Knowing that Gerrit Cole was out for the season, Luis Gil was out until June, and Clarke Schmidt was out until May, the big fear among Yankee Fans was that we wouldn't have enough pitching to make a serious Playoff run, let alone defend our American League Pennant.
As Mickey Rivers, the center fielder on the Yankees' 1976-78 Dynasty, once said, "Ain't no sense in worryin' about things you got control over. 'Cause if you got control, ain't no sense worryin'. And there ain't no sense in worryin' about things you got no control over. 'Cause if you got no control, ain't no sense worryin'."
Translation, at least on this occasion: Maybe we shouldn't have worried so much. In the Yankees' 1st 55 games, we've held the opposition to 2 or fewer runs 21 times, and have gone 20-1 in those games. They are 28-5 when holding teams to 3 or fewer.
Last night, the Yankees completed a 3-game series against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim. On Monday night, Ryan Yarbrough, who had a terrific rookie season with the Tampa Bay Rays but had been a journeyman ever since, again proved himself a good free agent pickup. He went 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and 1 walk, striking out 7. The bullpen of Yerry De los Santos, Mark Leiter Jr. and Luke Weaver pitched shutout ball.
In the top of the 4th, 3 straight singles by Ben Rice, Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge loaded the bases with nobody out. Cody Bellinger drew a walk to force in a run. After Jasson Domínguez struck out, Anthony Volpe doubled Grisham and Judge home. Austin Wells later added a run with a sacrifice fly, and the Yankees won, 5-1.
On Tuesday night, Carlos Rodón gave the Yankees perhaps their best start of the season so far: 7 innings, no runs, 5 hits, no walks, 10 strikeouts. Jonathan Loáisiga, much-missed last season due to injury, pitched a perfect 8th.
Rice hit a home run in the 4th, Volpe singled home a run in the 6th, and Oswald Peraza hit a home run in the 7th. So, to give Weaver some rest, Aaron Boone sent Devin Williams in to protect a 3-0 lead in the 9th.
Giving Weaver some rest was not a mistake. Sending Williams in to close was. He allowed a home run and a single, got a flyout, then allowed another single, and let another run scored on a groundout. The tying run was on 1st base, and the winning run was at the plate. I was having flashbacks to Aroldis Chapman, Boone Logan, Scott Proctor, Kyle Farnsworth and Jeff Weaver. Fortunately, Williams induced a pop-up to end it. Yankees 3, Angels 2.
Last night, Paul Goldschmidt led off the game with a double. Grisham struck out. With 1st base open, Judge was intentionally walked. Bellinger drew a walk that was not intentional. Volpe hit a sac fly to center that scored Goldschmidt. It was one-nil to the Bronx Bombers.
That 1 run held up, because Schmidt, who's done pretty well since coming off the Injured List, was seriously dealing. He went 6 innings, allowing no runs on 4 hits and a walk, striking out 4. Over the last 3 innings, Ian Hamilton, Tim Hill and Leiter allowed just 1 hit and 1 walk. Yankees 1, Angels 0.
Over 27 innings, the Yankees hit only 2 home runs, but held the Halos to 3 runs. It was like a 1996 Yankees series, not a "Bomb them out of the yard and hope the entire pitching staff holds them off" Brian Cashman special.
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We are 55 games in. Which is 1 more than the 1/3rd mark of the season. The Yankees are 35-20, on a pace to go 103-59. They are already leading the AL Eastern Division by 7 games over the Tampa Bay Rays, 8 over the Toronto Blue Jays, 9 1/2 over the Boston Red Sox, and 16 over the Baltimore Orioles. The only teams in MLB with a better record are the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Yankees have today off. But they're staying in the Los Angeles area, because they're playing the Dodgers this weekend. Although it's a rematch of last year's World Series, winning it wouldn't be revenge. It would, however, be a good way to show everyone, including (especially?) themselves, that this is a different Yankee team, ready to go all the way.
Here are the scheduled matchups:
* Friday (tomorrow) night, 1st pitch 10:10 PM New York Time (7:10 local), broadcast on Amazon Prime: Max Fried vs. Tony Gonsolin.
* Saturday night, 7:15 (4:15 local, so it will still be daylight through most of the game), on Fox (WNYW-Channel 5): Will Warren (for 5 innings at most, then the bullpen) vs. Landon Knack.
* Sunday night, 7:10 (4:10 local, so, again, daylight), on ESPN: Not yet assigned, but it will be Yarbrough's turn in the rotation, vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Bring on Dem Bums.
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