By John Jastremski
sports@queensledger.com
As the calendar flips to September, life is not too shabby in Yankees land, all things considered.
The Yankees spent this past weekend taking 3 out of 4 games from the rival Boston Red Sox.
Significant, of course it is. The Yankees not only gained 2 games on their AL Wild Card lead, they also ensured the season series tiebreaker.
After losing out on a tiebreaker to the Blue Jays just a season ago, the prospect of a best of 3 at Yankee Stadium sounds far more appetizing than a trip to Fenway Park.
The work is not finished over the final month of the season. The Yankees enter September 4 games back of first place Tampa Bay in the AL East.
Can the Yankees do enough between now and the final week of the regular season where there will be 4 games in 3 days against the team they are chasing in the standings?
In theory, the Yankees are set up to make a run. The starting rotation is finally fully armed and operational. Max Fried and Carlos Rodon have both recovered from injuries to join flamethrowers Cam Schlitter and Gerrit Cole.
It’s the best starting rotation the Yankees have run out since the days of Clemens, Pettitte, Mussina and Wells in the 2003 season.
The Yankees pitching has been the strength of the team all season long and it’s masked the putrid offense that has been commonplace for way too many games in 2026.
The hope is, the lineup will look and feel much different come next week. A certain slugger, AKA the reigning back to back MVP winner of the American League is days away from making his return to the 2026 season.
Is Aaron Judge going to roll out of bed and find his MVP form? Not necessarily, but I know this:
70 to 80 percent of Aaron Judge is a drastic upgrade over what the Yankees have run out there from an offensive perspective for most of the 2nd half of the year.
The stage is set for the final month of the year. The Yankees can really pitch. They are finally getting Aaron Judge back.
Exciting and encouraging, but is it good enough to win the AL East? The oddsmakers don’t believe so, but we’re about to find out…
You can listen to my podcast New York, New York on Underscore Media every Sunday & Thursday on Spotify, Apple & YouTube. You can watch me nightly on Honda Sports Nite following Mets postgame on SNY.
