By virtue of the Blue Jays' loss on Monday, the New York Yankees are once again playoff-bound, as they've clinched a berth in the MLB postseason for the third straight season and the ninth time in the last 10 years. Earlier this season, the Yankees won their 82nd game, securing a winning record for the 34th straight time. Their worst season since 1992 was 2014, when they finished 84-78.
It's been a remarkable run. Of course, since it's the Yankees -- a franchise with an MLB-record 27 World Series titles -- we have to also point out that the regular-season success has only translated to one American League pennant and zero World Series championships since 2009. That drought since the last World Series title is one of the longest for this franchise.
They went from 1979 until 1996 waiting for one, along with 1963 through 1976. Now, the Yankees still have a shot at the AL East title, as they entered Monday trailing the Rays by four games. There's a four-game head-to-head series remaining, with the Rays visiting the Yankees Sept. 22-24, which includes a doubleheader in there.
As is often the case, the Yankees are one of the most prolific home run teams in baseball despite the likes of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton missing so much time due to injury. They are pretty reliant on the long ball, sitting in the middle of the pack in runs and OPS, while toward the top in dingers. As for run prevention, the Yankees lead the majors in team ERA, even with lengthy absences from several starting pitchers.
With that said, here are three reasons New York is a real threat to win this year's World Series. Aaron Judge entered the season having won three of the last four AL MVP awards; injury held him to only 106 games in 2023, when Shohei Ohtani took home the honors. He missed between May 31 and Sept. 8 with injury this season, and he's being eased back into the Yankees' lineup, but there is no one else -- perhaps other than Ohtani -- who alters the complexion of a lineup in Major League Baseball like Judge does.
His mere presence seems to make everyone else in the lineup better. We didn't necessarily need numbers to back up how much Judge changes things, but they bear it all out. The Yankees are 41-24 when Judge starts and 46-39 when he doesn't.
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