The dog days of baseball are starting to come to an end and the Yankees still have yet to find a way to win consistently. With their record of 63-61 they cannot afford to keep letting close games slip through their hands. They have 38 games left to try and close some major gaps they have in both their division and in the wild card.
They are 7 games behind both the Blue Jays and the Red Sox who are tied for first place in the AL East. Both teams are playing so well that it will be hard for the Yankees to catch up with the amount of time they have left.
In their last 10 games the Red Sox have gone 8-2, while the Blue Jays have gone 6-4. These teams are power houses and it can make the big lead they already have in the division insurmountable for the Yankees. The Yankees went 5-5 in their last 10 games and that is not bad, but breaking even cannot get the job done in the division that they play in.
The competition is tough and they have not been playing well enough to stay close. The chances of the Yankees making the playoffs are getting slimmer with every loss. This team has been in trouble since the all-star break and they still are.
The Yankees made it clear that they did not want to give up on this season, but at this point in the season they cannot afford to lose at all. One loss can make a difference, but series wins and sweeps can help the team gain momentum going forward.
The Yankees have already dropped one game in their series against Seattle and tonight’s game is a must win. This series can hurt the team if they lose tonight because they will have lost another series to Seattle a team they are in the wild card race with. The Yankees are 5 games out in the wild card while Seattle is just 1 game out.
Although the Yankees still have the playoffs on their mind they also have a chance to look at how well their young players can compete against tough teams. Gary Sanchez has been making an impact on his team by hitting 2 home runs in last night’s loss to the Mariners.
Another one of their young stars Aaron Judge struggled last night going 0-4 with 2 strikeouts. Judge also struggled in the first game of the series against the Angels going 0-5, but he did bounce back in the second game of that series with 2 RBI’s. As a young player he will learn to make adjustments to keep those game to game problems from turning into major hitting slumps.
The final games of the regular season are important for the Yankees regardless of what the outcome is. If they do not make it to the playoffs they got a chance to make their young players more comfortable in their system.
If they do make the playoffs they will give their young players a chance to see what a post-season environment is like giving them the experience they will need later on in their careers. The Yankees would also love to give their veterans especially Mark Teixeira a shot to win it all before the season ends.