The New York Yankees have their lineup stacked with the trio of Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez. However, that trio isn’t what’s driving them so far this season.
Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez are the big names that come to mind when the New York Yankees are mentioned. Let’s face it … before the season began, they were the players the media was clamoring over, expecting the all-mighty and baseball heavenly trio to lead the Bombers to glory.
So far, after five games, that hasn’t been the case.
Sanchez, Judge and Stanton have gone a combined 10-for-56. Surely, that means the Yankees must be 0-5, right? Nah, they’re 3-2 with 28 runs scored.
So where are all these runs coming from? They’re not coming from who we expected them to. And, ultimately, that is what makes this New York Yankees team so special.
The Yankees have the luxury of having three of the better home run hitters in the league in their lineup. However, they also have a plethora of talent that could easily be superstars without the Big Three blocking their way.
Only two of the team’s six home runs so far have come from the trio. Didi Gregorius tallied two during Tuesday afternoon’s victory. Tyler Austin crushed two on Saturday and Brandon Drury and Brett Gardner both added one apiece. These are guys that aren’t regularly known for smashing bombs but, getting the job done in the power outage for the “Big 3.”
That’s not to say that Stanton, Judge and Sanchez won’t pick up the pace. After all, it’s early in the season. However, regardless of the power these guys display, the Yankees will get production (and wins) from the little guys in the lineup.
Drury has only been with the team for these first five games but he’s already at the top of the team’s leaderboard in batting average (fourth), RBI (second) and OBP (fourth). The former Arizona Diamondback has already had two multi-hit games in pinstripes.
Gregorius, as mentioned before, had a monster game on Tuesday, going 4-for-4 and bringing his season batting average to .444. He has taken his hot postseason and brought the heat back to the chilly Bronx.
But that isn’t all for this lineup. They have Austin, the young buck who has taken over the first base role alongside Neil Walker in Greg Bird’s absence. He has the power to launch home runs as well. They also have Tyler Wade, who was robbed of a home run on Tuesday against the Rays.
The Yankees are a complete team whether or not the Big Three are on their game or not. They’ve got power threats up and down the lineup and if opponents decide to ignore that, it will be their funeral. Already this season they have proven that the Yankees are so much more than the big names that haunt the middle of the lineup.
And that will be the key to their success this year. It’s not how Judge, Stanton, and Sanchez perform. The Yankees big successes will come when the little guys in their lineup show off their own power.
The hype surrounding the big guys is immense. However, as shown so far this season, the little guys are playing an even bigger role in making the Yankees great again.
You’ll see. Sanchez, Judge, and Stanton will get going but the more success the little guys have this season, the more success the Yankees as a whole will have.
