The AL will have a Wild Card game. This is true.

I wouldn't say it's inevitable that the Yankees will be one of the participants in the Wild Card gamge:

"Starting Monday, they need to begin finding some answers.

They have the second fewest innings pitched by their starters since the All-Star break, behind the Rays — who purposely don’t use a starter on some days. Miguel Andujar’s two errors on Sunday night and Gleyber Torres’ mindless plays over the last week bring up concerns about the young Yankees’ focus and defense. The lineup was silent for most of the weekend without Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez and it needs to find a way to score while they mend.

Sunday night also had to raise concerns about the bullpen, which has allowed at least a run in 12 of the last 15 games. Aroldis Chapman walked three, and then J.D. Martinez’s single scored two runs before Andujar’s error on Xander Bogaerts’ grounder to third — his second error of the night — allowed the Red Sox to score the tying run.

So right now, the Yankees leave Boston needing to change their focus."

Aside from the emotional turmoil and realization that they're not as good as they thought they were, I don't know what they're going to do differently strategically.

Some of the young players are going through growing pains, but that was one of the objectives of the 2018 season.


"Instead of expending all their energy on chasing the Red Sox, the Yankees need to put their house in order and prepare themselves for a fight in the Wild Card game.

They have time to get themselves ready."

I don't know what this means.

Like, Bird hits another ground ball to second base. Does he jog to first base because the Red Sox are 9.5 games up?


"Before you bemoan the myth that the Yankees cannot beat losing teams, their actual record is 36-19 against teams below .500. They have struggled against the Orioles, going 6-6 and do have seven games remaining against them."

Well, yeah.

Most people understand that the Yankees didn't get to 30 games over .500 by losing to everybody. The observation is that the Red Sox built a divisional lead by playing even better than the Yankees against bad teams.

 

"They can give their starters extra rest and maybe that will help get Luis Severino back on target and it would certainly keep CC Sabathia healthier and sharper down the stretch.

Most importantly, however, they can start by being cautious with the returns of Judge, who said Sunday he still had pain in the bone in his right wrist that he fractured, and Sanchez, who is on the disabled list with a groin injury for the second time. There is no rush now; it’s most important to make sure they are ready for September and October."

At least Ackert suggested something concrete, but I still don't see it. The long-term health and effectiveness of their players is a primary objective regardless of the AL East standings.

This was the biggest series of the season, a make-or-break series which broke the Yankees.

The Yankees didn't strain their starting pitchers or rush their players back from the DL.

Maybe it will be good in the long run to knock these guys off their pedestal. Maybe Torres and Andujar need to eat some humble pie and this will all be forgotten as they parade down the Canyon of Heroes in early November. Or maybe they get knocked down and can't get back up.

This team faces some challenges, both mentally and physically.

Everyone can acknowledge that the Red Sox are better ... if that somehow helps the Yankees play better in August and September, then I'm all for it. I fail to see how this realization changes anything.

Field better, work the counts, play some fundamentally strong baseball, get Judge and Sanchez healthy (and Ellsbury ha ha ha), and perhaps the young players need to adjust to the grind of a long season.

The focus and expenditure of energy should be the same as always. Each game and each at-bat is the focus.