The Yankees have begun 2018 with a split against fellow AL East rivals the Toronto Blue Jays. Let’s take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly, from the opening series.

The Good:

Giancarlo Stanton wasted no time getting the fanfare out of the way by blasting two HRs in game one of the series, the first shot being the hardest hit ball of the Statcast era. (117.3 mph)

The Yankees got some great production out of guys in this series from guys not named Stanton, Judge, or Sanchez. Tyler Austin had a huge game three of the series with two HRs with Gardner following up with a blast of his own. Tyler Wade and Brandon Drury nabbed a couple RBIs in game two while Drury hit a wall scraper HR in game four

Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka came out of the gate for games one and two of the series looking very strong. Even when thing got a little shaky both men were able to rein things in and maintain poise and control.

The Bad:

Injuries and there were plenty of them. After game one Aaron Hicks was placed on the 10 day DL with a right intercostal muscle strain. Billy McKinney was called up to replace Hicks but went down with an injury as well after crashing into the outfield wall going all out for a fly ball. The official diagnosis is an AC joint sprain in his left shoulder. Thankfully the X-rays came back negative. Adam Warren also had to be taken out of the same game when a liner caught him square on the ankle. Like McKinney, X-rays came back negative and as of right now it looks like Warren just needs a few days to let the contusion heal. With McKinney and Hicks going down and Clint Frazier waiting to be 100% after a concussion in Spring Training, the outfield is looking slim for the Yankees. One has to wonder when everyone’s favorite Yankee Jacoby Ellsbury will be ready to start the season.

The Ugly:

To say that Dellin Betances did not have a great outing in game three of the series is a massive understatement. While his breaking pitches looked pretty good he left many fastballs over the heart of the plate and the Blue Jays did not miss. To add salt to the wound Betances could not control Pillar on the bases which lead to Pillar stealing Home. Yes, Home Plate. Boone left Dellin out there for two innings in which he labored a total of 40 pitches. The decision to keep Betances out there for the second inning of work left many scratching their heads with Robertson, or even Shreve for the matter, available in the bullpen.

As I stated above, Aaron Boone’s management of the bullpen left many scratching their heads but it was the decision to intentionally walk Josh Donaldson in the 8th inning of game four and pitch to Justin Smoak that brought the crazy Yankee fans. I too was confused with the move as Donaldson has been relegated to the DH spot due to a shoulder injury. Smoak, however, killed the Yankees all series. Click here to see what Boone had to say when asked about Robertson walking Donaldson to pitch to Smoak.

All in all a series split may not have been the result everyone wanted but it could have been worse. There are many positives to take away from this series such as the production the Yankees are getting from the middle and bottom of the order. If they can click with the three-headed monster of Judge, Stanton, and Sanchez, watch out. I won’t hop on the wave of calling for Boone’s head after four games into the season. He’s a rookie manager and it’s best to get these learning pains out of the way early in the season.

Thanks, everyone for checking out the first post of the new blog. Send some constructive criticism my way by leaving a comment below or email me: letstalkyankees@gmail.com.