Yankees: What will it take for the Bronx Bombers to win it all!

The Yankees are holding the top Wild Card spot, with an iron fist. Winning their last four series, against wild card contenders. They now sit three games up for home field advantage and five games up on the nearest competitor for the last playoff spot.

Can the Yankees win it all? Of course, they can! We have a solid rotation and one of the best bullpens in baseball. Finally, at full strength, this team can put some runs on the board. But first, we need to get there!

For argument sake, look at the Yankees overtaking the Red Sox. If Boston were to win at a .500 percentage the rest of the way, they would win 91 games (rounding up). If the Yankees were to win one-half of its remain games, they would end up at 88 games won. For the Bronx Bombers to overcome their rival, they would have to play a blistering .765 pace in their remaining 17 games. That’s only if Boston is a five hundred team the rest of the way.

That is, if the Yankees have any hope of over taking Boston! They better get the brooms out. It is time to start sweeping most of their remaining series.

Wild Card:

The Bronx Bombers have a comfortable lead for home field advantage, in the Wild Card race. Minnesota is in holding a two game edge for the last spot. These two appear headed to New York for the Wild Card game.

For Minnesota to wrestle the home field advantage away from the Yankees, The Twins would have to win at that .765 pace, if the Pinstripes maintained their current winning percentage. Not impossible but improbable.

Now it gets interesting as the Angels are only two games behind the Twins. If the Twins keep up their current pace, they will win 85 games. For the Angels to overcome them, they would have to win 12 of their next 17 games. That is why they need the help of every team playing the Twins.  For the Angels to make the show. The Angels need to play at least .706 baseball the rest of the way.

Yankees Playoff Drive:

I am sure all of you are aware of the playoff format. This will be an interesting playoff as we saw the Astros dominating the first half of the season. Cleveland is on a run for the ages, with just winning 21 games straight and counting. The Indians are the hottest team in baseball!

That means once the Yankees move past the Wild Card game. We will run head long into the Cleveland buzz saw. While the Astros and the Red Sox lock horns in Houston to start their series.

The Indians will have home field advantage. Yet, the disadvantage is having to wait for a Wild Card winner. Most likely we will see a Corey Kluber and Sonny Gray matchup to start the series. Sonny has pitched very well, since coming over to the Bronx.  Followed up by Carlos Carrasco versus Masahorio Tanaka. Game three will see a matchup of Luis Severino against Trevor Bauer. The fourth game should see the Yankees old guard CC Sabathia take the hill against Mike Clevinger. It will come down to the best bullpen. Yankees win 4 out of 7 to take playoff series.

Championships:

If we are fortunate to make it past Cleveland, we then must run into the winner of the Boston and Houston series. The advantage to the Yankees here is we get to start the seven game series with Severino. We should see Severino, Tanaka, Gray and CC heading up the series rotation. That top bullpen wins the day again. Yankees win 4 out of 7.

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Next up is the World Series. It’s difficult to pick the National League opponent. But one thing for sure the Bronx Bomber will be battle tested, as they head into a World Series. The team should feature a World Series rotation of Tanaka, Gray, Severino, and CC. I’m going with the Yankees in seven.

Summary:

How logically is a Yankees World Series? Is it just a fantasy? For the Bombers to win the World Series, they would have to play .591 or better baseball during the playoffs. Any non-Wild Card Team must play at a .571 or better. That is why we have seen Wild Card Champions. It is a matter of getting hot at the right time.

I for one think “We can do it!”

Next: Yankees: The mysterious world of baseball’s lost and found skill set

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