By Eddie Castro
Dare I say maybe just MAYBE the New York Yankees offense has woken. Ever since my ongoing rant on Manager Aaron Boone on last week’s episode of Talk Sports with Eddie, the Yankees have won five of their last six games including a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals this past week. On a series note, the team has played much better and are now receiving some production from their starting pitching despite Ace pitcher Max Fried is struggling lately, pitching to an ERA of 7.00 in his last five starts.
The St. Louis series featured lot of highs for the team including having productive at-bats, something Yankee fans haven’t seen on a consistent basis the past few months. There are three players you can highlight that could potentially be huge factors for the ball club as the regular season winds down. Ben Rice, Will Warren and David Bednar.
Rice has seen his playing time increase within the past month due to the struggles of Austin Wells. During his time in the majors, Rice primarily played first base, but it is important to note he came up in the Yankee farm system as a catcher. Rice has definitely taking advantage of the increase playing time and came up big in a recent game this past weekend where he had a career-high 7 RBIs.
With the ineffectiveness of Devin Williams, General Manager Brian Cashman knew he had to revamp the bullpen in order for the Yankees to be able to close out games especially those nail-biting one run games. David Bednar has seemed to have answered the call when it comes to the guy who will take over the closer role for the Yankees. Since being acquired by the Yankees from the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 31, Bednar has pitched to an ERA of 2.33.
His first outing with the Yankees, he struggled surrendering a game-tying home run to Miami’s Javier Sanoja. Since then, he has been lights out. Bednar has been the pitcher Boone has relied upon to close out those high-leverage moments in the ninth.
If the Yankees were to get into the playoffs, the first two pitchers to get the ball in Games one and two will be Max Fried and Carlos Rodon. After that is where things can get very interesting. This is where pitcher Will Warren can play a huge part for the Yankees. Since the All-Star break, despite displaying a mix bag of an up and down season, Warren has been the team’s best pitcher of late.
When he is in the zone and has command of all his pitches, he has been really tough to hit. He’s had four quality starts of six innings pitched in which he’s allowed three of fewer runs. The 26-year-old right-hander has a strong strike out ratio, but can also be erratic at times with his command which leads to a high number of walks.
With the Yankees success of late, they have been able to climb up in the Wild Card standings. As we go to press, the Yankees now hold the top Wild Card spot in the American League with the Red Sox, Mariners and Guardians losing of late. The Bombers are also just five games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East. The Yankees will begin a huge four-games series against the Red Sox tonight in the Bronx.
This upcoming series will definitely have a playoff atmosphere with both teams fighting for a playoff spot. A series like this could ultimately decide the Yankees playoff fate. The Yankees currently have an 8-11 record against AL East teams this year. Only time will tell whether this recent play of the Yankees was just a one-week wonder or a turn around that could lead to some much-needed momentum come October.
Sports Notes: (Football) We are three weeks away from the NFL season. (Baseball) As we go to press, The New York Mets have lost 14 of their last 18 games. The team wraps up a three-game set in Washington this afternoon and will then head to Atlanta to play the Braves on Friday night.