RESILIENCY

Well, now that a decent amount of games (46) have been played for the 2012 season which is barely above the 28% mark, I thought it would be a respectable time to evaluate the Yankees at this point:

All teams end up with injuries throughout their long 162-game season. In the case of the Yankees, they have five (20%) of their major players currently on the disabled list including (in my order of importance) Mariano Rivera, David Robertson, Brett Gardner, Michael Pineda, and Joba Chamberlain. Neither Mo nor Pineda are expected back for this season, while Robertson & Gardner are expected back during June and Joba might be back by the end of the season.

In the interim, even without 20% of their roster, somehow they are still a few games above the .500 mark. Mostly, it's thanks to both their starting & relief pitching. Even I'm surprised at Rafael Soriano's take-charge closer performance. Sabathia has done what he normally does, Hughes is showing velocity, Nova looked good in his return the other day, and Pettitte acts like he's 29 instead of 39 years old.

The biggest disappointment thus far has been the lack of hitting. Based on the aforementioned injuries, Gardner is the only hitter that has been out of the lineup for a substantial time. While he is somewhat of a catalyst, it's not detrimental enough of an excuse for this team not to hit more successfully. Thankfully, the Yankees offense has begun to show signs as of late. Cano, Rodriguez, and Teixeira have each been hitting some homeruns again, which is their main barometer. Players such as Jeter, Ibanez, Swisher, and Granderson have been fairly consistent. The only offensive starter that's still slumping is Russell Martin. Hopefully, he'll join the rest soon.

In summary, this team has kept their composure and shown resiliency and no withdrawal, even during many hitting droughts. CC & Pettitte have led the pitching; Soriano has matured & led the bullpen; and Jeter, Ibanez, and Granderson have mainly led the hitting. Hopefully, no more major injuries will occur for the remainder of the season and both Gardner & Robertson will join the Yankees within a few weeks to help position them from the middle of the Eastern Division Standings to the top.