Day 232

Fresh Start_232: Tough news after a big win
4 weeks without Gary Sanchez. That is the hard news that the Yankees must face when the news broke yesterday after the big win in the Home Opener. The next month will not be easy without Sanchez, who is undoubtedly the bombers best player. The production and threat that Sanchez can be in the middle of the Yanks order can’t be matched, but hopefully imitated by someone in the order.

Austin Romine will not bring the production that Sanchez will to the batter’s box, but can still be the brute force behind the plate for the Yankees staff. The ability to call and catch a good game behind the plate is something Romine has proven he can do. It is a tough time to ask for that production on offense this early in the season. Chase Headley, Aaron Judge and Ronald Torreyes seem like they are up to the task being that Judge is batting .216 with 2 homers, and 4 RBI’s while also hitting the cover off the ball of late. Headley is batting .375 (leads the team), 2 homers (leads the team), and 3 RBI’s. Torreyes is the extremely early MVP for the Yankees who is batting .250 with a homer, and 8 RBI’s (leads the team).

This type of production from the bottom of the lineup will not continue, which means that players like Chris Carter, Jacoby Ellsbury, Greg Bird, and Matt Holiday must become the run manufactures and producers of runs with Sanchez out. Didi Gregorius will come back right before Sanchez is scheduled to come off the DL, which could be a massive boost to this lineup.

The situation that the Yankees find themselves has a hint of similarity to last year when the Yankees had to “survive” a month until Aroldis Chapman came back from his month-long suspension. The bombers will need to survive the month until Gregorius and Sanchez come back to reinforce the Yankees lineup. What cannot happen in the Bronx is for the bombers is to slowly crawl their way out of the gate in the loom of the Gregorius and Sanchez injuries and fall behind, much like they did last year.

This Yankee team is extremely talented and young, while also having steep expectations on the shoulders of the team. To have daunting injuries that hinder the middle of the field can become devastating for a season. The surprise that the “Baby Bombers” had last year needs to rekindle in the Bronx—making April a bit more important than it usually is. Last years’ 8-14 start in April made the season for the Yankees and held them back for a possible playoff run.

So, what the Yankees need to do in the wake of these injuries is play close to .500 baseball. Sitting at 3-4 very early on the year, playing .500 baseball will allow Didi and Gary Sanchez to ease back into the order before truly hitting their stride in the middle of May—beginning of June. Not only that, but the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays are off to rough starts in 2017. The Red Sox are 3-3 with a flu bug going around the clubhouse, and a lack of run support. While the Jays are 1-5 with a lack of run support and long outings by their starters. These are the two teams are the teams that the Yankees will ultimately see down the stretch in October and if the bombers can outplay one if not both of these two teams with the injuries will be a huge confidence booster for the whole team. But, get healthy soon Didi and Gary, we need you!
Sources:(mlb.com)

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