When casting a long gaze at the prior 2018 season for the New York Yankees, it’s easy to recognize the deficiencies on the team, but also the strengths. Primarily, the main issue was consistency throughout the lineup and pitching rotation. The relief pitchers were stellar early on in the season but fell off towards the end, and simply crumbled against the Boston Red Sox in the playoffs.
The hitting lineup seemed to remain strong in regard to smacking home-runs, but they found issues in recording base-hits. Mega-acquisition Giancarlo Stanton made his mark with homers as usual, but he seemed to struggle in every other facet, striking out a mind-boggling 211 times, the most in his entire nine-year career. His batting average was below his career average, which is troublesome for a Yankees organization paying $25 million per-year for the big-bat.
Should the Yankees sign another big-bat to compliment Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton?
Since Patrick Corbin is off the table after signing a six-year deal with the Washington Nationals, the Yankees will be looking hard for rotational and starting pitchers. It’s certainly possible they try to retain David Robertson (check out our article on those chances here). As for hitting, they will be expecting a resurgence from catch Gary Sanchez and starting second-baseman Gleyber Torres.
The bottom line, the Yankees need hitters that can record base-hits rather than home-runs. Relying on the long-ball is a death wish when playing teams like the Red Sox who survive off of continuity and base-runners. With runner son base you can turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples. The sublime base running by Boston last season can attest to that narrative.
The Yankees have been in the run for players like Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, who would both make the Bombers’ lineup one of the most feared in baseball. The more intriguing aspect of these hitters is that they have the ability to keep the ball inside the park and minimize strikeouts. In 709 plate appearances for the Baltimore Orioles and LA Dodgers, Machado struck-out only 104 times, earning himself a .297 batting average. Harper on the other hand, who had about as many plate appearances as Machado in that time-span, recorded 169 strikeouts, and had a .249 batting average.
By looking at the numbers, Machado seems to be the more prolific hitter, and his influence in New York would be significant. Would it be more impactful than starting pitching? Maybe, but at the end of the day winning 2-1 is a lot easier than 9-7.
Pitchers Available:
-Dallas Keuchel
-J.A. Happ
-Charlie Morton
-Lance Lynn