So, the Yankees in October were a mixed bunch. Sure, they made it to the World Series, but many of the players they needed to “turn up” in the vital games went AWOL.

Crucially, these included Aaron Judge, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and once more, both catchers. That combination was never going to end happily.

So, for the final time this season, let’s turn our attention to the offensive strengths and weaknesses:

Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Juan Soto of	14	49	12	16	3	0	4	9	14	9	0	.327	.469	.663	1.102
Anthony Volpe ss	14	49	10	14	3	0	1	6	10	13	5	.286	.407	.408	.815
Giancarlo Stanton DH	14	55	9	15	3	0	7	16	6	11	1	.273	.339	.709	1.048
Anthony Rizzo 1b	10	30	2	8	1	0	0	0	6	10	0	,267	.421	.300	.721
Gleyber Torres 2b	14	58	10	14	3	0	2	8	10	7	0	.241	.348	.397	.745
Alex Verdugo lf	14	48	6	10	2	0	1	8	7	8	0	.208	.309	.313	.622
Jose Trevino c	4	5	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	.200	.200	.200	.400
Aaron Judge of	14	49	8	9	2	0	3	9	11	20	2	.184	.344	.408	.752
Jon Berti if	4	11	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	3	0	,182	,250	.182	.432
Jazz Chisholm Jr 3b	14	55	5	10	1	0	2	2	4	14	6	.182	.250	.309	.559
Oswald Cabrera if	7	6	0	1	1	0	0	0	3	3	0	.167	.444	.333	.777
Austin Wells c	14	50	3	6	1	0	2	4	4	22	1	.120	.200	.260	.460
Jasson Dominguez of	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Duke Ellis of/pr	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS

Catchers

Austin Wells is the future, the Yankees say. And for sure, like Jose Trevino, his defensive attributes are excellent, but I hope that they are a lot more confident about his times at the plate than I am. September was, as you may recall, awful for Wells (and for Trevino). As his portion of the time behind the plate has increased, so his batting average has become worse. Also, while Trevino’s time has lessened, so his confidence sinks into the mire.

Wells, in the playoffs and World Serries hit .120 with 3 extra base hits. Trevino .200 with nothing other than singles. In the latter case, this is only excused by how little time he saw at the plate. For the former, there is no excuse. The future? Don’t ask me…

Infielders

The Yankees hoped that Anthony Rizzo could carry on as before and that he would recover from his injury. It didn’t work out that way, and as the post-season developed, it was clear that it wouldn’t. And let’s face it, what went before was no longer good enough. Rizzo is a great clubhouse presence, but let’s face it. his best days on the field are behind him. His .267 with 1 extra base hit was okay, but he was becoming progressively laboured.

So,what were the Yankees other options for first base as they entered the later stages of the post season? Well, in the earlier rounds, they had gone with Jon Berti (.182) and Oswaldo Carbera (.167), but as they got round to playing the Dodgers in the World Series, they decided again to roll the dice with Anthony Rizzo. It showed how few options they had.

At second base, it was once more Gleyber Torres. However, this wasn’t the Torres of the last months of the season and not the performance of a player who wanted to build towards the coming free agency. Ultimately, he only hit .241 albeit with a more than respectable 5 extra base hits. I expect he may have exited Yankee Stadium for the last time.

At third base, the Yankees once again relied on the usually solid Jazz Chisholm Jr., taking on the position that Torres had refused. Unfortunately, Chisholm didn’t really play to his potential, hitting only .182. He appeared in every game, once again an indicator of how weak the offensive production from the infield was proving.

The one great exception to this was Anthony Volpe. Volpe has always been more solid defensively than with the bat, but maybe he is beginning to turn that around. He hit an excellent .286 although he showed little power. He played in every game. It bodes well for the future that he has performed well in these pressure cooker surroundings.

DJ LeMahieu could not play because of injury.

Outfielders

Well, Aaron Judge still needs to conquer his troubles in the post-season playoffs. He hit only .184 although he managed to accompany that with 2 homers and three doubles, but it was that lack of hitting for average that everyone was noticing.

Fortunately, there was another guy to take up the slack. Sadly, he also is a free agent at season end. However, my gut tells me he might well be back. His name is Juan Soto. He hit .327, 3 doubles, 4 home runs and if it wasn’t for a guy who we’ll come to in a moment, he may have led the Yankees in every offensive category.

The third outfield position was really a quandary for the Yankees. It is one that they should have taken in a much clearer direction in September. And they didn’t.

So, in October, they reversed direction. They went with Alex Verdugo (great defensively, weak bat, loose cannon in the clubhouse), and benched the youngster, Jasson Dominguez (still learning the defensive position, mixed results with the bat, reputation as one of the good guys). Neither option was likely to go well and this choce didn’t. Verdugo hit only .208. Dominguez was only given 3 at bats and didn’t get a hit. Mmm…

Last name to be mentioned in this category was minor leaguer, Duke Ellis who was on the roster early on to bring some speed on the basepaths, which is his strong suit. He didn’t get the chance to show any of that.

Perhaps surprisingly after better performances in September, Trent Grisham was not seriously considered for inclusion.

Designated Hitters

The only name to consider in this category is Giancarlo Stanton, and what can we say about him? He was exceptional. The big fact was that he was not carrying any perceptible injuries (for a change). Also, he grew in confidence on the big stages. And he wasn’t required to play in the outfield. All of this proved a potent mixture. He batted .273 with 3 doubles and an amazing 7 home runs. I would not have predidcted this if you had given me a month of Sundays to think about it. Maybe his career isn’t over yet.

Truthfully, neither Torres or Judge belong here, but there was no-one worthy of selection either.