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Who's Hot
Dellin Betances
Things had not been going well
for 6'8" right hander as he couldn’t find any consistency on the mound
(His struggles have been well documented for the past two seasons). That appear
to have changes as Betances is pitching to a 1.13 ERA over the last seven
games. Whether or not this is a sign that his fortunes are turning around is
yet to be seen, but the numbers he's sporting lately are very encouraging.
Luis Severino
Severino is proving himself to
be the ace the Yankees billed hm as when he was first called up back in 2015.
His 9-1 record and 102 strikeouts place him in the upper tier of Major League
pitchers. Not to mention he is 5-0 with a 1.88 ERA over his last seven starts.
If he keeps this up, The Dominican born flamethrower will surely find himself
as top candidate in the Cy Young conversation.
Miguel Andujar
It's been stellar last 15 games
for Andujar as he is hitting 21 for 56 (.375) over that span. In addition, he
leads all rookies with 21 doubles and 30 extra base hits. A lot of people have
been talking about the early campaign of the equally exceptional Gleyber
Torres, but Andujar has managed to stand out all on his own.
Brett Gardner
After a rough April, Gardner
has had a fantastic bounce back since the middle of May. Over his last 15 games
Gardner is hitting .338 and has put together much better at bats than he did at
the start of the season. The Yankee offense responds much better when their
table setter is hitting well. If he can hold firm, the team will continue to
thrive.
Who's Not
Tyler
Austin
With a .143
average and 16 strikeouts in his last seven, it's safe to say that Yankees need
to address the struggles of Tyler Austin. He looks very lost at the plate and
can't catch up to any pitcher’s fastball, which wasn't the case back in April.
Perhaps he has placed far too much pressure on himself to deliver now that Greg
Bird is healthy, and fan/clubhouse favorite Ronald Torreyes sits in the minors
waiting for the opportunity to get back to majors. Whatever the case may be, it
would behoove Austin to get himself right before Aaron Boone has to make another
roster adjustment.
Gary
Sanchez
Unfortunately,
the 2018 season has not gone the way Gary Sanchez would have liked.
While the production is there (12 HR 35 RBI), He's hitting just .201 on the
season and hasn't looked like he's any closer to coming out of his slump (.111
thus far in early June). Austin Romine (Who is hitting .344 as the backup) will
continue to see playing time until Sanchez can find a groove and rediscover the
highly touted hitting stroke that endeared him to the Yankees the last two
seasons.
Masahiro
Tanaka
Tanaka has
been up and down so far, and he appears to be amid cold spell right now. He’s
surrendered 20 earned runs over 38.2 innings (4.66 ERA over that timeframe) in
his last seven starts and has been hurt by the long ball more than he would probably
like. While you certainly can't compare this to the first half struggles he had
last season, it would be best to correct some of his issues now before they
become a persistent problem that could undo his season.