The 2023 New York Yankees: The First 100 Games

Oh man, where do I even start with this?

The 2023 New York Yankees season had a lot of promise. After all, this team was in the American League Championship Series in the previous year, and even though that ended in immense disaster, the promise was right there. Everything was going quite well for the Yankees at the start. Even with the Tampa Bay Rays winning games left and right, April and May looked really good for the Bronx Bombers.

And then Aaron Judge got injured.

Judge's injury happened during the June 3 game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Now the Yankees won that game and took the three-game set on the following day, but after that...oh boy. The Yankees were 35-25 after that June 3 win, and were only 6 games out in the American League East, with only the Rays and the Baltimore Orioles ahead of the Bronx Bombers. In addition, the Yankees were above the playoff line at that point. 40 games have been played without Judge, and in that stretch, the Yankees went 18-22. This results in a mediocre 100-game start that saw the Yankees go 53-47, which is tied for last place in the division. Worse than that: because the Yankees have only beaten Boston once this season, the head-to-head actually puts the Yankees at last place.

That last part not only baffles me, it pisses me off. The Yankees have the deepest lineup in baseball today, yet we act like we can't even tie our shoes correctly without Judge. The sad part is that there may be some credence to that. Despite the fact that Judge hasn't taken the field in nearly two months, his 19 home runs still lead the team. Gleyber Torres is close behind with 16 dingers, while Anthony Volpe and Giancarlo Stanton are tied with 13. I find that last part unsettling. Stanton's a guy I trust immensely at the plate, yet despite being a power hitter, he has the same number of home runs as Volpe, who has played all 100 games this season. Anthony Rizzo only has 12 home runs, and that's because he went on a long homerless streak that came to an end on Game 100.

Here's how bad it's been for the Yankees this season. Because Judge was injured, Gerrit Cole was the Yankees' lone All-Star this season. He started the Midsummer Classic, pitched a perfect first, and that was it. Cole also has been the only really trustworthy pitcher this season, and that's because of injuries in the rotation, and other starters being completely unreliable. Cole is 9-2 so far, with an ERA of 2.78 and 144 strikeouts, but let's look at the other starters here.

Domingo German became part of baseball history on June 28 of this year, as he pitched a perfect game against the Oakland Athletics. The crazy thing: that perfecto came after his last two starts saw him give up 15 earned runs combined! So to say that he needed a start against the Oakland Triple A's was an understatement. This was the first perfecto pitched by a Yankee since David Cone in 1999, but since then: three starts, 0-1 record, and an ERA of 4.41.

What the hell happened to Luis Severino?! I remember arguing with fellow Yankees fans who thought he was better than Masahiro Tanaka! That's how lethal Sevy was. Now it's only his ERA that's lethal--lethally toxic. A 2-4 record and a 6.46 ERA. That's not an ERA, that's a damn area code. Nestor Cortes has been out forever, Carlos Rodon finally joined the fray, but has been knocked around, and do not get me started on Clarke Schmidt.

Despite the lack of Aaron Judge, the Yankees are actually fifth in MLB in home runs after 100 games, but are 18th in runs scored, with 440 runs this season (4.4 runs per game). The Yankees are actually 8th in team ERA with 3.87, evidence that offense has increased this season (the universal DH plays a role in that. It's a mixed bag, but even so, this team is good enough to make it to the postseason.

Which brings the question: what will it take?

After 100 games, the Yankees are actually two games behind the playoff line. It's a close Wild Card race, and the extra spot (which debuted in 2022) helps when it comes to the Yankees' chances. 62 games remain. The division's a bit of a long shot, but even that is possible. We Yankees fans may have to settle for snagging one of the Junior Circuit's three Wild Card spots. 90 is the magic number as far as a potential win total is concerned, meaning that the Yankees have to go 37-25 the rest of the way. It can be done, especially since Judge could be coming back soon. Two months is a lot of time. We can do this.