Yankees preview
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC HAS THROWN THE YANKEES A CURVEBALL, BUT WITH THE ADDITION OF A BONA FIDE ACE TO A LOADED LINEUP, THE GOAL OF A 28TH TITLE REMAINS
With the addition of stud ace Gerrit Cole to a stacked roster, the Yankees have a 28th World Series title in their sights.
WHEN THE coronavirus shut down spring training March 12, the Yankees were the favorites to win the AL East despite not having Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks and Luis Severino for the scheduled March 26 start of the regular season.
Now with a 60-game schedule beginning Thursday in
Washington against the defending World Series champion Nationals, the Yankees remain the favorites to cop a second consecutive AL East title despite the possibility of being without some very important pieces.
Judge, Stanton and Hicks have recovered from their injuries and are expected to be in the starting lineup against right-hander Max Scherzer.
However, All-Star second baseman DJ LeMahieu and right-hander Luis Cessa only recently returned after testing positive for COVID-19 before undergoing the intake testing process at Yankee Stadium. And the Yankees announced July 11 that all-world closer Aroldis Chapman had tested positive after testing negative during the intake program.
On July 4, Masahiro Tanaka was struck on the head by a Stanton line drive that was clocked at 112 mph, and it’s unlikely he will make his start in the first rotation turn. And Severino will miss the season due to Tommy John surgery.
Despite the uncertainty with some very important names, the Yankees are still considered the favorites in the AL East because of who they have healthy. Should those names mentioned above have to miss extended time, the gap between the Yankees and Rays, which isn’t very wide, would be narrowed.