Pinstripes’ depth will quickly be put to test
HOW’S that roster depth working out for the Yankees?
Unless this stacked group is so bored that it has decided to stage a short-term production, “Everybody Hurts: The Saga of the 2017 Mets,” before it gets down to business, the Yankees are facing a potential crisis point just eight games into the season. It’s not just that they lost their second straight game to the Orioles Friday night, a wacky, 14-inning, 7-3 decision resolved by local guy Pedro Alvarez’s grand slam off Jonathan Holder. It’s the number of casualties that has to alarm Aaron Boone’s bunch. Starting pitcher CC Sabathia exited after four innings with what the Yankees called right hip soreness. The big lefty was scheduled to undergo an MRI exam on Friday night. Catcher Gary Sanchez limped off the field in the top of the 14th, replaced by Austin Romine, shortly before Alvarez went deep. Sanchez appeared to aggravate something on a Holder pitch to Baltimore’s Adam Jones. More questions lingered. In the bottom of the sixth inning, reserve Ronald Torreyes pinch hit for starting third baseman Brandon Drury. And in the ninth inning, Neil Walker slid over from first base to second, replacing Tyler Wade, with Tyler Austin entering the game at first. They seemed like odd baseball-only substitutions.
For good measure, a Yankees trainer checked on closer Aroldis Chapman during a tumultuous top of the ninth inning, only to let him keep pitching. Chapman used his next pitch to strike out Trey Mancini and finish the inning.
In less than two weeks’ time, the Yankees have lost Greg Bird, Aaron Hicks, Billy McKinney, Sabathia, Sanchez and minor league reliever Ben Heller to injuries, and Jacoby Ellsbury, out since the start of the Grapefruit League, suffered a set- back. If Drury or Wade, or both, are out of commission, too? While the Yankees may operate the deepest roster in the industry, every dam features a breaking point.
At least the struggling bullpen rebounded with nine shutout innings in relief of Sabathia before Holder blew up in the 14th. The offense, however, remains inconsistent overall.
More reinforcements must be aligned. Luis Cessa ranks as the most likely starting rotation re- placement for Sabathia should he need to go on the disabled list, and if Sanchez requires the same, then Romine will take over starting duties, just as he did a year ago. At third base, rookie Miguel Andujar — already in the big leagues thanks to the preponderance of ailing bodies, and not performing very well — would get most of the reps if Drury is banged up, and top prospect Gleyber Torres could get the call at second base if Wade has a problem.
They are a fine mess at this juncture. A team with obvious and plentiful talent — Didi Gregorius came through again, slamming a gametying homer off Miguel Castro in the eighth inning, and he nearly scored the winning run in the 11th on a wild pitch, instead getting tagged out by O’s pitcher Mychal Givens — and some growing pains, emphasis on “pains.” Just last year, they displayed both organizational and emotional strength, grinding through a plethora of mishaps with an abundance of talent and toughness.
They did that with the bar set low, however, with their own fan base satisfied to see mere progress. This year, back to their “Championship or bust!” mindset, can they continue to shrug off such adversity by showing off depths of all kinds?
They’re going to have to, it appears, if they want to avoid the “bust” part of their longstanding organizational mantra.