It has been a whirlwind for the Yankees from mid-summer to present. They went from untouchable offensively and defensively to vulnerable. From Achilles heel to toes to self inflicted calf infections, the Yankees have been frequent fliers to the IL. And if they weren't injured, they went silent in the batter's box and off the bench. All of this banter has made me wonder if the Yankees are even contenders anymore for the World Championship and if they will even go far in the postseason.
According to Fox Sports last week, "Manager Aaron Boone’s table-slamming postgame news conference seemed to spark enough for the team to eke out a sweep-avoiding victory Sunday against Toronto, but the vibes are troublesome right now. The Yankees’ place in the standings seems secure — though home field throughout the postseason might slip away if this skid continues — but it sure has been a while since this looked like a team prepared to make a legitimate World Series push."
And with the Yankees dropping games in Oakland and Los Angeles, teams that are not even close to contending, it is worrisome if they even have what it takes to beat the tough teams who have been playing great baseball, completely unfazed by the long hot season. As Fox Sports reports, "It’s looking like another ho-hum, 100-win campaign for Houston. They haven’t been as downright dominant as their National League juggernaut counterpart Dodgers, but they just keep on chugging along the tracks of the 162-game season, seemingly impervious to the kind of shocking slide the Yankees have been suffering from recently."
CBS Sports settled on four key reasons why the Yankees have fallen off the steady and dominant pace they set in the first half of the season. And I have to agree:
1. Injuries across the ball club- on the mound and in the lineup
2. Pitching rotation has gone from being an elite home run prevention unit to nearly the worst in baseball.
3. Bullpen roles have been unsettled
4. Aaron Judge gets no help
"The Yankees have a few too many unproductive players in the everyday lineup. That was the true earlier this season, though the Yankees were able to win anyway because the rotation was so good and Judge was doing MVP things," reported CBS Sports. With teams starting to pitch around Judge, no one else, other than maybe DJ LeMahieu and more recently Andrew Benintendi have been able to contribute consistently. Part of the problem with the consistency is the way Aaron Boone gives hot players the day off. Never understood that. And it is breaking the momentum. I would like to add that to the CBS Sports list—Bad management.
To say I am sick and tired of the nonsense is an understatement. I think the Aroldis Chapman tattoo fiasco really put me over the edge. In addition to being a head case when he puts a runner on first, Chapman has been likely the worst return on investment next to Aaron Hicks for the Yankees. What makes it worse with Chapman is that he elected to get a tattoo in the middle of a run for the pennant. That is not only stupid, but selfish.
The Yankees earned enough interest in the bank to remain at the top of the AL East. That and the rest of the AL East is playing mediocre baseball as well. Kudos to the Baltimore Orioles who have shone a light on possibility and climbed out of the basement, and Tampa Bay is building their own momentum currently only 7 games behind the flailing Bombers. With a series in Tampa coming up at the end of the stint with the Angels, the Yankees have some straightening out to do.
Will the Yankees go far in the postseason? Not if they don't clean up their act now. The other AL teams are out for blood and the National League is far superior to the AL, so it is my belief that the National League will win the Fall Classic anyway. I am not being a downer, but rather a realist. The Yankees don't seem to have it—the it that drives teams to win championships.
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--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof
The Yankees are and have been built as a home run or bust team,even Rizzo is starting to remind of me of Gary Sanchez swinging for the third deck.Stanton has his little hot streaks and becomes invisible for long periods of time.That is how the front office constructs these losing teams. There needs to be someone in charge who has a vision for the Yankee offense going forward.
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