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“Aaron Judge” by Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

It was a slow start to the season for the New York Yankees, as the team struggled to find its footing offensively. But the team has found a way to get itself out of that hole, and is finally beginning to be the team that everyone thought they would be at the beginning of the season. Whether or not they can keep playing at such a pace remains to be seen, but teams across the American League should be afraid of the Yankees based on recent performances.

Before the season started, the prevailing thought surrounding the Yankees was that they were going to bludgeon their opponents out of contention. This was thanks to the acquisition of star slugger Giancarlo Stanton from the Miami Marlins. Stanton, despite never playing on a contending team, was always among the league’s most valuable players thanks to his ability to hit home runs in such high volume. Now that he has other quality players in a lineup with him, it was expected that the team would have instant offensive success.

That was not what happened, though, as the Yankees faltered on offense early in the year. Stanton specifically struggled, hitting around .200 early in the campaign. Fortunately for them, Stanton and the rest of the lineup turned things around. Now that they are firing on all cylinders, the team has been at or near the top of Major League Baseball in runs scored for a good portion of the season. This could be very dangerous to the rest of the league, if they can keep hitting at such a torrid pace.

Beyond just Stanton, though, the Yankees lineup has been formidable from top to bottom. Joining Stanton in the heart of the Yankees order have been fellow sluggers Aaron Judge, Didi Gregorius, and Gary Sanchez. After a quarter of the season, all three of those players have joined Stanton with double-digit home run totals. And while having 10 or more home runs after 40 games isn’t necessarily an impressive feat on its own, having four players reach that total in such a short period of time is a rarity.

The young players for the Yankees have been excellent as well. Gleyber Torres, for example, has come on nicely since being called into action. The hot prospect has been near the top of the batting average charts for the Yankees all season, and his contributions have many thinking that the Yankees are finally reaching their full potential with their current roster.

And while the Yankees’ bats have been impressive after their initial hiccups, the pitching staff in New York has been just as good. A unit that received mixed expectations heading into the season, the starting rotation for the Yankees has helped keep the team in the neighborhood of the top five in the American League in runs allowed over the first quarter of the season. This is brilliant for a team that expected to score enough runs for pitching not to be much of a factor.

At the top of the Yankees’ pitching staff has been Luis Severino, who has confirmed himself as the team’s ace with his performances at the start of the 2018 season. Severino went 6-1 in his first nine starts of the season, keeping his earned run average below 2.50 in the process. Those are All-Star numbers on their own, and are even more impressive when you consider that he is doing that work for a team that can score a dozen runs in any given game.

On a more surprising note, the starting rotation for the Yankees has seen some great contributions from CC Sabathia. Sabathia was brought in originally to be the ace of the Yankees staff, with a big contract to match those expectations. But various issues stopped those expectations from materializing throughout his time in New York. This season, he hasn’t racked up a large number of wins but has kept his ERA down enough to put the Yankees in a great position to win games.

With Sabathia acting as a strong number-two starter, the Yankees could have a dominant rotation setup for when the postseason rolls around. If the team can get Masahiro Tanaka or Sonny Gray to pitch at a higher level later in the season, they would have the ability to throw Severino and Sabathia twice each during a seven-game series, with a third starter slotting into another game or two to give the team the best chance to advance.

“Didi Gregorius” by Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Currently, the Yankees sit as one of the favorites to win the World Series. But bettors can take advantage of a loaded American League to get decent odds on the Yankees to advance to the World Series. With the Astros, Red Sox, and Indians all posing a threat to the Yankees, players who want to use a Major League Baseball free bet from Oddschecker have the ability to back any of those teams at respectable odds given that there has not emerged a clear favorite from that group. Keeping an eye on all four teams throughout the season will be important for those using their free bets to pick the American League champion, given how competitive a pennant race it will be.

Granted, the Yankees may not want to focus on the postseason until they finish out the regular season. The reason for that is the fact that they have to win the American League East in order to guarantee themselves a good shot at a postseason run. Thanks to the stiff competition they will continue to face from the Red Sox, the Yankees will always be just a few games away from dropping into one of the two wild card spots rather than qualifying for the playoffs directly through winning their division. As such, they run the risk of ending up in a one-game wild card playoff round, where one poor performance can spell the end of their season.

That situation can be scary, but if the Yankees are as good as they have looked for the majority of the first quarter of the season they should be able to handle the pressure. All they have to do is continue to perform well on offense and defense and they will always have an opportunity to finish ahead of the Red Sox. As of right now, the Yankees have been preferred to the Red Sox in plenty of MLB power rankings, but those can change quickly if New York fails to continue to play at a high level.

Such a high level was on display earlier in the season, when the Yankees demonstrated their abilities to defeat several elite teams. In a short period of time, the team defeated the Houston Astros in three games out of a four-game series. They also beat the Red Sox in two out of three games shortly after, showing that they could not only beat quality opponents but that they could do so on the kind of turnaround that teams can expect when they reach the postseason.

Being able to win games against elite teams in quick succession is important for any team, but can be especially important for this year’s Yankees. Outside of last year’s surprise run to the American League Championship Series, the current squad lacks postseason experience. Making up for that lack of formal playoff experience by simulating playoff intensity and scheduling is a great way to get a team ready for October.

Whether or not any of this will result in a championship for the Yankees remains to be seen, as so many things can change from day to day during a full baseball season. But Yankees fans have to be encouraged by what they have seen to this point in a season where New York once again looks like one of the best teams in the game.

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