For the New York Yankees, Every Remaining Game is a Playoff Game

The New York Yankees lost in a brutal 8-0 fashion to the Baltimore Orioles on Friday in a crucial game that will ultimately decide whether or not the Bronx Bombers make the playoffs.

The Baltimore Orioles are currently 3½ games ahead of the Yankees in the Wild Card race, and the two teams are set to meet in five more games during the remainder of the 2016 season. In addition, the Yankees have 14 games left against the American League East first place team, the Toronto Blue Jays, and the Wild Card leading Boston Red Sox.

With the odds heavily against the Yankees, every single game left in the 2016 season is essentially a playoff game. In this do-or-die stretch of September, many are questioning if the team has the ability to play the high level of baseball necessary to make the post season.

The 2016 Yankees have proven themselves to be quite resilient. Despite trading away arguably their three best players (Carlos Beltran, Andrew Miller, Aroldis Chapman) and a quality starter in Ivan Nova, the team has been able to win in the second half of the season. They went 17-11 in August, which was their best winning percentage of any month.

The injuries to Nathan Eovaldi, Chad Green, and Aaron Hicks have undeniably been a big blow to the their chances, so the pressure is on for the team to play their best baseball in September. 

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Joe Girardi, as neutral as always, said that “You can’t make too much of it,” referring to the team’s loss to the Orioles on Friday. “But tomorrow’s game is really important.” At this point, the reality is that every single game is “really important.”

Recent call-ups should help remedy some of the pain the team is suffering.  Minor leaguers Luis Severino, Nick Goody, Kirby Yates, Jonathan Holder, Rob Refsnyder and Eric Young Jr. have been brought up to replace the injured players, and more should be on the way.

The Yankees offense went quietly in Friday’s game against the Orioles, with the team going hitless for the final six innings of the game. They are set to face Kevin Gausman on Saturday, who shut the offense out through seven innings in his last game against them.

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With their backs against the wall in September, the Yankees will have to dig deep in their fight against elimination from the Wild Card. Although last loss was “only one game,” as Girardi put it, every single game left is important. The team will have to find the strength to give its all to the very end.