Houston Astros

How Important is Home-field Advantage for the New York Yankees?

by
New York Yankees, Aaron Hicks

Every New York Yankees fan remembers the heartbreaking series against the Houston Astros in the 2017 postseason. Falling one game shy to the team who won the whole thing ultimately came down to one thing – home-field advantage.

The Yankees have not lost a series this season in the Bronx in a very long time. In 21 home series, the club holds an 18-0-3 record while playing in pinstripes. The last time they lost a home series was against the Chicago White Sox at the beginning of the season.

Good news for the Yankees, their team batting average sits around the same for both home and away games. Every stat hovers around the same number in regards to batting. However, the Yankees’ pitching suffers from being on the road. Compared to a 3.77 ERA at home, the staff holds a 5.09 ERA away from Yankee Stadium.

“We want to keep winning, that’s big,’’ said Aaron Judge. “We know how rowdy (Yankee Stadium) gets in the postseason and how crazy these fans are. We have to keep winning to make sure we keep that home-field advantage for the postseason.”

The Yankees’ main concern is the Houston Astros in the ALCS. Fans know what that team can do at home, and they know what we can do at home. Both teams know they’re going to win their division so they are focusing on keeping their players healthy and winning home-field advantage.

The Yankees are currently 93-50 and the Astros are 94-50. The Yankees need to avoid a tie too, as the Astros won the series earlier in the season. They need to be at least one game ahead to take home-field.

 

New York Yankees: Main Focus Heading into the End of Season

by
New York Yankees, Gleyber Torres

The New York Yankees are heading to Seattle after a series win against the best team in the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

They came off a rough series in Oakland and got swept out of the city. For players weekend, the Yankees headed to Los Angeles for 3-game weekend series, which many thought would be a World Series preview. Aaron Judge homered in every game and the starting pitching proved they can help this team win big games. Paxton, German, and even Sabathia had strong starts, keeping the team in the game. Hopefully, the Yankees will have a healthy rotation and bullpen for the playoffs.

What should be the Yankees main focus for the next few months?

The Yankees’ starting pitching earned run average of 4.72 (Baseball-Reference). That ranks near the lower half of the league. However, if the offense continues to mash, this will not be a problem as long as the ERA stays where it is.

The Yankees have nearly had their whole 25-man roster on the injured list at some point during the season. The main focus has to be: get healthy. With Severino and Betances on their way back from gruesome injuries and setbacks, they will certainly help with the Yankees’ pitching inconsistency problems. Also, Luke Voit is on his way back which will push Mike Ford back to the minors. The problem is: the Yankees have constantly been awaiting the return of their key players all season. This will take time. The Yankees will have a very potent offense and an improved pitching staff when everyone comes back from injury. Especially, with home-field advantage, it will be an unprecedented series against the Houston Astros.

New York Mets: Scouts Predict Zack Wheeler Will End Up With Astros

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Will the New York Yankees land Zack Wheeler in free agency?

The New York Mets currently own the starting pitcher market at the trade deadline. The major question now is: where does Zack Wheeler go? The scouts say it is going to be Wheeler to the Houston Astros. However, those same scouts were caught off guard when the Mets landed Marcus Stroman on Sunday.

Wheeler seems like the logical pitcher to trade, but Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen is unpredictable. Wheeler had some tough luck which led to a 4.71 ERA, but that is not limiting the demand for his services.

What is the Astros Current Pitching Situation?

The Astros feature a dominant trio of Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and Wade Miley. The rest of the rotation has given them little to nothing. Brad Peacock was a good fourth starter, but the quickest he will return is mid-August.

His replacements have not faired well. The Astros top three have combined for an ERA of 2.95, while every other starter outside of Peacock has an ERA of 6.37. Wheeler would fit in very well to the fourth starter spot and showed he can pitch like a Cy Young contender during the second half of 2018.

What Should the Mets Expect For Wheeler?

The Mets certainly will not land the likes of a top tier prospect like Forrest Whitley, but adding any of the pitchers in the middle of their top 30 list should be considered a fair trade. Van Wagenen has the leverage here, and if he does not like the return, he can simply keep Wheeler.

With Wheeler remaining in the rotation, it gives the Mets a very strong starting core. 28 of their final 57 games are against teams who are either in front of them in the division or wild card. If they can keep themselves close, they will be in control of their own destiny. Only six games out with two months to play, there is certainly a chance for the Mets to make a playoff push.