Bronx bracing for plenty of long bombs
The swagger is back. The New York Yankees reached Game 7 of last year’s AL Championship Series behind Baby Bombers Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and young ace Luis Severino. Then they added the mightiest slugger in the major leagues, Giancarlo Stanton, and brought in a new manager they think will lead them to World Series title No. 28.
“We already had a great team,” Judge said, “but adding Stanton and a couple other pieces, we’re going to be great. It’s going to be a fun thing we have here.”
New York was second in the AL East to Boston last year at 91-71, up seven wins from 2016 for the Yankees’ best record since 2012. They scored 858 runs, an increase of 178, and led the major leagues with 241 homers, including a rookie-record 52 by Judge.
Other major changes were signing Neil Walker to replace Starlin Castro at second and acquiring Brandon Drury from Arizona to take over from Todd Frazier at third.
“It’s just a question of it being a long season and can everybody stay healthy,” owner Hal Steinbrenner said.
New York fired Joe Girardi, its manager for a decade, and brought in ESPN analyst Aaron Boone. Remembered in New York for his pennant-winning home run off Boston’s Tim Wakefield in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS, Boone had never managed or coached at any level.
“We feel good about our depth,” Boone said. “The game has become very matchup oriented.”
The Yankees’ success hinges on Judge and Stanton becoming a modern-day Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris — or perhaps Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig — while mashing their way into the record book and Greg Bird finally being healthy for an entire season. CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka need to stay healthy and Sonny Gray has to be more consistent. Also key are Severino and Jordan Montgomery continuing to improve, closer Aroldis Chapman maintaining his mechanics all season and setup man Dellin Betances rediscovering the form that made him a four-time all-star.