SO SAD THAT WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT CLINCHING THE WILD CARD... BUT YET HERE WE ARE

The Yankees play the Blue Jays the next few games and it's gonna be a major battle. I mean look, the Yankees have been phenomenal the last few games and beating the Red Sox the way they did was just unbelievable. This can be a good team when guys like Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge are healthy. 

Unfortunaely the Yankees rotation needs to be on point too or the whole thing falls apart. But for a large grouping of games just recently, everything is working out great.  You gotta give this team credit. They are finding ways to win at the right time.

The Blue Jays are no slouch. They are young, they are energetic, and to be honest with you, if Vladimir Guerrero Jr wasn't so damn good, I would probably give the MVP to Stanton just becuase he's been so damn dynamic.  But Yankee luck doesn't happen often.  I will say this though... let's see how those 2 match up the next few games... you never know, Stanton could outplay Vlad.

But I think the bigger question, at least to me being a super critical Yankee fan who expects excellence at every turn... isn't it sad that we are getting this excited about a wild card spot?  Some will say I'm just being a dick, I get it. But when it comes to the Yankees, you just want that division win.  I know that ship has sailed... and I recognize that you have to take what you can get. But I get so frustrated when it comes to the wild card. Plus... and don't get it twisted, we aren't there yet. Something could derail us. We need to stay hungry and stay on point.

What needs to happen in the Blue Jays series? Well... for one, wins.  But what else? Pitching. And what else after that? Stanton and Aaron Judge need to stay hot. Not the mention we need to see DJ LeMahieu wake the F up. This guy is a fantastic athlete, but he's struggling this year. Does he suck? No, but he does at this moment.  Guys like LeMahieu, Torres, Rizzo need to be revved up and contribute.  

Literally, that's all we need, a handful of guys to carry... but yes the pitching needs to be great.  And Aaron Boone can't make stupid moves. He can't meddle. He can't take Clay Holmes out to "save him". He can't pull guys to give them a day of rest. You play to win, you play to win the rest of the season and you need to secure that playoff spot.

I hate rooting for the Wild Card slot. I absolutely hate it. But that's all we got at this point. So what do we do as Yankee fans? We rally. We root hard, we rally harder and we give our team support to get there. 

Getting into the playoffs is special. Getting into it in the wild card spot is less special, but important, especially this season. We need this for us... let's get after it.