The Yankees’ biggest flaw is rearing its ugly face as postseason closes in

The New York Yankees are the epitome of a feast or famine team, going on wild hot streaks and then sputtering to a halt offensively. Good teams don’t allow 14 runs against them and score just two runs over two games. Good teams manage to fight and stick in games at any given time, but the Yankees simply aren’t that type of squad. They rely heavily on the home run, and when they aren’t launching balls into the bleachers, their offense is about as useful as a concession stand during COVID.

So far this season, the Yankees are 11-18 away, and by losing to the Toronto Blue Jays in Buffalo on Thursday night, they secured their opposition a playoff spot.

Management made it a priority to focus on the long ball, which heavily benefits them while at home in the Bronx. Yankee Stadium has a short right porch and ultimately has multiple spots that can be beneficial to a homer-centric team. However, when playing away, things get more difficult as they fail to hit with runners in scoring position and get men on base.

The players understand that their cold streaks severely limit their chances of reaching the World Series. Veteran leader Brett Gardner understands this concept and that the team needs to enter a hit-streak before exhibition games begin.

“It’s something that needs to be corrected quickly,” said outfielder Brett Gardner. “Anybody can get hot at any time. The best team doesn’t always win in October; usually it’s the team that gets the hottest and plays the best at the end. Hopefully that’s going to be us.”

Watching this team over the course of the season has been tumultuous, considering every game holds more value than a regular campaign. The starting rotation is a big question for manager Aaron Boone, aside from Gerrit Cole. Masahiro Tanaka has been consistent this season but had a tough start against the Blue Jays on Wednesday. The third arm in the rotation could be JA Happ, who has pitched above his way weight class lately, or even youngster Deivi Garcia who started his MLB career with a bang.

Nonetheless, I expect to see minor changes made to help the Yankees improve their chances of winning during the postseason. With every loss, they make their trip to the World Series more difficult, so they have to begin winning games are they will find themselves fighting from behind early on.

“We’re going to have to do better than that,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I do know that if we’re playing our best, [I don’t care] where it is. We’ll get it rolling, but we’ve got to get ourselves in order and start playing really good baseball.”