It’s time to turn up the pressure on some Yankees.
Even after two more brutal losses to the Baltimore Orioles, the Yankees are in a good, but not great position. Entering Labor Day, they are a half-game up on the Red Sox, the closest challenger for an AL Wild Card spot. If the Yankees can maintain the top spot, they will host the win-or-go-home Wild Card Game.
It’s quite likely that the Yankees are playoff bound, but one more bad week could put things in peril.
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So, which Yankees need to step up to ensure that won’t happen? For the sake of this exercise, let’s leave off names like Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole and Giancarlo Stanton. Those guys are carrying their weight, and have been for a while.
These five Yankees must step up down the stretch to help the team clinch a spot in October.
Joey Gallo: I continue to wait and wait for the Gallo hot streak to arrive. I’m still waiting. So are the Yankees. Since arriving to the Bronx, Gallo has a .134 batting average, with six homers and 13 RBI. We can acknowledge how flawed batting average is as a metric to evaluate a slugger like Gallo while still admitting that .134 is bad. Gallo must start producing consistently ... and ASAP.
DJ LeMahieu: No Yankees player has stepped to the plate more often (589 plate appearances) than LeMahieu this season. Some of that (batting at or near the top of the order, rarely sitting) is by design. Some of it is due to injury issues throughout the rest of the roster. Unfortunately, the Yankees have gotten a whole lot of average offense in those plate appearances. LeMahieu’s OPS+ sits at 100, almost exactly league average. To put that into context, LeMahieu posted OPS+ marks of 136 and 179 in his first two years with the Yankees. This club needs something closer to that guy.
Gio Urshela: The Yankees finally welcomed back their third baseman recently. Now they need him to stay on the field. Urshela needed an MRI after being hit on the hand, the latest in what’s been a string of frustrating physical issues this season. When healthy, Urshela plays very good defense and is clutch. There’s a Scott Brosius quality to his ability and role on the Yankees. That needs to stabilize in the season’s final weeks.
Jordan Montgomery: Count me in as a Montgomery fan, and one that believes he’s worthy of a Game 1 assignment in the ALDS (assuming Cole takes the ball and wins the AL Wild Card Game). But legacies and memories aren’t made by pitching well in July and August. They are made by finishing and clinching in September. If the Yankees stay on turn, here’s who Montgomery could face in the season’s final weeks: Baltimore, Toronto, Baltimore, Cleveland, Boston, and Tampa Bay. Of course, he could use some run support, too.
Chad Green: Few would suggest Green’s 2021 season (3.04 ERA, ) has been bad or alarming, but let’s not ignore his four blown saves. Despite two scoreless innings on Sunday, Green has been shaky for about two months. Considering this pitcher’s track record, performance probably will stabilize. But we know how volatile relief pitchers can be. Green needs to prove he’s still trustworthy for manager Aaron Boone to go to in big spots.
Gleyber Torres: A lackadaisical play on a routine ground ball, which should’ve been the third out in the seventh inning, allowed the Orioles to go head in an 8-7 loss. For two years now, the Yankees have been waiting for Torres to return to his offensive numbers of 2019. He hasn’t delivered and on top of that, he’s become a defensive weakness who could find himself replaced by Andrew Velazquez in the late innings.
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Joe Giglio may be reached at jgiglio@njadvancemedia.com.
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