As the MLB season started, you may recall Boomer and Gio debating over the stratospheric record the Yankees would have after 20 games. Boomer said 18-2, while Gio was slightly more modest, at 17-3.
So you can decide if 10-10 is disappointing or encouraging. When you consider the epic number of injuries that have plagued the Bombers -- a list that has included Giancarlo Stanton, Luis Severino, Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius, Troy Tulowitzki, CC Sabathia and Dellin Betances -- perhaps a .500 mark through 20 games is impressive. The Yanks lead the majors with 13 players currently on the IL. And just as the club got its nostrils above water, they were rewarded by learning their best player and biggest star would spin through the IL turnstile.
Aaron Judge just strained his oblique, a muscle pull manager Aaron Boone said was "pretty significant." Not only is it not the first time Judge has missed time because of injury, but it's also not even the first time he strained an oblique. He also missed seven weeks last year with a broken wrist.
There are conflicting signs all around this club. The good news is they nudged over .500 by beating the Royals on Sunday. But they did it by blowing a sterling effort from James Paxton, their robust bullpen belching a lead before the Yankees pulled it out in extra innings. Adam Ottavino yielded two homers, turning a 5-2 lead into a 6-5 deficit. Then they were fueled by late-game heroics from Austin Romine, a backup catcher who doesn't figure to be a pillar on a team many picked to win the World Series. Romine tied the game in the eighth inning and swatted in the winning run in the 10th.
The Yanks are just 11-10 but have won three in a row, while the division-leading Rays have lost four straight. But while the Rays have lost four, the hated Red Sox have won three in a row. Much like the Yanks, the BoSox are too good to be 9-13 and are sure to find their footing before Memorial Day. So no matter the math in the AL East, the Yankees are sure to be surrounded by good clubs they must face 19 times each.
The Yankees are walking a diamond tightrope as it is, and can't afford to have the robust parts of their club crater while their big bats are shelved. On Sunday, they were saved by their bats, not their bullpen. With Aroldis Chapman, Ottavino, Chad Green, Zack Britton and Betances (when he returns) to lock down the seventh inning and beyond, the Yankees have to make leads stick, especially with a rotation that was never the squad's specialty.
A CBSSports.com piece posted a clever tweet, which declares, "ah, good, now Jacoby Ellsbury can't even make the Yankees' All-Injured Team," followed by a picture of a baseball field and the felled Yankees by position. The outfield starts Stanton, Hicks and Judge. The infield, starting at third base, features Miguel Andujar, Gregorius, Tulowitzki and Greg Bird, with Sanchez at catcher and Severino on the mound. That's a darn good club on its own. A shame they can't play today.
The Yankees -- or at least their fans -- have never lived in the hardscrabble reality of sports. The Bronx is the only place that has such an epic, yearly mandate. They don't reboot; the Bronx Bombers retool. The Yankees don't get mulligans or soft, wide windows through which they can rebuild.
Despite the walking triage the Yanks have become this young season, Boone is at his Ohio-optimistic-best.
"I feel like our club, our organization, more than anyone in the game is capable of dealing with these adversities," he said. "I feel like we have and we will. The expectation again doesn't change. We expect to go out there and win games." Besides, if the Yanks feel the burn under the bright lights, they can forget Judge, just call up a sub from Scranton, even if Boone is the only one who gets giddy at the thought of Thairo Estrada.
Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel.
