This past Thursday morning, I broke one of my own unwritten rules: avoiding sports talk radio shows at all times. Not to disparage an industry that’s far more established and successful than I am, but I nauseate at the general lack of logic and civility. I find it exasperating that the person who yells the loudest wins the argument.

But that morning, I had left the radio on in my car from listening to the Yankees the night before. They had just wrapped up their 17th win in 18 games. It was yet another exciting comeback win thanks to Brett Gardner’s triple and Aaron Judge’s home run in the eighth inning. I decided to leave the radio on while I drove my daughter to school. With the team playing so well, there’s little to complain about. How bad could it be?

It was a huge mistake. The show devoted the entire segment to bashing Gary Sanchez. “He’s too lazy to ever be a good catcher!” “He doesn’t care about his defense at all!” “Austin Romine should be starting AT LEAST half the games, and they should trade this bum!” “He misses half the pitches! They smack the umpire in the face!”

My morning was ruined. Shock and disillusionment replaced any positive feelings from the night before. Never mind the larger question of whether Yankee fans can ever truly be happy. Is this what the fanbase really thinks of Gary Sanchez? Was I mistaken that The Kraken is a beloved member of their exciting young core?

Last June, on the occasion of Sanchez’ 100th career game, I created a poll at Banished to the Pen to determine where Sanchez ranks in the current hierarchy of catchers. He was coming off a dominant final two months of 2016 in which he impressed enough to finish second in Rookie of the Year voting. Following a stint on the disabled list at the beginning of 2017, he continued to punish the American League. The idea was a thought experiment to see how much credibility a player can generate after only 100 games.

Now I’d like to recreate that experiment for a different reason. Assuming that most readers of BP Bronx are Yankee fans, I’d like to find out just how highly the fanbase rates Sanchez. After a few days, I’ll present the poll results here at BP Bronx.

Click here to vote!

Photo Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Last night, Chapman drilled Bradley with a 103.3 MPH fastball. Nearly every sports media outlet chronicled how this was the fastest pitch in MLB this season, and that Bradley was tragically unlucky to take it on the elbow.

(Here’s a link to a gif of it because we can’t embed tweets for some reason.)

But the history of these two All-Stars goes deeper. In 7 career plate appearances against Chapman, Bradley is 2-3 with a walk and 3 HBP! On one hand, kudos to Bradley for reaching base 6 out of 7 times against perhaps the greatest lefty reliever of all time. On the other, that is NOT a sustainable way to reach base, let alone extend one’s career. Let’s examine these HBP a little further.

A (Very Painful) Trip Down Memory Lane

August 13, 2014: The first pitch Bradley ever saw from Chapman came up and in at 100.8 MPH. Bradley couldn’t get out of the way and got plunked. No, he didn’t; he got drilled. Plunked is what happens when a batter gets hit with a curveball or changeup. Chapman has never plunked anyone in his life. 2014 was Bradley’s first full season, and this was the first 100 MPH fastball he’d ever seen in the majors (and probably ever).

August 13, 2017: Three years to the day after the first HBP Chapman nailed him again, this time at 101.5 MPH on an 0-2 count. StatCast actually recorded the exit velocity at 51.7 MPH. That’s not the exit velocity off a wooden bat, that’s off bone and sinew! The ball traveled a distance of 43 feet. At the risk of being immodest, this is the single greatest application of StatCast in history.

May 8, 2018: 103.3 MPH, as shown above. This is the fastest velocity on a HBP ever recorded by StatCast, breaking the previous record of 102.7 from Chapman to Khris Davis on August 24, 2013. One would think after three near-assassinations, Bradley and Chapman might have words (or fists) to share with one another. Instead, Bradley simply takes his base, and Chapman walks toward him presumably to apologize or check that he’s OK. We don’t often get to congratulate ballplayers for showing maturity. Well done, gentlemen.

Bradley’s Terrible HBP Misfortune

This was not supposed to happen. Neither Bradley nor Chapman are prone to HBP (thank goodness). Bradley has faced 8,216 pitches in his MLB career and he’s only been hit by 34 of them (0.41%). Chapman is one of the most dangerous pitchers on the planet simply because of his blistering fastball, but he’s only hit 21 batters with 7,633 pitches (0.28%). Averaging the two, a pitch thrown from Chapman to Bradley should result in a HBP only 0.35% of the time or once every 286 pitches. In actuality, 3 out of 23 pitches have left a bruise.

However, not every pitch by Chapman reaches triple digits. He throws a lot of sliders and plenty of fastballs that only reach the high 90s. Roughly 1/3 of Chapman’s pitches cross the 100 MPH threshold (35.6%), so the chances of Bradley getting hit with a 100 MPH Chapman fastball are only 0.12%. Mathematically, it should happen once every 805 pitches, but in real life, it’s been once every 8!

Other pitchers have thrown 100 MPH, but last night’s 103 MPH high cheese was truly rare even for Chapman. He’s only thrown 262 pitches in his career at that speed or higher, which is 3.4% of all his pitches. Before last night, no one had ever been hit by a 103 MPH pitch. Based on the HBP rates of both Chapman and Bradley, it should happen once every 8,347 pitches from the former to the latter. Unfortunately for Bradley, it happened on just the 23rd.

Bradley has paid his dues against the Cuban Missile. The odds of getting struck 3 times in just 23 pitches by the hardest thrower in baseball history are unbelievably long. It’s highly unlikely to happen ever again. However, next time he faces Chapman he should consider standing a few inches further back in the batter’s box.

Photo Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

The Yankees are on a certifiable hot streak. 15 of the last 16 games have ended with John Sterling belting out, “THEEEEEEE YANKEES WIN!” They’ve have gotten fantastic pitching from young stars (Luis Severino), old vets (CC Sabathia), and rookies (Domingo German, wow!). There’s been clutch hitting from nearly everyone in the lineup, with a new hero leading the team to victory each day.

There have been a few blowouts, such as the 14-1 obliteration of Minnesota on April 23, and the 11-1 bludgeoning in Anaheim on April 28. But the hallmark of the Yankees’ unbelievable run has been late-inning drama. Incredibly, 6 of the 15 wins featured the go-ahead run in the ninth inning or later. It’s almost too many fairy tale endings to keep track of. Here is a recap of the 5 biggest hits of the hot streak by WPA.

5) May 6: Neil Walker RBI Double, 36% WPA

The aforementioned walk-off bomb from #GleyberGood wasn’t the biggest hit of the game. In fact, it wasn’t even the biggest hit of the inning! Trailing 4-3 entering the bottom of the ninth, Aaron Hicks starting things off with a double. Neil Walker followed with another line drive double to right field, tying the score. Walker’s hit was worth 36% WPA, increasing the Yankee odds of winning from 46% to 82%. After a groundout by Miguel Andujar and an intentional walk to Giancarlo Stanton, Torres increased the win expectancy from 71% to 100% with his moonshot to right-center.

4) May 4: Miguel Andujar Game-Winning Single, 36% WPA

The opening match of the Cleveland series was an emotional whirlwind. The Yankee bullpen blew a 5-0 lead in the top of the 8th inning, thanks to a three-run smash by Bradley Zimmer. In the bottom of the frame, the Yankees regained the lead with a two-out, bases loaded walk by Aaron Judge. However, Aroldis Chapman failed to shut the door, yielding a single to Yan Gomes, a HBP, and two wild pitches. With the score tied at 6 in the bottom of the ninth, Stanton led off with a double. Gary Sanchez flew out to right field and Hicks grounded out to the right side, advancing Stanton to third. Walker walked (which is a fun phrase to type), then took second on defensive indifference. That brought up Andujar, who slapped one into right field on a 1-2 count, scoring Stanton to win the game. The base hit was worth 36% WPA, but perhaps it should be penalized because Didi Gregorius was kicked in the head during the celebration. With all these dramatic wins, you’d think the team would know how to celebrate more safely.

3) April 27: Didi Gregorius 10th Inning Home Run, 38% WPA

In the first game of the road trip, the Yankees trailed the Angels 3-2 in the 9th inning. Brett Gardner hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game with the bases loaded and one out. David Robertson pitched a flawless bottom of the ninth, sending the game to extra innings. With one out in the 10th, Gregorius did this:

The blast increased the Yankees’ chances of winning from 44% to 82%. Chapman nailed down the victory in the bottom of the inning, 4-3 Yankees.

2) May 3: Gleyber Torres Two-Run Single, 39% WPA

Gleyber does make the cut after all! Astros closer Ken Giles was out of commission after getting blown up the day before (and perhaps nursing a bruised jaw), so Will Harris took on the Yankees in the top of the ninth with a 5-3 lead. He surrendered a walk to Walker (there it is again!) and singles to Andujar and Hicks to load the bases with no outs. Brad Peacock came in to face Torres, who lined a single to left to tie the game. Two batters later, Hicks scored on a groundout to give the Yankees the lead, which Chapman preserved for a victory. The Torres single was the big play, of course, improving the Yankees’ win expectancy from 42% to 81%.

1) April 26: UNLEASH THE KRAKEN, 66% WPA

When Sanchez stepped to bat in the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees had just a 34% chance of beating the Twins. They were trailing 3-1 with two men on base and no outs. His blast traveled 381 feet and miraculously stayed inside the foul pole. Everybody goes home, 4-3 Yankees. A WPA event of 30% or higher is rare. A 66% WPA event can almost exclusively be a come-from-behind, walk-off winner like Gary’s. Much like the Yankees’ entire hot streak, it should be savored and remembered.

Photo Credit: Adam Hunger / USA TODAY Sports

As it turns out, the Yankees are really good at these things. Their pitchers AND hitters are the among best in baseball at generating positive three true outcome (TTO) results. Let’s check the team leaderboards for each TTO stat through Saturday’s action.

Home Runs

The Yankees’ big bats are only just getting started, but they’re already third in MLB in HR, two off the lead. They hit 241 of them last year and then traded for Giancarlo Stanton, so they ought to be at or near the front of the pack all season. Their pitching staff is roughly average at HR prevention, having yielded 10 thus far. Their net total is +3, good for 7th in baseball.

There are other factors here, of course. Each team has only played 7-10 games so far (the Yankees have played 9), so there are small sample size considerations. Park factors vary greatly and are probably a big reason why the Giants pitching staff has only given up a pair of long balls all year. Early April weather is a major variable as well. Still, the Yankees are a net positive, and that’s a very good thing when we’re talking about the most game-altering event possible in any plate appearance.

Walks

Yankee hitters are the most patient in the league (tied with Arizona), leading the way with 43 walks. Shockingly, Didi Gregorius leads the team with 8 after collecting only 25 free passes in all of 2017. The pitching staff is middle of the road, sitting 15th in MLB with 29 walks allowed. Altogether, they have a net +14 walks, 5th best in MLB.

Strikeouts

Here’s where the pitchers shine. The home run hitters are usually strikeout prone, and Stanton and Judge have 26 already. However, the pitching staff is the best in baseball at inducing Ks. Chad Green and Aroldis Chapman have struck out 19 of the 37 batters they’ve faced! Their net +27 strikeouts are second only to Boston

*-Net K is reversed from net HR and net BB because K is good for the pitcher while the other two are good for the offense.

Put it All Together

There’s really a fourth true outcome, HBP, that has the same impact as walks. It doesn’t happen that often, but it’s a true outcome all the same because only the pitcher and the batter can control it. Combining all four of these net outcomes, the 2018 leaders look like this:

The Yankees, while not being the net leader in any one of the TTO categories, have a healthy advantage over the rest of baseball in combined net TTO. This passes the sniff test, as the top 5 teams on this leaderboard are 29-12 this season.

However, not all of these outcomes have an equal weight. Homers and walks are both good outcomes for the batter, but a home run is REALLY good while a walk is just a little good. Knowing this, the creators of FIP assigned weights to each outcome to accurately reflect their impact on a game. We’ll borrow from the FIP formula to weigh our TTO leaderboard as well:

wTTO = (Net HR*13) + (Net (BB+HBP)*3) + (Net K*2)

The same teams comprise the top 5, but the order is jumbled a bit. The Yankees are still out in front, and their lead looks much more impressive. Given their level of talent, they should be able to stay near the front of the league all season, and the wins will surely follow.

For the first time in baseball history, the average MLB team hit more than 200 home runs; in fact, they averaged 203.5 home runs per team. The league average fluctuates greatly from year-to-year and even more so across eras. For comparison, here are the MLB team average HR for the last 6 seasons.

Homers increased 69% from 2014 to 2017. Going further back, we can see even greater differences. The average team hit 93.1 HR in 1976, 151.7 in 1961, and 56.6 in 1943, to pick just a few examples. Looking at every MLB team’s HR total from 1920-2017, the overall average is 129. (Prior to 1920 hardly anyone hit more than a handful of homers, which is why it’s known as the Deadball Era.)

HR is a counting stat, so we normally just celebrate who blasted the most baseballs over the fence. We don’t often think about HR relative to league average. Doing so would show that the 2017 Yankees’ 241 HR is not that special when the league average is as high as 203.5.

Standard Deviations and Z-Scores

To measure HR relative to the league, we’ll need to calculate the standard deviation of the league average for each season. This tells us how spread out each team’s HR totals are from each other in a given season. Then, we can find the Z-score for each team, which is how many standard deviations their HR total is away from the mean.

For 2017, one standard deviation away from the mean of 203.5 was 22.7 HR. The Yankees led MLB with 241 HR, which gives them a Z-score of 1.65. This is actually one of the lowest Z-scores for a league-leading team in history! 2017 was the first season since 1989 in which the HR leading team had a Z-score lower than 2. In fact, the only team to ever lead the league in HR with a lower Z-score was the 1959 Milwaukee Braves.

The Yankees’ 241 HR in 2017 was equal to the 1925 Giants’ 114. Baseball was really weird back then.

The Best of Home Runs

Let’s try an experiment. If Giancarlo Stanton had played for the Yankees last year and added 59 home runs, the team total ascends to an even 300 HR (we’ll ignore the fact that other players would’ve lost playing time and hit fewer home runs with Stanton in the lineup). That would obliterate the MLB record of 264 home runs set by the 1997 Mariners. The 2017 Yankees + Stanton brings the Z-score to 3.63, which is much more impressive. But how would this hold up against the best home run hitting teams of all time? For that matter, how do the 1997 Mariners fare relative to the league?

Here are the top 10 Team HR Z-scores from 1920-2017:

Unsurprisingly, the 1920 Yankees have the highest Z-score ever. The league average that year was 39.4 HR, and Babe Ruth had 54 all by himself. The second place team was the Philadelphia Athletics with 64, and every other team hit less than the Babe.

More recently, the 2010 Blue Jays’ had the third best Z-score. This means that their 257 HR was more impressive than the 1997 Mariners’ record of 264. Ken Griffey Jr., Jay Buhner, and friends actually had the seventh best team HR season ever, and not the best.

The Worst of Home Runs

What about the other end of the spectrum? If we can use standard deviation and Z-score to find the best home run hitting teams we can also use them to find the worst. Here’s the bottom 10 by Z-score:

It looks like we really did see an almost-record last season, just not a good one. The 2017 Giants were the second worst team in history at hitting home runs. It’s important to point out that Z-score doesn’t account for park factors, and their home stadium repressed offense overall by 9%. Even still, they failed to produce a single 20 HR hitter during a season in which homers exploded around the league.

Let’s talk about those 1980s Cardinals. The league average was 146.7 HR in 1986, yet they only managed 58. This gave them a -3.70 Z-score, the worst ever. Three years later they produced the fifth worst HR Z-Score. Not pictured above is the 1987 Cardinals, who just missed the chart with the 11th worst HR Z-score.

The amazing thing about these Cardinals isn’t just the consistency with which they failed to hit dingers, it’s that they were still a good team! Led by the speed and defense of Ozzie Smith, Willie McGee, and Vince Coleman, the 1987 Cardinals finished 95-67 and took the Twins to the seventh game of the World Series! Other than the 1987 and 1989 Cardinals, the only team to finish over .500 with a bottom 10 HR Z-score was the 1979 Astros (the 1986 Cardinals were 79-83).

This Kinda Sucks

This is not fun. It’s much more enjoyable to revel in the brutish destruction of baseballs perpetuated by Judge and company. We’re not better off knowing that the 2017 Yankees were one of the least impressive league-leading HR teams in history. This whole experiment has been a buzzkill. Here’s something to cheer us all up:

All statistics other than standard deviations and Z-scores courtesy of Baseball-Reference.

Photo Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

Baseball pundits always preach about lineups needing to have balance. Lefty-dominated lineups have a field day against right-handed pitchers but struggle against left-handed pitchers. The same might not be true about right-handed dominated lineups — something that I’ll explore in the future. Let’s choose, for the moment, to still accept the premise that the Yankees want to eschew from an unbalanced lineup.

With that in mind, there are two reasons why I’d go Moustakas over Frazier, and one that favors the latter over the former.

Career-wise, Moustakas has 448 PAs less than Frazier. Frazier also has a better triple-slash line than Moustakas: .245/.321/.459 (.279 TAv) vs. .251/.308/.425 (.258 TAv). With those numbers, adding Frazier to the lineup makes the Yankees even scarier than they already are. But the difference isn’t as substantial as it seems at first glance. Just last season, Frazier was less valuable than Moustakas — .222/.365/.423 (.268 TAv)* vs. .272/.314/.521 (.275 TAv). If we’re looking at career numbers, Frazier makes sense, but if we look at recent performance, I still feel more inclined towards signing Moustakas.

*That’s in 241 PA with the Yankees. With the White Sox, his line was .207/.322/.432 (.267 TAv).

Now, if we look at defense and payroll, Moustakas makes even more sense.

Though Frazier may have Moustakas beat in most offensive categories, defense is a whole other ball game. Moustakas’ glove work has produced a career 33.2 FRAA to Frazier’s -3.6. Just right there, Moustakas is a better career defender at third base than Frazier is. But, again, that’s over their careers. We must also look at their most recent performance to balance things out. In 2017, Frazier was better defensively than Moustakas (1.0 FRAA vs. -7.4).  2017 was a career-low for Moustakas, perhaps attributed to some lingering effect from his injury. In the long run (and over this offseason), Moustakas may be conditioning himself and recovering from any possible ailments and might come back better off in 2018. Looking at his career numbers, that’s a gamble I’d be more than willing to take.

Finally, there’s payroll. The Yankees are reportedly trying to get under the luxury tax in order to be big spenders in the 2018 free agency sweepstakes. With that in mind, Moustakas being the younger, least valuable player (as he is perceived) may mean a lower contract. Moustakas currently needs a place where he can prove he is one of the game’s best third basemen. As such, he might be willing to take a cheap, one-year contract to play in one of the country’s biggest media markets, showcasing himself to teams that may not be willing to spend big on Machado or Donaldson.

With that in mind, even though Frazier may take a one-year home team discount contract to play for the Yankees in 2017, Moustakas might be even cheaper (I wager somewhere between $5-8 million on a one year contract).

Should Moose opt to sign with the Yankees, he’d be in line for a small payroll but the chance to play on one of the biggest stages in the world and play for a team capable of reaching the World Series. Taking a short contract while aiming for a bigger payday in the future would put both Moustakas and the Yankees in a win-win situation for 2018 and beyond.

Photo credit: Dan Hamilton / USA TODAY Sports

One of the more surprising, refreshing, and little-appreciated aspects of the Yankees’ solid season has been the team’s base running. We usually do not spend time talking about Yankee teams and base running because…well…in recent years it has not been good. From 2010 to 2016, the Yankees posted a negative BRR (base running runs, which is the runs better than average a team is at a certain advancement opportunity, with zero representing average) in four of those seasons, including every season from 2014-2016. Take a look at the chart below:

In other words, the Yankees have done a poor job in recent years at taking advantage of opportunities to take the extra base (making it to second successfully on a passed ball, going first to third on a hit to the outfield, etc). This is likely largely due to having older players who simply do not have the speed to do so. You could probably count on one hand a number of times you saw Carlos Beltran, Alex Rodriguez, or Mark Teixeira go from first to third or second to home on singles over the past three seasons.

This year, however, has been a much different story. The Yankees have collectively posted a BRR of 5.9, good for the eighth best mark in baseball (the San Francisco Giants rank first with a score of 9.6). The last time they ranked that high was 2013 when the team ranked ninth with a mark of 4.8. This year’s mark of 5.9 is the sum total of the individual scores given for the five different types of possible advancement by a base runner:

-SBR (Advancement on stolen bases): 2.10
-GAR (Advancement on balls hit on the ground to infielder): 1.18
-AAR (Advancement on balls hit in the air that are caught): 1.71
-HAR (Advancement on hits to the outfield): 1.59
-OAR (Advancement on other opportunities such as wild pitches and passed balls): -0.61

As you can see, the Yankees collectively are slightly better than average in four of the five potential advancement opportunities, while just a tick below average in taking advantage of passed balls and wild pitches (technically, balks are also included in “other”, but by rule the runner is allowed to move up a base, not by choice). The Bombers’ best baserunner in 2017 is unsurprisingly Brett Gardner, who currently boasts a personal BRR score of 3.2, good for 24th in all of baseball. Of the ten Yankees who have had at least 50 opportunities to advance a base or bases in any kind of manner (total base running opportunities), seven have posted scores above zero (again, with zero being average).

The 2017 Yankees being an overall good base running team not only passes the stat test, but it also passes the eye test. Here’s a good example of the kind of the thing that the stats say the Yankees are good at doing this season.

In the seventh inning of Thursday afternoon’s game against Detroit (in between all the brawling and bench clearings), the Yankees had team BRR leader Brett Gardner on first and Jacoby Ellsbury at third with nobody out while trailing by 6-4. Aaron Hicks hit a high fly ball to left which looked as though it was heading out for a three-run home run. Detroit’s Justin Upton leaped at the wall to rob Hicks of a long ball, but Ellsbury still tagged up from third to make it a one-run game.

Perhaps more importantly, Gardner did not get caught up in the fact that the ball may leave the ballpark but instead tagged up from first base and easily made it to second. Having the tying run at second with one out with the three and four place hitters in the lineup due up is a much better position than a runner at first with one out. And on cue, Gary Sanchez immediately followed with a ground ball single to center field that brought Gardner home with the tying run. So yes, while Sanchez gets credit for the RBI, Gardner also deserves a great deal of credit for the superb base running to get Sanchez in a situation where just a single could tie the game.

It feels nice when what the stats tell us and what our eyes/gut tell us actually coincide. In this instance, the two evaluation tools tell us that this Yankee team is quite good at taking the extra base when given the opportunity. As the regular season heads into the home stretch and playoff baseball approaches where outs are as precious as gold, this collective skill can help a team win games and ultimately series.

Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire / USA TODAY Sports

Aroldis Chapman threw an early contender for Pitching GIF of the First Half with this 90mph Slider to Brad Miller yesterday pic.twitter.com/OGFyVJEWmI

— Pitcher List (@ThePitcherList) April 5, 2017

Two things about this particular pitch: (1) As silly as Chapman made Miller look, that’s certainly much better than any of us would do in that spot; and (2) sliders from Chapman like that one will be a major factor in his continued success in the coming years.

Obviously, Chapman (who turned 29 in February) has made his living off his other-worldly fastball while mixing in his slider and changeup to keep hitters off balance. His secondary offerings—even if they are not executed perfectly—can make hitters look foolish since they typically are gearing up for 100 mph+.

However, the left-hander’s slider has been an elite pitch in its own right over his career. From 2010–16, opposing batters hit just .100 (24-239) with a .059 ISO against Chapman’s slider, which he threw a little over 16 percent of the time during that span. Batters aren’t hitting poorly against the offering just because they’re getting fooled by not getting the fastball; the pitch is also thrown hard (87.6 mph average in his career) and with some serious movement. Just take a look at the average horizontal movement of his slider for each month of his big league career.

Note: The lower the number, the more movement a pitch has

(By the way- see that little dot in the lower right hand corner of the chart just above 2017? That was the slider he threw to Miller. It moved 11.26 inches away from him. That’s absurd.)

Chapman’s slider is so good, in fact, that it compares favorably to the one owned by teammate CC Sabathia. Sabathia’s slider—which has long been considered one of his best offerings—also sits in that -2.5 to -7.5 inch range of horizontal movement. Even as Sabathia has lost velocity, he has gotten his slider to move even more, which helped him post the second highest soft contact percentage amongst all starting pitchers last season. While this is only one case, it does suggest one can survive a drop in velocity if one has great secondary pitches in the arsenal.

Of course, Chapman is not going to maintain his fastball velocity forever. It also remains to be seen whether his slider will lose its effectiveness once he does start experiencing a drop in velocity. No one knows for sure when it will begin to show signs of decreasing, but when it does, there is still reason to believe Chapman will still be an elite reliever because of his slider. Until that day comes, however, let’s just continue to enjoy highlights like the one above (sorry Brad) and hope that Chapman pushes off that day for a long time.

This particular story is an example of the latter type.

Over the past several seasons, Yankee fans have complained ad nauseam about the team’s inability to manufacture runs. In particular, the apparent inability to bring home runners from third.

Indeed, fans can trust what they see with their eyes in this instance. Over the past five seasons, the stats show that the Yankees have not done well at all with chasing in runners from third. The following chart shows the team success rate over the past five seasons with that particular task (I only factored in players who had over 300 total plate appearances in each season since those are theoretically a team’s best hitters, which usually was between 8 and 10 players each year).

In that five year span, the Yankees have ranked in the bottom half in the league in runs scored three times (16th in 2013, 20th in 2014, and 22nd last season), though they did rank second in both 2012 and 2015.

Now here is the good news: new Yankee Matt Holliday can help his new club fix this problem.

Holliday, 37, has been outstanding in getting runners in from third in his career. Over the past five seasons, the veteran has driven in the runner from third in 44.7 percent of his chances (or nearly ten percentage points higher than the Yankees as a team have averaged over that same span). The chart below breaks down how his success rate breaks down over each season:

Holliday’s 48.5 percent success rate in such situations in 2016 ranked 14th in baseball among the 258 players who received at least 300 at-bats. The highest ranked Yankee in 2016 was Starlin Castro, who checked in with a 41.7 percent rate (73rd). No other Yankee ranked in the top 100.

What does this mean in tangible terms? For one thing, it speaks to Holliday’s approach as a hitter. He’s never been a high strikeout guy (16.4 percent strikeout rate for his career, 16.9 percent over the past five seasons) and he puts the ball in play often and all over the field. His style is much different than what we have seen in the Bronx over the past several years when opposing teams shifted heavily in all situations against the likes of Brian McCann and Mark Teixeira.

Holliday’s all-fields/high contact approach seems to make him ideal at situations where any kind of ball in play equals a run. So even if Holliday this season drops down to his average success rate of 44.7 percent over the past five seasons, this important skill should be a big boost to the Yankees’ offense in 2017.

Photo: Butch Dill / USATSI

The Yankees decided that the right man for the job was Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Didi Gregorius. They acquired him in in a three-team deal, trading right-hander Shane Greene to the Tigers. At the time of the deal, Gregorius was a relatively unknown 24-year-old that had just been traded for the second time in his young career. He came with solid defensive abilities, but fans, among others, were skeptical that his bat would allow him to become the next everyday shortstop for the Yankees.

After a miserable first half in 2015, which saw Gregorius hit .238 in 81 games, Yankee fans had already given up on him and were reminiscing about the the days that Derek Jeter occupied shortstop.

But everything changed in July 2015. Maybe Gregorius struggled because he felt the pressure of replacing a legend. Maybe it was Gregorius making significant adjustments over the All-Star break. Whatever it was, Gregorius has been a completely different hitter at the plate since then.

In the second half of last season, Gregorius posted a .294 batting average with five home runs and 37 RBIs in 72 games. Gregorius’s run to end the season helped him finish fourth among American League shortstops with a 3.1 fWAR. He trailed only Francisco Lindor, Xander Bogaerts, and Carlos Correa. The question still remained: was his performance in the second half an aberration or was it a sign of things to come?

Gregorius has emphatically answered this question with a breakout 2016 campaign. He is slashing .289/.318/.468 this season, which would set a career high with the exception of his on-base percentage. He also has homered 15 times (already a career high) to go along with 52 RBIs (nearing a career high). He has been a top five shortstop in the AL, according to fWAR, over the past two seasons, but will the 26-year-old be able to sustain this success for years to come? Some might be skeptical, but the numbers say yes.

One notable adjustment that Gregorius has made over the past year is improving the percentage of balls hit to the opposite field to a career-best 28.9%, three percentage points above the league average. He’s also increased his line-drive rate each season he has been in the majors and his current 21.6% mark is nearly a full percentage point above the league average.

Gregorius has cut his swinging-strike rate to a career low 9.1% in 2016, which has helped increase his contact rate to yet another career high. And, although he does not walk nearly enough, his current 12.9 strikeout rate certainly helps make up for it.

One might assume that his increase in average this season is an anomaly. However, these improvements help explain why it’s sustainable. Even his batting average on balls in play, which is currently .302 on the season, is nearly identical to his 2015 mark and on-par with the league average.

Gregorius’s power looks legit, too. Although his HR/FB% has significantly increased to 12.1%, it’s still 0.7% lower than the league average. And even though Yankee Stadium can certainly help with the power numbers, too, he’s just the fifth Yankee shortstop in history to crack 15 homers in a season. The last to do this before Gregorius? Well, of course, it was Jeter.

Gregorius has worked hard to help Yankee fans move on from Jeter. And, although Jeter will never be forgotten, Gregorius has certainly made the transition a lot smoother than first imagined.

Photo: Noah K. Murray / USA Today Sports