The Yankee Clipper: 1926

If you're wondering why I put 1926 in the title, it's because 1926 was the last time the Yankees won their first four series before this year. That Yankees team led by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig would go on to win another series (their 5th in a row to begin the season) on their way to winning the American League pennant. The following year was the most famous as the 1927 Yankees went 110-44, but the 1926 Yankees may have had a hotter start. Let's get to the top 5:

1. The Yankees now head out West and Javier Vazquez looks for his first win tonight. 0-2 with a 9.82 ERA and a ton of boos was not the way that Javy wanted to start his second go-around with the Yankees. The good part for Vazquez is that he now gets two starts on the road before he needs to pitch again in front of the Yankee Stadium crowd. The bad part for Vazquez is that he needs to pitch well in these starts before he pitches again the White Sox next week or it won't be pretty.
2. Vazquez is the only Yankee starter not to win a game--the rest of the Yankees staff looks great. It's only three starts in (for the top 3), but let's just say that none of their top 3 looked this good last season and the Yankees won 103 games. CC Sabathia is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA, 0.737 WHIP, and has struck out 18 (to only 4 walks), A.J. Burnett is 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA and has struck out 13, and Andy Pettitte looks great with a 2-0 record, 1.35 ERA, 14 Ks and a team-high 20 IP. With Phil Hughes pitching well in his first start as well, this is a great start for a rotation that came in with some question marks. In ESPN's Cy Young Predictor (not really looking at the award, but more for the factors that go into this), the top 3 are all in the top-7 of AL starters and only Matt Garza tops Pettitte.
3. The lineup as a whole, has been on a roll, too. If you figure that a good hitter will have a wOBA above .350, then the Yankees are chock full of good hitters early on according to FanGraphs. Jorge Posada leads all regulars with a .505 wOBA (Marcus Thames and Francisco Cervelli are a bit higher in more limited playing time) and Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, and Brett Gardner are all over .400. The Yankees middle of their defense--Posada (.378/.465/.730, 3 HR), Cano (.340 average, 4 HR, 10 RBI), Jeter (.380/.404/.600 3 HR), and Granderson (.311/.380/.578, 2 HR, 4 SB)--are off to great starts. Even Brett Gardner is looking like Ichiro with infield hits and 7 stolen bases and guys like Cervelli, Thames and Pena are coming off the bench and getting big hits for the Yankees.
4. Even their struggling players have silver linings. Nick Johnson is struggling to get hits with a .158 average but leads the AL in walks with 14 and has a .407 OBP. Nick Swisher has struggled a bit early on but has seen 4.16 P/PA which is 7th in the AL. A-Rod's power hasn't taken off yet, but he's batting .295/.415/.523 and has a .406 wOBA. Mark Teixeira is having another atrocious April at the bat but he's flashing the leather yet again. And when they all start hitting, this lineup is going to be treacherous to navigate.
   
5. It's too early to get complacent. A World Series is not inevitable, despite high fan confidence. The Yankees need to keep this good play up in a very difficult division. Currently the Yankees are tied with the Rays at 9-3 and although Boston is struggling at 4-8, they're always going to be around. The Yankees look like a formidable team, but injuries and slumps are certainly possible. And this team begins and ends with the pitching. If that falters, there could be issues. It's already a bit disconcerting to see Chan Ho Park on the DL and David Robertson and Alfredo Aceves struggling. But with Joba Chamberlain, Damaso Marte, and Mariano Rivera pitching well, the bullpen has looked sharp as well. The bad part of all this: no pennants are won in April and despite a 9-3 record, they still are going to need to win another 85 games to have a chance at the playoffs. 

4 series up, 4 series won. The quest for World Series #28 continues with a West Coast trip the Yankees always seem to struggle with as they head to Oakland and Los Angeles and stop in at Baltimore (and maybe the White House) before heading back to the Stadium. But don't get me wrong--this is a great start so far for the Bronx Bombers.

Picture from NY Mag