Yankees by the Numbers: The Recipe for Title 28
The New York Yankees are 66–35, putting them percentage points ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in baseball. The Yankees lead the AL East by 10 games over the Tampa Bay Rays, and are 11 games up on the defending World Series Champion Boston Red Sox. New York is 34–11 against their divisional opponents, including 12–5 against Tampa Bay and 6–1 versus Boston. 8 of their next 10 games are against the Red Sox.
The Bombers just took 2 out of 3 from AL Central leading Minnesota, and are 4 and 2 on the season against the power hitting Twins, who are 37–99 (.272) vs. the Yankees since 2002, including the playoffs. As a matter of fact, Twins haven’t had a winning record in any season against the Yankees in 18 years.
This is the 2nd time in the last 50 years that the Yanks have had 65 or more wins in their first 100 games of the season.The other year was 1998, when they had an incredible 74 wins in their first 100 games.
These Bombers rank first in MLB in runs per game with 5.7 and lead the American League hitting .299 with runners in scoring position, which has ultimately been the biggest difference between the 2018 Yankees, who hit .253 with RISP, and this year’s club. The best average with runners in scoring position by any Yankee team for a full season is .299, by the 1998 team.
The Yankees are 14–0–1 in their last 15 series at home. Finishing with home field advantage will be imperative to a 28th championship.
The Pinstripes are 22–18 (.550) when their opponent scores first, which is also the best record in the majors and they are the only team with a .500 or better record. They have have 33 comeback wins this season, the most in baseball. NY is 33–35 (.485) when trailing at any point in the game. This team is relentless, and simply never quits.
The Yankees averaged 7.6 runs per game and hit .299 during their five-game win streak against the Rays and Rockies, while the pitchers had a 2.60 ERA.
The starters then followed that up with a complete turn of the rotation with a combined 12.84 ERA, and the Yankees now have 5 pitchers with an over 4.00 ERA pitching at least 80 IP. The starting rotation has been terribly inconsistent all year, but all have at least a .500 record.
The Yankees could use another starter. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen. The bullpen has been overused, and it’s shown since the All Star break, but with Luis Severino and Dellin Betances about a month or so away from returning, the Yankees will have a plethora of pitchers, and should be able to patchwork their pitching like they did over the last week. The starters haven’t been great, the relievers have been shaky, but the Bombers continue to win thanks to a dominating offense. The Yankees may have to power their way to their 28th Championship.
