At time of writing, the Yankees have the best record in the American League, as well as the league’s best run differential. Yes, the pitching has been outstanding, fifth in baseball in fWAR and K-BB%, but the lineup, which carried a certain miasma of mediocrity not that long ago, has also been one of the five or so most productive in the game. It’s the last day of the season’s first month, and it’s been a good one.
Yet I still chose the lead image for this post carefully, since so much of the narrative ahead of the season was what the Yankees didn’t do right — they let the greatest free agent shortstop class in history waltz right by, and the additions the club did make prioritized defense and roster flexibility, rather than addressing a lineup coming off a down year.