2022 Yankees Regular Season Thread

[jacksonianmarch]

It is about time to close the Offseason thread as the Yanks have now been in ST for a couple weeks now and we are only 10 days from opening day.

 

Yanks made some moves and got rid of Sanchez, Voit and Urshela. Rizzo was retained, IKF was brought in and Donaldson looks to continue to mash and offer leadership. On the position player side of the ball, the only major question right now is who will be the 4th OFer. Locasto likely has a leg up but the Yanks did bring in Rosario from the sox for a look. Jeisson plays solid D, is fast and can walk, but he cannot seem to make contact and when he does, the ball doesnt go anywhere. He's basically a left handed Tim Locasto. I do think this very expensive team is making a mistake in not shoring up the outfield. Aaron Hicks has been trending towards the below average defensively for the last two seasons and he's now another year older. Plus, the guy hasnt played a full season since 2018. Gallo and Judge can play CF and it sounds like the Yanks will be using Stanton in the OF more than recent years, so maybe the plan is to keep Aaron fresh and rotate the 4 across the 3OF positions and at DH. Either way, the lineup is pretty solid and it seems Boone will use one of the bigger boppers at leadof

 

1. Donaldson DH

2. Judge RF

3. Rizzo 1B

4. Stanton LF

5. Gallo CF

6. Lemahieu 3B

7. Torres 2B

8. Kiner-Falefa SS

9. Higashioka C

 

On the pitching side, I thought the Yanks would add some veteran presence to their rotation as Kluber's year was a bust. But they didn't and the news on German isn't good, so they went from being deep to being needy at this point with no further FAs out there. They always seem to add a back end pitcher later in the year, so maybe that is the plan and they do have a host of highly touted prospects ready to take the ball if given the chance. On the SP side, I think the following is locked in for the rotation, but word out of ST is that Severino has lost his command. If he doesn't find it, this crew could turn into a minus real quick

 

1. Cole

2. Montgomery

3. Severino

4. Taillon

 

The 5 spot is between King, Schmidt, Gil, Cortes, and Garcia. Lots of depth, but Cortes was the best in the bigs as a starter out of that group last year, so he probably has a leg up. King has proven to be a deadly swiss army knife option out of the pen, so I doubt we would move him unless he really found a way to dominate when starting. Schmidt has the best stuff of the bunch and is finally healthy. He might end up being the guy who starts in the 5 spot the most by end of year, but I bet they want to take it slow with him in the minors. Garcia might have the highest ceiling of the bunch, but he has to prove he is over the yips which really shelved him last year. He went from a very command focused pitcher to a guy who couldnt find the zone.

 

The pen should be pretty solid, IMO.

 

Chapman CL

Loaisiga SU

Holmes SU

Green SU

Peralta MR

Luetge MR

 

Those guys above are locks and are all guys who pretty much dominated with the Yanks. Add in King as a multi use weapon and maybe Joely Rodriguez and you've got a deep pen. Throw in the 28 man roster early on and the Yanks will likely carry a couple of the options on the starting side for a bit as well and all can deal.

 

All in all, this team if it was in the AL Central would probably be a high 90s-100 win team. In the ALE, 93 wins is the target. The top 4 teams are gonna beat each other up again and I think whomever gets to 93 will win the division. This team has holes, but it is capable assuming reasonable injury luck, which is never a good assumption in NY.

[moonslav59]

It is about time to close the Offseason thread as the Yanks have now been in ST for a couple weeks now and we are only 10 days from opening day.

 

Yanks made some moves and got rid of Sanchez, Voit and Urshela. Rizzo was retained, IKF was brought in and Donaldson looks to continue to mash and offer leadership. On the position player side of the ball, the only major question right now is who will be the 4th OFer. Locasto likely has a leg up but the Yanks did bring in Rosario from the sox for a look. Jeisson plays solid D, is fast and can walk, but he cannot seem to make contact and when he does, the ball doesnt go anywhere. He's basically a left handed Tim Locasto. I do think this very expensive team is making a mistake in not shoring up the outfield. Aaron Hicks has been trending towards the below average defensively for the last two seasons and he's now another year older. Plus, the guy hasnt played a full season since 2018. Gallo and Judge can play CF and it sounds like the Yanks will be using Stanton in the OF more than recent years, so maybe the plan is to keep Aaron fresh and rotate the 4 across the 3OF positions and at DH. Either way, the lineup is pretty solid and it seems Boone will use one of the bigger boppers at leadof

 

1. Donaldson DH

2. Judge RF

3. Rizzo 1B

4. Stanton LF

5. Gallo CF

6. Lemahieu 3B

7. Torres 2B

8. Kiner-Falefa SS

9. Higashioka C

 

On the pitching side, I thought the Yanks would add some veteran presence to their rotation as Kluber's year was a bust. But they didn't and the news on German isn't good, so they went from being deep to being needy at this point with no further FAs out there. They always seem to add a back end pitcher later in the year, so maybe that is the plan and they do have a host of highly touted prospects ready to take the ball if given the chance. On the SP side, I think the following is locked in for the rotation, but word out of ST is that Severino has lost his command. If he doesn't find it, this crew could turn into a minus real quick

 

1. Cole

2. Montgomery

3. Severino

4. Taillon

 

The 5 spot is between King, Schmidt, Gil, Cortes, and Garcia. Lots of depth, but Cortes was the best in the bigs as a starter out of that group last year, so he probably has a leg up. King has proven to be a deadly swiss army knife option out of the pen, so I doubt we would move him unless he really found a way to dominate when starting. Schmidt has the best stuff of the bunch and is finally healthy. He might end up being the guy who starts in the 5 spot the most by end of year, but I bet they want to take it slow with him in the minors. Garcia might have the highest ceiling of the bunch, but he has to prove he is over the yips which really shelved him last year. He went from a very command focused pitcher to a guy who couldnt find the zone.

 

The pen should be pretty solid, IMO.

 

Chapman CL

Loaisiga SU

Holmes SU

Green SU

Peralta MR

Luetge MR

 

Those guys above are locks and are all guys who pretty much dominated with the Yanks. Add in King as a multi use weapon and maybe Joely Rodriguez and you've got a deep pen. Throw in the 28 man roster early on and the Yanks will likely carry a couple of the options on the starting side for a bit as well and all can deal.

 

All in all, this team if it was in the AL Central would probably be a high 90s-100 win team. In the ALE, 93 wins is the target. The top 4 teams are gonna beat each other up again and I think whomever gets to 93 will win the division. This team has holes, but it is capable assuming reasonable injury luck, which is never a good assumption in NY.

 

You filled a lot of your biggest holes and now have plus defense at catcher & SS.

 

Injuries is always your biggest problem, and might be again, this year.

[jacksonianmarch]

Defense does improve. Having GG caliber SS and 1B for the whole season (theoretically) plus having Lemahieu available as the backup across the infield will help the defense. Add in Higgy behind the dish instead of the butcher and we should save more runs and might even have a pitching staff that doesnt hate their catcher. But I am still concerned about the OF with us still relying on Hicks even though he has proven to be entirely fragile. Also, relying on the depth and promise of our pitching staff with no added veteran presence might bite us in the ass. We shall see.

[moonslav59]

Defense does improve. Having GG caliber SS and 1B for the whole season (theoretically) plus having Lemahieu available as the backup across the infield will help the defense. Add in Higgy behind the dish instead of the butcher and we should save more runs and might even have a pitching staff that doesnt hate their catcher. But I am still concerned about the OF with us still relying on Hicks even though he has proven to be entirely fragile. Also, relying on the depth and promise of our pitching staff with no added veteran presence might bite us in the ass. We shall see.

 

Your OF D is no worse than the start of last year, and should be better.

 

3B D is a possible up or down.

[jacksonianmarch]

Your OF D is no worse than the start of last year, and should be better.

 

3B D is a possible up or down.

 

Urshela was pretty good. Donaldson prior to 2021 was pretty good. The question is, was DOnaldson's drop due to age or a blip. We will find out. We will also see how Lemahieu plays the position for a second year

[moonslav59]

Urshela was pretty good. Donaldson prior to 2021 was pretty good. The question is, was DOnaldson's drop due to age or a blip. We will find out. We will also see how Lemahieu plays the position for a second year

 

Yes, seems like 3B is the wildcard.

[jacksonianmarch]

Yes, seems like 3B is the wildcard.

 

I forgot about Gallo's D. He and Judge are true GG level defenders in the COF spots. Problem is CF and how they play there.

[jacksonianmarch]

Cortes will be the 5th starter

[SCM33]

Cortes will be the 5th starter

 

 

Cortes blows.

[bkzwhitestrican]

Cortes blows.

 

As of right now he'd be the #2 starter for the Sox.

[moonslav59]

as of right now he'd be the #2 starter for the sox.

 

lol!

[jacksonianmarch]

I really like Nestor for the story. He’s earned the 5th spot with how he pitched last year. He saw a velocity bump from 88-90.7 and really upped the use of his curveball to where he’s no longer a fastball-slider pitcher. I also like the arm angle games he plays with hitters. He reminds me of what Rich Hill used to be once he stopped blowing out his arm trying to air it out. But I honestly have no clue if he’s found something or if he was a one hit wonder. Hoping for the former, clearly, but keeping him up out of camp allows some of the younger guys to get some extra work before they’ll be needed

[jacksonianmarch]

Yanks deal for Trevino from Rangers. Defensive whiz, can’t hit at all. Seems like a seasoned backup

[jacksonianmarch]

Yanks deal Joely for Castro. I thought the Yanks pen was a little too lefty, but this deal is strange.

 

Castro is enormous, he’s young and he’s heading into FA. He’s learned how to strike guys out the last 2 years (K/9 average last two years over 10), but he walks 5 guys per 9. He’s a ground ball pitcher but for his career he’s a 1+ HR/9IP guy. He’s a conundrum. Fine in middle relief. Unless he shows last year’s sub 1 HR/9IP line is not a fluke, he stays out of high leverage spots

[dgalehouse]

I think the Yanks have to be concerned about Gerrit Cole. He looks like he is becoming just another good pitcher. And they are paying him to be more than that. Much more.

[a700hitter]

I think the Yanks have to be concerned about Gerrit Cole. He looks like he is becoming just another good pitcher. And they are paying him to be more than that. Much more.

He’s lost without sticky stuff.

[bkzwhitestrican]

I think the Yanks have to be concerned about Gerrit Cole. He looks like he is becoming just another good pitcher. And they are paying him to be more than that. Much more.

 

Let's revisit this thought at the end of the season

[Bellhorn04]

Let's revisit this thought at the end of the season

 

We'll probably revisit it every game he pitches. It's what we do!

[Meh]

Not bad. Pivetta looked good. I think he'd make a good bullpen arm. Stanton is hot right now.

[jacksonianmarch]

Severino looked pretty good actually. Good velo, bite on pitches, etc. Not expecting lights out stuff from the jump but if they build him up slowly and he can stay healthy, he’ll be a major rotation asset.

 

That Marinaccio kid isn’t just a good story. His stuff is absolutely wicked. If he shows command this year he will be the next breakout arm on the farm.

[jacksonianmarch]

There’s one thing to nitpick on the Yankee side. Yanks are hitting .196 as a team in the two games. The only earned runs scored were off HRs in the two games. The other two runs to score in extras involved the ghost runner. I know it’s early but it’s continuing the alarming trend of 2021 where the Yanks only scored off long balls.

[jacksonianmarch]

Yanks hit better with RISP last night and ran into some tough luck, but I’m not liking what I’m seeing out of Hicks. Twice he had easy RBI chances and twice he sucked. His at bats just don’t look good, continuing his putrid performance from the beginning of last year before he needed surgery.

[dgalehouse]

The Yankees need to get LaMahieu in the lineup every day. Too good a hitter to be a utility guy.

[moonslav59]

The Yankees need to get LaMahieu in the lineup every day. Too good a hitter to be a utility guy.

 

He'll be one of the team's games played leaders, barring injury.

[Bellhorn04]

He'll be one of the team's games played leaders, barring injury.

 

He led the Yankees in PA's last year, by a comfortable margin.

[moonslav59]

He led the Yankees in PA's last year, by a comfortable margin.

 

And games played by 2 over Judge.

[jacksonianmarch]

Hicks is absolutely awful.

[jacksonianmarch]

New year, same ********. Cannot f***ing hit

[jacksonianmarch]

Wonder how Hicks is gonna f*** this up

[jacksonianmarch]

Why is Higashioka batting???