Even at full strength, catching the Red Sox was going be tough for the Yankees. Given all of their injuries, New York should focus only on October.
When Aroldis Chapman limped off the mound last night against the Marlins due to knee pain, it served to confirm the Yankees’ current reality. This team is simply too beat up to win the AL East this season.
Instead, Aaron Boone has to put all of his energy into getting his team lined up for October.
At this point, Yankees fans just have to laugh at how many injuries the team is being forced to endure. Chapman’s malady was just the latest in a long line of unfortunate incidents for the roster. Truthfully, the blows to the team’s talent and depth began long ago.
Jacoby Ellsbury has been injured so long that it’s hard to remember he is still on the team’s payroll. At the very least, his absence has forced everyone in the outfield to play more games than they would have otherwise. Brett Gardner, in particular, has been taxed.
If healthy Ellsbury would certainly be playing over Shane Robinson in the outfield.
It’s also easy to forget that Jordan Montgomery was a steady part of the team’s starting rotation before undergoing Tommy John surgery. His injury was a truly freak occurrence. He looked good on the mound and then suddenly had to leave the game due to pain in his elbow.
The lanky lefty certainly won’t be back this season, but the organization does hope he can be a factor in 2019.
The other injuries to hit Boone’s team have been more recent in nature. Fortunately for the Yankees, they also aren’t as severe as what Ellsbury or Montgomery is going through. The latest rash of bad luck came when Gary Sanchez headed back to the DL due to pain in his groin.
The talented catcher only managed to come back into the lineup for one game before his groin issues showed up again. Never the speediest runner on the team, Sanchez drew a ton of criticism for failing to run out a ground ball that could’ve prolonged a game.
Instead of being lazy, he turned out to be injured. The Yankees hope to get him back before the regular season, but they’ve been forced to rely on Austin Romine and Kyle Higashioka in his absence.
Then Aaron Judge broke his wrist on a pitch that just got away from Jakob Junis. The team originally hoped he could make it back in three weeks, but it’s now apparent he may miss twice that amount of time.
Subtracting a powerful bat like that from the middle of any team’s order would have significant consequences. Predictably. Boone’s offense has sputtered without their best power hitter.
As if that weren’t enough, Boone lost another bat from the middle of his order when Didi Gregorius bruised his heel in a collision at first base. His absence costs the team a terrific defensive player and a big bat.
Again, Gregorius should be back in a couple of weeks, but his absence will still hurt the team.
Lastly, Chapman finally succumbed to the knee pain that’s been dogging him all season long. Tommy Kahnle managed to close out the Marlins in his absence, but it won’t surprise anyone if Chapman heads to the DL for at least 10 days.
The bullpen has the depth to cover for him, but it takes a real weapon away from Boone.
Amazingly, the Yankees have managed to stay within hailing distance of the Red Sox for the AL East crown despite this rash of injuries. They currently sit eight games behind their bitter rivals. They’ve actually closed the gap by one over the past 10 games by going 7-3.
At full strength, that might encourage the team to launch an all out assault to steal the division away from the Red Sox. That is precisely what the Yankees should not do.
The chances of catching Boston are so remote that Boone should shift all of his energy towards lining up his squad for the playoffs. That means he should stop trying to rush any players back from injury.
The likes of Judge, Gregorius, Sanchez and Chapman should be given extra rest instead. They need to be 100 percent when October arrives. Rushing them back for an extra couple of games in September isn’t going to mean anything.
Providing regular players will be even easier when Sept. 1 arrives. That’s when the team can expand the squad to include everyone on the 40-man roster.
Instead of overloading the veterans with playing time, Boone should give plenty of kids an opportunity to help the team play out the string.
Aiming all of your attention towards a likely one-game Wild Card encounter may seem like a strange plan, but it’s the right move for the Yankees at this point in their season.
Adding an extra 1 percent chance of winning that game at the expense of losing a game down the stretch is a worthwhile exchange for New York. Time will tell if Boone has the perspective to understand his reality.