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August 11, 2005
Wildcard Dreams II
When I look at the AL Wildcard Standings this morning
I get even more excited about the Yankees chances to make the post season via the card this year.
Yes, they are 4.5 back now and have two teams ahead of them. But, when you look at the talent that New York has, you have to figure they can better the Indians in the Wildcard Standings by the end of the year. So, to me, it's all about the Yankees, the A's and the Angels.
The Angels, as most Yankees fans know, have a good team when their bullpen is rested and ready to go. And, I fully expect them to win the AL West - like they did last year. That just leaves the Oakland A's.
Actually, when it comes to the A's, we're talking about two teams here - the one that was 17-32 on May 29 and the one that went on a wild run after that, winning 48 out of 64.
But, as good as Oakland has been over the last two and a half months or so, when I see the A's, I see only two solid starting pitchers who have logged full big league seasons in the past - Barry Zito and Rich Harden - where they were good. (Sorry, that Saarloos guy does not scare me.) And, I see some key pitchers on their team - like Joe Blanton, Danny Haren, and Huston Street - who could start to feel the stress of having to pitch into a month (September) that they never had to deal with before - as they never were with a big league team from April to season-end prior to now.
And, in their bullpen, while they have one good pitcher like Justin Duchscherer, they also have a bunch of guys like Jay Witasick who are pitching over their head now and cannot last.
So, what am I saying here? I'm saying that Oakland is not the team that tanked in the first two month of the season - but, they also may be hard pressed to continue this .750 winning percentage pace into the last month of the season. And, this could be the Yankees chance to overtake them in the wildcard.
They key is to just stay close and not lose any more ground in the Wildcard Standings. This should be the Yankees goal at this point - and forget about worrying about the AL East.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at August 11, 2005 10:23 AM
Comments
The key is not to lose any ground in either race.
It's nice that the last 3 games of the season are against Boston. Hopefully, it'll be something like Baltimore/Milwaukee in 1982, or NY/Torono in 1985
Posted by: Raf at August 11, 2005 11:45 AM