No Focus Leads To Bad Start

The Yankees have played terrible baseball in the opening week of the season. At 1-4 it's very easy to see how bad this team can be. If it weren't for a few miscuses by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 8th inning on Wednesday night, the Yanks could be 0-5. Yikes!

What I've seen is a team that is making mental mistakes left and right resulting in errors on the field, pitches getting left over the strikezone and runners getting picked off the bases at an alarming rate. Some of these mental mistakes are just inexcusable. You can not get picked off at first base in just about every game. Where is the focus of the team? New shortstop Didi Gregorius got thrown out on Opening Day trying to steal 3rd base to end the 8th inning with Mark Teixeria at the plate having a chance to get the Yankees back in the game. Inexcusable!

19 innings on Friday night meant MANY squandered chances at winning the game in extra innings but continous mental errors and lack of focus denied the Yankees of a classic victory in the wee hours of the morning. Stephen Drew and Gregorius had countless opportunities to win the game with runners in scoring position and failed to send EVERYONE home. Granted Chase Headley, Teixera both homered when the Yankees needed them most and Carlos Beltran came through with a clutch double in the late late innings, it's the lesser impactful hitters in the lineup who came up short. Everyone was swinging for the fences when all was needed was a hit or a sac fly. Boston won on a sac fly in the 19th btw. 
“We have to play better,” Headley said. “It’s as simple as that. We’re better than that. We have to get it cleared up.”


The sentiment resides all throughout the clubhouse. As I've stated, this Yankee team can be and should be MUCH better than this but most people outside of the Bronx will tell you, this IS what the Yankees are. Right now, it's hard to refute that point but it's 5 games in. Everyone will go through bad streaks like this throughout the season
“I think we’re a much better team that how we’ve played,” Joe Girardi said. “If you were to play at this pace the whole year, you wouldn’t have many wins. And I think we’re much better than this.”
A bad week certainly puts a lot of doubt in people's mind, especially when the offense is sporting a .193 average at the plate. The best part of the young season is the emergence of Alex Rodriguez as the most reliable hitter. Who would've thought that?  Alex has looked good all spring and has continued it during the the opening week. He even saw time at first base yesterday, how bout that?!

The Yanks send Masahiro Tanaka to the hill tonight to salvage the final game of this aweful series against the Red Sox. All eyes will be on Tanaka as he rebounds from a poor Opening Day start. All breaths will be held as they will be anytime he takes the mound this season as we all hope his right elbow holds up and doesnt require season ending Tommy John surgery. If the Yanks keep playing at this pace, thet might as well send him under the knife now. Let's hope this was just one really bad week.

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