Your 2017 New York Yankees

     On July 5th, I made my annual trek to Yankee Stadium for a Senior Citizens' Day afternoon tilt with the Yankees hosting the Toronto Blue Jays. The weather was cooperative--low to mid-80 degree temperatures with a slight breeze. Not bad for a July day in the Bronx.

     My trip involved a ride to Cranford, New Jersey where I met my good friend Bill at the train station. We took the Midtown Direct NJ Transit train into New York Penn Station without too much difficulty given the delicate nature of the tracks in the station which will create a nightmarish set of delays starting July 10th when repairs begin in earnest.

     Other than a slight snafu on where to meet our friend Dave, who came in from Linden, New Jersey via NJ Transit, we made it up to the Stadium over 1 1/2 hours prior to game time. The line was not long for the senior citizens like us waiting to score tickets. We tried to get tickets in and around Section 214, which was down the right field line, but 3 seats together were not available. So we ended up in the last row of Section 217, in right field, where we could not see if the balls cleared or hit the fence below us. That didn't matter anyway, as I could readily tell if the 5 home runs struck that day had cleared the fence. But we were out of the sun, which is always a blessing. Especially for $5.00 per ticket.

     Having learned that the concessions at the Stadium are vastly overpriced, we brought our own food and bottled drinks into the Stadium. Eating lunch and idle baseball chatter, along with the melodious tunes coming over the speakers from the Hammond organ, filled the air until game time. Below us was a camp trip; to our side was a group of seniors who evidently knew each other. Comically, the woman seated next to me spilled her bag of popcorn onto her bag and the floor; she shared the laughs and the remaining popcorn with us.

     The teams came onto the field to stretch and run. Some of the pitchers played long toss; relievers Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman engaged in that exercise. Shortly thereafter, the umpires emerged from along the third base side of the field and convened their meeting with representatives from each team to conduct the formal exchange of line up cards.

     Both the Canadian and American anthems were played since the Blue Jays represented Canada. Prior to those anthems, a moment of silence was taken in the memory of a New York City police office who had been killed earlier that day.

     The Yankees came onto the field and did their perfunctory warm ups and the game began. Before long Toronto was ahead 1-0 thanks to a misplayed ball by Yankees center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury. We could tell that big Michael Pineda, the Yankees starting pitcher, was not in top form. His Toronto counterpart, Marco Estrada, looked to be in control, especially over the first three innings, as he yielded no hits to New York.

     Pineda's struggles continued as he gave up home runs in the third inning to Justin Smoak with one runner on base, followed by another homer by the next batter, Kendrys Morales. When Pineda surrendered a lead off home run to Kevin Pillar in the fourth inning, manager Joe Girardi had seen enough and finally replaced Pineda; we agreed that Pineda, with the awful location of his pitches, should never have returned to the mound to start the inning. The bleeding was halted by lefty reliever Chasen Shreve.

     Having soared through three innings virtually unhittable, the Yankees suddenly became energized. Left fielder Brett Gardner drew a walk, bringing up the super natural rookie right fielder Aaron Judge. The very tall Judge has absolutely been a revelation, up to that point slugging 27 home runs, batting .330 and scoring and driving in runs as the American League leader in those categories. His prodigious blasts come off the bat the fastest in MLB and are hit for the longest distances. He has since broken the Yankees rookie record for homers in a season in under 90 games, a record set by the immortal Joe Di Maggio. The MLB rookie record of 49 home runs, set by Mark Mc Gwire, is in jeopardy.

     Judge did not disappoint, launching an Estrada pitch over the right field wall. Suddenly, New York was back in the game. That is the kind of energy Judge brings to the lineup. He is the consensus top candidate for A.L. Rookie of the Year and a bona fide prospect for the A.L. Most Valuable Player Award given his astronomical numbers. Moreover, he garnered the most votes for the upcoming MLB All Star Game in Miami and he is entered in the Home Run Derby the night before based upon his mammoth homers. Judge is the kind of player people stop what they are doing--whether at the game or on television--in order not to miss his at bats. He is the brightest of spots in an up and down season thus far for New York.

     Just as Girardi had left Pineda in too long, so did Toronto manager John Gibbons leave Estrada in when it was clear that Estrada was fading. Ellsbury led off the bottom of the 5th inning with a walk. The next batter, Ji-Man Choi, called up that day from Scranton-Wilkes Barre to play first base, smacked a 450 foot blast into the right field bleachers. Gibbons elected to keep Estrada in. Bad decision, as he walked catcher Austin Romine and left fielder Brett Gardner. Judge then singled to right, loading the bases. Although Estrada had struck out the anemic hitting Tyler Wade and retired slumping first time All Star Gary Sanchez on a foul pop, shortstop Didi Gregorious came through  with a clutch, two run double, giving New York the lead at 6-5.

     Chad Green pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 6th. Toronto lefty Aaron Loup did the same against the Yankees.

     In another mistake, which hurt pretty badly, Girardi sent Green out for a second inning. Former Yankees catcher Russell Martin, on this day playing third base for Toronto, clubbed a home run to tie the score at 6.

     Loup ran into a jam in the bottom of the 7th inning. He walked Wade; Gardner sacrificed Wade to second base with a nice bunt; then Judge was intentionally walked. Gibbons replaced Loup with righthander Danny Barnes, who shut down New York and ended the rally.

     Girardi went to his struggling set up man, Betances, for the top of the 8th inning. Betances, named to the All Star team for his tremendous April-June stretch, had suddenly developed a mechanical flaw in his delivery to home plate, which caused his reliable 99 m.p.h. fast ball to tail away or sail, and his superior curve ball to miss the strike zone. Which was clearly evident in this game, whereupon Betances walked 4 of the 5 batters he faced, returning the lead to the Jays. When Betances had inexplicably walked the first 3 batters, Girardi should have changed pitchers. Because Betances was so dominant and needed a boost to get back on track, Girardi's loyalty cost the Yankees the game. I would say that Girardi, a normally good and sound decision-maker, made some emotional choices which cost the Yankees a victory.

     In the bottom of the 9th, with 2 outs, Gardner hit a single to right field. up strode Judge with a chance to tie or win the game. Alas, against dominating Toronto closer Roberto Osuna, Judge struck out to end the game. The alleged 38,691 there in a virtually half-filled Yankee Stadium went home with a bottle half-filled--disheartened by another loss but buoyed with an Aaron Judge home run to remember.

     This contest was symptomatic, in a lot of ways, of the Yankees' ills. They are near the bottom of MLB in one run losses. Their vaunted bullpen duo of Betances and Chapman have been erratic if not spectacular. Last week in Houston, Betances blew a lead and Chapman had a 100 m.p.h. fast ball get tattooed for a game winner by the top team in the A.L. In one run situations where they are behind, the other team's closer shuts them down; Saturday's walk off homer by red-haired rookie outfielder Clint Frazier, off of the Brewers' All Star closer, Corey Knebel, is now the exception.

     The starting pitching has been inconsistent at best. Although Luis Severino has been named to the A.L. All Star team, his E.R.A. hovers around 3.50 and he is only 5-4 despite his 100 m.p.h. heater and over 100 strikeouts. Mashahiro Tanaka, the ace of the staff, has struggled with the command of his pitches and is either brilliant or very hittable. The venerable and resurrected C.C. Sabathia has battled leg issues but nonetheless recorded a 7-3 record thus far; Pineda has a 4.39 E.R.A. even with an 8-4 mark. Rookie lefty Jeff Montgomery has been surprising, showing tremendous poise in reaching a 6-4 record and posting a respectable 3.65 E.R.A. And relievers Green and Adam Warren have been very effective, sporting superlative 2.03 and 2.10 E.R.A., respectively. Shreve also has pitched like Green and Warren.

     Hitting for the Yankees has been good overall, even if there is a team funk right now. Injuries have dogged, Ellsbury, Sanchez, reborn Aaron Hicks, DH Matt Holliday and All Star second baseman Starlin Castro; the latter trio are three of the Yankees' most productive hitters when healthy. First base has been a travesty--presumtive starter Greg Bird fouled a ball off of his ankle in the last spring training game and ended up hitting .100 before going on the DL. None of the replacements have adequately filled the void so far.

     Sanchez has been the biggest enigma. While he was a star at the end of last season, almost projecting the Yankees into the playoffs, he has suffered injuries, his catching and throwing are not up to last season's standards and he is now in an elongated slump where he looks over matched at the plate. Prior to the slump, he was batting .300 and was again crushing the ball.

     Gardner and Ellsbury continue to bat below their career numbers in average; at least Gardner has hit 15 homers and driven in 40 runners. Romine hits about .235; in his favor is that he is a superior defensive catcher and handles the pitching staff fairly well. Then there is Chase Headley, who fills third base for New York until minor league sensation Gleybar Torres can move up to the big team. Except that Torres suffered a season-ending injury a couple of weeks ago. Thus the Yankees are stuck with his anemic hitting and inconsistent fielding. Utility player Ronald Torreyes has been a pleasantly productive player when called upon.

     New York was torrid in the beginning of the season. Now they have fallen to second place in the A.l East, 3 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox. Yet they remain firmly in the Wild Card hunt as the All Star break comes and a little less than half of the season is to be played.

     Even if Judge continues to put up incredible numbers, he alone cannot carry the Yankees. Sanchez must regain his form that lifted his batting average to .300 and he needs to hit for power. Holliday and Castro have to return soon and produce in big numbers similar to the ones they had before their stints on the DL. Hicks can come back and take over center field if he hits well. New rookie sensation Clint Frazier, the center piece of the Andrew Miller trade to Cleveland last season, looks to be a budding star with a great upside; if he continues to play well, Gardner and /or Ellsbury might become expendable for a starting pitcher in a late July trade. Or another proven reliever to supplant the suddenly terrible Tyler Clippard. Much more productivity has to emerge from the first basemen.

     Betances needs to straighten himself out. On Saturday he pitched like fans have come to expect. Chapman has to continue to dominate as the closer, so the Yankees can win more one run battles. The starters have to considerably improve on their numbers, thereby keeping the Yankees more in games so that the potent offense, when healthy, can deliver timely hits.

     Above all, manager Girardi has to keep the team on an even keel. He must utilize his pitchers well, keeping them fresh and rested without giving in to too much temptation and overusing his prized relievers when the starters only last into the 5th or 6th innings. He must find ways to accommodate his hitters--giving the hot ones stretches to perform and resting them via rotating them into the DH role or just plain giving the older ones and the struggling youngsters time to refresh and regroup. This is not his first rodeo, so clearly Girardi knows how to use talented players.

     First place in the division is not out of the question if all of the players stay healthy and perform reasonably well. Boston, while ahead right now, is not as formidable as projected in the off season. The two Wild Card spots will envelop the Yankees, proven winners Kansas City and  Cleveland, along with wannabees Tampa Bay, Minnesota and the Los Angeles of Anaheim.

     66 games are left for the Yankees to make their move. With the players on the roster and reinforcements from the strong minor league system, this team has the ability to make its mark in the A.L.

     Here are your 2017 New York Yankees. A contender not a pretender?