The 2022 MLB regular season has been a tale of two different campaigns for the Yankees.

Prior to the All-Star break, manager Aaron Boone’s club owned a 64-28 record. It was easily the best in baseball, and the American League East was all but theirs thanks to a 13-game cushion over the Rays. After a rough August, New York is currently 79-52 and has watched that double-digit divisional lead shrink to just six games.

August has been part of a two-month cooling-off period for the Yankees, but the most recent month has been the worst of all. Through the first three months of the season, New York didn’t post a winning percentage worse than .679. In July, that number dropped to an even .500 before dipping even further to .357 following a 10-18 performance.

Here’s some historical perspective on just how tough the second half has been for the Yankees so far:

Yes, you read that right. New York hasn’t suffered through that bad of an August in more than 30 years, and the club’s current second-half performance is on par with what happened in 1973. For some context, the 1989 Yankees finished 74-87, while the ’73 Yankees finished 80-82.

Obviously, the 2022 squad is in a much different situation thanks to a tremendous first half. Seeing any team with championship aspirations go through an extended struggle like this isn’t ideal. However, there are two bits of silver lining to take from this:

  • It’s better for it to happen now instead of in October.
  • This is why building up a huge divisional lead early in the season is so huge.

The six games separating New York and Tampa Bay is a lot slimmer than any Yankees fan would like right now. But it’s still a sizable lead with about one month left to play. Prior to Wednesday’s action, the Bronx Bombers’ chances of winning the division are still at 91.7%, according to FanGraphs.

Is there some cause for concern? Well, yes — of course there is. But the Yankees are still very much in control of their own destiny and have a few weeks to get back on track. Probably the best thing that could’ve happened to them is watching the calendar flip from August to September so they can get a clean slate to work with.

More on ESNY:
• WATCH: Brandon Nimmo robs Dodgers’ Justin Turner of HR
• Yankees-Angels takeaways: Awful August ends with another whimper
• Yankees may finally see if Harrison Bader trade pays off
• Here are some potential Jacob deGrom contract numbers
• Mike Francesa has well-timed thoughts on ‘guy talk’ vs. ‘sports talk’

Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.