I remain unsure how the 2013 Yankees won 85 games. They played in a division in which three other clubs had at least that many victories, and the Yanks got there despite consistently fielding lineups with Travis Hafner, Jayson Nix, Lyle Overbay, Chris Stewart and Vernon Wells. CC Sabathia was bad, Phil Hughes was worse. Joba Chamberlain was in full freefall.
The 2013 Yankees had 3¹/₂ really good players and two were relievers, Mariano Rivera and David Robertson. Robinson Cano was terrific and a late-season cameo by Alfonso Soriano proved valuable. I watched that injury-ravaged group daily and was positive they were terrible, yet somehow they were not mathematically eliminated until five games remained in the season.
The Yankees have not had a losing record since 1992 and have been in contention until at least late September in every year since. And more than any season in that time — including the one in which they needed Shawn Chacon and Aaron Small to both be great — the 2013 campaign convinced me that until I see a Yankees team not figure it out, I will assume they will.
But boy are the 2019 Yankees testing that theory. The club motto could be one step forward, one limp back. They lived it again Saturday when Miguel Andujar came off the injured list and James Paxton went on. The Yankees just might need name tags. Aaron Boone did not meet his newest player, Jake Barrett, until “right before the game.”
That would be Saturday’s game, in which Barrett became the 35th Yankee used after Paxton became their 16th IL placement. Teams don’t get valuable prizes for such rising numbers, just a higher degree of difficulty.
“You try not to think about that,” Austin Romine said. “We have a job to do and that is whoever is in the lineup, try to win a game.”
To date the Yanks have done that admirably. Even with Saturday’s 7-3 loss to the Twins, the Yankees were 18-14. They have not allowed themselves to get buried while having a distinct Scranton/Wilkes-Barre glean.
But you could see the cascading effect of injury that helped Minnesota win in The Bronx for just the second time in 16 games since 2015. Paxton exited after three innings Friday with what was diagnosed as inflammation in his left knee. Thus, the Yanks had to use the best of their bullpen over six innings to preserve a victory.
So when J.A. Happ faltered Saturday, the Yankees were asking Joe Harvey, Stephen Tarpley and Barrett to keep it close — and they couldn’t. Still, the main blame falls on Happ, whose importance only magnifies with Paxton, the No. 2 starter, joining ace Luis Severino on the IL.
Happ entered with 12 consecutive scoreless innings and delivered a dominant 1-2-3 first with four swings and misses and two strikeouts. He would manage just four swings and misses and one strikeout in his 5 ²/₃-inning, four-run stint. The lefty has been particularly bad at home (17 runs in 20 innings and sever homers) and the short dimensions in right have hurt him. Mitch Garver poked a two-run homer that way, and Jonathan Schoop would have had a three-run shot if not for the leaping effort of Cameron Maybin.
Maybin and Gio Urshela have been key break-the-glass fill-ins helping the Yanks weather the injuries. Tommy Kahnle has revived. Domingo German has blossomed. Yep, the Yanks are again finding a way, speaking to a baseball operations department good at plugging holes and a strong culture that has permeated the clubhouse for a quarter-century-plus.
Still, at some point, these Yanks are going to need a flow of health. Clint Frazier is on a rehab, Aaron Hicks and Giancarlo Stanton are getting closer. Paxton will be shut down for 5-7 days but hopes to miss just two turns in the rotation. Jonathan Loaisiga will be summoned, but Chad Green’s positive U-turn at Triple-A provides the chance to perhaps bullpen a game or two while Paxton heals.
But like a lot of Yankees, Paxton is not a great health bet. Paxton has now been on the IL six straight seasons (eight times in all). Frazier, Hicks, Stanton, Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, Troy Tulowitzki and Jacoby Ellsbury have shown to be anything from injury prone to Mr. Glass-like. So maybe this is the 2019 Yankees season.
“That is how it has been so far,” Boone said. “Hopefully, it turns into getting more back and that is what we believe will happen over time. But as it is right now guys continue to grind away at it and find a way and that is what we need to continue to do.”
The Yankees limp onward.