Most fans expected the Yankees to bolt out to a Secretariat-like lead after 20 games. But after a laughable litany of injuries in April, the Yankees finished a modest 10-10. Frankly, the .500 mark was rather impressive considering the roster losses the club had suffered.
Then the Yankees were soon faced with a West Coast trip, the kind they so loathed in the past, that always included a shelling in Anaheim before going north and being bludgeoned in Oakland.
But this time, it's the Yankees who shook California like a baseball tremor, whipping the Angels three out of four games. Instead of facing the Athletics, they went back to 1951 and swept the Giants. And instead of the standard names blasting the ball - such as Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Andujar and Didi Gregorius - the Yankees are getting stellar play from smaller names. A conveyor belt of lesser-known bats, from Thairo Estrada, Tyler Wade, DJ LeMahieu, and Gio Urshela, have all been instrumental on this road trip (even LeMahieu and Urshela got hurt over the weekend but x-rays were negative).
The Bombers have climbed back with at least a dozen players on the IL over the last two weeks. This is when you know you have the makings of a great baseball club; when your subs or scrubs are better than the other team's starters; when your Scranton kids are whipping the opponent's big-league starters. On April 17, the Yanks were 8-9 and 5 1/2 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays. Today, they are 17-11 and two games behind the 19-9 Rays. Don't look now, but the club was buoyed by two space-deep homers by Gary Sanchez, whom many were ready to dismiss as a careless, corpulent catcher who didn't play to his potential.
Now the Yankees are on an 11-2 run as they arrive in Arizona and trot out CC Sabathia, who is three strikeouts from the epic 3,000 milestone, adding another page to his Hall of Fame resume. Sabathia, the sage of the staff, is also the perfect emblem of a squad that doesn't quiver in the face of injury or adversity. The 38-year-old hasn't posted double-digit wins in four of his last five seasons, yet embodies the team's toughness and esprit de corps. In 15 innings he's surrendered only three runs for a 2.40 ERA, and has been invaluable to a rotation that lost ace Luis Severino.
And believe it or not the Bronx Bombers are getting some help. Stud sophomore Miguel Andujar could be back this Friday. Likewise with Clint Frazier. Fireballing reliever Dellin Betances should start light-tossing this weekend. Aaron Hicks should play some rehab games in the next few days. Stanton is over his biceps injury, is joining the club in Arizona and will be off the IL in less than a week. Similarly, Troy Tulowitzki is healed, is playing rehab games and plans to rejoin the club in a week.
They still need the arms of Severino and Jordan Montgomery, along with the bats and gloves of Gregorius and their best player, Aaron Judge. But with all the physical pain, they have that emotional bond that all teams covet - chemistry.
This doesn't make this group the 1998 Yankees, perhaps the best baseball team of the 20th Century. But it's hard to think of a deeper club in baseball or a more talented one. They were hit with a biblical plague of mangled limbs and tweaked tendons that would make the Mets blush. Yet they have not only held serve, but they have also broken through and are sniffing first place in the AL East - a pipe dream two weeks ago.
And instead of looking back and lamenting their woeful April, the Yankees can start playing for October.
Twitter: @JasonKeidel
