Baseball Food For Thought
I have a question about their all time greatness though. If they are an all time great team, why are only 4 of their regulars hitting over .250 ?
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The 2022 Yankees are supposedly one of the best teams of all time , and their won-loss record is indeed very good.
I have a question about their all time greatness though. If they are an all time great team, why are only 4 of their regulars hitting over .250 ?
Their batting average leader, Aaron Judge is hitting .282. As is third baseman DJ LaMahieu.
Stars Giancarlo Stanton , Anthony Rizzo , and Josh Donaldson are all hitting below .235. Only two of their top 7 regulars have an on base percentage of .350 or higher, which is the number where you start to consider really good.
If some of these stats dont improve in the second half the Yankees will be vulnerable to an early playoff exit.
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Watch out for the presently lowly White Sox, who have 4 regulars hitting over .300
Well, the White Sox also have a team ERA of almost 4.00, with a run differential overall of -14.
Which explains why they are currently mired at .500 in 3rd place in a weak division.
IF they make the playoffs, they will learn that pitching is going to be more important than having a few great hitters.
I think the Yankees strategy of home runs + walks with proportionally fewer base hits and not caring about strike outs is a big part of baseball's problem. The strategy, as the Yankees demonstrate, make sense. They lead the league in run scored. It's easier to hit a home run than string together three singles, especially with shifts, small parks and computer optimized defensive placement making it harder than ever to get a base hit.
It's not particularly exciting baseball to watch.
If you go into the playoffs totally dependent on hitting homeruns it is a crapshoot at best.
If you are a .500 team in a weak division, your chances of making the playoffs are poor. Ranking 24th in the league in HRs won't allow you to win a whole lot of close games, either.
Especially with a lack of quality pitching.
They’re obviously playing very well on the season, but beware of New York/East Coast bias. Everything that happens in New York is always bigger, better, and more amazing than when it happens anywhere else.
Case in point: The Dodgers have a winning percentage almost as good as the Yankees, but you don’t see people asking “are they one of the all-time best teams?”
The Yankees are 3-7 in their last 10 games, including losing a series to the tanking (unofficially) Reds. So, they’re not perfect. And they have a lot more to do before they’re an all-time great.