The Yankees have had their ups and downs in 2017, but they seem to be back on the upswing late in the season. After successfully sweeping the Mets in a four-game series. the Yanks find themselves with a 3 1/2 game lead on the first AL wild card spot, the largest such lead that they (or any) team has possessed since mid-June.
Yankees have their largest AL wild card lead since June
Friday’s Say Hey, Baseball includes the Yankees dismantling the Mets to pad their wild card lead.
Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images
Given how tumultuous the AL wild card picture is, with the Angels holding the second wild card while four other teams sit within 1 1/2 games back of them (and the Rays, Orioles, and Blue Jays all continuing to lurk three games behind), a 3 1/2 game lead for the first wild card is comparatively huge. That puts them four games ahead of the Royals, 4 1/2 ahead of the Twins, five up on the Mariners and Rangers, and 6 1/2 ahead of the Rays, O’s, and Jays.
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With just under seven weeks of the season left, 3 1/2 games isn’t insurmountable by any means, of course. Still, it’s the largest such lead for the top wild card since the Yankees and Red Sox were tied for the AL East and the No. 1 wild card spot back on June 18, and the Yankees who will try to maintain this distance are different than the ones who previously failed to do so.
That New York team had bullpen issues and too many holes in the lineup and rotation, and it led to a lengthy losing streak that saw them fall from atop the AL East in the first place. The trade deadline fixed much of that (or at least improved upon it), with Todd Frazier, Tommy Kahnle, David Robertson, Jaime Garcia, and Sonny Gray all being added to the roster.
The Yankees have undone much of the midseason damage, are believably better than they used to be, and might already have the lead necessary to hold on for the rest of the regular season. Not bad for two months’ work.
- The instinct is to immediately shout when someone thinks Roger Maris has MLB’s home run record instead of just the AL record, but Giancarlo Stanton has at least put some thought into his belief. He’s still wrong, but thoughtfully so.
- Pedro Martinez pitched in an Oldtime baseball game on Thursday that benefited charity, which has the dual greatness of baseball for charity mixed with Pedro Martinez pitching.
- The Little League World Series kicked off on Thursday, with Connecticut holding off a New Jersey comeback.
- Speaking of youth baseball, you have to read this feature from Sam Miller on the trick play that broke baseball.
- Amid a week where the nation argues about whether Confederate statues should come down, Red Sox owner John Henry said he wants to change the name of Yawkey Way, named after former Red Sox owner, the racist-even-for-his-time, Tom Yawkey.
- I’ve been on this topic for a few years, and my last story on the subject came in 2016 amid David Ortiz’s retirement.
- The Good Phight does not agree with some recent thoughts published regarding Aaron Nola and injuries.
- Carlos Gonzalez’s recent hot streak is small comfort in a tough season.
- Pinstripe Alley writes that the Yankees are going to regret the Chris Sale trade for years to come.
- It’s not all bad, though: The Yankees did manage to avoid an offseason roster crunch with their midseason deals.
- Here’s a ranking of each team’s single-season home run record by how likely it is to be broken.
- The Cardinals are screwing up this whole Rally Cat thing, and a local animal shelter has noticed.
- Jon Lester gave up nine runs without getting to two innings, and he might be hurt. And the Cubs’ comeback attempt failed, too.
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