The Yankees have won five out of six now this postseason, despite not looking very good at times, including some blunders last night. They are now two wins away - no small hurdle - from their second pennant in the past 21 seasons, and first in fifteen seasons. This team doesn't seem anywhere near as strong or balanced as the Torre-era Yankees, even a team like 2004 that was at this spot and fumbled the pennant away. However, perhaps that is more the nature of baseball in 2024, as there is less of a focus on complete skills and just a laser focus on two skills - velocity (pitchers) and exit velocity (hitters). I think that is why there really aren't "great" teams anymore. Just a few great players on the best teams, and filler the rest of the roster.
It's doubtful that Gerrit Cole could have made the 1998 Yankees rotation, but he's their "ace" with a decent 4.2 inning outing. One aspect of this team that is kind of like 1996, is relievers who were a liability during the season becoming suddenly unhittable in October. (Then, David Weathers and Graeme Lloyd, now Clay Holmes and maybe Tim Hill.) On offense they've been carried by Stanton, Soto and Torres.
Of course, the big news is Judge finally homering. For all the talk of his struggles, he only looked really bad in the first two games of the KC series. Since then he's been making good contact and taking his walks. If he can get on a roll this team will be in a much better shape to finish off Cleveland and be competitive in the World Series. Especially considering that they are going on the road with rookie starters the next two games.
Although I'm not rooting for the Yankees... I am rooting for Judge. Glad he finally got that one out of the way. Maybe this opens the floodgates.
ReplyDelete