A Few Thoughts As the Yankees’ Post-Season Begins

A Few Thoughts As the Yankees’ Post-season Begins

By Derek McAdam

October 2, 2024

***

It only seemed like the 2024 regular season kicked off yesterday. Beginning the season with a 6-1 road trip between Houston and Arizona was the perfect start. And just 155 games later, the Yankees finished with the best record in the American League. Sure, the season had plenty of ups and downs, beginning with devastating news in Spring Training that Gerrit Cole, fresh off an AL Cy Young Award last season, was going to miss some time with an elbow injury. Luckily for him, and the Yankees, disaster was avoided and he was sidelined for only a couple of months.

Aaron Judge got off to a tremendously slow start in the first month, and many social media users did not spare the superstar. After all, he is making $40 million annually and will continue to do so for the next seven seasons. But he turned it around in late April and had yet another impressive campaign. Not only that, but he made the shift to center field to allow Juan Soto to play right field. Sure, Judge did not play every day once Giancarlo Stanton got hurt, but he played a very good center field whenever he was out there.

And speaking of Soto, he was a crucial piece to add to the lineup. Not only did he provide an offensive spark, but he made pitchers think twice of pitching around him to face Judge. The Soto-Judge combination was arguably the most lethal duo in all of baseball and combined for 99 home runs and 253 RBIs. Not bad for two players on the same team.

The Yankees also seemed to have found some promise in a couple of pitchers. While Luis Gil still has command issues, he filled a crucial role when Cole went down with his injury. He is in the conversation for AL Rookie of the Year, and seems to be the favorite to win the award. Another pitcher that had a nice comeback season was Carlos Rodon. His first season in the Bronx was a disaster, with multiple injuries sidelining him and the few starts he did make being extremely underwhelming.

While there were many positive events throughout the season, the Yankees also dealt with their share of disappointing events. Throughout June and July, the team was dreadful to watch, as they were losing so many games. Pitching would either be good and the bats were shut down or vice versa. It seemed to have never failed.

Clay Holmes has had his troubles closing out games in the past, but this season was a completely different conversation. He finished the season with double digit blown saves, and Aaron Boone was forced to make a change to the closer role. Luckily, Luke Weaver became reliable for the role, and ultimately became the de facto closer.

Several other Yankees also had extremely disappointing seasons, most notably DJ LeMahieu. His offense has been bad the past few seasons, and it was no different this year. However, his defense took a dramatic turn for the worst, and he simply was unreliable at any position the Yankees put him at, which was mostly first base. Father Time catches up with everyone at some point, and for LeMahieu, that may ultimately be the case.

I must disclose that I do not dislike LeMahieu at all. I remember when Brian Cashman signed him to a two-year contract before the 2019 season and thought it was a fantastic move. And he was fantastic for those two seasons. But once the Yankees gave him a six-year extension, I had a bad feeling about the deal, as would most people who see a 32-year old signed to a long-term contract such as his. It is an unfortunate situation for LeMahieu with his injuries over the past few years, but I cannot see him being with the team next year.

Here’s the interesting thing about everything I just discussed: At this point, none of it matters. The regular season is over and a new season has begun. The only statlines that matter going forward are the post-season. Judge’s 58 home runs and 144 RBIs during the regular season are very impressive, as well as his .322 average. But those numbers are now history. Can he turn his post-season reputation around and get some big hits for the Yankees? That is going to be a big topic of discussion.

Gil’s potential award-winning season does not matter if he cannot give the Yankees a couple of good starts (if he even gets multiple starts). Rodon’s comeback season may only be remembered by what he does this month, regardless of how much better he was during the regular season.

This team was built to contend, and win, a World Series title. Cashman has given me plenty of doubts in the past over his true desire to bring the 28th championship to the Bronx. But when he acquired Soto, I knew that the time was now. Soto will hit the free agency market and may very well be playing for another team next year. But first, let’s see what he can do for the Yankees in the post-season.

It will first come down to the Yankees playing either Kansas City or Baltimore, the former of which I would rather play. Baltimore has given the Yankees problems all season long. And that isn’t to say that Kansas City will be an easy team to face, because they aren’t, But Baltimore is a more complete team that will match up much better against the Yankees.

I’m also concerned that the Yankees are going to have too many off-days (5) in between their final regular season game and Game 1 of the ALDS on Saturday. While the ALDS is a best-of-five series, the Yankees don’t want to get behind in the series, especially with the first two games at Yankee Stadium. However, the few days off may benefit players such as Judge, even though he rested in two of the three final games.

It will be an interesting post-season for the Yankees, regardless of how long it goes on. If they exit early, there may be rumblings of front office and manager changes. However, I don’t exactly see that happening. But if they make a run and win a World Series, it will be glorious for the fans who have not seen a Yankee victory since 2009. It will be a long wait from today until Saturday, but hopefully, it will be worth it.