Yankees Midseason Review

W-L: 50-45
Pythagorean Record: 50-45
Run Differential: +24



Hitting
Runs Scored: 436 (7th out of 14 teams in AL)
HRs: 90 (9th)
BB: 315 (9th)
SO: 547 (13th)
BA: .266 (5th)
OBP: .338 (3rd)
SLG: .413 (6th)
SB: 60 (6th)

Pitching
Runs Allowed: 412 (7th)
ERA: 4.13 (7th)
IP: 842 (12th)
Hits: 844 (7th)
HRs: 84 (7th)
BB: 292 (7th)
SO: 652 (4th)

It seems fair to say that as of July 18th, 14 games past the official midpoint of the regular season, the Yankees are the 7th best team in the AL. Injuries to some key players (Chien-Ming Wang, Jorge Posada, Johnny Damon, A-Rod) have prevented the Yanks from really gaining any momentum and consistently winning games. As we saw with the Mets this last week and a half, a 10 game winning streak can propel a team from under .500 to division leader in a heartbeat. No team needs that type of streak more than the Yankees.

Offensively, the Yankees have been mediocre at best all year. Unlike the great teams of the late 90s that collectively batted around .280, this team struggles to put the ball in play (.266). They haven't shown the ability to hit for much power (only 3 players with 10+ HRs) and do not run the bases very well as a team (3 players with 10+ SB). The recent acquisition of Richie Sexson should provide some spark to a lineup that is hitting .257 against LHP and .238 overall in the month of July. The biggest problem for the Yankees, however, is their inability to hit with runners in scoring position. The three main run producers for the Yankees (Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, and Bobby Abreu) are batting .238, .192, and .287 with RISP, respectively.

The pitching, much like the hitting, has been plagued by inconsistency and injuries. GM Brian Cashman rolled the dice on his duo of stud prospects (Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy) and lost. It's way to early to label both as failures, but it's hard to see either making much of an impact down the stretch. However nothing hurt the Yankees as much as watching Chien-Ming Wang injure his foot running the bases in Houston. Fortunately for the Yanks, Mike Mussina (11-6, 3.61), Andy Pettitte (10-7, 4.03) and Joba Chamberlain (2-3, 2.62 in 65+ innings) have helped pick up the slack. The bullpen has been shaky outside of Rivera (23/23 in save situations), Edwar Ramirez (21 hits allowed in 33 innings) and Jose Veras (2.87 ERA). LaTroy Hawkins has been a flat-out disaster (5.87 ERA) and moving Joba into the rotation hasn't helped. All in all, however, things have looking up for the staff as a whole. After an rough April (4.56 team ERA), the Yanks have improved every month (4.13 May, 3.86 June, 3.70 July).

The stats don't lie; the Yankees have played as well as their record indicates. The hitting has been lackluster and the Yanks have struggled mightily against quality pitching. The pitching hasn't been the disaster it could have been and if the Yanks manage to sneak into the playoffs they will have enough arms to be dangerous (Mussina, Pettitte, Wang, Joba, Rivera, Ramirez, maybe even Hughes). The problem will be getting there. It would be a disgrace if the Yankee Stadium failed to reach October in it's last year after 13 consecutive playoff appearances.