The Yankees are thinking less, having fun, and winning games. That’s good for them and bad for the rest of the American League.
With the dog days of summer quickly approaching, sweeping one the league’s best teams out of the Bronx over the weekend sent a loud message to everyone watching.
Don’t mess with us.
A three-game series sweep of the Chicago White Sox was capped off Sunday with a 5-4 win thanks to a walk-off walk in the ninth inning by Aaron Judge.
Hey, whatever it takes to get the message across.
The Yankees (28-19) have won six games in a row, they’re now a season-high nine games over .500 and 12-3 in their last 15 games.
It’s been quite the turnaround since opening the season with a 5-10 record. The bats have come alive in the starting lineup. The starting rotation has pitched as close to lights-out baseball as it gets. Their number two arm in that rotation threw a no-hitter. And their closer is posting the type of numbers that equal is intimidating stare after a big strikeout.
What clicked for this group? What was it that jolted this team back into the conversation for top five teams in all of baseball?
Apparently, just one simple approach.
“Thinking less and just playing ball,” Judge said afterwards. “I feel like, especially during the season you can have 20,000 meetings, 20,000 scouting this and that, when it comes down to it you have to go out and play. I think these past couple of weeks we just really went out there, we do our homework, and then go have some fun. When we’re out there having fun, we’re confident, and we’re a dangerous team. I think we’ve been doing that the past couple of games.”
Since April 20, the Yankees are 23-9 with a .719-win percentage. It’s the most wins and best win percentage in the Majors over that span.
