Bronx Bomber Ball

The Yankees first-half goes a little under the radar because they are not in first place. Their 62-33 is good for the second-best record in the majors behind their division rivals, the Red Sox. On the offensive side, they are third in the American League in runs, first in home runs, first in walks, second in OPS, and second in total bases. On the pitching side of the ball, they are second in ERA, and third in strikeouts. The trends with this team, thus far, consist of an abundance of home runs and strikeouts from the starting lineup, a shaky rotation behind the team’s ace, and a lockdown bullpen. Breaking it down further, I decided to grade each player individually  based on their contributions  this season along with what was expected of them. Here is how I graded each player on the team:   Photo Credit: NY Post

Grade:   B- I feel like in the context of this season a B- grade may be a little generous but since his season thus far has been an improvement over his 2016 campaign it seems somewhat fair. Still, Chasen Shreve has never been able to get back to the level he performed at for the first half of the 2015 season and has fit right into a bullpen that has been the Achilles heel for a 2017 Yankee team that fell flat on its face heading into the All Star Break. Credit: Chris O'Meara AP

Grade: A- Adam Warren, reacquired from the Cubs last season, has revitalized his career after an ugly stint with Chicago. He has arguably been the Yankees best and most consistent pitcher out of the bullpen, yes even over the recently paid Aroldis Chapman and All Star Dellin Betances. Photo Credit: John Cordes/AP

Grade: D Masahiro Tanaka comes in as another player for the Yankees this season who is proving that a strong Spring Training does not in any way correlate to a good regular season (looking at you too, Greg Bird). Much of Tanaka's first half can be regarded as an absolutely disaster. He did save himself from a failing grade due to a few big performances, but he has also faltered in many cases where the club needed him.   Photo Credit: Seth Wenig | AP

Grade: B+ Gary Sanchez has built off of his impressive 2016 rookie season by earning a nod to the 2017 All Star Game. He and former minor league teammate Aaron Judge have combined to form one of the more potent, dangerous duos in the league, despite being just 24 and 25 years of age. Photo Credit: Adam Hunger/Getty Images

Grade: A++ Coming into the season, there was no telling how Aaron Judge would respond to his poor stint in the big leagues last year. Despite his history of struggling at a level, then coming back strong in the ensuing season, Judge amassed a significant amount of doubters. However, Judge has been the Yankees biggest stud in 2017, and he is already in the process of locking up his case for Rookie of the Year, while also competing in the MVP race. Photo Credit: Elsa | Getty Images

Grade: B+   After a 2016 where Ronald Torreyes, “Toe,” really did not have much of a place on the Yankees roster, and got close to no playing time, 2017 has been a very different story. Not only has Toe proved to be a perfect bench piece for the Yankees, he’s been adequate as a starting position player as well. He’s been everything the Yankees could have hoped for at this point in the season, not to mention being one of the more fun players on the roster as well. Photo via Elsa of Getty Images

Grade: A- For an organization that has had trouble developing starting pitching, it was very worrisome when Luis Severino pitched horrendously last season out of the rotation. He was moved to the bullpen towards the end of 2016, but the Yankees still believed he had the skillset to be an above average starting pitcher at the Major League level. After winning a spot in the rotation during Spring Training, Severino has not only pitched adequately for the Bombers, but he has arguably been their ace starting pitcher for much of 2017. Photo Credit: AP First-Half Performance Luis Severino has been phenomenal so far in 2017 and has exceptional numbers to show for it. After a rough start in Houston, his 3.54 ERA is the highest it has been in 2017 as it has been a sub-3.00 for much of the season. He leads the Yankees’ starters in innings pitched, ERA, WHIP, strikeouts, and quality starts, which shows that he’s not only been a workhorse for the Yankees’ rotation, but has also be...

Grade: C+ The definition of inconsistency, Michael Pineda was hoping to silence his former critics and put it together before his first chance at free agency. Big Mike did not have to fight for his spot in the starting rotation like some of his teammates had to and actually looked like he was going to have his best season yet out of the gate, but after his recent stretch of struggles, he is currently one of the Yankees most unreliable starters. Photo Credit: Paul Bereswell | NY Post

Grade: C- Coming into the season, the Yankees and their fans pretty much knew what they were going to get from Austin Romine. However, Romine had to play a little bigger role on the 2017 Yankees than in previous seasons. A pretty steady backup catcher since 2013, Romine had to fill some big shoes early on when Gary Sanchez went down in Baltimore with a bicep injury. He's shown that he could actually be more valuable to a team as a starting catcher, and filled Gary's role much better than expected. Romine has also seen some time at first base, a position the Yankees have struggled with all season, and has done better than expected there as well. The only thing keeping him out of the lineup every day is his bat. Photo Credit: Rich Schultz/Getty Images

Grade: B The six-time All-Star, now in his 17th season at age 36, CC Sabathia has had a rocky 2017 season to date, not pitching to ace-like numbers since 2012. His past few seasons have been very inconsistent, but Sabathia has still been productive at the back end of the rotation. Photo Credit: Kathy Willens/AP

Grade: B+ Although Jordan Montgomery didn’t join the Yankees starting rotation until the team’s eighth game of the season on April 12th, the young lefty has quickly established himself as one of the top young pitchers in the American League this season.   After beating out Bryan Mitchell, Luis Cessa and Chad Green for the fifth spot in the starting rotation, Montgomery has been nothing but solid to start his big league career. The young man they call Gumby has been perhaps – aside from Luis Severino – the Yankees’ best starting pitcher all season. Photo Credit: T om Szczerbowski/Getty Images

Grade: F Rob Refsnyder has been up and down between the Yankees and Scranton/Wilke-Barre RailRiders multiple times throughout the season. He was mainly called up as a replacement for injured players because he can play multiple positions. He’s played 1B, 2B, LF, and RF in the majors but primarily played second base in the minors. He became a mainstay in late May and most of June because of the slew of injuries that impacted the Yankees’ starters. He will probably be sent back down soon as the Yankees’ starting players get healthy.   Nam Y. Huh | AP Photo

Grade: A Chad Green is having a remarkable breakthrough season so far for the Yankees. It hasn’t generated as much attention as it should solely because of the other amazing performances other Yankees are putting on display. After being a top flight starter at college baseball powerhouse Louisville, Green found his pitching career floundering between starter and reliever at the next level.  However, this spring he has adapted exceptionally well to everyday life in the bullpen so far.   Photo Credit: Elsa/Getty Images

Grade: B+ Matt Holliday has proven to be quite a valuable off season addition for the Yankees so far in 2017. Holliday has displayed that even at age 37, he is still more than capable of driving in runs at a high rate.  His contribution to the team extends beyond his on-field production in pinstripes though. Holliday has provided an important veteran presence to an extremely young clubhouse. By all accounts, he has really helped rookie sensation Aaron Judge smooth his transition into the spotlight of stardom. Holliday’s leadership is a big factor as to why the Yankees were able to get off to such a hot start in the early months despite the overwhelming youth on the roster. Photo Credit: Adam Hunger/Getty Images

Grade: C Jonathan Holder's season is a microcosm of the Yankees bullpen as a whole. Starting off on solid footing and getting progressively worse as the season moved forward, Holder transitioned from a reliable middle relief arm to yet another reliever incapable of protecting a lead. No longer with the Major League club, Holder was optioned to the minors in late June as part of the never ending infamous Scranton Shuttle that the Yankees have employed for the past few years. Sooner rather than later, however, we should expect to see Holder back in the bullpen, hopefully pitching like he did in April and May. Photo Credit: Ron Sachs/CNP

Grade: B+   Not expected to play any significant role on the 2017 Yankees at the beginning of the season, Aaron Hicks quickly turned into an impact player for the Yankees this season  before hitting the disabled list with a strained oblique on June 26th.  After a dreadful 2016 season, Hicks began the season as the fourth outfield, but quickly made a case for more regular at-bats with his strong first half performance.  He saw every day playing time after Jacoby Ellsbury went down with a concussion, but Hicks isn't expected to be back in pinstripes until last June.   Photo Credit: Kathy Willens/AP Photo

Grade: A- Starlin Castro is having a renaissance 2017 campaign with the Yankees. Once the face of the franchise for the rebuilding Chicago Cubs, Castro started his career in the bigs by hitting at least .283 or better in four of his first five seasons. The Yankees picked him up for pennies on the dollar as a result of the influx of other young talent the Cubs were experiencing a couple years ago. His first season in the Bronx was mediocre at best. However, the talented second baseman has really picked up his play this spring. While it feels as though Castro is a grizzled veteran, he is only a modest 27-years-old. Castro is only two years older than Aaron Judge. It feels like Starlin is a veteran simply because he debuted in the bigs at the age of 20.    It’s a great sign to all Yankees fans that Castro has been able to turn around the trajectory of his career in 2017. Photo Credit: Jim McIsaac | Getty Images

Grade: C- As we continue to grade the Yankee players’ seasons at the halfway point, it is Chase Headley’s turn to be analyzed. Headley is currently in the midst of his third full season in the Bronx, which would make it his third consecutive mediocre season as the Yankees’ third baseman. After a scorching hot April, Headley’s dreadful play in May made him an extreme liability in the batting order. With Gleyber Torres’ injury, Headley has been given more time to try to finally prove to the Yankees that he was worth the 52-million-dollar contract that he signed prior to 2015. Photo Credit: Sportsnet

Grade: A After his breakout season in 2016 where he swatted a career high 20 homers, 2017 did not start out the way Didi would’ve wanted. He injured his shoulder during the World Baseball Classic and missed the first month of the season. However, since he returned to the lineup on April 28 th , Didi has picked up right where he left off last season, and continues to show that he’s one of the most talented shortstops in the American League. Photo via Seth Wenig of AP