Play Ball

On Thursday, March 31, the 2011 baseball season officially began. The Yankees opened with an impressive 6-3 win over the Detroit Tigers. After four games, New York is 3-1. Their offense, to the surprise of no one, has been dominant. They blasted 11 home runs in the first four games. In previous blog posts I have discussed their suspect rotation. Four games is certainly not enough to draw any solid conclusions, but here is how the Yankee starters have performed thus far:
Sabathia - 6 IP, 2ER
Burnett - 5 IP, 3ER
Hughes - 4 IP, 5ER
Nova - 6 IP, 3ER
Pretty unspectacular but good enough for a 3-1 start.

The most positive aspect of the first four games has been the performance of Mark Teixeira. Teixeira has pummeled the ball so far, hitting .357 with 3 homers and 7 RBIs. This is unfamiliar territory for him. Teixeira is infamous for his painfully slow starts. After four games last year, his average was an awe-inspiring .000. Mark waited until the fifth game to get his first hit. He did not obtain his seventh RBI until April 22 and he did not hit his third homer until May 8. Despite all of this, Teixeira still managed to slug 33 homers and drive in 108 runs last season. The sky is the limit for him this year if he continues his hot start.

Another reason Yankee fans should be optimistic is the performance of the bullpen. At 41 years of age, Mariano has given us no reason to believe he is no longer an immortal freak of nature, compiling 2.1 scoreless innings and three saves so far. The 7-8-9 inning combo consisting of Joba, Soriano, and Mariano worked together to hold the opposition scoreless and close them out in two of the first four games. If these three pitchers can continue to deliver in the late innings, then the Yankees can essentially shorten the game to six innings. The Yankees' bullpen is one of the deepest in the majors. Hopefully they continue to perform.

Jeter had a lackluster season in 2010. He hit a career low .270. Pretty un-Jeter-like. Again, it is difficult to make any assumptions after four games, but it would have been nice to see some signs of life from him. Years ago, a bad stretch from Jeter was nothing to worry about. I mean, he's Derek-freaking-Jeter. Unfortunately, those days are over. He's 36 years old and well passed his prime. Jeter needs 72 hits to reach 3000. At the pace he's been going since last year, he may be an eligible senior citizen by the time he gets there. Still, nobody would be surprised if Jeter had a bounce-back year and put together a remarkable season.

It is not often that the Yankees are an underdog. That is the case for them this year. The Red Sox and Phillies both have better teams on paper. But nobody feels bad for the Yankees and their 200 million dollar payroll. They still have more than enough weapons to win it all. Underdogs or not, Yankee fans expect number 28.