So, as a follow-up article to last issue’s Yankees predictions, it seems that my predictions have been fairly on track so far. In the month of May, the New York Yankees had an AL best record of 17-7. They took 5 of 7 from the defending World Series Champions Houston Astros (who we now don’t have to face for the rest of the 2018 season) along with keeping them scoreless for 28 consecutive innings in their own stadium (*cough* Ken Giles *cough*). The Yankees now lead the Major Leagues in HR (87) and RBI (290), along with OPS (.804); they are also tied with their division rivals the Boston Red Sox with a .466 slugging percentage.

One spark that has helped the team this season has been 21-year-old rookie Gleyber Torres. In the month of May, his stats included a .317 batting average, 13 runs, 9 home runs, and 24 runs batted in (he had previously hit homeruns in 4 consecutive games, making him the first in AL history to do so at age 21 or younger). He also led all MLB rookies in the month of May in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in. I’d say those are some pretty good stats for a 21-year-old. In fact, the Yankees are 21-6 since he was called up.

Another spark contributing to the recent success of the Yankees is Luis Severino. Though he’s only 24 years of age, many people see the Dominican starter as the ace of the Yankees pitching staff. In the 2018 season, his stats include 12 starts (which has resulted in an 8-1 record along with being tied for 2nd most wins in the league), a 2.31 earned run average (which ranks him #10 in the league), 92 punch outs (which puts him at 7th in the league), and a 10.62 K/9 (which has him in the top 20 of the league). If he pitches well enough, he could possibly earn the AL Cy Young Award. (He ranked 3rd in the voting for the same award in the previous season.)

While Torres had and still has been coming up huge for the Yankees in their recent games, there have been a couple of Yankees who had been on huge slumps but are now starting to break out. Didi Gregorius was in a 6-71 slump in 17 games (YIKES), while another player that had been and still somewhat is slumping for the New York Yankees is former NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton. In fact, he’s been so bad in various home games that even the home Yankee fans have booed him out of the stadium (pfft, they’ll probably start gloating about him when he goes on a hot streak). Even though there have been many players who have been slumping for the Bronx Bombers, they still continue to win. This team makes it seem to me that if one night one player gets shut out, another layer rises to the occasion. I like when teams are like that, it shows that everyone chips in on a team that many have predicted would get to and win the Fall Classic.

After the first couple of months of the MLB season, each team should know by now what they should be aiming for at the end of the season. The Yankees are obviously in the contenders category, but the team still trails the Boston Red Sox by 1.5 games for the AL East division lead. (FYI, the Red Sox have played 5 more games than the Yankees, and this may have even changed by the time that this article is published). Boston vs. NY could very well end up as a potential ALDS series (with the winners playing the defending champion Astros in the ALCS, because believe me, the Indians have so far been very mediocre along with the fact that the rest of their division is down in the sewers).

However, relating to my last article’s predictions, the Yankees turned out fairly well. Will the predictions of this article turn out the same as my previous article’s predictions? Probably not, but hey, you never know; anything can happen in baseball.