The American League Divisional Series was a fairly good series for the Yankees. After sweeping the Twins in the first three games, they will play the Astros in the ALCS.
But before we advance to the next round, here’s a position-by-position report card for the Yankees.
Right Field
Grade: A
Aaron Judge was the only player the Yankees put in right field during this series. The 6-foot-7 former Rookie of the Year showed that his defense was on point with two diving catches in the first game. He went four-for-nine batting in the series. Judge looks like a seasoned veteran who is ready to lead his team to victory. His postseason career consists of 76 at-bats and seven home runs.
Having played all of his time with the Yankees, Judge is ready to help them win a World Series trophy. Judge earned himself an A because he has put up a lot of good defensive plays and power at the plate.
Center Field
Grade: B-
Brett Gardner took all of the starts in left field. One of two holdovers from the Yankees 2009 World Series title, Gardner was looking very sharp during the ALDS. In this series, Gardner hit three-for-12 with one home run and three runs knocked in. In his career, Gardner has been far better in the regular season than in the postseason. Gardner has hit .260 all-time in the regular season, while in the postseason he has only hit .206.
While Gardner is nearing the end of his career, he is still a key leader and player for the Yankees. Though he is in his age 36 season, Gardner is seemingly having the best season of his career. His 28 home runs are a career-high, and his good hitting and defense should carry over as the Yankees advance further into the postseason. Gardner earned himself a B- because he could do a little better hitting, but overall he had a good performance.
Left Field
Grade: D+
Giancarlo Stanton only played in 18 regular season games this season, but he got all three ALDS starts in left field. Stanton played a lot of the innings in left, but he was taken out late in all three games to give him some rest. He was replaced by Cameron Maybin every time.
Stanton is certainly a good player, and a leader. His key problem is that he lacks postseason experience, having been with the Marlins for the first part of his career. He has 27 career postseason at bats, six of which were from this series. He didn’t play extremely well, only generating one hit for one RBI. Stanton has also fumbled a couple of routine defensive plays.
Maybin is one of the Yankees’ under-the-radar acquisitions from this year. In his three postseason at-bats, Maybin had a solo home run and two outs. His previous postseason experience was with the Astros in 2017 when they won the World Series.
Maybin and Stanton earned a D+ because Stanton is still getting back into the swing of things. Maybin looked very good, but he has to keep going.
First Base
Grade: A-
DJ LeMahieu has looked like a solid MVP candidate this year. The Yankees utility man took all of the innings at first this series. Despite having almost no experience at first base before this season, LeMahieu has looked even better then the actual Yankees first basemen. Though he only played 40 games at first this season (compared to 75 at second and 52 at third, LeMahieu has looked very good.
Going four-for-14 with a home run and four RBI, LeMahieu seemed on par with the rest of the team. He earned himself an A- because he is still learning, but LeMahieu is holding up his top-five-in-MVP-voting status.
Second Base
Grade: A+
Gleyber Torres took all the innings at second base. One of last year’s breakout stars, Torres played 65 games as second this season and 77 at shortstop. Hitting .417 this postseason, Torres seems like a possible Yankees postseason MVP. His five hits in 12 at bats leads the team. He also is an amazing defender.
Torres looks like he could be an up-and-coming MVP candidate. If his momentum can carry into this series with the Astros, he could be a key factor in any Yankees wins.
He has earned himself an A+ because of his pure offensive power and great defensive work.
Shortstop
Grade: B+
Didi Gregorius was the Yankees’ shortstop for the ALDS. After returning from Tommy John surgery mid-way through the season, Gregorius has been a strong contributor. In the 2019 postseason, Didi is hitting .400 on the dot and has a home run and six RBI. One of only nine players from the Netherlands in the era of “modern” baseball (from 1900- present), Gregorius is certainly unique.
He earned himself a B+ because he played solid offense but has proven he could be even better.
Third Base
Grade: D
Gio Urshela was the Yankees’ third baseman throughout all three games. A mid-season promotion due to the injury of Miguel Andujar, Urshela has performed very well at the hot corner. This season, he hit .314 with 21 home runs in 132 games, all career-highs for him. This postseason is his second, and he is hitting .250 with three hits in at-bats. He is proving to be a good replacement for Andujar but he will likely be out of his job when the injured star returns.
Urshela has earned himself a D because he has been doing well, but he could be a lot better.
Catching
Grade: F
Coming into this series, the Yankees were expecting big things from Gary Sanchez. Based on his grade, you can see that he failed to impress. The catcher normally uses his power hitting to make up for his poor defensive work, but he couldn’t make up for either this series. Hitting .125 with only one hit in this series, Sanchez failed to meet expectations. His OBP is better, at .417, but he has to pick it up.
He’s going to have to improve a lot if he wants to pull his weight on the team.
Designated Hitter
Grade: C-
The Yankees’ mid-season trade for Edwin Encarnación has proved to be a good one. The power hitter the Yankees acquired from the Mariners has become one of the best hitters on the team. His 34 regular season home runs were second only to teammate Gleyber Torres. This series, Encarnación hit .308 with two RBI on four hits.
He earned himself a C- because he could do a slightly better hitting job since that’s all he has to do. With no option for defensive error, Encarnación should be able to provide just a bit more offensive power.
Pitching
Grade: C+
After a sweep of the Twins, there are no real problems with the Yankees. They held up well considering that their ace for the season, Domingo German, is suspended indefinitely. In the three games, they only let up seven total runs, which will help them fare well against the Astros.
Despite the Twins having the most home runs of any MLB team ever, the Yankees only let them hit four in this series. The pitching staff only let the Twins hit .218 as a team and managed to escape a few sticky situations without giving up a run.
Now, as they face the Astros, their pitching will face a really tough challenge, and that is why they have only earned a C+. If they can bear down and give up the same amount of runs as they did in the ALDS, the Yankees should be fine.
Overall
A major takeaway from the ALDS is that the Yankees have proven themselves to be playoff-ready. The first big test for the power-hitting lineup will be against the dominant rotation of the Astros.
