Yankees: 3 early-season takes that look really stupid right now

Remember when the New York Yankees were … bad? They indeed were! On July 4, they were 41-41. They trailed the Boston Red Sox by 10 games in the AL East. Fans were calling for heads.

Fast forward to Aug. 25, and the Bombers are now more than 20 games over .500 and are firmly entrenched in the playoff discussion, though not exactly where they want to be. Leading the Wild Card is good and all, but capturing a division crown is the goal. Less stress, more luxury. You get it.

Anyway, we’re here to expose some bad takes! At least for the time being. Why not? After all, it’s fun to own up to your mistakes and those of others who also support your favorite team. All it took was a 32-11 run for everyone to forget about the insane topics we were discussing a very short six weeks ago.

Time flies, doesn’t it?

Were some of the opinions and stances right at the time? Sure! There’s no arguing with what was actually happening and how bad the previous iteration of the Yankees was.

After all, they needed a headline-grabbing trade deadline orchestrated by general manager Brian Cashman to get to this position! Do you really think the Yankees would be here without the jolts of energy from the minor leagues and the contributions from Anthony Rizzo, Joey Gallo, Joely Rodriguez and Clay Holmes?

But here, we present …

3 early-season Yankees takes that look extremely stupid right about now

3. “Tyler Wade has no place on this roster.”

Tyler! We take it back. We promise. We never wanted it to be that way.

Wade’s time with the Yankees has been filled with intrigue but (largely) no results. Until … now? The 26-year-old has found himself getting regular at-bats for a majority of this year (he’s already played in a career-high 79 games) and he’s made the most of it.

Whether it was filling in at third base or center/right field, Wade answered the call defensively for the most part and has now seen his bat come around. In a shocking turn of events, he’s hitting .278 with a .355 OBP, a 95 OPS+ and 12 stolen bases. And has contributed a positive dWAR.

Want to know how important he’s been over the course of the Yankees’ current run? On July 29, he was batting .191 with a .482 OPS. Six multi-hit games and nine runs scored later, and the Yankees are 16-2 in games Wade has appeared in over that stretch. Unbelievable.

The utility weapon many fans were expecting Wade to be might have finally arrived.