Playoff Teams Beat the Teams You’re Supposed to Beat

It sounds simple enough but there is nothing truer in Major League Baseball than this, the teams that make the postseason every single year generally beat the team’s that they’re supposed to beat. When I say the team’s they are supposed to beat I mean the inferior teams, the rebuilding teams and the teams with worse records than they have. New York’s biggest issue this season has been bringing their best baseball to the diamond against the good teams of the league while the team lays down against the weaker teams in the division. Does New York beat the teams they are supposed to beat enough to make the playoffs in 2015?

Here is the Yankees record against the teams they have faced this season with .500 or below records or non-playoff teams if the season ended today:

Tampa Bay Rays:8-5

Boston Red Sox: 10-5

Baltimore Orioles:8-5

Detroit Tigers: 5-2

Chicago White Sox: 2-1

Seattle Mariners: 5-1

Oakland Athletics: 3-4

Cleveland Indians: 2-5

As you can see, and we’re limiting this to just the American League since the series with the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals and Miami Marlins represent a pretty small sample size. New York has surprisingly done well overall against these teams and better than I would have expected without looking at the stats. If beating the teams you're supposed to beat means making the postseason then you better start pre-ordering your Yankees postseason tickets now.