New York Yankees: It May Look Bad, but It's Really Not All That Terrible

The New York Yankees have gotten off to a pretty rough start over the first 38 games of the 2012 season.

After dropping Thursday night's game to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Yankees are now 20-18 and fourth in the competitive AL East.

The standings are very off from what many "experts" predicted, as the Baltimore Orioles currently lead. The Tampa Bay Rays are in second, the Jays are third, the Yankees are fourth and the Boston Red Sox bring up the rear.

Despite the fourth-place standing, the Yankees have no reason to worry.

Sweeny Murti of WFAN tweets this interesting fact for Yankees fans to think about:

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Yankees are 20-18. Last year after 38 games they were...20-18. Went on to win 97 games.

— Sweeny Murti (@YankeesWFAN) May 18, 2012

 

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Needless to say, there are several differences between each season up to this point.

For starters—pun intended—the starting rotation is much different.

Ivan Nova is now a semi-reliable pitcher, Andy Pettitte is back, Hiroki Kuroda is a Yankee and Phil Hughes is back from his dead arm.

The bullpen is also very different, mostly because of the absence of Mariano Rivera and David Robertson.

The lineup is virtually the same, with the only exception being the addition of Raul Ibanez.

All that being said, there's no reason for the Yankees, or their fans, to panic.

In 2012, the team won 97 games after starting 20-18—meaning that they finished the season on an insane 77-47 run.

Sure, the strong finish didn't carry over into the postseason, but that's another problem for another day.

The Yankees could realistically go on a similar run when the offense starts clicking and the rotation starts consistently tossing quality starts, which are things that will inevitably happen.

With a team full of stars, it's only a matter of time before they all get hot at the same time and, when they do, the rest of the American League better watch out.