At 19-11, the New York Yankees currently own the top spot in the competitive AL East.
All in all, it was a very successful first month of the season for the Bombers.
The pitching staff held their own for the most part despite being without injured ace Gerrit Cole who is arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball.
Meanwhile, on offense, the slow start by Aaron Judge has been largely overshadowed by the dominance of newly-acquired slugger Juan Soto.
Soto has instantly become a fan favorite and seems destined for a long career in the Bronx. (Although, that certainly won’t come cheap.)
Despite all of the positives, the Yankees managed to set a disappointing and concerning mark in the month of April.
With last night’s 2-0 defeat at the hands of the rival Baltimore Orioles, the Bombers were shut out for the fifth time this month.
Why is that so notable??? … Well, the five shutouts are the most the Yankees have been blanked in a single month in 40 years!
That’s right, the last time baseball’s most storied franchise was shutout this many times in a month was way back in 1984.
Baltimore pitcher Grayson Rodriguez had a whole lot to do with the Yankees setting the mark.
Rodriguez threw 5 2/3 shutout innings for the O’s. Remarkably, he has not allowed a single run in 12 career innings against the pinstripes.
“We pitched so well against a really, really tough lineup, starting with Grayson,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. “Grayson was absolutely outstanding. Really good fastball with changeup tonight. Thought he kept them off balance extremely well.”
The Yankees had their opportunities. At the end of the day, they left 10 men on base and were 0-8 with runners in scoring position.
“We had our chances tonight,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We had probably 10, 12 baserunners. We’ve had some of those nights where we got shut down when we had a lot of traffic. We just didn’t come up with a big hit, and they obviously kept us in the ballpark.”
Again, it’s not all doom and gloom for the Bombers … Far from it actually.
The team has exceeded expectations thus far and seems to have all the makings of a legitimate World Series contender.
Cole’s eventual return to the rotation will make New York that much tougher.
As far as Judge, you know it’s only a matter of time before he busts out.
What are your thoughts on the Yankees being shut out five times in April?
Is that concerning at all? Or just an overrated stat?
In the bigger picture, what are your thoughts on the Bombers going forward?
Can this team win the World Series???