Yankees, who scored 
4 wins and 28 losses before All-Star Game , lost to dream halftime , saw their record decline in late July and August, and their 13-game lead was once chased to only 3.5 games left. Fortunately, under the guidance of Aaron Judge's outstanding performance, with the gradual return of the wounded, Yankee still won a seat in playoffs without any danger. But how far can this team with such a big ups and downs go in the playoffs? Let us analyze it slowly.
Compared with the Red Sox and Blue Birds in the same division recruited troops during the offseason, Yankees were a little quiet in the winter and did not introduce any heavyweight stars. They just obtained two role players, Jose Trevino and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and former American League MVP Josh Donaldson, who has long been at the peak. In addition, only renewed the contract with first baseman Anthony Rizzo and is worth mentioning. It is precisely because there are no top free agents that before the start of the season, not many experts were optimistic about Yankees, believing that this team can only rank third or fourth in the highly competitive FC East, and it is difficult to achieve great things.
However, what surprised the experts was that through the seemingly "small fight" operation this summer, Yankees actually was reborn; made an excellent start at the beginning of the season, and was ahead of the UEFA East . From the perspective of hindsight, Yankee management's several transactions in winter seem ordinary, but in fact they are with the right medicine . The biggest problem with Yankees last season was that they had poor offense, single scoring methods, and poor defensive ability.
Last year, although the team had three big cannons with outstanding long-range shooting skills in Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Rizzo, who were traded, lacked speed on the offensive end. Even if you can often choose to go to the base with experienced experience, it is always difficult to send the runners on the base back to score due to their high strikeout rate and unsatisfactory strike rate.
Takeover in the trade Although his long-term playing ability is far inferior to Gary Sanchez who left the team, his defense is a huge improvement for Yankees . More importantly, compared with Sanchez, whose strike rate is always struggling around 20%, Trevino has become the key man of Yankee. He contributed to the .371 super high strike rate in the case of someone getting a stalwart in the game, and has repeatedly given victory and RBI points during the stalemate period of the game.
The arrival of Kinafalefa is also very beneficial to Yankee's chemical reaction. In addition to the large heart performance of when people get a point circle, which is as high as .336 when people are in the circle and 20 stealing bases, making Yankee's offensive methods more balanced , he also allowed Gleyber Torres, who often made pass mistakes in the shortstop position to move defense and pass shorter second base, allowing the entire Yankee's infield defensive lineup to upgrade.
Of course, there is only one core player in this Yankee team, which is the greatest single-season outfielder "Judge" Judge, who has played many of our fans since they started watching baseball . First, broke the AFC record of 58 home runs for Hall of Fame player Hank Greenberg for 84 years, , and then became the "God of Baseball" Babe Ruth and another Yankee legend Roger Maris, the third AFC player to reach the 60 home runs for in a single season. In the remaining games, he broke Roger Maris and maintained the AFC record of 61-year home runs for .
When the record chase list is apart from a colorful photo of Judge, he is surrounded by black and white photos belonging to those ancient legends, we will finally sigh that we have the honor of witnessing such a brilliant baseball epic this season.What is even more incredible is that in addition to the efficient output of home base hits, he is actually very hopeful to compete for the rare AMF attack on the treble crown .
These glorious data actually do not fully reflect Judge's value to the team. This Yankee heavy artillery, who ushered in the contract year this year, inherited the spirit of sacrificing all generations of Yankee leaders for the sake of victory . Even if it is a role he is not good at, he will shoulder it for the benefit of the team. On the defensive end, Judge moved more to the midfield and outfield positions with the most difficult defense in the outfield this season, giving the right outfield to Stanton, who has weak running ability, thus liberating the designated strike position.
Seeing that the team lacks athletic ability, Judge, who is 2.01 meters tall, turned into a fast leg. With his outstanding game reading ability, he successfully seized 6 stealing bases, and only failed 3 times in 's first-class running performance. Especially after the All-Star Game; when Stanton, Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu got a high-level free card and other teammates were in a sluggish state, Judge scored a strike rate of more than .360, 27 home runs and 58 RBIs , carrying the team forward on his own, grabbing the Yankee a difficult victory.
If Judge had not played at the historical level, even if the role players like Trevino and Kinafarefa played surprisingly, this Yankee would have difficulty breaking the baseball experts' estimate of third or fourth place in the division before the start of the season. Because of Judge, they were able to advance to the playoffs with as the leader of the United States East and the United States. This decisive role is exactly the so-called team's core value lies in .
playoffs approaching. As many wounded soldiers gradually return, two recruits, Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza, have integrated into the team. Judge and the Bronx Bombers Group, who returned to the position, can imagine that they will regain the terrifying offensive destructive power of the early season, becoming the biggest guarantee for the Yankee playoff competition.
Compared with the offensive line where the situation is getting better, although Yankee's pitching group performed well throughout the season and there are many players with outstanding performances in the team, they are full of hidden dangers before entering the playoffs. For starters, the situation for ace Gerrit Cole is particularly worrying. To be fair, Cole's performance this season is not bad. He hit the big league on the strikeout list, but his problem is that he always suddenly missed the accuracy in one inning in the game, and was hit by his opponent after a continuous base, which was smashed through in one wave. This season he has been hit by his opponent with 31 home runs, not only tying up the highest in his career, but also making him the pitcher with the largest number of home runs this season.
But at least the performance of the extremely steady left shot Nestor Cortes has provided a trustworthy second option for Yankee's starting group, but at the end of the bullpen, the situation for Yankee is not that optimistic. At the beginning of the season, Michael King and Clay Holmes guarded the final innings that other teams were deterred despite the injury of the Cuban missile Aroldis Chapman.
However, with King's injury season reimbursement, Holmes' form declined severely in the second half of the season. Although there are many experienced rescue pitchers such as Holmes, Chapman, Jonathan Loaisiga, Zack Britton, etc. in the bullpen, it is hard to say who among them can take on the task of closing the door that determines their destiny. Bullpen stability and coach Aaron Boone's scheduling level will also be Yankee's main test in the playoffs.
Do you think Judge can continue his hero show into the playoffs and lead Yankee to realize his dream again after 2009? Let’s discuss with us in the comment section as soon as possible.
