When it's the start of the season and the schedule God's have created nine games against the toughest opponents in the entire league because of a U2 concert, you can and should expect a letdown. After all, the Yankees of the past decade were slow starters, generally older and more injury prone, and all the other teams seemed more focused in baseball's first month.
Welcome to 2010. It could be a long year for everybody else.
I had my sights set on a 4-5 record and I would have been content. The Yankees would have avoided embarrassment and taken a series from either the Red Sox, Rays, or Angels. My money was on the Rays. When your team notoriously struggles in the same month every year, when your ace and arguably your best hitter are known to start off slowly, when your new acquisitions are major pieces to the lineup and New York demands an adjustment period, when your five-hitter hit .206 with runners in scoring position last year and is a terrible April hitter and when you're facing the three biggest rivals in the league, for six games on the road and then three at home against the only team with a winning record since 1996 looking for revenge after last year's ALCS; that's when every single variable is not in your favor as a team.
Yet the Yankees went 6-3. They didn't just finish better than .500; they beat all three teams in a best of three. That's an impressive run, regardless of what the calendar says. That's a statement, and it's the earliest one any team could make this season.
So why have the Yankees been so good?
Simple:
- After four errors in the first two games, they have not committed any since. That's defense.
- Despite Javier Vazquez losing both of his starts (we know he will turn it around) the rest of the Yankees' starters are undefeated (the bullpen is 6-1), with the only other loss coming from the bullpen on Opening Night. That's pitching.
- After that same Opening Night, the Yankees have not blown a lead and are yet to even play in a one run game. That's relief.
- Six different pitchers (three in relief, three starters) have recorded a win. That's pitching depth.
- After a season in which the Yankees saw over 25,000 pitches en route to winning the World Series, the lineup has already walked 48 times in nine games against some of the league's best pitching (Beckett, Lester, Lackey, Kazmir, Davis, Price, Shields, Weaver and Piniero). That's patience.
- The team has scored 48 runs in nine games (tops in the league so far) and surrendered just 38 (third least) making them a +14 (third best). That's dominance.
In other words, New York has outplayed the best in just about every category, even going 9 for 11 in stolen bases and hitting four triples in this young year. That's speed.
And on Jackie Robinson day? We saw everything we could expect. A big extra base hit from A-Rod, two triples from Granderson, a big walk from Nick Johnson, two home runs from Robinson Cano and a shot from the Captain. The Yankees are clicking early, and barring injuries, they will be clicking often.
Just wait for the competition to get easier and Teixeira and Johnson to start hitting, A-Rod to start hitting for power, and Vazquez to get comfortable. What more can we want? This team is lovable in every way. It was built to dominate and so far, for the first time since 1998, it's delivering in every way possible to the tune of scary potential.
Texas becomes an immediate additional test, but at home with Sabathia, Burnett and Pettitte pitching, it looks like another possible series win. The schedule is demanding, but the Yankees are delivering.
If you're the rest of the league at what point do you begin to panic?
The answer is probably way into the future, since again, injuries, underachievement and midges can happen.
But so far the Yankees have made the first statement of the season.
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