The Yankees would not mind hearing some of the predictable jokes on Sunday about the current team being fit for Old Timer’s Day, when the franchise honors its past greats. Unfortunately, it does not apply this season because too many of those veterans will be rehabbing from injuries, instead of enjoying the festivities in The Bronx.
Despite the many banged-up Bombers, the team has made it through the season’s first 70 games in contention in the AL East thanks to solid starting pitching, just enough offense and an ageless closer. But with the injuries still mounting the question becomes how long can they last.
“They have been able to survive it, but can they sustain it? We are 70 games into the season, and you never know what can happen in the second half,” TBS baseball analyst Dennis Eckersley said. “[Vernon] Wells is already starting to fall off. … I can’t believe what the Yankees have done. It’s because of their pitching, but going forward it’s a hard one.”
For the immediate future the Yankees are going to have to do it without Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis and Curtis Granderson. Teixeira and Granderson have both returned only to aggravate old injuries or suffer new ones and be placed back on the disabled list.
Rodriguez and Jeter are expected back sometime after the All-Star break. The question will be what shape will the Yankees be in when they get to the mid-summer Classic. Starting with last night’s series opener against Tampa, 13 of the Yankees’ next 17 games are against fellow playoff contenders in the Rays, Orioles and Rangers.
“[Having A-Rod and Jeter back has] to be better than what they are because there’s no fear of the [current] lineup,” Eckersley said. “It’s just such a shell of what they were offensively. They are the weakest in the division offensively. That’s harsh, but of the five teams they are no doubt the weakest offensively.”
Those five teams are in the midst of a tightly contested race. The Red Sox are on top, the now-surging Blue Jays at the bottom and the Yankees in the middle.
“I don’t know who to pick,” said Eckersley, the former Boston and Oakland closer, who also works Red Sox broadcasts. “The Yankees are such a surprise, really. I thought Toronto would be better, but they are starting to get things together.
“Everything is flawed on some level. The Red Sox are a surprise, too. This is going to be interesting. Who do you pick right now? Tampa’s swinging the bat and they never did, but their pitching is letting them down. The team that’s on top, Boston, looks the best. Are they a surprise, yeah? But I think they are the team with the most talent.”