The Yankees Are Back And Proving They Belong

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Before the start of the 2015 season, many thought the New York Yankees would be a team with an injury prone pitching rotation, a lineup that is too old, and the return of Alex Rodriguez that would be filled with comedy and tragedy.

However, the Yankees are not a so called “circus act” after all. With one fifth of their season completed the Bronx Bombers have surprised basically everyone, clobbering the Tampa Bay Rays 11-5 on Monday night, where the team hit five home runs, including Rodriguez’s eighth, and owning the American League’s best record at 21-12.

The team from the Bronx, admit it or not, is a team that is fun to watch. They are not the old beat up 90 loss team everyone predicted in February. The Yanks are likeable and in a mediocre American League East, they are very well alive.

The real question is: who does it start with? Is it the hated A-Rod who is hitting .250 with eight home runs and 20 runs batted in as the anchor of the lineup? Or Maybe its Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner who are hitting .341 and .308 respectively and setting the tone for the rest of the lineup with a combined .394 on base percentage? Or is it newly proclaimed Yankees ace Michael Pineda who is 5-0 and sporting a 2.72 earned run average, with an unbelievable strikeout to walk ratio of 54-to-3?

Maybe it’s the Yankees bullpen with Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller, who have yet to allow an earned run in 35 innings while striking out 56 and allowing only 11 hits.

Any way you look at it, yes the Yankees are old, need pitcher C.C. Sabathia to have an earned run average under 5.00, and know Mark Teixeira will not slug .600 all season, but Major League Baseball’s worst nightmare is coming true. The New York Yankees are back and good, and the most hated man in the league is leading the way.