Pinstripe Alley · Mar 1, 2020
The Yankees have improved as a baserunning team
Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty ImagesThe Yankees of 2020 are built far differently than the Yankees of years past. Although home run power has always been the team’s top priority, the Yankees used to really prioritize speed on the basepaths: think Johnny Damon, Jacoby Ellsbury, young Brett Gardner, heck, even Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez were good for 15-20 steals a year.
Nowadays, the Yankees aren’t too active when it comes to swiping bags. A 35-year-old Gardner led the team with just 10 steals last year, and the Yankees as a team stole just 55 bases last year, the sixth-lowest total in the Majors. This is a far cry from even just two years ago, when the 2017 Yankees stole 90 bags.