The New York Yankees: Success and Injuries

It was May 21, 2012, and the Yankees had a problem.  A big one.  When people think of the New York Yankees they think of dominance.  However, the Yankees had a 21-21 record, and were worried about keeping a winning record.  They had lost their best closing pitcher, Mariano Rivera, to a torn muscle.  The team struggled when they had runners in scoring position, and they only had two starting pitchers that were reliable, but they sometimes didn’t recieve run-support.  Then all of a sudden the offense clicked.  They went onto a five-game winning streak and their offense and Mark Teixeira broke out of it’s slump.  The Yankees also got another plus.  Former starting pitcher, Andy Pettite returned from retirement better than before he retired, which is pretty darn good.

After a few more wins, the Yankees became unstoppable.  Their offense went on a tear, and their rotation (CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova, and Andy Pettite) didn’t allow more than four runs, and their bullpen for the first time all year was spotless.  This greatness led to a ten-game winning streak, before a tough three-game losing streak where it’s starters struggled.  However, in the blink of an eye, this roughness smoothed back out to start a five-game winning streak that fixed the Yankees pitching back to normal.

However, on the last day of the five-game winning streak, Andy Pettite and CC Sabathia both went on the disabeled list.  Now you may think that may cool the Yanks down, and at first it did.  The Yankees bullpen became horrendous, and a rookie pitcher couldn’t fill in for Sabathia or Pettite.  Then once again, the Yanks pitching straightened out.  Freddy Garcia made a quality start, and the Yankees offense stayed as good as ever, and that’s what’s happening with the Yankees today.

Now, the major question is how did the Yankees turn from good to bad?  And the answer is actually quite simple.  Adjustment.  The Yankees had gotten some new players, and some were from the National Leauge.  This meant that batters had to face new pitchers, and pitchers had to face new batters.  Once these players adjusted, they helped the Yankees get where they are now.  The Yankees bullpen also had to adjust to the loss of Mariano Rivera, and Rafael Soriano and David Robertson (who just came off the disabled list) taking his spot as the closing pitchers.  The Yankees had new relief pitchers, so they had to adjust while they got switched around to fill other spots.  Considering how much adjustment has been done all season, the Yankees are looking incredible.  All the Yankees need to do is continue their good offense, and fix some-minor pitching quirks, and they’ll be, once again, a nearly unstoppable team.

Tags: 2012, Baseball, MLB, Sports, Yankees