Steve Bonner writes:

David, I've been reading a few of the Yankees blogs that are linked to via Baseball Musings. Quite a few writers are saying that Yankee fans should be worried because a) The Yankees bullpen is quite sketchy, and
b) the defense is woeful.

I checked the defenseive stats for the Yankees through last nights action and noticed that almost half of their errors this season have come from Almonte. 2B, 1B and CF are all error free as is C.

I know that I was terribly disappointed by the Yankees defens in the series against Anaheim last year but it looks to me as if things have gotten better. Giambi hasn't magically discovered new range and Bernie's arm probably isn't any better. But I don't think the Yankees are as sloppy on defense as they were last year.

My question is, does the Yankees defense look better to you this year or is it just too early to tell?

Good question, Steve. The defensive stat I like best is DER, that measures how often a ball put into play against a defense is turned into an out. I commented on how the Yankees have a poor DER a few days ago. At that time, it was .647. They have since brought it up to .665, so their defense has been better lately. But that still isn't that good. So yes, the Yankees defense can hurt them down the road. But there are two mitigating circumstances:

1. The Yankee pitchers are striking out more batters than last year (7.7 vs 7.0 per 9 IP), and that means the defense has to make fewer plays.


2. The Yankee batters are striking out less, which means they are putting more balls in play so the opposition has to make more plays. And it means the Yankees will get more hits.

Yes, the defense and bullpen is weak. But the offense and starting pitching is so strong, those weaknesses are easily covered up. Sure, they can hurt them in the post-season; in a short series weaknesses can be easily magnified. But I would expect the Yankees to address the bullpen if it continues to be an issue, and I think the offense is good enough (especially if Jeter returns and Giambi starts to hit) to cover the weak defense.