Which New York team can make a big impression by winning a championship?
Yankees? Knicks? Rangers? Mike Greenberg tells us which New York team would make the biggest impression on the city if they brought home a championship.
Sport in Seriousness
NEW YORK – Not long ago, this week’s Yankees-Orioles series was considered critical.
Exactly two weeks ago, the Yankees had a narrow half-game lead over Baltimore in the AL East, so the upcoming three-game series appears to be crucial.
Now it looks like an invitation to the Yankees’ next victory party.
As Aaron Judge said, the Yankees “just have to get the job done,” and that means winning a game against the O’s to clinch the division title.
With the magic number one to win their second AL East title in three years, the Yankees will match Clarke Schmidt against Dean Kremer on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.
A few other things of note as the Yankees return from their 5-1 road trip against Seattle and Oakland with a six-game lead over Baltimore with six games left in the regular season:
Yankees’ magic number secures AL record
Speaking of magic numbers, the Yankees would have to score 3 points to set the best record in the AL.
Any combination of three Yankees wins or three Cleveland Guardians losses would give the Yankees home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs, and that’s notable – especially with another AL Championship Series date with the Houston Astros.
The Yankees have the best away record in the league at 50-31 and again dominated the AL Central with a record of 24-7.
This week, the AL Central champions Guardians finish the season with five home games – two against the 76-81 Cincinnati Reds and three against the AL West-leading Houston Astros.
Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are in last place (NL Central), follow the Orioles to Yankee Stadium this weekend.
Gleyber Torres’ rise as leadoff
At the end of March, Gleyber Torres began as the Yankees’ first batter after DJ LeMahieu fractured his right foot towards the end of spring training.
Torres never really got going as a first-place batter, and manager Aaron Boone unsuccessfully brought in Anthony Volpe and Alex Verdugo before switching back to Torres.
Since being demoted back to No. 1 on August 16, Torres has a .308 batting average with an .830 OPS and five home runs in 162 plate appearances – a stark turnaround from his sluggish first 115 games.
Breakdown of individual cases: Austin Wells or Luis Gil of the Yankees as AL Rookie of the Year?
Before returning to the leadoff position, Torres had a batting average (OPS) of .236 and 10 home runs in 481 plate appearances.
“He stays aggressive in his zone, which I think is the most important thing,” Judge told the YES Network on Sunday. “We all get a little passive sometimes when we’re not swinging the way we want to.”
“But in the second half he was confident and stayed aggressive from the start, and when you do that, good things happen.”
Yankees form pitcher rotation for postseason
After Schmidt on Tuesday night, the Yankees are expected to start Nestor Cortes and Gerrit Cole against Baltimore.
Carlos Rodon, Luis Gil and Marcus Stroman could start this weekend against Pittsburgh, and assuming they are AL champions, the Yanks won’t play again until the Division Series opener on October 5 at Yankee Stadium.
Cortes may have catapulted himself into third place behind Cole and Rodon, and those are all the starters the Yankees might need in the ALDS.
Barring rainouts, there are days off after ALDS Games 1 and 2, meaning Cole could return fully rested for Game 4.
So Gil and Stroman could get roles in the bullpen at least in the first round of the playoffs, and the Yankees hope to get Jake Cousins (chest strain) back for the start of the ALDS after placing him on the injured list retroactively to last Thursday.
John Sterling returns to the Yankees radio booth
Just in time for the start of the season, John Sterling will be back in the Yankees’ radio booth.
Sterling retired in April, but has been asked to provide commentary on home and away games during the Yankees’ final season and the playoffs, if they last, alongside his longtime broadcast partner Suzyn Waldman.
Sterling’s return begins Tuesday night against the Orioles, and maybe we’ll hear what he comes up with for a home run call from Jazz Chisholm Jr. or some other variation of Juan Soto’s “It’s Juan-derful” call.
