Both the New York Yankees and Houston Astros will play during the 2020 postseason, but one of the two saw a major decrease in productivity throughout the season.
The Yankees, who suffered a multitude of injuries, similar to 2019, went on serious cold streaks that limited their potential the past few months. With Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, James Paxton, and Gleyber Torres all missing significant time, the Yankees are just now turning the corner with their health.
If only New York could’ve cheated their way to the top, maybe their injuries wouldn’t be such a focal point. The Astros, who were caught in the middle of a massive cheating scandal the past few years, saw reality hit them in the face In 2020. Considering none of the players were adequately punished for their role in the scandal, seeing their batting averages after this year’s regular season is eye-opening.
2020. Nature is healing. pic.twitter.com/PqIGHuoNYM
— Very Baseball Moments (@verymlb) September 28, 2020
In 2017, the Astros had three batters hitting over .300, fast forward three years later, and none of them are even breaking .270. It is quite comical to see how vastly their numbers look when taking out the cheating factor, further justifying how guilty they are.
For the sake of baseball, thankfully, we won’t be hearing any trash cans banging in Houston, and if the Yankees happen to find themselves playing the Astros at some point this postseason, things could look quite different.