See You In June

Ever since I wrote about the New York Yankees underperforming and being an incomplete team, the team has done its best to show me how wrong I was. To which I say, as a jaded Yankee fan, this sample is just a bit over 20% of the season. While it is i since start, the Yankees still have a long way to go in a long season before we can definitively say this is a very special team. 

I realize that being 18 games over .500 is pretty damn good. No matter who the opposition is. If you have eyes on the pennant, then you must handily defeat the teams below you. New York has faced the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Tigers, Guardians, Orioles, Rangers, White Sox and Royals. Of that group, only the Blue Jays are playing above. 500.

You have to play the teams according to the schedule MLB devised. After the end of the Orioles series, the Yankees still have to face the White Sox and the Orioles again, this time at home, where the Bombers record is 14-4. Only upon completion of the six contests in the Bronx do the Yankees face a really good team—Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, where New York has historically had trouble. 

After the four games in Florida, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim come to Yankee Stadium. The Angels were playing good baseball until swept by Texas. Detroit follows the Halos, before a trip to AL Central-leading Minnesota. Then the woeful Cubs are in town. 

After that, the Yankees face the Rays, Jays and the red hot Houston Astros for twelve consecutive games. That will get the team to nearly the end of June. By that time, one could realistically measure the chances of this team to win the AL East and perhaps the World Series.

While the Yankees are looking like world beaters, I still see some significant flaws. Both Aaron Hicks and Joey Gallo are mired with below .200 batting averages. Hicks looks horrible and Gallo, while coming off a stretch where he actually looked good, has fallen back into his pattern of too many strikeouts. 

Josh Donaldson also is scuffling along. D.J LeMahieu has been hot and cold this season. The catching duo of Kyle Higashioka and Jose Trevino are an improvement over the inconsistent Gary Sanchez on defense; their offense is as paltry as Sanchez was the last couple of years. 

So how are the Yankees doing it—winning so often? Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, the two verifiable sluggers, are on fire. Judge leads the league in home runs and Stanton is the top R.B.I. producer. Anthony Rizzo has started to come out of a slump. And new shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa is batting .272. Gleyber Torres has had some huge games, too. 

That’s part of the story. The front line pitching has been solid. Ace Gerrit Cole is sporting a 2.89 E.R.A. to go with his four wins. That pales in comparison to Nestor Cortes, who has a miniscule 1.35 E.R.A. Jameson Taillon and Luis Severino are pitching nicely, and while his record does not show it, so is Jordan Montgomery, although the Yankees are 2-6 in the games he has started. 

The bullpen has been, for the most part, the dominant force behind the Yankees success. Michael King, Clay Holmes, Clark Schmidt and Wandy Peralta have been lights out on the mound. Chad Green has been his usual self lately, which is good thing. Miguel Castro has been solid. 

This offers the inconsistency of closer Aroldis Chapman, who looks lost when he comes in to pitch. Jonathan Loaisiga does not look like the breakout star of 2021. And Luis Luetge has also struggled, most recently surrendering a three run walkoff homer in the series finale in Baltimore. 

How the bullpen is managed and how the starters continue to pitch will be key to how the Yankees play when they meet the better teams. But the hitters need to come alive—I’m talking about Hicks, Gallo and the catchers, for this team to be taken seriously.

Again, it is before Memorial Day and very few teams win the World Series based on their early performance. I am sure I will have more to say about this as the season goes forward. 

The NBA Playoffs continue with the Conference Finals. Boston and Miami have begun their series, with Miami prevailing at home in Game 1 behind 41 points from Jimmy Butler. This is against a Celtics team minus NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, and key big man Al Horford, who has been placed in the COVID protocols. 

The Celtics looked lost in the third quarter of their game. They missed Smart and Horford, with too much of the burden on Jayson Tatum to carry the team offensively when the defense was not present. 

Smart may return in Game 2, but Horford is unlikely to play until the games shift to Boston. By that time Miami should have a 2-0 lead. The sledding will be tough for the Celtics, but not impossible. If Smart and Horford can remain on the court, this series could go well beyond 4 games. 

After all, the Celtics dominated the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks, tiring Giannis Antetokounmpo as he tried to make up for the loss of All-Star Kris Middleton to a knee injury. 

Frustrating Butler and hiding him in check will place greater reliance on other members of the Heat, who I just don’t have great faith in.

In the West, the Dallas Mavericks absolutely dominated the Phoenix Suns in Game 7 in Phoenix to win their series. It was a crushing defeat for the Suns, the regular season wins leader and the favorite to  win it all. 

Coming off of his dominant play against Phoenix, Luka Doncic will be tested by a smothering Golden State Warriors defense. Can the rest of the Mavs’ squad overcome Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Steph Curry and Andrew Wiggins, who weren’t at their best in Game 1, a game which Golden State won by 25. 

Do not count the Mavs out just yet. Most thought they would not beat Phoenix, as the team trailed 0-2 before coming home. I am not saying that the Warriors are better than the Suns; it is simply how much magic does Doncic and friends have left?

Two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay looked so much better than the seasonal points leader, the Florida Panthers, in Game 1 of their best-of-seven series. The Lightning may just get to the Finals again the way they first downed a very good Toronto team and the way they looked versus the Panthers. 

Of course, Carolina might have a lot to say about that. Stymied by the New York Rangers for most of the opener of their series, the ‘Canes scored late in regulation to tie the score then won the game in OT. If Carolina plays like they did in the third period and OT, this will be a short series. 

In the West, The Avalanche face a very worthy foe in the St. Louis Blues. It took overtime for the Avs to win Game 1. I predict a six of seven game series here.

Then there is the Battle of Alberta between Edmonton and Calgary. While the Oilers have some great young talent, the Flames might be a bit better than Edmonton. If Calgary wins Game 2, this could be a short series. 

That’s it. That’s all I’ve got. I am away for the next week. See you in June.