Back To The Bronx, a Mattchu12 New York Yankees Franchise | 2023

[Mattchu12]

FIRST HALF IN REVIEW:

NEW YORK -- The only phrase that comes to mind when describing the 2023 New York Yankees is a simple one: Jekyll and Hyde. It's hard to remember a season when the club had been so inconsistent and maddeningly hard to pin down. They are technically just two games out of first place in the American League East, but they are tied for sixth in the American League and tied for eleventh in Major League baseball for win percentage. Ties aside, they could easily be the fourteenth best in baseball right now.

Middle of the pack. Unspectacular. Capable of falling out of the race at any point if they're not careful. And right now, they are in free fall.

Record in March and April: 13-16
Record in May: 23-6
Record in June and July: 13-20

They've got 2-7 in the month of July, and you have to wonder which is the real team at this point. Is it the team that was putting runs on the board all throughout May, or is it the anemic team that's been outscored 26-35 in the month of July? How is the front office supposed to decide what to expect from this team in the second half or even October?

"It's a bit of a challenge right now," said GM Matt Pierce. "Obviously we signed this group based on our evaluations. Do you toss out that evaluation and base it on a couple months of the season? Do you believe they're going to bounce back? Which ones will bounce back and which ones won't? Are we doing something wrong to not get the best out of this group? It's hard to say and we've got about two weeks to figure it out."

In this post, we'll do a deep dive into the various areas of the club and try to identify what is working and what isn't working. We will break the roster up by it's respective grouping, and see if we can figure out what is going right and what is going wrong. Let's grade the 2023 New York Yankees:

Catchers

The Yankees opened the season with Jose Trevino and Kyle Higashioka behind the plate. Trevino was the default starter after a strong 2022, though Higashioka came in with a longer offensive profile. Trevino got off to a hot start but cooled off at the team moved into May, he came down with a torn ligament in his right wrist that ended his season in mid-May which likely hampered his offensive output.

"Losing Trevy was rough, no doubt about it. He's a core part of this club and we valued his presence behind the plate just as much," said manager Aaron Boone.

Higashioka has hovered around the Mendoza line most of the season outside of a hot stretch in June where he got up to around .230 on the season. He has not hit for much power. In Trevino's absence, Ben Rortvedt has gotten a chance to show what he can do at the big league level. He has hit much better than Higashioka, but that's not saying much.

Rortvedt hit a few big home runs in May before cooling off for most of June and currently has a .239 average against five home runs. He has taken over as the defacto starting catcher as the Yankees have moved into a platoon situation behind the plate.

In the minors, the Yankees appear to be hoping Austin Wells can force the issue and make it to the majors sooner than later. He's hitting .256 with three home runs and eleven RBI at Scranton in twenty one games so far. The belief is that the Yankees hope to get him to about 120 at-bats before they give him the call to the big leagues.

Josh Breaux has been solid at the AAA level overall. He's hit for a .251 average with five home runs, but isn't considered much of an option at this point. He's more bat than glove in the eyes of the Yankees brass.

"This one is an easy one. I bet they are auditioning to see who is going to stay up, Higgy and Rortvedt, and Wells is going to be the starting catcher here by August. It doesn't make much sense for them to acquire another catcher at the deadline with Wells in the wings," said Buster Olney.

The catching situation has been weak at best, though the Yankees do benefit from great defense behind the plate. This is still a very weak position for them at the Major League level thus far into the season.

First Half Grade: D

Infielders

Three fourths of the infield has remained the same from opening day, with Oswald Peraza's fractured arm leading the club to use a DJ LeMahieu and Didi Gregorius tandem the last two months, and it's mostly been fine.

Anthony Rizzo has been very solid at first base despite his low average, he's hit sixteen home runs and played his typical fantastic defense. Gleyber Torres has been reasonable at second base with a .237 average that has bounced back and forth with eight home runs and surprisingly good defense. Anthony Volpe has hit for far more power than expected, and has played fantastic defense at shortstop and is seconds in the AL in steals.

"Volpe has mastered the art of ambushing pitches," joked Aaron Judge. "The pitchers wanna get that first pitch strike and he's ready. He's sneaky."

Peraza was off to a great start early, hitting .287 with four homers and eight steals. He seemed to be taking to third base extremely well. LeMahieu and Gregorius have effectively become a platoon at third base in his absence. They've hit to a collective .256 average with eleven home runs. Gregorius has benefited considerably from facing predominantly right handed pitching.

"Didi is such a professional, obviously we knew that from his first stint with us back a few years ago. We knew when we had a change to bring him back he would make an impact on our club," said GM Matt Pierce.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa has been as solid as you could ask for a utility man. He's hit for average and has a few dingers, playing all over the field. Oswaldo Cabrera has been a complete trainwreck, however. At the MLB level, he's hitting .155 with a single home run. At the AAA level, he's hit slightly better but not even remotely close to what he showed in 2022 or even spring training. He could've been in line to start at third base with Peraza's injury, and instead might not even be in the picture going forward.

In the minors, there isn't a lot of right home about. Andres Chaparro is having a good season, hitting .274 with thirteen home runs. Jamie Westbrook and Matt Pita have gotten most of the time at second and third, Pita has hit well since coming up from Double-A but Westbrook has been below average. There isn't an obvious call-up candidate for the infield at Scranton.

The Yankees don't have much of a problem on the infield. It would be nice to see the averages climb, but the home runs and defense have been there. It's been a productive season thus far. Getting Oswald Peraza back might be the best thing that could happen to the infield this month.

First Half Grade: C

Outfielders

Aaron Judge leads the pack, and that should be no surprise. He's seen his average dip a little the last week or two, but he's comfortably been around .300 most of the season with fifteen big flies. That latter number seems low compared to how 2022 went for Judge, but his hitting coach things that the home runs are coming with some tweaks he's made.

"He's been very line-drive focused, not trying to pull the ball in the air. I think we identified a few ways that we can use his power a bit better," said Sean Casey, the recently hired hitting coach.

The rest of the outfield? Yikes. Giancarlo Stanton will be lumped in as he has seen a lot of action in the outfield this season, though he's moved into more of the full-time DH role with some of the outfielders getting healthy. He's hit for a lot of power, but his average has been anywhere from the .200's to the .260's as he goes through his streaky ways.

Harrison Bader started things off hot, but has cratered of late. He's effectively turning into a platoon bat, hitting .388 against lefties but only .222 against righties. Billy McKinney has tailed off the more exposure he's gotten. He's down to .244 on the season despite hitting 13 home runs, most of which came when he broke into the lineup earlier in the season.

"League has definitely adjusted to him. Not much of a platoon split which is great, but the strikeouts are way up and the homers have disappeared since the end of May," said Jack Curry. "He's in danger of losing his spot."

Estevan Florial has gotten a chance to come up in July after Jake Bauers went down with a hip injury. He's hitting .216 so far after hitting .283 with the Scranton club. He figures to get a long look as Bader struggles against right handed pitching. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has gtoten a lot of reps in the outfield as well, and has been very solid as a utility guy thus far.

In the minors, the Yankees do have a couple names worth mentioning. Everson Pereira has played very well with Scranton and is getting close to being a call-up option. He's hit .271 with four home runs since getting the call up from Double-A and is around that 120 at-bat ratio that the Yankees seem to be going off of. Jake Bauers may be an option when he comes off his injury, though his performance has started to tail off in the majors.

Willie Calhoun and Greg Allen remain veteran options at Triple-A, though neither has hit much to date. Calhoun was with the big league term earlier in the season but did not collect a hit in eleven at-bats. And of course, Jasson Dominguez does linger at Double-A. He's gotten hot again and could be in line for a promotion to Triple-A if Pereira is called up or traded.

"Not sure they see him in the big leagues this season, but there's no way that Dominguez isn't a starter in 2024. He's for real," said Olney.

The outfield is easily the best place for the Yankees to look for an upgrade. If the Yankees want to move Bader to the bench and acquire a lefty or two for the lineup, it would be easy to imagine Billy McKinney and Florial losing their spots on the roster. The Yankees could also look to bring up Pereira for one of those spots, although his right handed bat doesn't solve the balance issues that many have pointed out with this lineup.

First Half Grade - D

Starting Pitchers

The Yankees have the early Cy Young favorite as their ace, Gerrit Cole, and the rest of the group has been very solid. Cole has only nine wins across nineteen starts, but that's a commentary on the offense and bullpen than it is on Cole. He leads the league in strikeouts by a large margin and has been far and away the Yankees best player this season.

"Not sure where we'd be without him. He's been an absolute rock and I think you can look at him to keep that up as we go forward," said Anthony Rizzo.

Nestor Cortes has been veyr good as well, he's got an 8-8 record against a 3.13 ERA thus far. Luis Severino appears to be back to his usual self. He's got a 2-1 record and a 2.94 ERA across nine starts off the injured list. Clarke Schmidt is blossoming in his first full season as a starter. He's 4-5 with a 3.47 ERA in sixteen starts.

Jhony Brito has had himself a fantastic rookie season. He hurt himself just in time to open a spot for Carlos Rodon, but pitched to a 2.92 ERA across sixteen appearances himself. He will remain in the Bronx as a long-man as the Yankees look to figure out their trade deadline priorities.

"They need to find a long-term spot for Brito, but they also have rumblings about Michael King moving back into the rotation as well. He's been asking for those opportunities if they arise, and with the way that other teams are valuing him as a starter, they'd be foolish not to consider it," said Curry.

In the minors, the Yankees have five very reasonable options in the Scranton rotation for potential call-ups. Randy Vasquez was optioned down after coming off his fractured wrist healed up, and he pitched very well in his cup of coffee at the big league level. Will Warren, Mitch Spence, and Clayton Beeter have all looked very good overall with ERA's in the low-to-mid 3.00's thus far. Sean Boyle has also looked good bouncing back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen as needed.

If the outfield is the area of need, the rotation is the area of depth for the Yankees to deal from if they need to make a move. They could easily move a Nestor Cortes or a Clarke Schmidt and replenish from within, though with the health concerns for Rodon and Severino, they may deal from the minor league depth instead. This is an area of strength for New York.

First Half Grade - A

Relievers

Coming into the season, it wouldn't have been a surprise for many to consider Clay Holmes and Jonathan Loaisiga the best relievers in the bullpen for New York. Instead both have been kicked out of the closer's role at one point of the other and it's been Michael King, Wandy Peralta, Tommy Kahnle, and Ian Hamilton that have been doing the heavy lifting.

Holmes was ousted after a dreadful April, though he did recover in middle relief over May and June to be reinstated as closer after Loaisiga has completely imploded in the role. Holmes has gotten his ERA down to 4.17 after finishing April with an ERA over 10. Loaisiga is currently sitting at 5.08 on the season, blowing three saves in the last week before being removed.

"Even King and Peralta have given up some back breaking games. The bullpen overall is an issue because when they're bad, they are absolutely so bad. It's not a run here and there, when they fail, they fail for four or five runs it feels like," said Curry. "They have to lock things down."

King has been used a bit like a high leverage long man, consistently going two or three innings. He's been great in that role, pitching to a 8-4 record with a 3.35 ERA, but has been on the hook for four blown saves. Peralta has been a godesend, pitching to a 1.42 ERA over 34 appearances. Hamilton was used as an opener earlier in the season but has pitched to a 1.51 ERA over 25 appearances himself. They've been elite this season.

Kahnle was activated in june and has appeared in just eleven games, but he's pitched 20.1 innings of 0.44 ERA baseball so far. Even Deivi Garcia has been great, pitching to a 3.26 ERA as the mop-up guy in 30 innings.

The Yankees have options at Triple-A as well. Greg Weissert has been fantastic at Scranton as well as his short time in the majors, Ryan Weber had a spot start in the Bronx and has pitched to a 2.23 ERA split between the rotation and the bullpen, while both Matt Bowman and Matt Krook have put themselves in spots to get call-ups as needed. Krook already has about nine innings in the majors this season.

Albert Abreu and Ron Marinaccio have both spent some time between New York and Scranton, though both have struggled considerably. The Yankees also have Zack Britton rehabbing at Triple-A, though there's been no real consideration if he might get a call-up. He's pitching sparingly.

Relief duty is hard because you have to keep a short memory. Bad outings happen, but you have to forget them and move on. It's hard to forget some of the rough outings the Yankees bullpen has had in certain moments though. It's hard to call it a strength because it has bit them, but overall there is plenty to like from this group. An extra arm couldn't hurt, however.

First Half Grade - C+

Overall Assessment

The Yankees are top heavy. They've got stars and a lot of those stars have performed. Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole will likely be under consideration for hardware at the end of the season as usual while other big names like Nestor Cortes, Anthony Rizzo, Luis Severino, and Giancarlo Stanton have been more or less above average. Their core remains solid with Gleyber Torres, Michael King, Anthony Volpe, Clarke Schmidt, and others.

Problem is that's only half the roster. Clay Holmes and Jonathan Loaisiga have been bad in the bullpen. Billy McKinney, Harrison Bader, DJ LeMahieu, and the catching situation have been bad in the lineup. The Yankees either need to replace some of these names or those players need to step up. They could see guys like Rizzo, Stanton, and Torres pick it up, but is that even realistic at this point?

The Yankees need to add at least two bats to their lineup, and they need to consider at least an arm for the bullpen. Maybe more if they decide that they want to use Michael King for 5-6 innings every five nights instead of 2-3 every three nights. We'll look at the best options for that in our next post, but it's hard to see this team keeping up with Boston, Texas, Angels, and Guardians in the American League. They could easily fall behind.

Overall, hard not to see this team as a C at best, but you could easily call it a D+ effort overall. That's not a team that wins the World Series.