Bronx Bombers Prepare for Playoffs- 9/27/18

Sportsbozos introduces our New York correspondent, Peter Beljakovic, an avid NY Sports and Yankee fan!

Thanks Peter and Welcome! Congratulations you are a Bozo!

On the heels of their 26^th consecutive winning season, the New York Yankees are now amid final preparations for their latest postseason assault on their 27^th World Championship. It’s certainly been a perplexing year for the Bronx Bombers as winning close to 100 games this season wasn’t nearly enough to win the AL East as they saw their chief antagonist, the Boston Red Sox, have the best regular season in their history.  Now, as they prepare for their Wild Card opponent, the Oakland A’s, the team is faced with daunting questions in search of answers with only a handful of days to find them.

Who is the Yankees ace?  Heading into the All-Star Break this was an easy question to answer as Luis Severino established himself as one of the best starting pitchers in baseball. Since then he’s been consistently inconsistent as his outings have been uncharacteristically short and marred by one long ball after another. 2017 acquisition, Sonny Gray, has been a complete and utter bust from the moment he entered the clubhouse and has since been relegated to mop-up duty in the bullpen.  Promising lefty, Jordan Montgomery, suffered a season ending injury leaving the team’s only other ace contenders as veterans CC Sabathia and Masihiro Tanaka, and trade deadline acquisition J.A. Happ. Unfortunately none of them have done anything to distinguish themselves in the last six weeks leaving Manager, Aaron Boone, with an interesting choice to make.  Based on the prospect of a predominantly right-hitting lineup courtesy of Oakland, one should assume that it rules of Happ and Sabathia from Wildcard Game consideration. That leaves Severino, who was blasted into the clubhouse in the 1^st inning in last year’s WC game versus the Twins, and Tanaka, the wily veteran whose arm is in danger of falling off with every pitch he throws. The guess?  Boone goes with Tanaka.

On a happier front, the saving grace for the Yankee’s staff all year has been the bullpen.  Between Dellin Betances, Aroldis Chapman, Chad Green, David Robertson, and newcomer Zach Britton, this collection of hard-throwing problem solvers have provided the team with a security blanket all season.  If the Wild Card starter gets in trouble, look for an early hook and a reliance on the Bullpen of Doom to bail the team out of trouble as they have all year long.

As far as the offense goes, it’s the poster child for modern analytics as it’s the personification of hit or miss, literally.  Home runs? Plenty.  Strikeouts? Plenty. The best hitter bats 2^nd in the order. Everyone has a jacked up “launch angle” and its swing for the fences time. Small ball? Not here.  Bunt a runner over? Nope.  Steal a base every now and then?  Nah. Hit and run? That’s not part of the infamous Brian Cashman analytical “Binder” that all of his managers are forced to adhere to.  With an offense that’s able to feature the likes of Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Gleyber Torres, Miguel Andujar, Didi Gregorious, and Aaron Hicks, runs theoretically shouldn’t be a problem but unfortunately opposing teams have often found success pitching to this feast or famine collection of superstars.

What does the postseason hold for this $6 Billion Little Engine That Could? We’ll soon find out. Whether it be one and done in the Wildcard Game or another long trek into October, rest assured that you’ll either see a total flameout or a fireworks display rivaled only by the 4^th of July.  Either way, it will be entertaining.

-PB