The 2021 Yankees weren’t always an easy baseball team to watch. They could not hit for large stretches of last season, committed cringeworthy baserunning mistakes, and their defense was terrible. So today, I’d like to focus on how terrible the 2021 Yankees were defensively, but how much hope they’ve offered so far this year on that side of the ball.
Last season’s club accomplished an ignominious feat; they were unquestionably awful by both the old eye test and advanced metrics. For example, looking at Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), as reported by FanGraphs, the Yankees finished 29th overall for the 2021 season with -41 defensive runs saved.