But No One Was Doing Much Hitting
The one position that has haunted the Yankees for more seasons then fans can remember is DH.
Most AL teams count on their designated hitters to be among their most potent producers. Yet, this is how much production the Yankees have gotten from their DH four of the last five seasons:
2017: Matt Holliday, .231/.316/.432, 19 HR;
2016: A-Rod (to start the season), .200/.247/.351, 9 HR;
2014: Carlos Beltran, .233/.301/.402 with 15 HR;
and, 2013: Split between A-Rod (.244) and Travis Hafner (.202), who combined for 19 HR.
In all fairness, A-Rod had a very good year for a DH in 2015, hitting .250/.356/.486 with 33 HR but that is an outlier for the position.
This year almost has to be better as DH duties look to primarily be shared by Stanton, Sanchez, and Judge. With those three, Yankees and Yankees fans think they will see another offensive weapon added to an already powerful arsenal.
Which brings us to a peek at roster construction.
Moving at the Speed of Baseball
After years of tying himself to aging and one-dimensional players, GM Brian Cashman has finally crafted a modern, interchangeable team. Last year, first base-only players Carter and Garrett Cooper, along with past-his-defensive-prime Holliday, clogged the roster. And the base paths.
This year, Neil, Wade and Ronald Torreyes can each cover every infield position. Torreyes, who was chosen over the bigger bats of Austin and Billy McKinney, is also the emergency catcher. That’s roster flexibility.
At the same time, both Torreyes and Wade bring energy and speed. They can be deployed throughout games in ways that were unavailable when Cooper, Carter or Holliday was on the bench.
Fans know it takes a lot of moving parts to make a championship club, and now the Yankees have the pieces to move. That makes the Yankees look powerful, deploy-able and deep, all upgrades on the 2017 ALCS-attending team.
But pitching wins titles, and here again, the fans think they see championship-level talent.