After finishing June with an excellent 22-6 record, things have fallen apart for the New York Yankees.
They went 13-13 in July, and are 6-14 in August.
The trend, evidently, is not particularly encouraging.
Their first half, which they finished 64-28, was stellar, but did indicate some regression could be coming.
No one, however, envisioned the team going 11-20 in the second half so far.
Several factors have contributed to the Yanks’ downfall: suboptimal roster construction, the curious decision to trade Jordan Montgomery, the lack of production from Aaron Hicks and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and of course, injuries, especially to key bullpen pieces.
Yet the Yankees may have taken two steps in the right direction on Sunday and Monday.
“The Yankees win back to back games for the first time in August,” Talkin’ Yanks tweeted.
The Yankees win back to back games for the first time in August pic.twitter.com/OYn0DeK8qc
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) August 23, 2022
The Yankees Still Have A Long Way To Go
Yes: the team that has an eight-game lead in the AL East hadn’t been able to win two games in a row in August, a month that is in its last week.
On Sunday, the Bombers edged the Toronto Blue Jays, and on Monday, they did the same against the tough New York Mets.
Those are two very strong foes, so the fact that the Yanks have been able to come out on top is encouraging.
They have a long way to go before we fully declare them “back,” but even if their roster is not perfect, they are much, much better than an 11-20 team.
As the team gets healthier and recovers some important soldiers, they should be able to start getting wins more consistently.
They also need to bench IKF, call-up shortstop prospect Oswald Peraza, and hope Harrison Bader and Giancarlo Stanton come back healthy so they reduce Hicks’ playing time.
The Yankees can be good again.
Fans just need to exercise some patience.
NEXT: The Yankees Continue To Have A Surprise Bullpen Gem