Back On Top, Baby!!!

Although the Yanks we're actually in first place on Wednesday, they we're tied with the Red Sox. After last nights 3-1 victory over the Indians and the Sox 6-3 loss to the Blue Jays, the Yanks are alone on top.

I know it's May 30th, and the last time I checked, they don't hand out rings for being in 1st place on this date, but it still feels good. The last time the Yanks held 1st place by themselves was the final day of the 2006 season. That sounds crazy, but it's true. For over 2 years the Yanks have been primarily looking up at somebody trying to catch them.

Ahhh, yes, the month of May has been good. Lets look at some of the reasons why:

1) Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez

If the Yanks had a major league quality 3rd baseman on their roster, maybe his absence from the line-up wouldn't have been as glaring but they don't. Cody Ransom, Angel Berroa & Ramiro Pena would not start at any position for any other team in the major leagues. Not Washington, not Pittsburgh, not San Diego, nobody. Yet, a $200 Million payroll team was forced to run them out there every day. Unbelievable!

Expect the Yanks to mix in a little more position players in this years draft. Just a hunch.

ARod made a good line-up look great soon as he came back. Yankee scoring actually did not increase but with everyone else able to relax and just play their role, clutch hitting improved and walk off wins became a nightly occurrence...or so it seemed.

2) This Teixiera guy is good. Who knew?

Whether it was protection from ARod or an annual April slump coming to an end, Mark Teixiera straight mashed in May. Look at the numbers:

AVG .321 HR 12 RBI 30 SLG .726

On top of that he is flashing the leather like no Yankee first baseman has done since Donnie Baseball.

And remember, during the off season, it was a given that he was going to the Red Sox. Imagine if that had happened. Gotta give Cashman credit on that one.

3) "Our" Kids Are Alright

The Yanks would not be in 1st Place without the contributions from Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardner, Francisco Cervelli, Pena, & Phil Hughes.

Melky's been excellent, showing consistency & discipline at the plate that was lacking last year. Gardner lost the starting job in CF, but he's been a spark plug off the bench. Cervelli couldn't hit in AA, but he's surprised everyone with his bat plus his leadership and energy behind the plate. Pena seems to have locked down the utility infielder job for the season. And Phil Hughes has shown flashes of why he was once the crown jewel of the Yankee farm system. He's making it very hard for Chien Ming Wang to get his spot in the rotation back.

4) Aces High

With one more start to go, CC Sabathia is 3-1 with a 2.33 ERA for the month of May. He's gone deep into games and only given up 1 HR in 5 starts (3 of those starts being in homer friendly Yankee Stadium).

In his last 4 starts the bullpen has worked a total of 4 innings. That's how you rest a bullpen. And a rested bullpen is an effective bullpen as this month has shown.

Hopefully, the Yanks can keep it going as we enter the summer.