New York Yankees: 2016 season in review
By Jason Evans
The Good
Didi Gregorius– The Yankees best player in 2016 was Didi Gregorius. The 26 year old set career highs in all offensive categories and tied for the team lead in RBI with 70. Gregorius and Starlin Castro became the Yankees first keystone combination to hit 20 plus homers each. The Yankees have shortstop prospects like Jorge Mateo and Gleyber Torres, but they may have to play other positions if they make the majors.
The kids– The Yankees finally embraced some youth on the roster for the first time in years. Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge got their shots. Judge displayed his insane power. Austin showed opposite field power that will serve him well at Yankee Stadium. Meanwhile, Sanchez became the reason to tune into Yankees game down the stretch as he hit .299 with a 1.032 OPS in just 53 games.
Tanaka– Masahiro Tanaka stayed healthy amid fears he would need Tommy John surgery and led the Yankees in innings and wins and was top 10 in the league in ERA, WHIP and WAR. 2017 is going to be interesting for Tanaka with his ability to opt out after the season ends. If he produces another season like 2016 he certainly could. Could he leave the Yankees?
Luis Severino– Severino was looked at as a part of the Yankees rotation after coming up in 2015 and being a part of the Yankees making the Wild Card game. Severino was excellent coming out of the bullpen, posting a 0.39 ERA. As a starter he was 0-8 with an 8.50 ERA. He gave up 70 hits in 47.2 innings. 2017 will be a very important year in Severino’s development. Can he develop an effective third pitch?
The injury bug– Every team has injuries, but the Yankees seemed to just get injuries at the wrong time. Greg Bird was lost before the season began. Bryan Mitchell got hurt during spring training and wouldn’t return until September. Dustin Ackley was supposed to play a big role and was lost for the year after 28 games. Aaron Hicks got hurt just as it seemed he started to get it going a little more with the bat. Nathan Eovaldi is out for 2017 with Tommy John surgery.
Post No Runs DMC– The guys that were brought in after the trades of Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller simply were not that good. Kirby Yates and Blake Parker are already off the team. Young guys like Nick Goody, Jonathan Holder, Ben Heller and Johnny Barbato were not good either. The team is going to have to address this area in the off-season or hope one or two of these guys take the next step.