Healthy, complete Yankees a scary sight for opponents
NEW YORK — The Yankees set a major league record during the 2019 season with 30 players spending time on the injured list. According to Spotrac.com, 18 position players lost 1,449 games, while a dozen pitchers lost 1,171 games.
It was nuts. Familiar stars went out, replaced by less familiar names and those guys played terrific only to get hurt, too. On Opening Day, who among Yankee fans thought they would wonder in midSeptember, “Wow, hope the outfield will be OK without Mike Tauchman in the playoffs.’”
None. That’s how many.
On Opening Day, who among Yankee fans thought a crowd of 49,233 would continually be chanting “MVP!” on Oct. 4 into the ears of … DJ LeMahieu? None. That’s how many. Twentytwo position players made at least 10 starts, the most on a major league team ever to win 100 games. From Greg Bird and Troy Tulowitzki on Opening Day to Cameron Maybin in the Sept. 29 finale, it was a long, winding ambulance ride to the medical miracle of 103 wins, 306 homers and an American League East crown.
So when Aaron Boone posted his lineup on Friday before the 104 rout of the Twins in Game 1 of the bestoffive ALDS at Yankee Stadium it was only fitting it read this way: LeMahieu, Aaron Judge, Brett Gardner, Edwin Encarnacion, Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius, Gio Urshela.
You know how many times the Yankees used those nine hitters in the same lineup during the regular season? Never. Not once.
“Remarkable,” Boone said. “It’s definitely good to go in (to the postseason) with pretty much a loaded barrel.”
LeMahieu recovered from what he called “my worst nightmare” to drive in four runs with a homer and threerun double. Torres, at only 22, produced the most mature atbat of the night for a tworun, goahead double. And on and on it went.
The Twins won 101 games, only two fewer than the Yankees, to capture the AL Central title. The Twins hit a major league record 307 home runs, one more
than the Yankees, each team crushing the Yankees’ previous mark of 267 in 2018. The Twins hit .270 and had an OPS of .832, while the Yankees hit .267 and had an OPS of .829.
Yes, the Yankees, at 5724, were a dominant home team, yet the Twins, at 5526, were a most resilient road team. It was the Bamba Squad vs. Bronx Bombers: Boone’s Savages.
And on paper it would appear to be a close series. Only they don’t play it on paper. They play it in the Bronx where the crowd is raucous and can be intimidating.
The Twins hit three homers, two off starter James Paxton, and still lost by six.
Their bullpen was improved in the second half of the season, yet it certainly is not the equal of the Yankees’ and it showed Friday night. Cody Stashak blinked twice in the sixth. The first time LeMahieu drove a fastball 426 feet over the centerfield fence for his first postseason home run. The second time Gardner sent a slider 375 feet into the second deck in right field.
The Twins defense can be shaky and what could have been an inningending double play in the third turned into two Yankee runs when first baseman C.J. Cron botched a relay throw from second baseman Luis Arraez. Conversely, LeMahieu dropped a popup at first base in the second — his worst nightmare. So what happens? The Yankees immediately turn two to get out of the inning.
This one lasted four hours, 15 minutes. Of course, it did. Minnesota used six pitchers. The Yankees used seven, Boone getting creative with Chad Green and J.A. Happ in relief. Lots of deep counts. Lots of walks. Lots of strikeouts.
Stanton, who missed 144 games with biceps, shoulder and knee injuries, walked three times. Judge walked twice. And that tells you plenty. The Yankees are methodical. They grind. And when their lineup is fuller and healthier teams need to work carefully with the most potent of them.
Encarnacion, who hadn’t played since Sept. 12 because of a strained oblique, doubled in the first and then doubled in a run in the third. Both were screaming liners into the leftfield corner, the second coming after the Yankees’ DH sent a towering shot only a foot foul of the pole. When Encarnacion is right, Boone said on WFAN, he’s a wrecking machine in the middle of the order.
In the meantime, with the injuries, guys like LeMahieu, Torres and Urshela flourished over six months.
Torres went down 02 in the count against Tyler Duffey, tough on righthanders, with the bases loaded, in the fifth. He battled to a fullcount and smoked the seventh pitch to left for his tworun double. It wasn’t a surprise.
“Bigtime atbat, that hit got us rolling,” Boone said. “(Torres) is smart and he’s confident. That’s a really good combination when you’re talented.”
And he’s driven. “Last year, we lost really early (in the ALDS to the Red Sox) and I was the last out of that series,” Torres said. “For sure, I felt really bad. I went home and I never forget that moment. During the offseason I prepared, really, really, really good to help my team this season and for this moment.”
“He’s 22 and no situation is too big for him,” LeMahieu said.
With the record amount of injuries, LeMahieu, who arrived from Colorado in the offseason, was a godsend. He hit .327 with 26 homers, 102 RBI and no one — save Mike Trout — was any more valuable to his team. In the first, the fans chanted “MVP!” He said he needed to turn the page quickly after his embarrassing error. And, sure enough, two swings later, they were chanting “MVP!” again.
“Weird things can happen in the playoffs,” Boone said, “but then DJ goes and says enough and finishes off an impressive night.”
Impressive enough to make you think the Yankees look complete and it will take a great team like the Astros if anyone is going to stop them.
“This is the best time to all be back,” Stanton said “We all know what we can do individually in parts of the season. We’re all together and we just got to bring that big force.”