Yankee First Half Review

First Half Review 

The Yankees finished the first half with a excellent 62-33. It was a bit overshadowed because they trail the Red Sox by 4.5 games. Aaron Judge and Luis Severino have dominated again, Giancarlo Stanton has fit in great, Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar have emerged as Star rookies and the Yankees bullpen led by Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances have been great. Some of people’s fears from spring training have been real as the starting pitching has not been very good. Sonny Gray has been terrible and Masahiro Tanaka has been inconsistent and injured. Domingo German has been very inconsistent. 

The Yankees will not stand pat and they will look to acquire pitching at the trade deadline. The Yankees will look to add a starter and potentially even a relief pitcher as the season progresses. 

The Yankees are set up to have a big second half. They have one of baseball’s easier second half schedules as they played a very hard schedule in the first half. The Yankees beat a lot of talented teams and will look to beat up on some weaker ones in the second half. The Yankees will also get Gary Sanchez back who just hit 190 in the first half and battled an injury. It could be a very big second half for the Yankees especially if they land some big arms. 

Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge have met expectations and they can carry the Yankees in the second half. 

The Yankees Pitching Options

The Yankees have a problem in an otherwise great season. Sonny Gray is a problem for the New York Yankees. He lasted just two innings for a second start in a row. His era has ballooned to 5.85. His whip is 1.57. Batters are hitting over 500 on his changeup and he has become a two pitch pitcher. Sonny Gray struggled in 2016 as his era was over 5 and then he bounced back with a good year last year. The Oakland A’s had the time to wait for Gray the Yankees do not. The Yankees need to acquire a pitcher there’s no doubt about it. 

The Long Shots 

The Mets likely won’t trade Jacob deGrom or Noah Syndergard but that don’t mean the Yankees shouldn’t try. 

The Giants are still in contention so they likely won’t trade Madison Bumgarner but if they did the Yankees would be the perfect landing spot. 

Chris Archer and Blake Snell are both under control for years to come and would be great values with the Yankees. Archer has had a down year but Blake Snell has emerged as one of baseball’s best. 

Practical and Likely Options 

Cole Hamels isn’t the pitcher he was but is a strong veteran. He has pitched well against the Red Sox, Astros, Dodgers and Indians this season. Hamels is a World Series MVP and still is a big game pitcher. 

JA Happ is having a very nice year and he is another veteran pitcher that does well against the Astros and Red Sox. He is probably the most likely option. 

Matt Harvey has turned his season around with the Reds and has pitched well of late. Harvey would certainly be interesting considering his Met history. 

Michael Fulmer would cost the most of this group and has the most upside but he has had a very up and down season. 

Tyson Ross is a viable option and he comes at a very cheap price tag.