SU knows and has heard it all:

1. “It’s the dog days of August.”
2. “Wait until Stanton returns to the lineup.”
3. “The goal is to play in October. It’s a brand new season then.”

Remember the 2000 Yankees? Lost every game down the stretch and still won the World Series. All may be true but SU has a feel for the team having watched enough games and much was papered over in the first half of the season. They won so many close games, so many morale building walk-off games and have a crazy good home record. The pitching and Judge have carried the team all year.

Now, the bullpen is leaking due to injuries and Holmes’s struggles. Cashman compounded that problem by optioning out Marinaccio for 3 weeks in order to keep Abreu who has already lost a game (as expected). Maybe they could have used him on this road trip? The starters basically remain solid enough. The problem with this year’s team is the offense. When you are so reliant on home runs, you look great when guys are cranking them out and you look terrible when they are not. See the struggles in extra innings when you have to have some situational hitting strategy.

The Yankees will go as far as their offense takes them. SU thinks the pitching is good enough. Yes, Montgomery has yet to give up a run in 2 starts since the trade for the Cardinals but if Bader can play a solid center field and hit .250, that move might pay off. Hicks is just so unproductive and the current roster has no one else to put in there. As noted before, Stanton was horrible in June and July before his injury but SU agrees that if can return and get hot, he can be a difference maker. He tends to stay hot for weeks vs. others who are hot for 2 games (see Josh Donaldson). Right now, there is no reason to ever pitch to Judge. Rizzo can get the occasional bit hit but you worry about his back now.

The Carpenter injury was HUGE. Cashman gets a lot of credit for signing him and he really produced from the left side. Gleyber is lost. Somehow they are still up 10 games in the standings but you are giving life to the Red Sox now and you know if the Yankees play Boston in October, they lose. SU cannot go through that again like last year.

The roster is what it is for the rest of the year unless you decide to give a couple of the youngsters a shot down in Scranton. SU says that Cashman has to be tempted to do just that. The next week is Tampa Bay, Toronto and the Mets – all at home.

Meanwhile, the Mets are serving notice that they are built for October. They are a scary match-up for any NL team – including the Dodgers. Both NY teams will be playing in mid-October but the guys in Flushing are certainly built to go further.

Joey Gallo hit a 3-run home run to left field last week as pointed out by long-time subscriber, B. Rosano. MLB has requested the ball for further analysis as Gallo’s swing cannot hit a ball to left field as we all know.

So, Yankee fans, SU has seen the comments on Twitter. Not pretty. Feeling confident? Lots of games to play? The floor is open.