The Yankees need to make their bed for 17 of the next 20 days

The Yankees finish out the 2017 season playing 17 of their remaining 20 games at home. And not only do they need to remember to make their bed in the morning, but they also need to make them each night with spirited play on the field.

The Yankees are in a position at the close of the 2017 season where they can make their bed, but they must lie in it too. There will be no excuses for a team that gets to play 85% of their final games at home, and even if that includes the three in Queens against the Rays beginning tonight, that’s still “home.”

Fortunately, the Yankees have picked the right time to do something that previously has eluded them, and that’s to win series. Beginning with Boston, from whom they took three out of four, and then the Orioles and Rangers for two out of three, the team has a chance to do the same against the Rays, who seem to be wilting.

The teams looking up at the Yankees can’t say the same thing. Their destiny is as much tied to what the Yankees do as it is to what they do. A team like the Twins can rip off five wins in a row and still not gain significant ground if the Pinstripes win their next two series.

Having said that, though, following the Orioles who come in four games after the Tampa series, it is those same Twins the Yankees need to knock down and send on their way when they arrive at Yankee Stadium.

And as with the recent series with the Red Sox, each of the games against the Twins will represent a two-game swing in the standings.

The Yankees are poised and ready

But if you look at the Yankees team and the way they’ve been playing of late, there is little, if any, concern about the direction the team is heading in.

Gary Sanchez is once again proving to be the hit machine he’s always been. Aaron Judge is turning the corner on what I will always remember as the most frustrating and unexplainable 100 games of a Yankee player’s career ever, with two blasts yesterday, one a 461 ft monster shot that reminded of swings he was taking in June.

What’s not to like

The rotation is finally set and it’s only a matter now of Joe Girardi planning to give the new Core Four some extra rest while lining up who will pitch when in the playoffs. And most importantly, perhaps, who he selects to start the one-game shootout to decide which team moves on in the real playoffs.

More from Yanks Go Yard

• Mets stealing New York Post’s entire Yankees offseason plan is hilarious
• Predicting Yankees-Diamondbacks LF trade package after Ken Rosenthal update
• Yankees add to championship core with Wilmer Difo signing
• Aaron Judge’s ‘breadcrumbs’ showed he was never leaving Yankees, has more moves in mind
• Creating a Yankees-Bryan Reynolds trade package after latest Pirates update

Barring injury, the position player lineup is pretty much set, leaving only a couple of decisions Girardi needs to fret over. The biggest one, perhaps, is the choice between Todd Frazier, Greg Bird, and Chase Headley for the first and third base positions.

It would seem to be a given that Matt Holliday assumes the DH role and Sanchez catches, despite his propensity for errors and passed balls, which once again needs to be recalled as a factor in playing him over Austin Romine. Nevertheless, it’s probably a non-choice as Sanchez’s bat can be a game decider in a New York minute.

Plus, Clint Frazier is expected to return to the team later this week, factoring as a wild card based on what he was contributing before he was sidelined.

So, with all of this working for them, the Yankees would seem to be poised and ready to cruise through the rest of the season, in full control of their destiny this season and on into the Playoffs.

From time to time Yankees fans and even the team itself can do some scoreboard watching, checking to see if the very beatable Red Sox are faltering and a race for the Division Title emerges. And if it does, it’s bonus time for a team that was picked by most to be a .500 team in the Spring.

The main thing now for the Yankees to realize and remember is if we want it, we got it, and no one can take it away from us. Their brand of baseball over the last two weeks indicates they want it and they’ve got it.

Next: Yankees farm report: The playoffs and beyond

Hey, fans, don’t forget to post your comments about this story, or anything Yankees on the Yanks Go Yard Facebook page where all Yankees fans get together.