The All-Star break often serves as a chance for teams to reset before they gear up for the stretch run.
The Yankees took that to the extreme, resetting by changing hitting coaches, with Dillon Lawson out and Sean Casey in, which they hope can spark the offense in the second half.
But before they start that sprint, beginning Friday night in Denver against the Rockies, it’s time to take one last look back at the Yankees’ first half, which included a little bit of everything — for better or for worse.
Most Valuable Player
Where would the Yankees be without Gerrit Cole? Their ace has delivered every five days like a $324 million pitcher is supposed to.
Anchoring a rotation that has had plenty of inconsistency and moving pieces, Cole has been a steady presence. He is putting together his best season as a Yankee, especially important during a season in which run prevention is key with a struggling offense. Cole spoke in spring training about feeling more comfortable and at ease in his first “regular” season with the organization, and the results have lived up to that.
Least Valuable Player
Unfortunately for the Yankees, there were a number of worthy candidates here. But DJ LeMahieu has to be at the top of the list.
All spring, we heard about how LeMahieu was finally healthy again after a toe/foot injury sabotaged his second half last season. But the veteran infielder looks a lot like the second-half hitter again through the first half of this season, posting a 79 OPS-plus — meaning 21 percent below league average. The two-time batting champion is hitting just .220, and the Yankees could desperately use him finding his groove in the second half.
Most valuable body part
Aaron Judge’s right big toe. It may decide the fate of how the Yankees’ season ends, either without a playoff appearance if he doesn’t come back — or is ineffective upon coming back — or with another postseason trip on the back of the reigning AL MVP’s return.
The Yankees’ season was looking up the day that Judge made the spectacular catch at Dodger Stadium, but the ramifications of it have come back to haunt them.
Best win
The Yankees’ four-game series in Toronto in mid-May was a wild one, including the Blue Jays wondering whether Judge was picking up signs from the batter’s box, Domingo German being ejected and subsequently suspended 10 games for a failed foreign-substance check and plenty of banter between the dugouts.
Of the three games the Yankees won in that tension-filled series, the best may have been the one in which they lost German after three innings and had to piece together the rest of the game with Ian Hamilton, Ron Marinaccio, Ryan Weber, Clay Holmes and Wandy Peralta. They blew a 3-0 lead, but then in the eighth inning, Judge delivered a two-run homer to give the Yankees the lead for good in emphatic fashion on the way to a 6-3 win.
Worst loss
Again, more options here to pick from than the Yankees would have liked. Recency bias might point to the first-half finale against the Cubs, when the Yankees blew a 4-1 lead in the seventh inning after Aaron Boone lifted German early and another error from Gleyber Torres proved costly on the way to a 7-4 loss.
But even worse was the Yankees’ May 7 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field. In the rubber match of a three-game series, the teams’ first of the season in what was supposed to be an early measuring stick, the Yankees led 6-0 going into the bottom of the fifth with Cole on the mound, only to lose 8-7 in the the 10th. After the Rays took a 7-6 lead in the sixth inning, the Yankees clawed back to tie it in the seventh, which only made it more painful when the Rays later won it. In a heated division race that could come down to the wire, this one might stand out in late September.
Biggest surprise
Ian Hamilton stood out in spring training, but so do some other non-roster invitees who never end up seeing the active roster during the season. Hamilton and his “slambio” (a slider-changeup hybrid) forced the issue, though, impressing the Yankees enough that they agreed to push his opt-out back a few days at the end of camp and then added him to the 26-man roster during the first week of the season. Hamilton has pushed his way into more opportunities, including high-leverage spots.
Biggest disappointment
There was a lot of hype in spring training about how good Luis Severino looked physically, and he appeared primed for a big season in a contract year. But it has not worked out for either Severino or the Yankees with the right-hander missing the first month and a half due to a strained lat before coming back and posting an unsightly 7.38 ERA across nine starts.
The Yankees are searching for answers on how to fix him, but Severino could be in danger of losing his rotation spot if he doesn’t figure it out by the time Nestor Cortes comes back in early August.
Best offseason move
Obviously, re-signing Judge was huge, and we’ve seen over the past month and a half what the Yankees look like without him. But bringing Tommy Kahnle back to the bullpen has been another solid move, even if he wasn’t available until June because of biceps tendinitis. In 16 games since coming off the IL, Kahnle has yet to give up a run, adding another high-leverage option to what is one of the best bullpens in the majors.
Worst offseason move
Not adding another bat. After the Yankees landed Carlos Rodon on a six-year, $162 million contract, Hal Steinbrenner indicated they were not done. But in essence, they were.
Brian Cashman has alluded to trades not working out as the reason why the Yankees did not add any other players to their big league roster from there, but the Yankees could have used it.
Move that needs to be made by Aug. 1
The Yankees need a full-time left fielder. They have received varying degrees of helpful contributions from the likes of Jake Bauers, Billy McKinney, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Willie Calhoun there. But if they are going to be legitimate contenders, the Yankees need to land a surefire left fielder by the trade deadline.
Barring the Padres actually trading Juan Soto, the Cubs’ Cody Bellinger could be the most intriguing candidate, bringing a left-handed swing, some speed and quality defense.
Best quote
Cole took home the spring training version with his quip about getting “waxed” not feeling good, “whether you’re going to the salon or you’re on the baseball field,” referring to being swept by the Astros in the ALCS. But Cole has kept the one-liners flowing during the first half, including his deadpan explanation for a high 0-2 fastball to Jose Caballero going to the netting during a June 20 at-bat in which Caballero tried to play some tricks with the pitch clock.
“Sometimes a high fastball can be a really effective pitch,” Cole said. “So, got to change eye levels.”
Most surprising stat, in a good way
Some cynics might see this as a bad thing, and they would have a case for it because there should be some better competition in this category, but Anthony Volpe is tied for second on the team with 13 home runs (along with Torres). You surely would have signed up for that back in spring training.
The rookie shortstop has endured his share of growing pains on the way to those 13 homers, but he has looked much better since the middle of June, offering hope he could be in for a steadier second half.
Most surprising stat, in a bad way
Judge has not played since June 3 and has missed 40 games overall during two IL stints. But he still leads the Yankees with 40 RBIs — indicative of just how much their offense has struggled without him.
Anthony Rizzo is next at 39, but after a strong first two months, he mostly has been brutal — including going a staggering 38 games without a home run (since May 20) entering the break.
Want to catch a game? The Yankees schedule with links to buy tickets can be found here.
Leveling up isn’t easy for players or coaches
Lawson served as something of a scapegoat for the Yankees’ first-half offensive struggles, though that is not to say it was not the right decision to change hitting coaches.
But on the way out, Lawson also got some props from Cashman for his work in the farm system as the Yankees’ minor league hitting coordinator from 2019-21.
The Yankees may bear the fruits of his work with those minor leaguers down the road, even if Lawson couldn’t get their major leaguers out of their collective funk this season.
“[Lawson] has brought a lot of amazing content to improve a lot of aspects of our operation, especially on our player development side,” Cashman said. “But clearly, when you’re dealing at the major league level, it’s a little bit different at times, and that can take on a life of its own.”
Cashman indicated the process-over-results approach that Lawson took is easier to stick with in the minor leagues, when wins and losses are not the top goal.
“Doing this job and the experience [I have] in this job, I’ve seen the difficulties of the transition from player development to the major leagues and the experience of going from the development environment, where you truly are punching areas of improvement and working on very specific aspects of, whether it’s on the offensive side somebody’s swing, or somebody’s pitching mechanics while playing games,” Cashman said.
“But the end results of those games [are] not being played out in front of 40,000 people, not being covered by everybody on this call [reporters]. It’s a totally different animal. Obviously, you add into [that] players that have played the game five, 10, 15, 20 years in some cases in those experiences. It’s a different animal at this level. So I’ve seen many people deal with that transition. It’s not an easy one to make. There’s a lot of adjustments that have to take place as you attempt to partner with players at the major league level.”
It will be interesting to see where Lawson ends up, including whether he gets another chance to be a major league hitting coach. If he does get another shot, at least he’ll go into that job with some big league experience under his belt.
Passion play
After being on the Zoom for Casey’s introductory news conference on Wednesday, one thing is clear: He does not lack for passion, energy, confidence or words.
The Yankees’ hitters meetings are about to get lively.
