No matter what, the New York Yankees will head into the 2020 season as the heavy favorites to win the world series. The addition of Gerrit Cole to the rotation puts the Yankees in a great position to live up to those expectations. However, despite the promising roster for next year, their team will still face inevitable adversity. Here are three things that could come up during the 2020 season and bring trouble to the team.
Lack of lefty hitters
With the loss of Didi Gregorius, the New York Yankees now only have one lefty bat that will be in the lineup consistently. With Aaron Hicks missing roughly half the season due to Tommy John surgery, Brett Gardner will be the only lefty bat in the lineup. Tyler Wade is the other option, but he will be a reserve option moving forward.
I understand the importance of having a diverse lineup, but it’s also important to remember that the Yankees’ righty hitters have better numbers off righty pitchers than their lefty hitters. So as this could be a problem, I don’t think it’ll hurt the team that much, and if it does, it’ll be small.
Can the Yankees rely on Higashioka if Sanchez goes down?
With all the rumors that the Yankees might be pursuing Martin Maldonado because he was Cole’s catcher, I believe the Yankees will pass on him and stick with Higashioka as their backup catcher. He’s out of options, and I think they can rely on him to produce as a backup catcher.
Sanchez will most likely go through at least an IL-stint, and I believe Higgy will do just fine. He appeared in 18 games last year, finished with 12 hits and three homers. When Sanchez has a day off and Higashioka is getting more at-bats, I think with more major league experience, he’s going to do just fine.
Can the Yankees avoid the injury plague from last year?
Last season seemed like a nightmare at times. They would be doing great, winning series left and right, and then suddenly, one of our key players would go down with an injury. It seemed inevitable at some points of the year.
Even though the Yankees still found a way to have 103 wins and make it to the ALCS, something needs to change with the strength and conditioning and the team physician. Maybe it’s something as simple as understanding analytics or changing training programs, but to have 30+ injuries in one season can’t happen again, especially as we’re chasing ring number 28.