As of June 16th, the New York Yankees are tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for both the American League East lead and the best record in baseball. It’s no real surprise that the Bronx Bombers are atop Cialis Jelly the standings, but they’ve been winning games in uncharacteristic fashion this season. It hasn’t been the big names that have carried the Yanks through injuries and slow starts, but their role players that have shined early in 2010.

Curtis Granderson, the team’s major offseason acquisition, and Jorge Posada have both missed significant time already in 2010. Meanwhile, the team’s two biggest bats, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez, have gotten off to extremely slow starts, and now it appears that A-Rod will miss some time with a hip injury. Team captain Derek Jeter has not been raking either. However, none of these factors have caused the Yankee offense to miss a beat due to the performance of the guys whose names don’t necessarily sell New York Yankees tickets.

Second baseman Robinson Cano has been one of the best players in the game in 2010. He leads the Yankees in batting average, home runs, RBIs, one-base percentage and slugging percentage. On a team that features so many heavy hitters, that’s quite a feat. Through 64 games, Cano is hitting .368 with 14 homes runs, 47 RBI and an OPS of 1.022. Those are MVP-caliber numbers and Cano will definitely get some consideration for the award if he keeps producing.

Two other players that have been vital to the team’s success this season have been Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher. Gardner is hitting .322 with 22 stolen bases and 44 runs scored, while playing solid defense in the outfield. He’s the kind of gamer that will remind fans of the group that won several championships in the late ’90s. Swisher, the ultimate clubhouse guy, is also producing on the field in a big way this season. A career .249 hitter, Swish is hitting .301 through 59 games played this season to go along with solid power numbers and a good on-base percentage. Other hitters, such as Francisco Cervelli and Marcus Thames, have exceeded expectations thus far as well.

Pitching has also helped keep this team atop the standings, namely that of Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes. Not much was expected of either hurler coming into the 2010 campaign, but both are on track to make the All-Star team at this point in the year. At 38, Pettitte leads the rotation in ERA and WHIP and is having one of the best seasons of his career.

Hughes has been nearly as good. After winning the fifth spot in the rotation this spring, Hughes has pitched like a number one starter. Through 12 starts, Hughes boasts a 9-1 record, a 3.11 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 75 innings. We’re now seeing why he was such a hyped prospect coming up in the Yankee farm system.

C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett have been solid as well, and it looks like Kamagra jelly Sabathia, historically a slow starter, is really starting to come around, earning a win in each of his last three starts. Javier Vasquez got off to a terrible start to the 2010 season, but seems to have settled into a groove nicely. When firing on all cylinders, the Yankees have the starting staff to match anyone in the league, not to mention old reliable Mariano Rivera waiting in the pen to close things out.

With players like Cano, Gardner, Swisher, Pettitte and Hughes leading the charge, the Yankees have been able to overcome some serious injuries and slow starts from their star players. It seems like the organization has found a good mix of both high-priced athletes and role players, more akin to the teams that won several World Series titles spanning from the late ’90s to the early 2000s. If the Yanks are playing this well now, just imagine how they’ll look when their slumping stars get going and everyone is healthy. A repeat could be on the horizon.

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