SU says that the Yankees certainly finished the season strong and beat up on the teams that they had to beat to grab a share of the Eastern Division with Toronto. Ultimately, they paid the price of so many Devin Williams blown saves back in April – that was the diference in winning the division.
Now, the reality is that their record vs. the AL East was pretty bad as was their record vs. teams with winning records. SU watched its share of games and the reality is that they really, really (as in really) struggle against the top starting pitchers and relievers. This is a team built on the home run and it’s just harder to do that against the top tier pitchers.
Soooo, what is going to happen in October? SU is not feeling it. Playing a best of 3 series against the Red Sox – even with them down a top starter in Giolito – is a tough lift. While regular season records are not necessarily an indicator of playoff outcomes, it has to give Boston a lot of confidence going into this series. Crochet is always tough and no doubt the Yankees will load up on the right-handed hitters which makes the defense weaker by sitting McMahon and the offense worse by sitting Rice. Maybe it will work – no doubt the analytics guys are busy doing their thing – but SU wants Rice in there every game.
Not winning the division puts you in this position, and the Yankees were bad for about half the season as in past years. SU is concerned and would not be surprised by an early post-season exit. Toronto awaits in the next round and they dominated the Yankees this year – also with top starting pitching.
Elsewhere:
- Wow, the Mets just collapsed the 2nd half of the year. Sure, they had a lot of injuries but the offense should have been good enough to win one more game to get to October. I guess the good news is that they have some talented young starters coming up which should set them up for the future but they needed to quality for the playoffs and no doubt Steve Cohen will make changes. But the manager deserves to stay for sure.
- Ryder Cup: credit to the Americans for making a gallant run on Sunday. No credit to the fans in Bethpage this weekend though. Golf is not one of the sports that lends itself well to act out against the opponent. It’s not a constant motion type of sport (you think?) and like tennis, you have a bunch of individual players going at it with downtime galore. In SU’s opinion, it made the NY fans look bad and drunk – trying to summon support by jeering the Europeans vs. cheering their own. It’s a bad look. Will the European fans return the favor in Ireland in 2 years? Probably and that won’t look any better. But revving up the crowd is dumb. Do better.
- Injuries in the NFL just keep piling up – and to top stars. Long-term, the NFL needs to figure it out to lower the level of hitting and injury.
- Enjoy October: the best time of year with the MLB playoffs, college football in full swing, the NFL and then the NHL and NBA seasons getting started.
So, Yankee fans, are you seeing a World Series in the team’s future this post-season?
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Both lineups which will struggle to generate runs against great starting pitchers in games 1 & 2 (although Bello hasn’t pitched well lately, he pitched 7 shutout innings against the Yankees twice this season). That leaves the bullpen as a potential achilles heel. They’ve pitched well lately, but I’ve seen too many blow outs this season to really trust them. One thing in the Yankees’ favor: the Red Sox were 41-40 in away games, and the entire series will be in Bronx.
Prediction: Yankees lose the first game, win the next two.
Pearse, I like the confidence! Good points on Bello – he has been tough on them for a few seasons now. I do think the bullpen will decide these games. They need Fried and Rodon to get into the 7th inning if possible.
In sports its not how you start but its how you finish. The Yankees ended up tied with the 3rd best record in MLB. Their bullpen looked quite good in September. Yes, against top pitchers there offense tends to look mediocre. With all the stars on the Dodgers we still had a better record than them. We did quite well in Sept. against both Toronto and Red Sox. Rice has risen to be our 2nd best hitter. I actually believe that our offense is more balanced this year than last year. And I predict that the way Judge hit over the past few weeks will continue right thru the playoffs. We will meet San Diego with their great bullpen but average Starters. We will take care of the Sox in 2 games.
BTW…the Yanks and Six are 12-12 against one another.
The Yankees lineup appears more balanced than last year. Yes, we still hit alot of Homer’s but we added speed, and more singles/double hitters compared to last year.
We also finished quite string in September which includes wins over Rironto and the Red Sox.
Our bullpen have also had a very good September. I think there was only 1 blown save in Septenber
Judge, like what happened to A-Rod will break out big time. Rice and Bellinger will also contribute alot. Our lead off spot has been quite good too.
Our Achilles Heel will be errors in the infield.
I’d start Ben Rice at catcher. That let’s Paul Goldschmidt play. Having a seasoned veteran who has been a very, very good hitter play is a positive.
Sweep the Sox. We will make it to the World Series vs. San Diego….with their vaunted bullpen but only average Starters.