The Yankees Are Back In The Bronx And Need To Address Key Issues Before Starting Another Homestand

  New York Yankee fans have to be very concerned and a bit frustrated about their team's performance to start the 2021 season.

  Entering into this afternoon, it has to frustrate both the players and the fans that their team is being edged out by the Boston Red Sox for the number one spot in the American League East division with a 3.5 game lead over the Yanks. The historic Yankee franchise started their 2021 season on the wrong side of the baseball, losing 4 out of 6 games against the Tampa Bay Rays and their season start against the Toronto Blue Jays didn't go according to plan either.

  While there are plenty of people to blame for the slow start, let's focus on how the Yanks could get a winning streak going now that they are back home. Let's take a look at the things that went right on their road trip, shall we ? 

    The Cole-Higgy tandem has to be one of the most impressive highlights to the team's struggling start to the season. When manager Aaron Boone said on Wednesday that his team needs to “play better in every area,” outside a clubhouse that Aaron Judge characterized as unhappy, there were no fingers pointed in Gerrit Cole’s direction. In fact, since signing with the organization, the ace right-hander has been nothing short of terrific. In his latest outing, he has collected to a 2-0 record with a 1.47 ERA and tallying 29 strikeouts to match David Cone (1997) for the most by any Yankees starter through his first three outings of a season.

  What's not impressive about that? A Yankee fan growing up that always wanted to  wear the pinstripes is now one of the most formidable pitchers to step onto a major league mound. 

  Cole’s last two starts have come with Kyle Higashioka behind the plate, holding the Orioles and Blue Jays to one run and seven hits over 13 innings, with 21 strikeouts. Boone said that Gary Sánchez will catch Cole again, as he did on Opening Day, but there is no arguing that the Cole-Higashioka combo works. To put it into perspective, they’ve combined for an eye catching 1.54 ERA (10 ER in 58 1/3 IP) in nine starts together, which also includes the postseason.

  The argument needs to be emphasized more that Higgy should be Cole's personal catcher. It make sense too, considering that the team would have a better shot at winning the games that Higgy catches for Cole. Just look at the Cole's starts so far and compare Higgy's pairing with Cole in game one against the Jays in Florida with Gary Sanchez's start behind the plate on Opening Day. There is no hiding it, both catchers were behind home plate against the Toronto since the season started. There is an obvious case that Higgy's start in the catcher's position in Florida was a better outing for Cole than when he left his Opening Day start a bit frustrated with himself. 

  There is no hiding that Gary Sanchez has the potential to be among baseball's elite catcher either, but the Cole-Higgy tandem is working, so if isn't broken, then there is obviously nothing to fix. Have Sanchez catch the other pitchers and designate Higgy as Cole's starting catcher, that way both catchers get consistent reps behind the catcher's mask through the 162-game stretch.

  It is something worth trying, and if it doesn't work out out, Boone can always have Higgy return to the bench as a back up player/catcher.

  Also let's not forget, Sanchez is off to a slow start offensively, so if Boone gets Higgy some consistent at-bats as a personal catcher for Cole, then the team is guaranteed to get some runs on the board with this offense struggling to capitalize with runners-in-scoring-position. Let's take into account that it was only on April 13th that the Yanks were held hitless by Toronto starter Robbie Ray into the fifth inning, when Rougned Odor logged a one-out single and Higashioka followed up Odor by damaging the baseball with a 416-foot blast to dead right-center field; the ball came off his bat at 104.7 mph. Then their was Higgy's show of power again, as he wasn't done in the fifth, adding a long ball in the eighth off Ryan Borucki, which gave him the third multi-homer game of his career -- he had a three-homer game against Toronto last Sept. 16 at Yankee Stadium.

  Aaron Boone  and the organization should take all those things into consideration and present Higgy with the opportunity of being the ace's personal catcher.

  Turning the page from the pitching-and-catching tandem conversation, Clint Frazier finds himself in a weird place to begin the season.

  Frazier was penciled in as the starting left fielder with lefty batter Brett Gardner getting resigned as the fourth outfielder that would ride the bench, but the right handed slugger has not done all that well in the starting role. Frazier went from getting the greenlight to be the team's starting left fielder this season to going back to questioning the uncertainty of his role on the major league roster.

   One day after snapping an 0-for-17 skid, Frazier was out of the lineup on Wednesday against Toronto, a late scratch when the Blue Jays inserted right-hander T.J. Zeuch as their starting pitcher. Boone explained that he wanted to insert another left-handed hitter in Gardner, who also started twice over Frazier against right-handed pitchers during the weekend series at Tropicana Field.

  Manager Aaron said this of the team's longest tenured veteran:

  "Frazier rakes, and he’s going to rake....But we have a really good player in Gardy, too. Let’s make more judgments on these things when we have a month or two of body of work. … Bottom line is, Gardy is going to play a lot, whether he spots in center, whether he gets starts in left. I like the way he’s playing as well, so they’re both going to end up playing a lot. As I tell him, Fraz is going to be a really good player for us...”

Let's Talk About Third Base

  Luke Voit has been cleared to resume throwing and could soon take swings off a tee as he recovers from left knee surgery that was performed in late March. Yankee fans and the team have to be very happy about that, because Jay Bruce has struggled to hold down the fort on both sides of the ball after he was added to the big league roster at the end of camp to fill in for Voit.

  Bruce has yet to find his swing at the plate, going 4-for-34 (.118) with a homer and three RBIs thus far, and he has also had difficulty handling the baseball at 1st base since joining the pinstriped squad. In only about a dozen games into the season, Boone has had to fall back upon offering DJ LeMahieu starts at first base, a change of plans after they had the three-time Gold Glove Award winner play second base almost exclusively during the spring.

  “The first three or four games, there were a lot of really good at-bats, important at-bats...” Boone said of Bruce. “...I think it was just a few games where he wasn't getting real good swings off, not making great contact. Hopefully a couple days down refresh him a little bit and get him going.”

  It is fair to being wondering what will be the short-term outcome of Bruce's future at third base while Voit is recovering, especially with Mike Ford waiting and preparing in the minors. Also let's not forget Chris Gittens is also awaiting his turn in the ranks within the minor leagues.

Beyond Gerrit Cole And The Yankee Bullpen

  For multiple seasons now, the Yankees' organization has become notorious for their pitching depth that they have in the back end of their bullpen. Beyond their ace position at the head of their starting rotation and their elite arms in the pen, the team has struggled a lot to actually piece together true numbers 2, 3,4 and 5 starters to round out the starting rotation.

  Since the 2021 season started, Yankee fans have a handful of player to pinpoint the blame on for a very slow start to the season. A fair share of that blame has to be charge to the starting rotation. No doubt, the ace of this staff shouldn't be credited with any blame for the Yankees' starting rotation's early struggles. The team has yet to see true production from the  offseason additions that have picked up acquired in Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon, who are struggling in their returns from injuries. As a matter of fact The Athletic’s Jim Bowden says the Yankees should give serious consideration to calling up Deivi Garcia.

  So far, the Yankee starters beyond Cole have been nothing short of mediocre since making their 2021 debut.

  It makes fans wonder why German was chosen over Garcia. Garcia is currently at the alternate site, and that also has fans asking, "WHY!?!"

   Garcia should of gotten a starting rotation spot. Yankee fans remember his debut against the Mets on August 31st of 2020, where he got high praise from former Yankee rival HOFer Pedro Martinez of the Red Sox. Follow the link to read the coverage of that game here: 

https://thepinstripedballclub.travel.blog/2020/08/31/deivi-garcia-showe…

  Last year, the 21-year-old was pretty impressive in his six regular-season starts, striking out 33 and walking only six in 34 1/3 innings. Then in the postseason, he threw only one inning to open Game 2 of the ALDS against the Rays. García’s fastball is mostly 91-94 mph, and his four-pitch mix includes a change-up, curveball and slider. 

  With the likes of veteran Kluber and former Pirates' Jameson Taillon still having to prove their worth as Yankee members, maybe the addition of Garcia will be the youth injection that the starting rotation needs. 

  Going into their second home stand, the Yankees' have a lot of boxes to check, but they have a promising outlook in this year's push for another World Series shot.

  This afternoon the Yanks will face Rays once again at Yankees Stadium and they have called up Nick Nelson to make the start on the mound. Nelson will make his first career start in the opener role, as he will then be followed by Michael King. Nelson has toed the rubber against the Rays in the relief capacity four times and has stroke out five batters over four innings of work.

  Nelson will go up against Tampa's RHP Michael Wacha. The righty will return to the starting pitching role after pitching Brent Honeywell Jr. in his last time out against the Yanks. Wacha gave up three runs in four innings, with all of them coming in the first frame. He retired the final nine hitters he faced in order.