Everybody knows why the New York Yankees fail to reach the World Series every year. Their kryptonite and biggest weakness isn’t injuries, inconsistencies, or any other variable that may be self-inflicted. Instead, it is the Houston Astros who simply come to play every time the Yankees find themselves battling it out in the ALCS, the stage before reaching the World Series.
Despite the Yankees going on without DJ LeMahieu and some of their more prominent names, star players are supposed to perform during the playoffs, which is exactly what Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton failed to do. They need more from their superstars, but health goes a long way toward contributing and rounding out an otherwise stellar roster full of talent.
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The Yankees need to be in flow when they enter the post-season:
If the Yankees could swap last season’s first half of the year with the second half, I imagine they would do it in a heartbeat. They were nearly untouchable before the All-Star break. Still, things fell apart immediately after, with Stanton going down due to injury and LeMahieu picking up a toe issue that ended his season prematurely.
Star bullpen arm Michael King, who also went down with an elbow issue, claimed that the Astros don’t stand a chance when the Yankees are rolling. The problem is the team always falls apart at the apex of the season when they need to be healthy and in form.
“There’s no chance that an Astros team can stop us when we’re rolling,” King said on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM.
Losing King was a catastrophic blow to the Bombers, especially since he was their most reliable relief arm at 27 years old, hosting a 2.29 ERA and 11.65 strikeouts per nine across 51 innings. He was well on his way to making the All-Star team and proved to be one of the more valuable players in the game.
While knowing the Yankees can beat Houston is fine and dandy, it is not even close to enough when it comes to actually taking them down in real-life scenarios. King knows they represent the team’s kryptonite, which is why the Yankees reinforced their starting rotation with Carlos Rodon this off-season and worked diligently to get some of their injured players back into shape.
“They’re definitely our kryptonite. I would say that,” King said. “Even when we played them during the regular season, it wasn’t pretty.”
The Yankees have more than enough talent to get the job done, but it always comes down to the health of the team when it matters most.