The month of August was not a good stretch for the New York Yankees, as they went 10-18, which included a nine-game losing streak that saw the team go below .500 for the first time this late in a season since 1995. However, as the month ended and September came, the Yankees seemed to get in order, as they had been winning games at a rapid pace, and even though the team was last in the AL East, they were close to coming out from the deep bottom. It attributes to a pair of new faces that could be the future of the Yankees.
Disastrous season
The 2023 MLB season started with high expectations for the Yankees, as star outfielder Aaron Judge signed a nine-year, $162 million contract and was named team captain, the first since Derek Jeter.
The starting rotation also got a big boost with the signing of free-agent pitcher Carlos Rodon. The high hopes for this season soon appeared to be a reality as the Yankees went 34-24 during the first two months of the season. However, it would soon come crashing down as the season progressed.
During a road game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Judge tore a ligament in his big right toe when he crashed into the bullpen fence while catching a fly ball on the run. With the captain on the IL for an extended period, the Yankees started getting clobbered, and the loss of fellow players like Josh Donaldson, Nestor Cortes, and Domingo German made the situation worse. When Judge returned to the lineup, there was little to no improvement at the plate.
Rodon, who started the season on the IL, made his first on July 7 against the Chicago Cubs and took the loss in a 3-0 shutout, and hasn't improved thus far, as he's 2-4 in nine starts with a 5.70 ERA. When August came, the Yankees seemed to lose their desire to win, as they experienced a nine-game losing streak that put them in danger of finishing the season with a losing record for the first time since 1992.
The Yankees, though, seemed determined to improve once rosters expanded in September.
Baby bombers help the cause
On September 1, MLB rosters are expanded, and minor league prospects are brought up to make their big league debuts. The Yankees took full advantage of the situation by promoting a bunch of top prospects, like 20-year-old outfielder Jasson Dominguez and catcher Austin Wells.
The team, coming off a series win against the Detroit Tigers, was now taking on the Houston Astros at the Astrodome, and what happened in the series was pure magic.
Facing off against Justin Verlander in the first game, the Yankees made it a home run derby with four long shots going into the stands in a 6-2 victory, including one from Dominguez in his first at-bat, as both he and Wells went 1-4 in their major league debuts in. The following game saw the Yankees win 5-4 in a close one, which included a blast from Judge in the top of the 3rd. The last game of the series seemed to show the Yankees were fighting to finish the season strong. After trailing 1-0 through five innings, the Yankees tied it up on an RBI double from DJ LeMahieu, which set up Dominguez to hit his second career home run of the season to give the Bronx Bombers a 3-1 lead, from which they never looked back.
After adding three more runs in the 9th, including a one-run blast from second baseman Gleybor Torres, the Yankees capped off the series with a 6-1 win and swept the Astros for the first time since 2013.
Things heating up
With the Yankees currently sitting at 68-69, they are one win away from a tied record but are more than determined to finish the season strong and on a winning note. Even though they are last in the AL East, the team has shown that they can come back from a difficult stretch that didn't seem to end anytime soon. Through all the hard times thus far this season, the Yankees have still delighted fans and not let everyone down.
