Yankees Offense Leading the Charge During Recent Hot Streak
Don’t look now, but the New York Yankees are above .500 after winning 10 of their last 14 games.
After an abysmal 5-10 start to the season, the Yankees have the second-best record in baseball since April 20 (10-4). If you take a peek at the standings, the Yankees at 15-14 overall, just 2.5 games back of the Boston Red Sox in the American League East.
A big part of their winning ways stem from their offense, a group that's starting to hit their stride.
Leading the pack is designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton, who is on a blistering tear at the plate with a 10-game hitting streak. In Tuesday night’s 7-3 victory over the dreaded Houston Astros, Stanton recorded a four-hit performance with a homer and three RBIs, finishing just a triple shy of the cycle.
Over his last seven games, Stanton has slashed .548/.563/.839 with two home runs and four RBIs. In his past 15 contests, Stanton is hitting .377/.415/.721 with six homers and nine RBIs. Stanton has arguably been the Yankees' best hitter this season and is tied for the team lead with seven home runs and 18 RBIs, while standing alone with his .297 batting average. The 31-year-old has also collected an impressive .887 OPS, which is second on the club behind Aaron Judge.
While it’s still only early May, Stanton has already played in more regular season games this season (25) than he did in 2019 and 2020. This factor alone proves how valuable his bat is to the lineup when healthy, which most individuals forgot about given how long it's been since he has been able to stay on the field consistently.
Beyond Stanton, some of the Yankees’ other big names are finally starting to get it going at the plate, as well.
Over the past week, shortstop Gleyber Torres (.320, five RBIs), second baseman DJ LeMahieu (.357) and third baseman Gio Urshela (.333, one home run, seven RBIs) have all been heating up.
As for Judge, he's been pretty consistent all season with seven homers, 18 RBIs and a team leading .934 OPS. Though lately, Judge is on fire slashing .375/.444/.833 with three homers and 10 RBIs in his last seven games.
While the Yankees have not gotten the production that they expected out of Clint Frazier, Aaron Hicks, Gary Sánchez and Brett Gardner, their big five sluggers in Stanton, Judge, LeMahieu, Urshela and Torres have carried the load offensively. Backup catcher Kyle Higashioka has also been a pleasant surprise, claiming more playing time over Sanchez behind the plate.
The Yankees’ starting rotation, behind Gerrit Cole, has also improved mightily. Corey Kluber, Jameson Taillon and Domingo German have shown promise in their last few outings. At the same time, New York’s bullpen is one of the best units in MLB.
With all due respect to the pitching staff, however, the offense is what makes this team go.
The rich could be getting richer as early as next week if Luke Voit remains on schedule with his rehab. If all goes according to plan, Voit could be back with the Yankees by next Tuesday, which would make this hot-hitting lineup even scarier.
Regardless, the Yankees’ bats are starting to perform up to expectations following a slow start to the year, seeing significant production out of their big hitters in numbers 1-5 in the batting order.
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