2020 New York Yankees Preview – MLB Preview
The New York Yankees are the front runner to win the AL East and it is very easy to see why with the way that the Yankees have positioned themselves. What else is a telling stat is the power that the Yankees have in regards to their offense and the defense. However, the pitching staff that the Yankees have started to put together it will be hard to beat the Yankees in the standings this year. Find out more about what is going to set the Yankees out from all the other teams in the AL East and how the Yankees are going to dominate the American League East again this year.
New York Yankees Starting Pitching
The starting pitching for the Yankees is looking really good and if the Yankees starters avoid injury it could be a daunting task for any offense. The anchor for the Yankees is Gerrit Cole. The rest of the pitching staff is just as wicked with James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ and the weakest pitcher in the starting rotation is Jordan Montgomery. The anchor for the Yankees, Cole, threw in 33 games last year for the Astros. Cole was a workhorse in modern times with 212.1 innings pitched, but was a strikeout machine with 326 strikeouts. This all while Cole managed to post a 20-5 record and ended up with a 2.50 ERA.
New York Yankees Relief Pitching
The bullpen for the Yankees could be rocky at times, which having a lot of starters that can eat innings for breakfast is a good thing. The wild ride will start for the Yankees if the starters have to hand the ball over to the pen early on. The key thing for the Yankees is to get the ball all over the way to the closer and that is Aroldis Chapman. Last season Chapman pitched in 60 games with only 57 innings, but struck out 85 batters while posting a 3-2 record and recording 37 saves with 5 blown saves, but did have a decent 2.21 ERA.
New York Yankees Catching
Catching duties for the Yankees will most likely be handled by Gary Sanchez. The backup for the Yankees in the catching position is Kyle Higashioka. Sanchez for his part last year played in 106 games for the Yankees and managed to hit at a clip of .232 and ended up getting 34 homers and 77 runners brought home. Defensively Sanchez was not that bad, but not that great either as he only managed to throw out a total of 23.1% of the people who were running on him.
New York Yankees Corners
The corners are fairly strong for the Yankees with Luke Voit at first base and Gio Urshela playing on the hot corner. The backup for first is DJ LeMahieu who is the starter for second place and Miguel Andujar at third. Voit last year played in 118 games with a .263 average for the Yankees. Power was not that bad either from Voit who hit 21 homers and brought home 62 runners. The hot corner was manned by Urshela last year as well with 132 games played. Gio ended up hitting at a clip of .314 with a total of 21 homers and 74 runners brought home on the year.
New York Yankees Middle Infield
The middle infield for the Yankees actually looks to be the stronger part of the infield and that is a scary thought for the New York opponents. The Yankees are putting DJ LeMahieu at second, but at shortstop the player that is slated to start Gleyber Torres. Torres is the backup for second, but Tyler Wade backs up at short. Last season LeMahieu was a game eater with 145 games played, but hit at a clip of .327 with 26 homers and 102 runners brought home on the year. Torres for his part played in 144 games and was one of the weaker hitters at a clip of .278 with 38 homers and 90 runners brought home.
New York Yankees Outfield
The outfield is one place that could be a good source for the Yankees offense. Starting in left is projected to be Mike Tauchman, center is Brett Gardner and in right is Aaron Judge. The backups for center and right is Tauchman, but Giancarlo Stanton backs up in left field. Last season Tauchman ended up playing in 87 games while hitting at a clip of .277 with 13 homers and 47 runners brought home. Gardner for his part played in 141 games while hitting at a clip of .251 with 28 homers and 74 runners brought back to the plate. Judge has seen his power slip some and only played in 102 games last year while hitting at a clip of .272 with 27 homers and 55 runners brought home.
New York Yankees Designated Hitter
Giancarlo Stanton is not only the backup for left field, but also is the projected designated hitter for the Yankees. Last year Stanton only played in a total of 18 games, which could lead to some concern this year. Stanton on the year, though, hit at a clip of .288 with 3 homers and 13 runners brought home in what was a very light season for the player who in 2018 ended up playing in 158 games.
New York Yankees Prediction
The Yankees have the total package and have looked really good last year and going forward if the MLB season does get going the Yankees should be a team that can really jump out on paper as one of the favorites. What else helps the Yankees is the team is able to get going really quickly, but also the Yankees are one team that is built for the long term gain as well. Look for both of those to be determining factors for the Yankees who are able to come on top of the American League East again.
