Yankees fate in 2017 decidedly remains in their own hands

The Yankees have a chance to re-ignite the race for a Division title tonight with a win over the Red Sox. With two upcoming series against the Orioles and one with Minnesota, potentially deciding the Wild Card, everything remains in their hands.

The Yankees, along with their fans, won’t have to do much scoreboard watching for the next week or so. And that’s because they’ll be playing the teams that matter most. With seven games against the Orioles and three with the Twins, the Yankees season will be determined, one way or the other, by how they fare in these contests.

You can’t ask for much more from a schedule that was unwittingly drawn up more than a year ago, and the Yankees should feel fortunate to have this opportunity.

All these little pieces

Having said that, though, the task presented before them is not an easy one. Once again, Buck Showalter has his team believing in themselves and surviving solely on the strength of a formidable lineup that boasts seven regulars with twenty or more home runs. And Manny Machado, a potential one-man wrecking crew, has finally realized there is a baseball season under way.

Without any pitching to speak of, the Orioles continue to win, and as play begins today, trail the Yankees by only 2.5 games in the American League Wild Card Standings.

The Twins, once challengers of the Cleveland Indians for the AL Central Division, continue to defy all odds and are still very much in contention for a spot as a Wild Card team. Much like the Orioles, what they lack in talent, they make up for with a determined and aggressive style of play.

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And then you have the California Angels thrown into the mix too, and you have the makings of an all-out war developing right down to the very last games of the season. The Angels are now fortified by the addition of Justin Upton, who they acquired during a salary dump by the Detroit Tigers. Mike Trout needed some help, and now he has it. The Yankees do not play the Angels again unless they meet in the Playoffs.

For all of this, though, the Yankees are still the team to beat. As always, they have a target on their backs and, already, the Yankee haters are lining up with pre-written epitaphs for their season.

Yankees pieces fit better

Which makes it all the more fun. Because without question, the Yankees have a better team than any of them. By far, they have a better starting rotation, as witnessed by what they are doing against the Red Sox this weekend.

Offensively, the team is struggling to find some consistency, but Joe Girardi will eventually find a lineup he is happy with and one that will carry the team into the playoffs. The oblique injury suffered yesterday by Aaron Hicks means the Yankees once again will be relying on Clint Frazier to fill the gap once he returns from injury himself.

Matt Holliday and Greg Bird are both back, and their impact on the team’s production is already being felt. Still, the Yankees need to be better than the .500 team they have been over the last three months.

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They have shown sparks of life, but need to turn that into a full-blown fire. And the good news is, and no team can ask for more, it’s all in their own hands.

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