Expectations can be high and low in sports, obviously as a fan we expect our teams to prevail and triumph; but in sports, teams have ups and downs. Since the 1920s The Yankees have always been tough with maybe the exception of the 1980s. My expectations have always been high throughout the 1990s and 2000s, in the 90s NY dominated baseball in 1996, 98, 99 and 2000 basically with the exception of the 97 loss to the Marlins and 2001 to Arizona. The Yankees were AMAZING for 6 years, the last real dynasty in baseball, which is rare now to have a repeat let alone a dynasty. Even in the seasons they lost the World Series twice, the Yankees were still great.
The Yankees are always “expected” to be good and do great. My expectations of the teams since their last victory in 2009 have dwindled almost every year though due to players retiring or moving on, and new management hasn’t really done what the old ownership of George Steinbrenner would do, I wrote a month ago about how new ownership refuses to spend and just treats prospects differently. New management hold their talent down too long so by the time they arrive to the majors their not really prospects anymore, example Aaron Judge for one didn’t debut till he was 24, that is not exactly young in terms of prospects go.
The Yankees also are know to trade away their prospects instead of letting them develop and keep them. One more quick note I’d like to point out about my expectations for the Yankees dwindling since 2009 is, ever since the Houston Astros transferred over to the American League they have had the Yankees number not just in the post season they “owned” NY since 2013. Sad but true.
Not that I am switching topics at all here, but I set my expectations low a lot, that way I do not get disappointed so much. I am a Toronto Maple Leafs fan in hockey (yes they’re getting better) but they have not won a championship since 1967, I was born in 75, so I have yet to see them win a title. The Maple Leaf’s have barely win a playoff round. **I am planning on writing about hockey soon** I’ve just been focused on baseball a lot.
The Yankees are off to a blazing hot start with a 12-3 record so far. This is the 7th time they have started out this well, but the first time since 2003. The Yankees have only won one World Series since 2003; so a hot start isn’t something to get too excited about if you ask me, I am telling you this because baseball is a marathon as we know. Injuries will happen, we have already seen this very early with star pitcher Gerrit Cole being out since the beginning of the season and he’s not due back for maybe another month.
Luckily other pitchers have stepped up, and nicely I might add, Luis Gil has out performed what people would have expected. He has pitched 9 innings and struck out 14 batters while sitting comfortably with a 3.00 ERA and Saturday Cody Poteet stepped up and went 6 innings striking out 4 in a Yankees win.
Juan Soto as we know has just been on another level, Soto has gone 19/57 and hitting .333 with 3 HR and 15 RBI. We know what Soto does, Soto rakes and will be the Yankees saving grace if they do go deep into the playoffs and finally make the World Series.
We will see a fair share of injuries (its just part of the game) Giancarlo Stanton has been a .200 hitter the past two seasons and a strikeout machine as well as averaging 130 K’s over those two seasons and he hasn’t played over 110 games since 2021 when he played in 139. But… the two seasons prior to that Stanton played in just 23 games and 18 games. Its inevitable he and some others will be injured throughout the season.
To me the Yankees are better without Stanton, but they have him and he is owed $32 million dollars a season, so that is a lot of money to be a bench warmer. They feel they need to play him to see if they can get a return for their investment. Also in my opinion I feel winning the playoffs and more so a World Series should be their goal. Not to put a struggling injury prone player in the lineup over a potential breakout prospect (Jasson Dominguez should be back mid season and will be itching to get out there, and show he belongs on this team, now and for years to come) and other younger players with something to prove.
Speaking of hot starts or cold starts, Aaron Judge is ICE COLD to start the season, he is sitting at .178 average 2 HR and 6 RBI with a miniscule .744 OPS, for a player over the last two season was well over 1.000 OPS both seasons. This is not a great start, yes small sample size and early but for the Captain and a guy who is supposed to inspire others, he is definitely not living up to the hype now or really inspiring anybody is he? After an MVP campaign just two seasons ago, this isn’t a good start for Judge.
Logically “expectations” are high, but realism kicks in for me. I have seen failure over the years in baseball and other sports, other teams with lower payrolls or teams further down in the standings like wild card teams just squeaking into the playoffs are hungrier and play harder. Who knows what is going to happen, I obviously want NY to win with all my heart but my heart’s been broke so many times before I will keep my expectations low but hope for the best. World Series or else… If the Yankees do not win the World series it is failure, no sugarcoating it.
By : Rob Henderson
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