The 2016 New York Yankees season was the 114th season for the New York Yankees franchise.
Throughout the season, the Yankees wore a #8 patch on their left sleeve in memory of Hall of Famer Yogi Berra who died in September 2015. It was the final season for Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira. For the third time in four years, the Yankees failed to make the playoffs, finishing in fourth place in the American League East with an 84–78 record, despite being outscored by their opponents over the course of the season, 702 runs to 680. The 2016 season was notable in that it marked the first time since 1989 that the Yankees were sellers at the trade deadline, dealing away valuable pieces to gain minor league prospects for the future. Rookie catcher Gary Sánchez made headlines by hitting 20 home runs in his first 53 games, representing the Yankees youth movement known as the "Baby Bombers". This was the last time the Yankees would miss the playoffs until 2023.
Offseason On October 18, 2015, the Yankees fired their hitting coach, after just one season, Jeff Pentland. On November 2, it was announced that Alan Cockrell who was hired as the assistant the season before; will assume the role as hitting coach, with Marcus Thames as his assistant. On November 11, the Yankees traded John Ryan Murphy for Aaron Hicks. On December 9, the Yankees traded Adam Warren and Brendan Ryan to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Starlin Castro. Also on December 9, the Yankees traded Justin Wilson to the Detroit Tigers for pitching prospects Luis Cessa and Chad Green. On December 28, the Yankees traded Eric Jagielo, Rookie Davis, Tony Renda, and Caleb Cotham for Aroldis Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds. On January 8, 2016, the Yankees purchased Kirby Yates from the Cleveland Indians. On January 17, the Yankees claimed Lane Adams off waivers, from the Kansas City Royals. On February 21, the Yankees signed free agent Chris Parmelee. On April 4, the Yankees traded Carlos Corporán to the Tampa Bay Rays for cash considerations.
Season standings
American League East
American League Wild Card
Record vs. opponents
Roster 2016 New York Yankees Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Coaches
Player stats
Batting Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging average PlayerGABRH2B3BHRRBISBBBAVGSLGStarlin Castro151577631562912170424.270.433Didi Gregorius153562681553222070719.276.447Jacoby Ellsbury148551711452459562054.263.374Brett Gardner148547801432267411670.261.362Chase Headley140467581181811451851.253.385Brian McCann130429561041302058154.242.413Mark Teixeira11638743791601544247.204.362Carlos Beltran99359501092102264022.304.546Aaron Hicks1233273271131831330.217.336Alex Rodriguez65225194570931314.200.351Gary Sánchez5320134601202042124.299.657Austin Romine62165174011042617.242.382Ronald Torreyes72155204074112210.258.374Rob Refsnyder58152253890012218.250.309Aaron Judge278410152041009.179.345Tyler Austin31837203051217.241.458Dustin Ackley286169000408.148.148Billy Butler1229310201402.345.517Mason Williams122748100201.296.333Donovan Solano92255201201.227.455Ike Davis81423000101.125.125Ben Gamel6811000001.125.125Chris Parmelee6844102400.5001.375Eric Young Jr.6120000010.000.000Pitcher totals1621700000001.000.000Team totals162545868013782452018364772475.252.405 Source:
Pitching Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts PlayerWLERAGGSSVIPHRERBBSOMasahiro Tanaka1443.0731310199.2179756836165CC Sabathia9123.9130300179.2172837865152Michael Pineda6124.8232320175.2184989453207Nathan Eovaldi984.7624210124.212366664097Ivan Nova764.902115197.110754532575Dellin Betances363.087301273.054312528126Luis Severino385.832211071.07848462566Luis Cessa444.35179070.16436341446Chad Green244.73128145.24926241552Andrew Miller611.39440945.12887777Kirby Yates215.23410041.14124241950Chasen Shreve215.18370133.02919191333Aroldis Chapman302.013102031.12087844Anthony Swarzak125.52260031.0281919731Adam Warren423.26290030.12813111025Nick Goody004.66270029.03015151234Tyler Clippard232.49290225.120971126Bryan Mitchell123.2455025.0261391211Richard Bleier001.96230023.02065413Blake Parker104.96160116.11699815Tommy Layne203.38290116.01066713Johnny Barbato127.62130013.0131111515Jonathan Holder005.408008.185545Ben Heller106.4310007.0115546Phil Coke006.003006.075441James Pazos1013.507003.175513Conor Mullee003.003003.001144Tyler Olson006.751002.232220Branden Pinder0018.001001.032211Team totals84784.16162162481428.113587026604441393 Source:
Season summary
April +Opening day lineupNumberNamePosition 22 Jacoby Ellsbury CF 31 Aaron Hicks LF 13 Alex Rodriguez DH 25 Mark Teixeira 1B 36 Carlos Beltrán RF 34 Brian McCann C 12 Chase Headley 3B 14 Starlin Castro 2B 18 Didi Gregorius SS 19 Masahiro Tanaka P
After the Yankees opening day was rained out, the Yankees played it a day later on April 5, losing 3–5 to the Houston Astros. The Yankees would go on to win their opening series two games to one against Houston. The next series, the Yankees went to Detroit to face the Detroit Tigers, taking one game and losing one game before having the final game postponed for an eventual make-up. The Yankees would go on to lose their next three series against the Blue Jays, Mariners, and the Oakland Athletics (a series in which they were swept). The Yankees would take two games in a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays at home. They finished April poorly with four game losing streak against the Texas Rangers and rival Red Sox. The Yankees finished April with a record of 8–14.
On April 12, Starlin Castro recorded his 1000th career hit. On April 20, Aaron Hicks recorded the fastest recorded throw tracked by Statcast in a 2–5 loss to Oakland, throwing out runner Danny Valencia at home plate. The throw was recorded at . On April 22, Jacoby Ellsbury recorded a straight steal of home, the first such occurrence for the Yankees since Derek Jeter did so against the Baltimore Orioles on May 5, 2001. The next day, Brett Gardner hit a walk-off home run against the Rays.
May May saw a better overall month for the Yankees. The month opened with a loss to the Red Sox and a losing series against the Baltimore Orioles as the Yankees' reached the lowest point of their season at 9–17, eight games below .500. After that, the Yankees won three straight home series against Boston, the Kansas City Royals and the Chicago White Sox. Then, they travelled to the west coast for interleague play, dropping two of three to the Arizona Diamondbacks, including the first game in the series, which was the major league debut for starting pitcher Chad Green, then sweeping a four-game series against the Athletics to end the road trip at 21–22.
The Yankees crawled back to .500 (22-22) by winning the first game in the series against Toronto. However, they would lose five of the next seven games against the Blue Jays and the Rays to end the month of May at 24–27. The Yankees finished May with a record of 16–13.
On May 9, closer Aroldis Chapman made his Yankees debut, pitching one inning and allowing one earned run on two hits. The vaunted bullpen trio of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Chapman became known in the media as "No-Runs DMC", a nod to the Queens hip-hop group Run–D.M.C. On May 16, Carlos Beltrán recorded his 400th career home run. On May 29, the Yankees beat the Rays 2–1 with only one hit, a Starlin Castro 2-run home run, the first time the Yankees won with only hit since 1914.
June June saw similar results to May, as the Yankees finished with one less win for the month than they achieved in May. The Yankees swept the Angels in a four-game home series and took three of four from a road series with the Twins; however, struggles against the Colorado Rockies and Texas Rangers killed the Yankees' momentum. The Yankees finished June with an impressive home record of 10–6, which was neutralized by an ineffective 5–6 record on the road. The Yankees went 15–12 in the month of June.
On June 17, Alex Rodriguez achieved his 3100th hit. On June 22, Starlin Castro hit a walk-off homer against the Rockies.
July The Yankees finished July with 13 wins and 13 losses. The Yankees sent three players to the 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star Game: Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, and Carlos Beltran. Mark Teixeira recorded his 400th career home run away against the San Diego Padres on July 3, becoming just the fifth switch hitter to do so in Major League history. Carlos Beltrán recorded his 1500th career run batted in on July 16.
The Yankees became sellers towards the trade deadline, cutting a massive amount of salary shipping away various players. The Yankees dealt closer Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs in return for shortstop prospect Gleyber Torres, minor league outfielders Rashad Crawford and Billy McKinney, as well as right-handed pitcher Adam Warren who previously played for the Yankees the season before. The Yankees traded lefty pitcher Andrew Miller to the Cleveland Indians for minor league outfielder Clint Frazier, minor league left-handed pitcher Justus Sheffield, and minor league right-handed pitchers J. P. Feyereisen and Ben Heller. Pitcher Iván Nova was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for two players to be named later. The Yankees also traded veteran outfielder Carlos Beltrán to the Texas Rangers for pitchers Dillon Tate, Erik Swanson, and Nick Green.
August
In early August, both Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez announced their retirement from the team. Mark Teixeira announced on August 5 that he would retire following the conclusion of the season. Alex Rodriguez days later announced he would play his final game Friday, August 12, four homers short of 700. Rodriguez would become a titular assistant to the team following his final game. The Yankees acquired Blake Parker in early August as well. The day after Rodriguez's release by the organization, Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge were called up and made their major-league debuts, hitting back-to-back homers in their first big league at-bats. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Austin and Judge became the first teammates to go back-to-back in their first-ever at-bats in MLB history. Young Yankees catcher Gary Sánchez became the fastest player to record 11 home runs, accomplishing so in just twenty-three days. The Yankees finished the month of August with a 17–10 record.
September and October The Yankees started September off on a hot start. After dropping the first two games of the month, they won seven straight games. Afterward, however, they lost 11 of their next 15, including a 3–8 road trip where they were swept in a four-game series versus the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park for the first time since 1990 and losing three of four to the Blue Jays in Toronto. They closed the season with a six-game homestead where they swept the Red Sox (in the second game, Mark Teixeira hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth, his last home run of his career, to lift the Yankees to a 5–3 win) and losing two of three to the Orioles. On September 27, Gary Sánchez tied a major league record for the fastest player to reach 20 career home runs when he went deep in only his 51st career game. The Yankees would be eliminated from playoff contention on September 29, after the Orioles defeated the Blue Jays. This makes it the third time in 4 seasons the Yankees would miss the playoffs.
Game log Legend Yankees win Yankees loss PostponementBoldYankees team member
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