Nor was it so long ago. In mid-August, Yankees they were in full escalation, recovering 10.5 games behind with the Red Sox and earning up 13 consecutive games.
New York was just four games behind Tampa, the best team in the American League, with three games of advantage over the second wild card, Boston, 6.5 over the A’s and 9.5 over the Blue Jays.
He seemed doomed: the Yankees were going to make the Playoffs, but just as they had a meteoric rise, they have fallen dramatically and they woke up Friday out of the postseason spots.
Of the last 19, the Yankees have only won six. The advantage disappeared in part because Toronto swept them in a four-game series … in the Bronx. But the worst was not that, but the worst team in the American League (and by far), the Orioles, have beaten them three games of the six they have disputed in September.
Unforgivable falls and that now has them without controlling their destiny. The schedule is also complicated because while the next six are at home against two teams that do not aspire to the postseason (Cleveland and Texas), the last three series are in Boston, Toronto and against Tampa.
New York, according to Baseball Reference, have just a 36.4% chance of reaching the Playoffs. The divisional title is already impossible, so the fight is direct with Blue Jays (favorites with 84%) and Red Sox (71%). FiveThirtyEight coincides: it gives slightly better odds (51%), but more to Toronto and Boston (both 71%).
The schedule, which seemed an ally of the Yankees with those series against Orioles, now favors the rivals. The Blue jays have 10 games pending between Minnesota and Baltimore, the Red Sox they have just three (against the Yankees) against teams above .500, including nine against the Orioles and the Nationals, two of the worst ninths in the majors.
The Yankees have been plagued with injuries. The season is falling apart after they caught up with it, but those losses to the worst team in the division and the league can be the difference in watching the wild card game at home. Failure for a team that was the favorite, alongside the Dodgers, to win the World Series.