This New York Yankees playoff berth is particularly impressive.
The New York Yankees clinched a playoff berth on Monday night, which actually occurred when the Toronto Blue Jays lost to the Detroit Tigers.
Nevertheless, the Yankees would have clinched anyway considering they beat the Minnesota Twins, a game highlighted by Aaron Judge's first home run since coming back off the injured list.
If that wasn't enough of a sight for sore eyes, can we talk for a moment about just how impressive this run by the Yankees has been in 2026?
New York has spent the vast majority of its season without Judge and Giancarlo Stanton in the lineup. Cody Bellinger missed extensive time. Gerrit Cole missed most of the first two months.
Max Fried and Carlos Rodon have been on and off the IL. Ryan Weathers is sidelined. So are Jazz Chisholm and Trent Grisham. Fernando Cruz may or may not be done for the season. The Yankees have had to use names like John Schreiber and Michael Fulmer out of the bullpen.
And yet, somehow, some way, New York has clinched a playoff spot with nearly two weeks remaining in the regular season.
Is it largely a product of a weak American League? Sure. Both the AL West winner and the final Wild Card owner might both be under .500, for crying out loud. But it's not like the Yankees have gotten here cheaply.
New York is now 87-63, owning the second-best record in the AL behind the East-leading Tampa Bay Rays. In fact, only four teams in baseball have better records than the Yanks.
So just imagine what the Yankees could have done had they been predominantly healthy?
But considering just how dicey things looked for the Bronx Bombers back in late June and early July, when they endured a 4-14 stretch and were completely lifeless offensively (how could they not be?), the fact that they are easily in the playoffs is astounding.
Say what you want about Aaron Boone, but it's a testament to the job he has done with the ballclub this season. Pitching coach Matt Blake also deserves enormous credit for keeping the pitching staff intact in spite of all of the injuries.
Heck, perhaps "intact" isn't the best word. The pitching staff has very much excelled throughout the year, especially over the last two months when both the starting rotation and the bullpen have turned it up a notch.
It's hard to think of a recent Yankees squad that faced more regular-season adversity than this one and still succeeded. We remember how much of a disaster 2023 was. That team ultimately succumbed to the wave of injuries it experienced.
This one hasn't.
How far will New York go in the playoffs? It completely depends on a lot of factors, such as whether or not Judge is Judge and if Cole can fix his sudden home run bugaboo. It would be nice to get Stanton back, as well, although that appears unrealistic at this point.
We'll see once October rolls around.
I understand that nothing short of championships is deemed as success in the Bronx, but even Yankees fans should be able to appreciate everything we've seen in 2026.
