We are in the final week of the season and it is looking the Yankees will be hosting the Wild Card playoff next Tuesday. Scott and I talk about the struggling offense, most notably ARod, Gardner, McCann, and Headley. We recap all the games from this past week including a tough loss in Toronto, dissect some more questionable moves from Girardi, and some potential tie-breaker scenarios for the 3 teams fighting for the second Wild Card spot. We also pay tribute to the late Yogi Berra and discuss what he meant to the Yankees and baseball.
The Yankees magic number to clinch a Wild Card spot is 3. Obviously we hope they don’t just clinch a spot, but they get the first seed so they host the game. They can do themselves a HUGE favor by clinching early because that puts a lot of pressure on Houston, Minnesota, and Anaheim who are all separated by a total of 1.5 games for the second Wild Card spot. There’s a number of scenarios that Scott and I discuss, but the bottom line is that all those teams will likely be fighting to the death to make the final spot. Keuchel, Gibson, and Richards will pitch over the weekend, meaning they will not be rested for the playoff game vs the Yankees. It is the best case scenario for the Yankees if this happens, which makes it even more important that the Yankees clinch early.
In this episode we also recap the Toronto and White Sox series. Some good things came out of those games; Refsnyder played well, Ellsbury is starting to hit again, and Severino has continued to be strong. A lot of bad things came out of those games as well; Chase Headley is terrible, Girardi does not know how to manage a bullpen or a starting rotation, and Betances has struggled. Listen to the episode for full breakdowns.
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