The New York Yankees, despite dropping a series against the Washington Nationals, remain in control of the AL East by 1.5 games. To remain in pole position, however, they need to be more consistent across the field and not waste valuable opportunities.
This is much easier said than done, evidently, but they are capable of much more as a team. To improve, they need to pay attention to these departments and prove they can handle three things.
3 things the Yankees can and should prove against St. Louis
Bullpen stability
If we examine the 2024 campaign as a whole, the Yanks have the seventh-best bullpen ERA at 3.63. However, the unit is 12th (3.75) if we only consider August and 14th (4.02) in the second half. Evidently, there is work to be done in this regard.
The Yankees got rid of the struggling Michael Tonkin and enjoyed a nice series against the Washington Nationals, allowing just one earned run in three games. The Cardinals will be a nice test for a unit that could soon add Lou Trivino, Scott Effross, Ian Hamilton, and Nick Burdi.
Ability to rebound offensively
The Yankees are one of the best offensive teams in baseball. However, they have been wildly inconsistent with men in scoring positions in the second half. Against the Nats, they went 1-for-26 with runners in scoring position, including a 1-for-13 showing in the finale on Wednesday. They will need to be better and take advantage of their opportunities.
To reach the full extent of its potential, the Yankees’ offense needs to reduce DJ LeMahieu’s playing time drastically, call up Jasson Dominguez, and give Austin Wells more at-bats, among other things.
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Rotation consistency
If the Yankees bullpen performed well against Washington, the same can’t be said about the rotation. Yes, Nestor Cortes dominated on Monday and appears to be peaking at the right time, but Gerrit Cole is still looking for consistency and his top-notch strikeout stuff, and Carlos Rodon was bad on Wednesday.
Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil could both be back soon, but the Yankees have precious few starters in top form: just Cortes for the time being. Cole, who surrendered two homers and three runs on Tuesday, will eventually regain his best stuff as long as he is healthy, but Rodon’s inconsistency is a bit concerning. Marcus Stroman, Rodon, Cole, Schmidt and Gil all have something to prove in the upcoming weeks.
