No one wants to see the New York Yankees on their upcoming
schedule right now, let’s be honest. The team is rolling despite multiple
injuries, slumping stars in the middle of the lineup and despite having rookies
at key positions, which was apparently a “no-no” before the season began. The
team is on fire and as it stands right now the team could play .500 baseball
for the remainder of the season and still be in the hunt for the postseason.
Why? It isn’t just good starting pitching, a stellar bullpen (especially
lately), a juggernaut of an offense when it’s clicking on all cylinders, and a
crop of young stars. It is also because the Yankees beat the teams they are
supposed to beat, just like a good playoff team would.
Entering the weekend series with the Tampa Bay Rays the New
York Yankees were 29-13 against the teams they were “supposed” to beat on paper
while the team also put up an impressive 15-6 record against potential 2018
playoff teams. That’s a staggering number compared to the Boston Red Sox who
have a record of 37-16 against these same teams they should beat on paper,
while also posting a 10-6 record against potential 2018 playoff contenders. The
Red Sox have had 11 more “easier” games than the Yankees have had thus far here
in 2018 heading into the weekend.
The Yankees have steamrolled teams like the Cleveland
Indians (3-0), the Minnesota Twins (4-0), the Tampa Bay Rays (2-0), and the
Toronto Blue Jays (7-3) while holding their own against the Boston Red Sox
(3-3), the Houston Astros (5-2) and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (5-1)
pre-Ohtani injury. The team has 17 games left with the Tampa Bay Rays, 13 games
left with the Baltimore Orioles, 9 games left with the Toronto Blue Jays, three
more games with the New York Mets, four more games with the Kansas City Royals,
six games with the Chicago White Sox, four games with the Texas Rangers, two
more games with the Miami Marlins, and four games left with the Detroit Tigers
for one of the “easier” schedules left remaining here in 2018.
With all that said, the strength of schedule will even out,
and I truly think we will see the New York Yankees on top of the American
League East Division when it is all said and done. Sure, the Boston Red Sox are
a hell of a team and will be there all season long, but I think at least some
of their early season success can be attributed to simply beating the teams
they are supposed to beat… much like the Yankees will do for the remainder of
the season.
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Stay tuned, it is going to be a fun summer here in the
Bronx. All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference.
Last night should had been a win , Chasen Shreve has no business pitching 2 innings in a close ball game unless he was the last man used.
ReplyDeleteHe almost has given up a run in every appearance lately.He is not DRob or Dellin .
Aaron Hicks has to know that a single with a man on 2nd is as good as a homer and yet you can see in his swing he trying to hit it out.
Is Aaron Judge the only one on this team who will when two strikes try and take the pitch the other way with runners in scoring position.
Torres getting way crom that as he is swinging it seems to win it with the homer , he has power and lot of his homers come from being able to hit a mistake or a fastball in his zone but he also seems to try to hard lately to win it with a homer and pops out when truly he is a better hitter when he goes with the pitch.