The New York Yankees started their 2020 campaign to win a 28th World Championship last night in a rain-shortened 4-1 win over the present World Champion Washington Nationals. In a shortened 60 game season, winning every game is so important, and the Yankees did that last night with a combination of small and long ball play. In dissecting the win I find three very important factors that look good for the Yankee as they start the season.
The Cole Factor:
Gerrit Cole is a pitcher that knows how to win. We know that from his play with the Houston Nationals and our own summer camp. What was interesting about his start last night, was that it became quickly apparent that he didn’t have his best stuff in the game.
Cole has said in interviews that as a pitcher, you don’t have your best stuff every time to take the mound, “a third of the time you have your best stuff, a third of the time your stuff is suspect and a third of the time you don’t have your stuff, and that was the case last night. In the first two innings, he looked shaky, giving up a run in the bottom of the first inning to the Nationals Adam Eaton. In the third inning, he seemed to settle down. Both Cole and catcher Gary Sanchez appeared to be in sync.
Pitching ace Max Scherzer didn’t have his best stuff either. He did have eleven strikeouts, but the difference in Scherzer and Cole was that Scherzer couldn’t keep the Yankees off the bases. Scherzer walked four Yankees and gave up four runs. It has to be encouraging for the Yankees to see that their ace was able to grind it out and make the critical pitches that kept the Nationals off the bases. He only allowed one hit in his five innings.
The Judge/Stanton Factor:
Last year as we all know, the New York Yankees had an unprecedented number of injuries; to be exact, they had 39 injuries to 30 players. Last year you didn’t see Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton in the same lineup.
This year with both Stanton and Judge healthy, we will get to see their impact on a game. Last night Stanton and Judge both went 2-3, being the only Yankees to do so. Stanton started off the first inning with a monster 459′ homer of a slider from Scherzer. Aaron was on first base for the first time in the inning and was driven in by Stanton for the early 2-1 lead. Judge had his own RBI when he drove Tyler Wade in with a double.
The Judge/Stanton factor continued in the fifth inning. The Yankees loaded the bases, Stanton came up and singled driven in another run for the final 4-1 Yankee win. Having both of these stars in the lineup will be a big plus for the Yankees this year. The key is that they both must stay healthy.
The Tyler Wade Factor:
The New York Yankees have known for the last two years that utility player Tyler Wade not only can play several positions, but he is fast and can steal bases. Last night he demonstrated that when Aaron Judge hit a double, and he scored all the way from first base. He was so fast that there wasn’t even a throw to the plate. Being able to score all the way from first will be impactful for the Yankees.
One of the new rules in baseball this year is the man on second to start each half-inning after the ninth inning. Last night Wade showed that he should be that man. His ability to steal bases and run like the wind just may keep him with the team when the roster is reduced going forward.
Summary
What impressed me the most in the rain-shortened game was that the win was a total team effort. Gerrit Cole kept the Nationals to just one hit. The Yankee position players got on base ten times in the game. The star of the game was Giancarlo Stanton, who drove in three of the four runs. But the bottom of the lineup did their part as well. Torres, Voit, Urshela, and Wade all got on base by being patient and getting on base via the walk. All in all, it was an impressive start for the Yankees.
The next Yankee game will be on Saturday night against the same Washington Nationals. James Paxton will be pitted against Stephen Strasburg at Nationals Park.