A Completely Healthy Yankee Team is Dangerous
As
was the case with the Yankees in 2014, injuries have gotten the best of the
2015 Yankees up to this point. Luckily, the injuries have been fewer and farer
between in 2015, but the point remains – we have yet to see this Yankee team
completely healthy. And the fact that a battered Yankee team is in first place
goes to show that a healthy roster presents a dangerous team not only in the division
race, but the pennate race as well.
Of
the list above, Capuano and Ryan haven’t made a major impact since returning,
but if Brendan Ryan hits the ball well, he could pressure the Yankee front
office to send Stephen Drew packing. With Capuano struggling, he may fear for
his job with the return of Ivan Nova, but with Jose De Paula recently called
up, I see De Paula being optioned before Brian Cashman moves Capuano.
On
the flipside, Masahiro Tanaka has been nothing short of great since returning from
the disabled list. Tanaka has strengthened his case for being considered the
ace of the staff going 2-1 with a 1.71 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 21 innings
since returning.
In the bullpen, Chris Martin has provided right-handed help
which has been scarce at times for the club. With the potential rise of Sergio
Santos, we should watch out for who tends to get the ball in more pressure
filled situations going forward for the Yankees.
There
isn’t much to say about what the healthy Andre Miller meant to the ball club. Converting
all 17 of his save opportunities with a 1.03 ERA, Miller had a strong case of
being the best closer in the MLB before going down with an injury.
With
the lethal combination of Dellin Betances in the eighth and Andrew Miller in the
ninth, the two headed monster “DnA” was able to essentially shorten games to 7
innings, barring the Yankees had a lead as the game might as well have been
over when they took the mound. Getting Miller back will once again solidify the
backend of the bullpen translating to more wins for the Yankees.
At
the top of the lineup, Jacoby Ellsbury was enjoying one of the most successful
seasons of his career before being injured as he was certainly in line to
becoming an All-Star although thanks to Royals fans, he likely wouldn’t have
been a starter. Ellsbury was hitting a career best .324 with an on base
percentage of .412 having stolen safely in 14 of his 19 attempts.
Ellsbury’s
presence at the top of the lineup with the speed threat of him and Brett
Gardner went unmatched by most teams. Gardy was also thriving with Ellsbury as
it put less pressure on him and the rest of the team. When Ellsbury comes back
at what we hope is the end of June, the team should instantly begin putting up
more runs.
Rookie
outfielder Slade Heathcott played just 6 games before going down with an injury
but after hitting .353 in those games, he certainly opened some eyes. It’ll be
interesting to see what the Yankees have in store for him with his return but
as a player who exhibited a lot of plus tools, it’ll be tough for the Yankees to
send him back down to Scranton which could prompt a trade.
Jacob
Lindgren didn’t come to the Bronx quite as he was advertised in large part because
of him hiding an injury that had been nagging him. He had an ERA of 5.14 in 7
MLB innings but to reiterate the point, his competitive fire forced him to push
through his injury that he kept hidden until he was sent back down. When he gets
healthy and is back to dominating triple-A hitters, he may find himself back in
the Bronx at some point in July or August.
And
finally, the return of Ivan Nova is the one many of us are highly anticipating.
Nova has been a force in the rotation when healthy as he’s shown flashes of
being the most consistent starter our rotation has had in year’s past. Nova
will be making one more rehab start this Friday before he presumably returns to
New York. He could start next Saturday, June 27 in Houston.
The
return of Nova instantly makes the rotation better as he’s likely to bump Adam
Warren back to his more comfortable confines of the bullpen where he thrived in
2014 with a 2.97 ERA. Returning from Tommy John poses many question marks for
the 28-year old right-hander but he’s looked sharp in his minor league action.
If he returns to form, the trio of Tanaka, Pineda and Nova will surely be the
best in the AL East.
Let’s
also not forget about other prospects that are on the verge of reaching the MLB
including UTIL Jose Pirela and OF Ramon Flores (once again), 2B Rob Refsnyder, and pitchers Luis Severino, Nick
Rumbelow, and Danny Burawa amongst quite a few others.
The
return of crucial players to this year’s Yankee team is going to be highly
welcomed by all. In the event that the Yankees get everyone back healthy and
make a few trade deadline moves to beef up the roster, there is a good chance
the Yankees will return to playing baseball in October.
Now
that I’ve gotten you Yankee fans excited about a completely healthy New York
Yankees squad, I’ll leave you what would be my lineup, pitching rotation and
bullpen roles if I was Joe Girardi with a completely healthy roster.
LINEUP
|
BENCH
|
CF Jacoby Ellsbury (B: L T: L)
|
OF Chris Young (B: R T: R)
|
LF Brett Gardner (B: L T: L)
|
1B/OF Garrett Jones (B: L T: L)
|
DH Alex Rodriguez (B: R T: R)
|
C John Ryan Murphy (B: R T: R)
|
1B Mark Teixeira (B: S T: R)
|
SS/2B Brendan Ryan (B: R T: R)
|
C Brian
McCann (B: L T: R)
|
|
RF Carlos Beltran (B: S T: R)
|
|
3B Chase Headley (B: S T: R)
|
|
2B Jose Pirela (B: R T: R)
|
|
SS Didi Gregorius (B: L T: R)
|
BULLPEN
|
ROTATION
|
(LHP) Chris Capuano (LR)
|
(SP 1) Masahiro Tanaka (RHP)
|
(LHP) Justin Wilson (MR)
|
(SP 2) Michael Pineda (RHP)
|
(RHP) Sergio Santos/Chris Martin (MR)
|
(SP 3) Ivan Nova (RHP)
|
(RHP) Adam Warren (MR/LR)
|
(SP 4) CC Sabathia (LHP)
|
(LHP) Chasen Shreve (MR)
|
(SP 5) Nathan Eovaldi (RHP)
|
(RHP)Dellin Betances (SU)
|
|
(LHP) Andrew Miller (CP)
|
Article
by: Chad Raines
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me on twitter @Chad_Rain
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