It’s so easy to get confident after last night’s New York Yankees win but remember, if this season turns out poorly, they should look in the mirror first.
Entering Opening Day, the New York Yankees were banking on the future, not this season. That hasn’t been a secret.And yet, here they are. It’s the first day of September and the Yankees are serious contenders. They’re currently running with the Wild Card but could potentially make some moves to steal the American League East.
But the fact of the matter is that while the Yankees are in contention for a playoff spot and their season is okay, it could’ve been so much better. And the Yankees have no one to blame but themselves for that.
They’re in a predicament. They are in a position where they have to win the majority of their games in September in order to make the playoffs. The pressure is on—and it’s their fault that it’s worked out this way.
The Yankees are a team unlike any other. While their offense can be legendary, it also can switch off at the drop of a hat. Their bullpen, once their strength, now is a disappointment. The Yankees have spent the entire season serving as a puzzle more complicated than Michael Pineda.
This is a team that could definitely rattle off several wins in September and enter the playoffs red-hot. They could also go cold again and miss October baseball entirely. Regardless of what happens, we can’t help but imagine what could have been.
The Yankees have had 23 one-run losses this season, most recently in a game that they should have won against the Cleveland Indians earlier this week. That was Game One of a doubleheader to the 2016 World Series runner-ups.
They’ve had several opportunities to earn extra victories, and if they won even half of these 23 games, they would be far more comfortable entering the regular season’s final month.
Amazingly, they’ve also dropped the final games of 11 straight three-game series when they had a chance to come away with the win. They can start each series off strong but they can never seem to finish them. Their penchant for dropping rubber games has impacted their record far more than people realize.
The Yankees had a hot month of April but have since been par for the course when it comes to wins. They can probably get hot again but time is running out.
And all this pressure the Yankees are feeling when it comes to the playoff crunch? This is pressure that could have all been avoided had they taken advantage of the opportunities they let slip by early on in the season.
The story is completely different from what we imagined before the season began. However, that story could be even better if the Yankees worked for some better outcomes these past few months.
So if the Yankees don’t make the playoffs, it’s not the fault of the Red Sox, the Indians or Aaron Judge and his second-half slump. It’s their own damn fault for not seizing opportunities when the pressure was lower than Chris Carter’s batting average.
Time to pick it up, Yankees. But if you don’t make the playoffs, you’ve got to look at the man in the mirror before you start pointing fingers.