The New York Yankees in October – Part Two – The Pitchers (2022)

The Yankees used 6 different starting pitchers in the last days of the regular season. First was Nestor Cortes, and then spot-starter Chi-Chi Gonzalez. Third was Luis Severino, and then Jameson Taillon in the first half of a doubleheader. The second half of the doubleheader was given to Gerrit Cole, and the final game of the season was handed to Domingo German.

Peculiarly since it gave them a chance to achieve a 100-win season, the Yankees didn’t seem to care to much about that last outing, and benched Aaron Judge, and went for an outfield of Aaron HicksMatt CarpenterOswaldo Cabrera, and ironically delivered a loss – primarily because of lack of runs.

In the American League Division series, they went with a rotation of Cole-Cortes-Severino, and the two games they lost were blown by relievers. In the American League Championship series, Jameson Taillon who had been an unsuccessful reliever in the previous series started in Game 1, followed by Luis Severino, Gerrit Cole, and Nestor Cortes. Things did not go well.

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The New York Yankees in October – Part One – The Batters (2022)

When it comes to a situation like the Yankees face most every season these days, – getting ready for the post-season – they can make one of two choices. They can maintain momentum by choosing their best lineup every day, or they can rest the regulars and use the players off the bench. The latter is not as easy these days, because roster expansion is much lower numerically than it used to be a few years ago, but that still seems to be the route that the New York team chooses.

The thing that the Yankees would gain if they maintained that momentum, is that they would build the confidence of a line-up of a team who seem very, very conscious that they are likely to face the Houston Astros in the post-season. And the Astros, regardless of how they achieved some of their previous winning seasons, seem to have a hoodoo over the New York team which inhibits the Yankees performance.

So, once again the Yankees made their choices, and one again the season came to an earlier than hoped for end. The fans ran out of patience. They wanted to see the back of Aaron Boone, they treated Isiah Kiner-Falefa and his family badly. Hey, they even booed Aaron Judge.

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The New York Yankees – The Batters in the Playoffs (2018)

The Yankees’ time in the playoffs was short and sometimes not so sweet. They beat the Oakland Athletics in the one-game wildcard game but then were out of their depth in the 5 games series for the American League Division Series (ALDS) losing 3-1 to the Boston Red Sox who would eventually go on to take the World Series.

The performances of the batting line up were not far from how the players had performed in the regular season. Let’s take a look:

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