Slow Start? The Yankees Say "no Problem"

I am sick of the Yankees’ brass always covering for their players with some sort of ridiculous statement. The one that keeps creeping up year after year is “He’s just having a slow start.” Seriously that is such cop out. But for the Yankees, slow starts are no problem.

Aaron Judge is one of those slow starters, but as we have seen, he has picked it up a bit before his unfathomable ejection in Saturday afternoon’s game. “I’m not overly, overly concerned about it, but obviously, when you look at it, you’re not gonna say there’s no concern,’’ hitting coach James Rowson said before the game on Friday. “There’s a level of wanting him to get going and getting back to himself, but right now, we’re trying to do the simple things of getting the timing of his swing right consistently,” reported The New York Post.

Aaron Judge always seems to find a way, but his start was not just slow, but abysmal. “He entered Friday night still hitting just .197 with a very unJudge-like OPS of .725. When it appeared he was about to break out recently, with three homers in five games — including home runs in back-to-back games in Milwaukee — he followed that outburst with one hit in 13 at-bats in four games before Friday’s series opener against the Tigers in The Bronx,” reported the Post.

But it is not just Judge. It appears to be all veterans. They just can’t seem to get going. Take Gleyber Torres for instance. “The season has been a struggle for Torres, to say the least, as he had a 63 wRC+ entering Thursday’s game. Hopefully, he can get going offensively after getting that first home run out of the way; it is especially important for Torres to have a strong season as he will be an unrestricted free agent during the offseason,” reported Sports Illustrated. Torres’ defense is slow too. Which makes him doubly slow.

Giancarlo Stanton always seems to have a slow start. And a slow end too. He has some good bouts in between, where he goes on a tear. But his swing is so blunt- he either hits it or he doesn’t. I have liked the way he has been hitting line drives lately- and helping the Yankees score runs. But as always, he is slow to start despite is lean appearance.

According to ESPN, “Stanton, who struck out his previous three times up (Friday night), lined an opposite-field double into the right-field corner on a 97 mph sinker, leaving runners at second and third. It was Stanton’s first hit this season on a pitch 97 mph or faster.” Yes, Stanton has been slow to hit the fastball. You can’t make this stuff up.

Slow start is just not an excuse. Overall, the Yankees have had a steady start, albeit a strong start. But it is younger guys, Anthony Volpe, Oswaldo Cabrera and Juan Soto, who have had speedy starts to the season. With a long off season, why can’t players be more ready to start the season with a bang? Your guess is as good as mine. I am over this slow start nonsense. And with April turning to May, slow start is like saying Happy New Year for too long. Shut it down already.

–Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof