Looking ahead to the Yankees' May schedule
In the first month of the
season, the Yankees have surpassed the fanbase’s expectations. Sitting tied for
first place with the Baltimore Orioles heading into this week's series against the Toronto Blue Jays in the
Bronx, the Bombers have put the American League on notice. The Yankees already
have eight wins inside the division, which sets them up for success as the
season progresses. In the month of May, the Yankees have double-digit games
against teams currently in last or second-to-last place in their division. May
will be a huge opportunity for the Yankees to bulk up their win total and cast
aside any doubt they are an early-season fluke. Let’s take a look at the
schedule:
Photo Credit: Corey Sipkin/New York Post
Part 1: Yankees “welcome”
Toronto for their first matchup of the season (5/1-5/3)
Even if I wanted to, there is
no way to sugar coat it. The Blue Jays are off to a terrible start. Josh Donaldson
is hurt. Edwin Encarnacion’s absence is dramatically affecting Jose Bautista
who is batting under .200 with 29 strikeouts. The pitching staff has the 24th worst ERA in the MLB, and their pets’ heads are falling off! The Blue Jays are hitting for low averages as
a team and giving up a lot of runs. The Yankees are doing the complete
opposite, so the Blue Jays should be handled quite easily.
Part 2: 5-game NL Central road
trip. 3 against the champs, 2 against Cincinnati (5/5-5/9)
A weekend series in Wrigley
against the defending-champion Chicago Cubs (feels weird to read that, right?
Still pretty hard to believe) will be the first real non-divisional test for
the Yankees. The Cubs are treading water early on, but sit in first place with
a 12-10 record. The Yankees didn’t perform particularly well in Pittsburgh
playing by National League rules, so don’t get discouraged if the Yankees
falter. The Cubbies and the Bombers will play on Sunday Night Baseball in the
last game of the series. That is must watch baseball for any baseball fan.
After three in Chicago, the
Yankees head over for a two-game series in Cincinnati. The Reds are in last
place, but are only 2.5 games back of Chicago with a 10-13 record. The Yankees
are the better team so they won’t go in scared, but National League rules give
the Reds a distinguished advantage.
Photo Credit: Frank Franklin II/AP
Part 3: Back home for the
first-place Houston Astros (5/11-5/14)
The 2015 play-in game still
stings when I think about it. After making the playoffs two years ago, the
Astros disappointed and missed out in 2016. Both the Astros and Yankees
finished with an 84-78 record. However, the 2017 Astros are coming out of the
gate blazing hot. By throttling the AL West to a tune of 11 wins in April, they
own the best record in the American League at 15-8. This will be another early
test for the Yankees. The Astros pitching staff is led by Dallas Kuechel, who
is pitching to a 1.22 ERA and a 4-0 record. Yuli Gurriel, Josh Reddick, and
Brian McCann are off to great starts, and once Carlos Correa gets hot, the
offense will be fierce. There will be many home runs hit in this series.
Part 4: Road trip to the
prettiest stadium in baseball, then the ugliest (5/16-5/21)
Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City
is one of those “I have to make it there before I die” ballparks. Tropicana
Field is one of those “I have to make it out of here before I die” ballparks.
The Yankees will play three
against the last place Royals who have seemed to close their window. Only two
years removed from back-to-back World Series appearances, the Royals no longer
look like the powerhouse they once were. Afterwards, the Yankees travel to Tampa
Bay for three more with the Rays. The Yankees lost two out of three in Tampa to
open the year, inciting panic after a 1-4 start. Since then the Yankees have
gone 13-3, including a sweep of the Rays at home.
Part 5: Finally, some time to
relax at home (5/22-5/28)
After 11 road games in 16 days,
the Yankees finally return for a home stand against the Royals and the
Athletics. Hopefully by now Gary Sanchez has spent a couple games back in the
lineup and is getting back in the groove. By the end of May, Didi and Gary
should be acclimated and the lineup will be complete. Lookout.
Part 6: Another heavyweight
bout with the Orioles to close out the month (5/29-5/31)
It is tough to predict what can
happen over the course of a month, but the Yankees and Orioles are both on
track to be great this season. The Red Sox, Orioles, and Yankees all have
playoff potential. But the Orioles are the most balanced of the three, and have
the best overall player in Manny Machado. If the Yankees and Orioles are duking
it for first place at the end of the month for the second month in a row, I
think Yankees fans would sign up for that.
Prediction: Yankees trip up early in the month, but rebound well against inferior teams. Go 16-12 in May.
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