Yankees have the Toronto Blue Jays, and baseball, under duress
The Yankees’ road show just opened to rave reviews. While two games are far too few to project anything, Blue Jays’ pitchers and hitters are already feeling the pressure of playing the Bombers. And so is the baseball world.
The Yankees have played just two games, and the only thing assured to them is that they cannot lose more than 160 this year. But when a long-awaited production finally debuts with smashing success, reactions tend to be over-sized. And some people can get carried away; you know who you are.
Here, we’ll focus on the now. After all, we don’t want to look past any wins and think only of what they mean for the future.
Instead, after long months of waiting, we want to let each win linger in the mind and on the tongue, long after the last cheers from that night’s triumph have faded into the darkness of a now empty stadium, the scoreboard still aglow in victory.
Especially as the Yankees have had such a great start to a highly-anticipated season — Giancarlo Stanton has already shot two out of Rogers Center that ten Aaron Judges stacked on top of each other could not have caught. And the pitching has been just as good.
It has added up to the Yankees both already earning a split in the series and outscoring the Jays 10-3. They’re not just beating them; they’re beating them up.
There seems to already be a quiet, workmanlike confidence to this team that belies the early schedule. You can see it when they are in the field, or at the dish. You can see it on Stanton’s face as he stares hard from the dugout.
Bigger, Stronger, Faster
The differences between the teams are stark: In talent, in temperament, and in overall depth.
Adding to the disparity, the effects of having three premier power hitters hitting in such close-proximity have been evident.
Analysts often talk about the differences in pitching free and easy versus pitching under duress. 120 pitches during a nine-run blowout take far less toll than 85 pitches in a scoreless seventh game of the World Series. There every pitch counts, and every pitch takes maximum effort and focus.
That is the kind of pressure the top of this line-up is already applying.
When three of the first four or five hitters are not just capable of hitting a home run but likely to, the heat is on from the first pitch. And it seemed as if in both games the line-up turned over every other inning.
Think of the wear on the pitcher’s psyche as he sees Judge, Stanton or Sanchez almost always on deck.
No Tolls in Toronto
The difference in the talent level, however, can also be gauged through how each handled opportunities.
There were times when both Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka made mistakes, as the Jays’ pitchers did. But there was enough talent in the Yankees line-up to make the opposing pitchers pay; the less-talented Toronto hitters too often missed mistakes.
Again, this makes no claim of future success, even for the rest of the series, but merely observes what has happened so far. It has been what fans hoped for, and analysts expected. But it didn’t have to be this way.
Sevvy could have stumbled or Stanton might have merely made outs as he did in game two. The Yankees already looked like a team that might win a lot of games this year, so whether they won these first two is not that significant. Had they lost, my outlook would not have changed.
Setting the Narrative
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But because they won, and have looked so good on both sides of the ball, after being expected to, they are already making quite an impression on baseball.
All over the MLB landscape words such as, “fear,” “scary” and “most powerful” are being bandied about. It seems that when Stanton announced his presence with authority, he announced the Yankees’ as well.
He let everyone know that he might hit a lot or he might hit a little, but he is not overwhelmed by being on The Yankees. He also announced that the Yankees might just overwhelm everyone else, as well. That message has not been lost on the MLB.
His home runs have seemingly set the stage, and the pre-season narrative is now in overdrive. And that can only help a young team believe in itself.
It’s just two games. Of course, it always better to win them than lose them, but the wins make little impression on the season.
How the Yankees have been winning has, though, and that sense of dread that seeped into baseball during the off-season is already turning into a palpable fear about ready to grip the sport; we’ll see. And seeing it every day is really the point.
Next: Yankees 2018 Season: Pride, Power, Intimidation and Pinstripes
Because it’s not about what they might do, it’s about what they are doing: Dominating. And what Yankees fans most want now is what all good theater lovers want: For the biggest hit in the business to open in New York.
And to do their part to help put opposing teams under duress.