YES Network.com

With game number 122 on tap Monday night in Chicago, the Yankees’ season is officially three-quarters complete.

Back on May 1, the YESNetwork.com staff took a look at some “Yankees paces,” many of which were, of course, most likely unsustainable. But as the team heads into the final quadrant of its schedule, there are a couple of predictions from that day that remain viable, and a few new ones that are quite interesting.

First, out with the “old,” and as always with paces, all decimals are rounded up because you can’t have half a hit or two-thirds of an RBI:

DEREK JETER: On May 1, Jeter had 37 hits in the team’s first 23 games, a per-game average of 1.608 that had him on pace for 260 hits. As of August 20, that pace has gone down, as his 163 hits in 121 games has him at a 1.347 hits per game pace. But, should he remain at that level, The Captain will finish with 219 hits; that would not only tie his career high set in 1999, but would also put him at 3,307 career – good for tenth all-time and just five shy of tying Eddie Collins for ninth.

NICK SWISHER: In our first piece, we commented on how Swisher’s 23 RBI in April had him on pace for 170. Way off the mark there, as he has 69 through 121 games – but, if he stays on his per-team-game pace, he will finish with 93, which is just two shy of the career high (95 in 2006) we had him projected to shatter way back when.

CURTIS GRANDERSON: The “Grandy Man” drew 16 walks in April, a total we paced out to shatter his career high of 85. Well, as of game 121, Granderson had 63 BB (or .52 per game), a pace that should see him end up with…85.

Okay, not too bad there, right? Now, here are a few new paces that could get Yankees fans very excited:

THE BULLPEN: While we were way off on our prediction of 82 appearances for David Robertson (as pitching every game from here on out puts him at 83), the trio of Rafael Soriano, Boone Logan, and Clay Rapada are all on pace for 70 appearances; the last time that happened in the Yankee ‘pen was 2006, when Scott Proctor (83), Kyle Farnsworth (72), and Ron Villone (70) combined for 225 appearances. Oddly, however, while all three current Yankees are on pace to pitch less than one inning per appearance, the 2006 trio saw two men go over that threshold, with only Farnsworth falling short.

THE ROTATION: Through 121 games, the Yankees have four pitchers with 11 or more wins, meaning they have four pitchers on pace for 15-plus. The last time that happened? 2003, when Andy Pettitte (21-8), Mike Mussina (17-8), Roger Clemens (17-9), and David Wells (15-7) led the Bombers to the World Series.

ERIC CHAVEZ: On Monday morning, Eric Chavez woke up with a .300 batting average. Should he be able to continue getting three hits every 10 at-bats, he will finish at or above .300 for just the second time in his illustrious career. The only other occurrence came in his rookie year of 1998, when Chavez hit .311…by going 14-for-45 in 16 games with Oakland.

Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroYES