A quarter of the season gone - what have we learned?

After 41 games, what have we learned about the Yankees?

Defense -

Their defense has improved markedly. After ranking 12th (out of 14) in the AL last season, the additions of Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher, along with the improved play of Robbie Cano and Melky Cabrera, have pushed the Yanks up to sixth. Still not great, but above average. (FYI, the last three teams to lead the league in Defensive Efficiency have won the pennant (the '05 White Sox came in second).)

Offense -

The appropriately named Bombers currently lead the league in runs/game (5.66). Accounting for the ballpark gives them the top hitting offense in the game (116 OPS+).

What's surprising is that the Yanks were actually scoring more runs in April than they have been in May. They ranked 4th in April runs, and sit at 12th in May runs.

Cano -

I won't say Cano's having a breakout season because he's done it before (2007), but he's certainly having a tremendous come-back year. After three more hits last night, his season batting line is .317/.354/.527. Combining that with his stellar defense makes him the third best AL second-baseman (Ian Kinsler is incredible). I don't think he'll maintain that batting line, but there's no reason he shouldn't continue playing great D.

Melky -

Is this merely a hot streak, or is this closer to the new-and-improved Melky Cabrera? He's the 12th best centerfielder in baseball right now (out of 29), sitting ahead of such stars as B.J. Upton, Grady Sizemore and Vernon Wells. He hasn't been spectacular at hitting or fielding, but has been solid at both. We are hopefully witnessing the true break-out season of Melky, and will look back at this season and wonder why we ever doubted him.

Tex -

While he hasn't been great so far, he's been, like Melky, solid on both offense and defense. And when you compare him to our former first-baseman, the difference is staggering; Jason Giambi is ranked dead last among everyday first-basemen, and has cost the A's four runs. Tex, on the other hand, has been worth 11 runs. That's a 15 run difference, and we're only a quarter of the way through the season!

Damon -

He's been a very pleasant surprise - in fact, he's been our best hitter: .318/.387/.597 for a 154 OPS+. There's no way he'll maintain that though.

Swisher -

An incredibly up and down 41 games for Swish. He started the year on an absolute tear (1.144 OPS in April), but has tanked since then (.446 OPS). He'll end up somewhere in between. His defense, though, has kept him among the best right-fielders (currently ranked 7th), because most RFers cost their team runs, whereas Swisher has been average.

Pitching -

Both the starters and relievers have disappointed. Despite ranking second in strikeouts, the staff is third from the bottom in runs allowed. However, Chien Ming-Wang is an aberration - no pitcher with the track record he has will be that bad over a season. So if we remove his stats from the pitching line, it brings the starters' ERA down from 5.13 to 4.34.

The same can be said for relievers like Anthony Claggett and Damaso Marte. Removing their awful stats improves the bullpen ERA a full run, from 5.37 to 4.37.

Starters -

What we've seen from CC (3.43 ERA), Joba (3.70) and Andy (4.18) is likely what we'll get all season. The good news is that Burnett, Wang and Hughes should only improve.

Best game -

The 5-4 win over Minnesota was the best win of the year. Facing one of the game's best closers (Joe Nathan), the Yankees rallied for two runs in the bottom of the 9th, completed by a Melky Cabrera walk-off single.

Worst game(s) -

The embarrassing 22-4 debacle at the hands of the Indians, and the 5-4 loss in Boston when Mo blew the save. If Mo had closed out that game (like he does nine times out of 10), the Yanks sit atop the AL East now.

To sum up, the Yankees are not as great as the current winning streak suggests, but not as bad as they played until the streak. They're in prime position to make the playoffs (1.5 games out of first) - whether it's the division or the wild card is TBD.