The New York Yankees have been playing incredibly well as of late. Through Sunday the Yankees were 17-11 with +37 Run Differential. But this is baseball, and there are ups and downs. So we’ll go over those players going well and some that are struggling.
1 Up: Luke Voit
When you are looking at players that are playing well for the Yankees, you have to start with the AL Player of the Week, Luke Voit. Over his last seven games, Voit has been demolishing the baseball. Over that span, Luke has 4 Home Runs, 10 RBIs, and 13 Hits in 30 At-Bats and slashing .433/.528/.867. The Yankees are without most of their most significant bats, but Voit is picking it up the power department. And that bodes well for when this team gets healthy.
1 Down: Luis Cessa
As this article entails the baseball season has its ebbs and flows, it’s ”Ups and Down.” And that holds very true for Luis Cessa. Cessa pitched very well during Spring Training. And that carried over into the early part of the season. However, as of late, Cessa’s plus pitching has faltered. Over Cessa’s last seven outings on the mound, he has an ERA of 4.66 and a WHIP of 1.55. Add in the fact that in his 9.2 innings of work, Cessa has walked five men and given up 5 Earned Runs. Luis Cessa is out of options, so his struggles put the Yankees in a tough position going forward. So both the Yankees and Luis Cessa are hoping for a quick return to the early season form.
2 Up: Tommy Kahnle
The 2018 season was a lost season for Tommy Kahnle as he spent most of his time in Triple-A. But whatever magic he found in Triple-A he was able to carry over into the 2019 season. There are also thoughts that Kahnle wasn’t fully healthy in 2018. So a healthy and confident Tommy Kahnle has been dominate for the Yankees this season. Kahnle has pitched to an ERA of 1.69 this season. And even more impressively over his last seven games, Tommy has pitched to a 0.00 ERA in 6 innings with nine strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.33. With the Yankees being down Dellin Betances and the ineffectiveness recently of Chad Green and Luis Cessa, Tommy Kahnle pitching well is a massive help to the Yankees winning percentage this season.
2 Down: Masahiro Tanaka
This season has been a strange one for Masahiro Tanaka. At the time of writing, Masa has an ERA of 3.60 in 35 innings this season. But when you dive a little deeper into his last three starts, Masahiro has sandwiched two poor starts around one good start. In his start against the Chicago White Sox, Tanaka gave up five runs on seven hits in just four innings of work. And again in his start against the LA Angels, Masa would give up another five runs this time on six hits. Also in his last three starts, Masahiro has walked three hitters in each start. Which is a surprising trend for Tanaka and a trend we don’t want to see continue.
3 Up: Gio Urshela
An unknown depth entity has turned into one of the more productive and clutch players for the Yankees. Gio Urshela has turned into a key contributor for the Bronx Bombers. In 57 at-bats this season Urshela is slashing .351/.415/.509 with 6 RBIs and 1 Home Run. But even more impressive is the last seven games for Urshela. During that span, Urshela is slashing .440/.464/.640. To say that Urshela has been one of the most productive Yankees over the last week would be a dramatic understatement. Now we have to be concerned as the HBP over the weekend looked devastating. But thankfully, the X-Rays came back negative and hopefully won’t miss any time.
3 Down: Jonathan Holder
The bullpen for the Yankees was supposed to be a strength this season. The pen was expected to be the backbone of this team. However, as we have listed there have been members of that bullpen that have struggled mightily. One such bullpen member is Jonathan Holder. This season Holder has pitched to an ERA of 5.02 in 14.1 innings. And looking at the most recent stretch of 8 innings pitched, Holder’s ERA is 5.19. That ERA is not what would be called dominant. In 2018, Holder was a viable choice out of the bullpen for most of the season. So the track record is there. And Holder will have to course correct. And help turn the strength get strong once again.
B.O.L.O: Aaron Judge
Let time we covered the Yankees in 3 Up and 3 Down, Aaron Judge also found himself at this spot as the “Be On Look Out” for a player. Last time it seemed as if Aaron was about to break out and go on a long and power packed run. This time, however, is as a result of the oblique strain. At the time of writing, we do not know the timeline of Judge’s return. And as the Yankees best player, Aaron is critical to the Bomber’s ultimate plan. The Yankees and their fans must hope and pray at the end of the two week rest period, that Judge feels good to begin rehabbing and not anything worse.
