Are the Yankees as good as everyone thinks they are?

By CJ Keeling, Staff Writer

The New York Yankees started an early week four-game series against the Seattle Mariners, 18 games above .500, while also riding high on a seven-game win streak. The Yankees were close to making it eight games in a row to start the series against the Mariners, before a 9th-inning meltdown by Clay Holmes.

The Clay Homles debacle in the 9th was a result of some soft hit balls, and an error by second baseman, Gleyber Torres. These events preceded to the Yankees blowing a 4-1 lead in the 9th, Clay Holmes allowing his first earned runs of the year, and not being able to rally in the bottom of the 9th resulting in a 5-4 loss.

A LOOK BACK: Umpire Tosses Yankees’ Aaron Boone in Wild Argument

The Yankees went on to win two of the next three against the Mariners leading to an important series split to start the week with a long West Coast trip looming over them. The West Coast trip will give the Yankees stops in San Diego, and Los Angeles to play the Angles and San Fransisco.

The Yankees head into this trip with a 35-17 record, but are they as good as the record says? The Yankees are 10-7 against teams that have a winning record this season. This 10-7 record holds the Yankees losing three out of four games to a division rival, the Baltimore Orioles. The 10-7 record is a small sample size against teams above .500 from their overall record of 35-17.

The teams above .500 the Yankees have beaten besides for the one win against Baltimore include wins against, the Cleveland Guardians, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Minnesota Twins, and their most recent series split against the Seattle Mariners. The only team to have made the playoffs of this group of teams from last year was the Minnesota Twins.

The off-season addition of superstar, Juan Soto, who is hitting .312, with 13 home runs, and 41 runs batted in, plus the smaller addition this offseason, Alex Verdugo who adds a little more versatility to the lineup with him being another left-handed bat.

While also adding Marcus Stroman an above-average innings eater who takes the ball every five days (something they did not have last year) and who also may be able to start a few big games for them this year has also helped the Yankees have the 35-17 record they hold on May 24th, 2024.

Also See: New York Yankees Need Health to Return to Excellence in 2024

The Yankees are also getting some in-house production they did not get last year. Luis Gil has been transcendent for the Yankees this year. The 25-year-old has compiled a 6-1 record with a 2.11 ERA, and a 1.01 WHIP for the Yankees to start the season. As well as much better play from 23-year-old Anthony Volpe, and 34-year-old Giancarlo Stanton. The Yankees are hoping Stanton stays healthy with his lengthy injury history and Anthony Volpe

continues to improve and is hopefully turning into the guy they thought he could be when he started his first big league season with the Yankees last year.

You play who they put on the schedule, but is the Yankees' early season success fueled by mediocre competition to begin the year?

The Yankees missed the playoffs last year and are looking to keep their early season success going heading into Memorial Day Weekend and the month of June. July 4th is the next major reevaluation date for the Yankees, and we will have a better understanding if the early season success was sustainable or just a product of poor competition.

MORE YANKEES

Canelo Alvarez is truly king in the ring. The super middleweight champion towered over Jaime Munguia in their much-anticipated fight on Saturday (May 4), and he scored a unanimous win. So, who are the best boxers in the world right now, pound-for-pound?

Before we get to the best boxers in the world right now, let's look closer at Alvarez and his win. Now that he's consistently pulled off definitive wins, the public wants to see him fight David Benavidez, "The Mexican Monster," who caught everyone's attention after beating both Caleb Plant and Demetrius Andrade.

After the May 4 fight, Alvarez was asked about fighting Benavidez, who has been talking smack about him, as they say. "If the money's right ... I can fight [Benavidez] right now," Alvarez said in a post-fight press conference. "I don't give a s---. It's only a matter of money at this point. Everybody is asking for everything. When I fought [Erislandy] Lara, Austin Trout, Miguel Angel Cotto, [Floyd] Mayweather, Billy Joe Saunders, GGG, everybody said I don't want to fight them, and I fought all of them. So right now ... I can do whatever I want."

It's true that Alvarez can do whatever he wants, as he's very successful. But, is he really the best if he won't fight the one guy that everyone wants him to fight? Hey, I can't contest Alvarez's record and legacy. But, give the people what they want, Alvarez. Everyone would love to see some of the best boxers in the world duke it out.

Benavidez wants the fight with Alvarez. He wants it badly. He was there Saturday, promoting his June 15 Las Vegas fight vs. Oleksandr Gvozdyk. "The fans now are getting upset because this is the biggest fight on the table," Benavidez told ESPN during a news conference. "And why are we going to leave it on the table for no reason? This is a fight that has to happen. ... And I'm going to keep putting these types of performances on where people are going to want to see it. The demand of this fight is really high. It's bad blood. I don't like him. He doesn't like me."

So, we all want to see the fight. If it happens, it will draw a lot of money and interest. For now, lots of interest rests on Benavidez's upcoming fight against Gvozdyk. He's moving up to light heavyweight for the fight. I'm such a fan of boxing, since it's so classic and old-fashioned. My dad was actually a boxer in Detroit when he was in high school, and I've always loved the sport. Now, let's get into some of the best boxers in the world right now, pound-for-pound. Reach out to me with your thoughts, too.

Dmitry Bivol is the current light heavyweight champion. The Russian currently lives in California and has been in the spotlight for years, but especially took the limelight when he beat Canelo Alvarez in 2022 in a controversial fight. He's super fun to watch in the ring.

Canelo Alvarez just upped his game with another win, as he took down Jaime Munguia in the two's much-anticipated fight on Saturday (May 4). I want to see him fight David Benavidez. Make it happen, guys and agents.

Oleksandr Usyk has held the the unified heavyweight titles since 2021. The Ukrainian professional boxer is one of the best Ukrainian boxers and cruiserweights of all time. He has a May 18, 2024, fight against Tyson Fury. He also takes on David Benavidez June 15, 2024, in Las Vegas.

Naoya Inoue is such a versatile boxer. The Japanese boxer is actually only the second male boxer, behind Terence Crawford, to be the undisputed champion in two weight classes in the four-belt era. He has also won multiple world championships in four weight classes.

It shouldn't be a surprise that Terence Crawford is ranked No. 1 on this list. He has won multiple world championships in three weight classes and multiple World Boxing titles. On Aug. 3, 2024, he'll go up against Israil Madrimov.

He's not one of my top five, but David Benavidez absolutely deserves a mention. He's more than proven himself after beating both Caleb Plant and Demetrius Andrade. He talks a lot of smack, too, which fans love. Let's see if he finally gets his fight with Canelo Alvarez.