It's difficult to tell whether a team is good or not simply by looking at the first two games of the season. After all, the Orioles are 2-0 this year. However, much to the surprise of many analysts, the Yankees have looked pretty darn good.
With the exceptions of Boone Logan and Luis Ayala, the pitching staff has been good. CC Sabathia finally had a good Opening Day start, and A.J. Burnett gave five innings today despite a bad cold. David Robertson's performance was pretty typical; he pitched himself into a jam before sqeaking out without any runs. And, of course, Mariano Rivera is still Mariano Rivera.
The pitching staff has been merely good, but the Yankee lineup is back to the Bronx Bombers. Much to his chagrin, the media has been all over the little tweak in Derek Jeter's batting stance. Whether the minor adjustment has anything to do with it or not, he's batting .333 so far. However, Mark Teixeira has been the best bomber by far. Who knew that doing less weightlifting over the offseason would result in a better performance early in the season?
Aside from Teixeira's great start, the biggest improvement over last year's position players has to be at catcher. Russell Martin is far and away better behind the plate than Posada has been for several years, and is also a significant improvement over Francisco Cervelli.
According to analysts (who are, naturally, often prejudiced against the Yankees), the Yankees should be pretty much mathematically eliminated already. After all, Theo Epstein's offseason moves such as buying Carl Crawford (who's batting 0 for 2011 with 4 Ks) surely gives the Resilient Red Sox the edge over the Yankees, while the Rays are going to come out of the blue to surprise everyone. Oh, wait. The Yankees have a two-game lead over both teams after only two games.
Hydra
6-4-3 double play... Ballgame over! Yankees win! Theeeeeee Yankees win!
