Juan Soto's RISP stats have been legitimately unbelievable for Yankees

After what's felt like decades in the desert, Juan Soto has given Yankees fans a reason to believe when the bases get clogged. And -- spoiler alert -- bringing in a left-hander like the Tigers' Andrew Chafin is not the solution.

The Yankees enter their first off day in over two weeks at a high water mark of 23-13, 10 games over .500 after it seemed like the offense had been officially sunk after a four-game drought in Baltimore and an awful first eight innings against Tigers pitching on Friday.

Now, one out-free ninth inning walk-off and series sweep later, the momentum pendulum has swung back to positive vibes, with Soto leading the charge. It's impossible, and unreasonable, to expect a hitter -- even a superstar -- to come through in 100% of clutch situations. But the better you are, the louder the unreasonable expectation tends to be. After all, that's why Sal Licata blew the top of his own head off about a ninth-inning walk against the Marlins (a loss that, to be fair, looks worse by the day).

While nobody's perfect, Soto's been as close to the mark, through over a month of play, as a hitter possibly can be. In fact, when a left-handed pitcher has been used to "neutralize" him in at-bats with runners in scoring position ... he actually has approached perfection. In 10 plate appearances, he's 5-for-7 with two walks, a sacrifice fly, and 10 runners knocked in. He's made two outs in 10 opportunities without whiffing.

Yankees import Juan Soto is positively unbelievable with RISP -- and against lefties

Now, if only Soto's ability to adjust was contagious, we'd be talking about an historically unsustainable offensive output, rather than a middling one paired with incredible pitching.

Still, while we can nitpick -- and we will! -- it's tough to full-throated complain about a season that began with a Gerrit Cole injury, has featured zero production from the team's ace, and has still resulted in this record. These wins are banked, by the way. If the bullpen still can't induce whiffs, and Aaron Judge/Gleyber Torres are among the American League's worst hitters by October, then we have a problem here.

But as it stands, plenty has gone wrong. Plenty must change. And the Yankees are 23-13, in large part because Juan Soto cannot be quieted by any variety of arm.

Now, it's time to work on the rest of the operation.