheim and San Francisco, the Yankees won 7 of 9 -- and their fans seemed to outnumber the home fans. Resistance was not only not futile, it was very effective.

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So: 61 games down, 37 percent of the season, 101 games to go. The Yankees are 42-19, for a winning percentage of .689. Over a 162-game season, that would be 112-50. They are tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for the best record in baseball.

In the American League Eastern Division, they lead the Baltimore Orioles by 2 1/2 games, the Boston Red Sox by 11 1/2, the Tampa Bay Rays by 12 1/2, and the Toronto Blue Jays by 13. In the all-important loss column, they lead the O's by only 1, but the Sox by 11, and the Rays and Jays by 12 each.

The Yankees are currently on a 5-game winning streak. This follows earlier streaks this season of 7, 5, and 3 streaks of 4. They are 31-2 when scoring at least 5 runs, and 33-6 when allowing 3 or fewer. They have 7 shutouts, although none by a single pitcher. They have had 2 15-run games, and 18 of at least 7 runs, going 17-1 in those. They have been so definitive that only 1 win has been by walkoff. A slight, but noticeable, concern: They are 1-3 in extra innings, including their 1 loss when scoring at least 7.

They have done this without Gerrit Cole. They did it without Jonathan Loáisiga, except for 4 innings over 3 games. They did it, until last week, without D.J. LeMahieu. And they did it without Jasson Domínguez, who is now playing rehab games.

They have done it despite Caleb Ferguson going 0-3 with a 5.30 ERA in 24 relief appearances. They have done it despite their 2 catchers, Austin Wells and Jose Trevino, combining for a .230 batting average. They have done it despite .230 from Gleyber Torres, .231 from Giancarlo Stanton, .236 from Oswaldo Cabrera, and .240 from Anthony Rizzo.

And they have looked better fundamentally. They are swinging at fewer bad pitches. They are making fewer baserunning mistakes. They are not beating themselves defensively. This team has been spectacular, but it has also been smart. Maybe this is a different team from the last few years.

It's also worth noting that the 2 teams that have been in the Yankees' heads aren't doing too well: The Red Sox are 30-30, and the Houston Astros are 27-34. The Yankees opened the season by sweeping 4 from the Astros in Houston, and took 2 out of 3 from them at home in May. They have not yet faced the Red Sox.

And so, now, the Yankees come home, for 3 against the Minnesota Twins, and then an already much-hyped 3 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Then, it's back on the road: 3 in Kansas City, and 4 in Boston.

It's too soon to say that Title 28 is on the way. But the Yankees have done very little to divert themselves from the path.