New York Yankees Still Have a Chance to Capture AL East Title

As we near mid-September, playoff baseball is right around the corner. The New York Yankees are in a battle for the AL East title. Can they catch the Boston Red Sox?

With less than a month remaining in the season, the New York Yankees, despite the injury bug hitting key players and major slumps from Aaron Judge and Aroldis Chapman, still find themselves in a good position to claim the American East division title from the Boston Red Sox.

The Yankees currently sit atop the Wild Card standings, leading by 1.5 games, but trail the Red Sox for the division crown by 4.5 games.

With the conclusion of Gary Sanchez’s three-game suspension due to the brawl with the Detroit Tigers, everything seems to be clicking at the right time. The lineup has everyone back healthy and hitting as we head towards October.

The returns of Starlin Castro, Matt Holliday, and Greg Bird from injury presents a scary one through nine for any opposing pitcher.

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With Aaron Judge being surrounded by all that protection in the lineup, he should see better pitches and potentially capitalize off pitchers having to pitch to him. Pitching around Judge will result in having to deal with other potent bats such as Didi Gregorius, Gary Sanchez, and Starlin Castro.

The starting pitching finally seems to be putting quality starts together. The bullpen, along with Aroldis Chapman, is getting into postseason form, with the exception of a rare hiccup by Dellin Betances to Manny Machado for a walk-off homer on Sept. 6. Now is the time of the year where the whole team has to collectively grind it out.

Hitters need to work the count, consistently get quality at-bats, advance runners, and capitalize with runners in scoring position. Starting pitchers need to do their best to go deep in games, at least six innings, before relying on the incredible bullpen of Chad Green, Chasen Shreve, Tommy Kahnle, David Robertson, Dellin Betances, and Aroldis Chapman.

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In recent years, the teams that entered the postseason as the Wild Card have had success. However, with this young Yankees team, the goal should be to get the American League East title and gain home-field advantage. New York can then take their path to the World Series playing more meaningful games at Yankee Stadium where their record is far better at 40-27 compared to 35-38 on the road.

So much for a rebuilding year, the New York Yankees are coming.

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