The Yankees’ fantastic chance this weekend
Why a series in May against the pitiful White Sox matters more than you would imagine
The White Sox begin a three-game series this evening in the Bronx. The White Sox, who have won six of their last eight games, have the worst record in the American League and appear destined to spend the rest of the season in the AL Central abyss. As a result, few fans have marked this weekend on their calendars.
After the Yankees faced division rivals, playoff contenders, and long-standing rivals, it would be simple to overlook this three-game series as a weak point in the schedule.
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However, this series is a very significant harbinger for the upcoming season in many respects. Even if highly anticipated games garner more attention, a team’s capacity to accumulate victories over teams that are hardly competitive may reveal just as much about their prospects of making the playoffs.
The Yankees were 16–18 against clubs in last place the previous season, a losing record. In the previous season, they finished with a 21-10 record (.667 winning percentage) despite not having the chance to play the 94-loss Rockies and the 107-loss Nationals during the pre-balanced schedule era. The Yankees would have won seven more games and finished with an 89-73 record in 2023 if they had kept up their winning % versus teams in last place. It so happens that the Blue Jays, who qualified for the postseason by way of the AL’s third wild-card position, have the same record.
The ’23 Blue Jays, on the other hand, had a 21-14 record versus the clubs in last place. However, that is nothing compared to the Tampa Bay Rays, who are the patron saints of clubs that are on the verge of collapse. The 2023 AL East winners easily earned that spot thanks to their 27-9 record versus bottom-dwelling teams. More than half of the gap between the 99-win Rays and the 82-win Yankees may be attributed to their differences in records against last-place teams.
Of course, it’s also critical to be able to prevail over strong opposition. While the Rays’ fundamentally sound brand of baseball allowed them to dominate inferior opponents, they were often criticized for not having the elite players to contend seriously in October. Making it to the postseason—ideally with a division title and a potential bye to the Wild Card round—is the first step, regardless of whether that is the case. That’s challenging to accomplish if you struggle with layups.see more….
