New York Yankees' shortstop Didi Gregorius is a flexible young man. Nowhere has this been more evident in 2015 than when he has performed verbal gymnastics in claiming he is not replacing Derek Jeter.

From the beginning of spring training, Gregorius insisted he was just "following in [Jeter's] footsteps" and would be replacing Jeter only if Jeter had changed positions instead of retiring. It was hard to follow the logic.

Gregorius gingerly tip-toed around the subject in deference to Jeter's legend. While Gregorius' words didn't quite add up, there is something that rings true about the not-replacing-Jeter line of thinking -- even if Gregorius himself wasn't saying it.

Gregorius isn't replacing the Jeter of his prime. He is replacing the Jeter of his farewell tour.

In addition to Didi's improved play, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira have found a fountain of youth this season. AP Photo/Carlos Osorio

As the Yankees head into the final two months of the 2015 season, they are far superior at shortstop, with the suddenly hot-hitting Gregorius, than they were in 2014 as a 40-year-old Jeter collected more gifts and good wishes than extra-base hits.

In July, Gregorius hit .317 with six extra-base hits and a .786 OPS. Last July, Jeter managed to hit .289, but of his 28 hits, just three were doubles and none were homers or triples. His OPS for the month was .659. This was before he crashed during the final two months of his career, batting just .217 with a .537 OPS in his final 50 games.

That is what Gregorius has replaced this season. It was a given Gregorius would bolster the pitching staff with his superior range at shortstop, but he has come on offensively to a point where he is better now than the 2014 Jeter.

"I don't know," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said when asked if the Yankees are better at shortstop with Gregorius this year than last year's 40-year-old Jeter. "I wouldn’t even say that. We obviously have a new player there. He obviously is getting his feet wet in an entirely new environment."

It is hard, statistically, to show just how much better the Yankees are on defense this season because of Gregorius. Still, according to FanGraphs, Gregorius has a minus-1 in runs saved, which is 13th out of 25 qualifiers. While that is only average, it is way better than Jeter's minus-11, which was 19th out of 22 qualifiers last season. That helps brings ERAs down.

It's among the reasons the Yankees are in first place going into Tuesday's series with the Red Sox.

"He's got a cannon. He is built like a wide receiver. He's got a howitzer for an arm. He's just very athletic."

"If you asked me in spring training if Mark Teixeira would bounce back, I would have said, 'I don't know about that,'" an AL scout said. "If you had asked me in spring training, 'Is A-Rod going to have a bounce-back year?' I would have said, 'Hmmm.' They have been very important, but the maturing of Gregorius as a player has really made a difference."

Overall, Gregorius, 25, is hitting .260 with a pedestrian .661 OPS. Jeter, in his final season, finished at .256 with a .617 OPS. On defense, Gregorius has range that Jeter probably never had and definitely didn't possess at 40. Plus, every throw Gregorius makes is on a line.

"He's got a cannon," Cashman said. "He is built like a wide receiver. He's got a howitzer for an arm. He's just very athletic."

This, of course, is not to say that Gregorius will be Jeter, or anything close to him overall.

Early in the season, Gregorius looked lost in the field, and, while his numbers are trending up, there is no sustained evidence yet of a .300 hitter.

Gregorius, though, is making Cashman look good these days. The Yankees sent Shane Greene to Detroit as part of a three-team trade. A few weeks into the season, when Greene began 3-0 with 0.39 ERA, while Gregorius looked as if he might run to third out of the batter's box, there were already some doubts -- though you couldn't tell from Gregorius' attitude.

"He just has a great disposition," Cashman said. "I’ve never seen him have a bad day even if he is having a bad day. He had a bad month and a half and he still kept that smile going. He really approaches life in a really positive way.”

While Gregorius improved, Greene's regressed to the point that Tigers manager Brad Ausmus demoted Greene and his 6.97 ERA to the bullpen.

So the Yankees have a lot of reasons for why they are so well-positioned for the stretch run that features 34 out of 58 games at home. They have Teixeira and Rodriguez in the middle of their lineup. Brian McCann is earning his big free-agent money. The back end of the bullpen, with Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances, has been excellent as predicted. The starting staff -- while shaky -- has been good enough and will add top prospect Luis Severino on Wednesday.

Things have gone about as well as they could have for the Yankees thus far. But they could not feel as good about themselves -- as they do now, in the post-Jeter era -- if Gregorius hadn't raised his game.

"Right now, he is the player we hoped we were getting," Cashman said.