When the Trevvy Breaks

 

We were waiting all year for the Yankees to lose games like a normal team. It happened. And I think they're moving on pretty quickly for it.

Look, August has humbled this Yankee team in so many ways. A lot of the team's feel-good stories, like Nestor Cortes, Clay Holmes and Matt Carpenter, are on the IL for a bit. Gerrit Cole has gotten beaten up for a few starts. There's no ironed-down closer, and I think they're afraid to use Chapman in the ninth again. Frankie Montas has a 7+ ERA over his first 4 Yankees starts, CONFIRMING the fact that they should have either kept Montgomery, gotten Castillo or BOTH. 

I think what's helped has been the return of Giancarlo Stanton, as well as the fact that right now they have to play the frigging A's. Yeah, 13 runs in the midst of a playoff stretch, that always helps.

Look, I did get to see this team play at home last week. Granted, it was a loss to Toronto and the team was still on its 'we're not hitting' stretch, but I could see some signs that made me optimistic. For one, Andrew Benintendi has started hitting. It took him a bit in the Bronx but now he's getting back to the contact stuff he was great at in Kansas City, and now he has a .261 average with 11 RBIs in 27 games in New York. Additionally, Jose Trevino is such a handy guy to have around because not only is he a great defensive catcher, but he can just slam doubles where they ain't whenever he wants to. I think he had a few moments like that during that game. 

And also, we're just pretty awesome on defense. I was sad I didn't get to see Donaldson play in pinstripes, but his replacement, rookie Oswaldo Cabrera, made an insane diving catch into the third base stands that, as impressive as it was, made me worried he was gonna get hurt. Also, and people don't give him credit for this, but Aaron Judge is a pretty awesome right fielder. He made a terrific catch to rob Bo Bichette of a home run when we were there, and he can just do that whenever he wants. I think every sportswriter who argues he's not the MVP this year should be shot on sight.

The Yanks have a pretty easy end of August, and then it's all competitors for the first 2 thirds of September. They do have some easy games to finish off the year, but by then hopefully they'll still have a decent playoff seed and not be struggling to scrape in. I've really appreciated this team, and I hope they can ride this late momentum over some tough series' with teams like Tampa and Boston. 

Coming Tomorrow- Cue the trumpets.