2023 New York Yankees

2023 New York Yankees / Franchise: New York Yankees / BR Team Page

Record: 82-80, Finished 4th in AL Eastern Division (2023 AL)

Managed by Aaron Boone

Coaches: Matt Blake, Sean Casey, Travis Chapman, Desi Druschel, Casey Dykes, Mike Harkey, Dillon Lawson, Carlos Mendoza, Luis Rojas, Tanner Swanson and Brad Wilkerson

Ballpark: New Yankee Stadium

History, Comments, Contributions

The 2023 New York Yankees came into the season with high expectations after winning the bidding war to re-sign their best player, slugging OF Aaron Judge, who had become a free agent in the off-season, and also adding some pitching with the signing of Carlos Rodon. However, the season turned out to be one the worst for the storied team in recent memory: the starting rotation was never healthy, with Rodon starting the season on the injured list alongside Frankie Montas and Luis Severino. They were soon joined by Nestor Cortes, and when Rodon and Severino returned, they struggled badly. That basically left ace Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt, in his first season as a starting pitcher, as the only reliable starters in the rotation. Domingo German should have been the third, but he was wildly inconsistent, pitching a perfect game against the Oakland Athletics on June 28th, but otherwise pitching poorly.

If the pitching was a problem, so was the offense, which became even more apparent when Judge, who had been the American League Player of the Month in May, went down with a toe injury in June, the result of crashing into the fence at Dodger Stadium and missed a month. The Yankees' bats were completely flat in his absence, with 1B Anthony Rizzo struggling terribly after a hot start (it was later revealed he was suffering from post-concussion symptoms and had to go on the IL in August as a result), Josh Donaldson going down for the count, Aaron Hicks playing so poorly that he was released, huge contract be damned, and Giancarlo Stanton continually missing time with various injuries. The Yankees were down to playing a makeshift outfield with infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who had lost the starting shortstop job to rookie Anthony Volpe, starting in left field and often batting leadoff, and playing alongside some career minor leaguers like Jake Bauers and Willie Calhoun. From August 12-22, the Yankees lost nine straight games for the first time since 1982, a year in which they had gone through three different managers. And while owner Hal Steinbrenner had just stated that both GM Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone need not fear for their jobs, the fan base, not used to losing, was calling for the heads of both men. The losing steak ended on August 23rd when Judge had the first three-homer game of his career and drove in six runs in a 9-1 win over the Washington Nationals. That game ended the teasing by light-hitting catcher Kyle Higashioka, who had had a three-homer game back in 2020 and had since been riling his long-time major league and minor league teammate about his inability to notch one himself.

After going 10-18 in August for one of the worst months in team history, the Yankees started September by sweeping the Houston Astros in a three-game series at home. It was marked by the major league debuts of two of their top prospects, OF Jasson Dominguez and C Austin Wells, with Dominguez homering in his first big league at-bat on September 1st. Indeed, having released both CF Harrison Bader and 3B Josh Donaldson at the end of August, the team fielded a line-up loaded with youngsters, with Volpe at shortstop, Everson Pereira and Oswaldo Cabrera in the outfield, and Oswald Peraza at third base in addition to Wells and Dominguez.

Awards and Honors

• All-Stars: Gerrit Cole and Aaron Judge
• AL Cy Young Award (2023)
• AL Gold Glove: Anthony Volpe (SS)

Further Reading

• Betelhem Ashame: "Punchless Yanks lose 9th straight for first time since '82", mlb.com, mlb.com, August 22, 2023. [1]
• Ronald Blum (The Associated Press): "Yankees general manager Brian Cashman calls this season 'a disaster'", Yahoo! Sports, August 23, 2023. [2]
• Bryan Hoch: "Yanks' shortstop battle brewing and other storylines as camp opens: 5 big takeaways from Boone's remarks as Spring Training begins", mlb.com, February 15, 2023. [3]
• Mike Lupica: "Yankees' rotation deserves as much hype as lineup", mlb.com January 17, 2023. [4]
• Mike Lupica: "Count out the Yanks? 1 big reason why it's not time for that yet", mlb.com, July 20, 2023. [5]

2023 MLB season by team