The New York Yankees were defeated by the Colorado Rockies on Friday night. New York is now tied with the Boston Red Sox for last place in the American League East following the loss. The Yankees sunk to an AL East low not seen since 1992 as well, per Katie Sharp and Yankees Videos on Twitter.
“The Yankees are tied for last place in the AL East this late in the season for the first time since August 23, 1992.”
New York hasn't had a dominant season by any means, but there still is reason for hope. The Yankees happen to play in the best division in baseball. They hold a respectable 49-43 record. In fact, the Yankees wouldn't be in last place in any other division and would even lead the lackluster AL Central.
Regardless, New York can't complain about the situation. Instead, this ball club will try to get things going despite some less-than-ideal circumstances at the moment.
Yankees' roster needs to get going
The Yankees' pitching staff has been decimated by injuries. Gerrit Cole has done everything in his power to keep the rotation afloat, and perhaps Carlos Rodon's return from injury will spark a turnaround. The Yankees' bullpen is one of the better relief cores in baseball.
This means its up to the lineup, which is currently without superstar Aaron Judge (more on that later), to figure things out.
New York's offense has labored at times in 2023. Ever since Judge went down with his injury in early June, the lineup has looked completely lost. In the end, it is difficult to count stars like Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo out. The fact is that neither of those players have performed all that well in recent action though.
The Yankees are candidates to make a trade for a hitter or two ahead of the 2023 deadline. Cody Bellinger, and even Juan Soto have been mentioned as possibilities. The biggest acquisition of all, however, will be when Aaron Judge returns.
New York needs Aaron Judge
Judge's return from injury remains uncertain. Some early reports questioned whether or not Judge would even be able to return in 2023. Although it seems likely that he will play baseball again this season at some point, there's no current return date. Judge recently dropped a concerning admission on his toe injury.
“It's not healed, so obviously it is what it is,” Judge said, via Manny Randhawa of MLB.com. “But we're making progress every day. … I've got no date. I've got nothing for you on that. But you're asking how I'm feeling and how we're progressing, and we're progressing well and getting closer.”
Judge suffered his injury at Dodger Stadium after crashing into the right field fence. The Yankees' slugger was on track to challenge Shohei Ohtani for the American League MVP award once again, but his prolonged absence has taken that possibility out of the question. Still, Judge was slashing an impressive .291/.404/.674 with a 1.078 OPS and 19 home runs prior to the incident.
The Yankees will try to find a way to compete without their best player moving forward. If they can stay alive in the AL Wild Card race at the very least, as they currently sit just two games back of a spot, then New York will be okay.
The Yankees will try to get back on track on Saturday against the Rockies at Coors Field.
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