Yankees First Half Report Card

by Paul Semendinger

July 17, 2024

***

The grades are in.

What follows are my grades for the 2024 Yankees in the first half of the season:

• Jon Berti - INC There were hopes that Jon Berti would play good defense, get on base, steal bases, and give the Yankees some needed athleticism. Intead, he's been mostly injured, playing in only 17 games.

• Oswaldo Cabrera - C On a team that needs positive energy, Cabrera does his part. A triple slash of .238/.288/.341 though isn't good - at all. neither is a 76 OPS+. Cabrera has sat, a lot, but when he's played, he has filled in at multiple positions. When the Yankees started hot, he was part of that. He's a role player, and for his role, he's done well enough. That's a passing grade.

• Gerrit Cole - INC The once and hopefully future Ace, has had only four starts. He hasn't looked great. If he's not great, though, the Yankees are in big trouble.

• Nestor Cortes - C 4-8, 3.67. At home, he's been good (4-3, 1.81) but on the road, he's been terrible (0-5, 6.04). The Yankees need more out of Nestor. He is tied for the league lead in games started which is something of note and moves his grade from a C- to a C.

• J.D. Davis - F Five games, 1 for 13. One might think he should get an Incomplete, but he was brought in to do...something, and he hasn't done anything.

• Caleb Ferguson - D He just isn't all that good. The Yankees used him too often in situations for which he is ill-suited. 1-3, 5.28 with an ERA+ of 79. Every now and then he has a solid enough outing preventing the failing grade.

• Luis Gil - A- Yeah, I'm grading on a curve here. For a month, Gil was as good as any pitcher I have ever seen. Unfortunately, ir was only for a month. After that he returned to normalcy, but there is hope that he found something again after his last starts before the break. No one expected Gil to be in the starting rotation at the start of the season. For stepping up and being amazing, he gets bonus points giving him the higher grade.

• Trent Grisham - F I'm sorry. I want to root for this guy. I like his grace in the outfield. I love the few home runs he has hit. But, he misplayed a fly ball in Tampa and was very lazy on a ball a few games before. A lack of hustle is something I do not enjoy - especially on defense from a player whose speciality is...defense. His .195 batting average and 93 OPS+ don't help his cause.

• Ian Hamilton - C- I am being generous here. He hasn't looked good at all. A 1.584 WHIP just isn't good enough, but, he was also asked to pitch in bigger leverage situations than he is suited for. He looks intimidating, if nothing else.
  

• Clay Holmes - C He has done better than most realize. His ERA+ is higher than anyone might imagine. It is 149. That's very good. As the team struggled from mid-June on, he did as well. I don't think he is being pitched where he should. Earlier this season, he was lifted after 10 pitches in an extra inning game the Yankees lost. He's being asked to be a lights out closer. He's a very good pitcher. He's not a lights out closer though. He's blown far too many games - and in ugly fashion.

• Jahmai Jones - B He is a role player doing what a role player should.

• Aaron Judge - A+ He had a bad April but then hit like Superman and played like Superman. (Is he Superman?) He leads the MLB in Homers, RBIs, OBP, SLG, OPS, OPS+, and Total Bases (And double plays, but that comes with the territory sometimes.) He is also playing centerfield - a spot I don't like him in due to my concerns over his injury history. He is the MVP right now. The slow start brings him from an A++ down to an A+.

• Tommy Kahnle - D Overall, he has good numbers. 142 ERA+ 2.95 ERA. Sometimes the numbers don't quite tell the story. That's the case here. From what I have seen, Kahnle has not been very good.

• D.J. LeMahieu - D- This is ugly. 0 home runs. .188 batting average. .214 SLG. 43 OPS+. He can still play good defense. He goes out there and plays his best. Unfortunately, his best isn't good enough any longer.

• Ben Rice - B+ No one saw Ben Rice being an important part of this team. He's now essential. He's been a lead off hitter. He's been the clean-up hitter. He is learing first base on the fly. He may or may not be a solid MLB player... it is far too early to tell, but he's done everything he's been expected to do - and then some.

• Anthony Rizzo - D His OPS+ is 77. His OBP is .289. He's now hurt with a broken arm. It's sad when a very good player demonstrates that it is all over. It's all over.

• Carlos Rodon - D There was a moment when it seemed that Rodon had figured it out. He hasn't. Give him credit that he is tied for the league lead in starts.

• Clarke Schmidt - B He was doing very well until he got hurt which is something I saw happening a mile away and why I said last September that he pitched too much already and the Yankees should have shut him down.

• Juan Soto - A+ Soto has been everything the Yankees could have hoped for - and then some. He has positive energy. He's fun. He's great. I hope he's a Yankee for the next 10 to 15 years.

• Giancarlo Stanton - B- Giancarlo has outperformed all expectations. Of course, he was also expected to get injured and he did. His 18 homers are a happy surprise. But, if not for his bad 2022 and his worse 2023, his 119 OPS+ would be his worst ever as a Yankee. He's been better than anyone could have hoped, but he hasn't been great. He also cannot run, or play defense, at all, making him, overall, not a very valuable player.

• Marcus Stroman - B Stroman has been everything the Yankees could have expected. 7-4, 3.51 is good. He, most often, keeps the team in games. Anyone expecting better than this from Stroman was just dreaming. He's actually been better than his career would have indicated.

• Michael Tonkin - A There is a huge gulf between what he was expected to do, how he performed when he first arrived, and how he has performed for a good long while now. Can he keep it up? I doubt it, but Tonkin has pitched amazingly well. His ERA+ is 281. He had had 27 appearances. Holy Cow!

• Gleyber Torres - D- What a shame. I thought Torres would have a big year. It's instead been a bad year: lost at the plate, indifferent on the bases, erratic in the field.

• Jose Trevino - C- Trevino goes out there an battles. He's hit well enough, overall. The man can't throw any longer, though. A team can't have a catcher who can't throw. He should not be playing regularly, at all.

• Alex Verdugo - B He slumped a ton to finish the first half, but he has brough needed enrgy and hustle. His defense, minus one final gam of the first half, has been a needed plus.

• Anthony Volpe - B He has played very good defense. His batting is a problem. I wish the Yankees would leave him alone and not tinker with him and his swing and his approach. I want Volpe batting 9th until he proves he is a solid big league hitter. Unfortunately, he might never be a solid MLB hitter. For his career, now a season and a half, his OPS+ is 83. For his career, his OBP is .290. People talk about Volpe being the next Derek Jeter. Bucky Dent's career OBP as a Yankees was .295. Bucky Dent was a fine player. Thus far in his career, Volpe seems to be much more of Bucky Dent than Derek Jeter. (By the way, Bucky Dent batted ninth in 850 games. That was, by far, the most common spot in the batting order for him.)

• Luke Weaver - A 4-1, 2.47. He's done what he has been asked to do.

• Austin Wells - B- Wells didn't hit much the first half, but over the last few weeks finally started to find his stroke. He would do better if he was given regular playing time. He needs to be the starting catcher.

***

To all media types, writers, bloggers, reporters, opinion people, newscasters, newspaper people, podcasters, and, etc.... THANKS for reading Start Spreading the News. If you borrow the ideas here, or share them, it is only right to give credit to the site and the author of the article.