2024 New York Yankees April Check-In

 This New York Yankee team isn’t like any of Brian Cashman’s analytical “master class” rosters of the recent past.

There is a saying in baseball that “you can’t win a division in April, but you can lose one.” Well, this Yankee team didn’t lose their chance at an AL East Division Title even without ace starter Gerrit Cole, going two and two in the first four division series, Aaron Judge struggling at the plate, and the Yankees getting no real length from any of their starters. They also did this with Juan Soto being as advertised and hopefully will be doing what he does for a long time in the Bronx, Clay Holmes has been virtually unhittable so far this season with nine saves in the month of April, recorded 13 strike outs, nine saves, and hasn’t allowed a run to cross the plate yet, and Anthony Volpe taking a giant step to being the next franchise shortstop.

With all this positivity surrounding this team, there is an elephant in the Yankee clubhouse that will need to be addressed if the Bombers want to reach the World Series and it is a pretty dangerous elephant. The war elephant is a division rival that has had the Yankees number since the beginning of last season, the Baltimore Orioles. The O’s have won 10 of the last 17 matchups which is a flip of the scale with the Yankees hammering Baltimore for every year since 2016. If you aren’t aware how good this young Orioles squad is, get aware because this team will be a championship contender for the next decade. Right now, the divisional championship belt is in the Oriole clubhouse, right now the current division lead is in the hands of Baltimore. When Aaron Judge gets right, when the starting rotation hits their stride, and when the team gets fully healthy, they will need to pass the Baltimore test.

Someone else who needs to pass a test is Carlos Rodon. With Cole out indefinitely, Rodon has been the de facto ace and has responded reasonably well so far. Adding in how much his contract is, the pressure on Rodon’s shoulders is the heaviest on the team even with Juan Soto being in a contract year. When he will pass the aforementioned test will be up to the delusional fans that curse his name every chance they get right now. It happened with Gerrit Cole, and he went out and completely changed the fans minds. Rodon won’t have to win a Cy Young to change the conversation, but he will have to throw 20 starts and probably throw upwards of 150 innings, something he has only done twice in his 10-year career.

Outside of Juan Soto, the offense has been in question for much of the season so far. If you at this April compared to April of 2023, there should be no panic. The Yankees scored 150 runs in the April games. In April of 2023, the bats scored 116 runs. There is no question that this offense is better. There is no question the approach at the plate from the 2024 team is much better—and I believe much of the conversation about the offensive woes is because the captain, Aaron Judge, is not hitting. So much so that he got booed at Yankee Stadium after a poor performance. Judge will get right and when he does the feeling around this ballclub will return to the level of excitement that the fanbase had after the 6-1 start to the season.

One month has come and gone and the Yankees are still in the mix, despite not being a fully operational team, that alone should bread hope for the Yankee fanbase, and strike fear into the rest of the baseball.