APPROXIMATELY 6 MONTHS TO GO

Well, the 2018 season has begun.  Thankfully, the Yankees won their first game yesterday against the Toronto Blue Jays with a score of 6-1.  Giancarlo Stanton didn’t waste any time as he hit a 2-run homer in the first inning!  Stanton also hit a solo homer later in the ninth inning.  Brett Gardner also joined in the homerun efforts.  Luis Severino pitched a shutout through more than 5 innings.  His improved slider was almost as impressive as Ron Guidry’s.  Severino adding a slider as another main pitch is awful news for the Yankees’ competitors.

Now that they’ve already won the first game, they have a chance to go 162-0…okay, I’m not that crazy!  It’s interesting, though, to hear most of the so-called experts picking the Yankees to win the division.  Of course, they all pick the Red Sox to finish slightly below the Yankees.  I love our chances, especially as our youth movement seems endless (the Yankees were rated with having the second best farm system this season).

My main concerns are Masahiro Tanaka, Dellin Betances, and Greg Bird.  Tanaka’s arm/elbow will always concern me until it finally gets repaired (with the hope of successful surgery and recovery).  He also seems to pitch with too much thinking and not enough confidence to throw his splitter often.  Maybe, in regards to his health, he knows something we don’t.  Bird has already proven his own health issues continue, as the Yankees had to already put him on the disabled list with a bone spur injury requiring surgery.  As for Betances, he still needs to prove he’s the Betances of 2016 more than the one we saw last season.

The majority of the Yankees’ current 25-man roster offers a lot of talent.  Their pool of players to call up from the farm system is very comforting, especially since they now have an added year of experience.  They've improved with Brandon Drury at third base (over Todd Frazier) and Giancarlo Stanton as the DH (over Matt Holliday). Those key factors, even with their limited spending to acquire another superstar during the season, make me feel confident that this year’s Yankees’ team should end the season better than last year’s 91 wins.  Perhaps they’ll win 96 this season.  We’ll find out in about 6 months!