Yankees: Home Stretch

It’s turned out to be something of an odd season.  Injuries have taken their toll on us, and instead of a dogfight with the Red Sox, we find ourselves going toe-to-toe with the Rays.

I was nervous about letting Johnny Damon go this season, and it would appear I was right on.  Nick Johnson (aka China Doll), ended up on the DL again.  We picked up Lance Berkman and Marcus Thames, who have both been serviceable.  The injury bug got Berkman right as he hit his groove.  But, none of these are the hitter that Damon was last year. He would have been a great fit.

Our pitching is again a source of frustration.  CC has been lights out.  Burnett has reverted to a child again after starting the season well.  Andy is behind schedule from his groin injury.  I was fine with him having a week or two of rest to help with the playoff push, but now it looks like he’ll miss almost two months.  Vazquez had a good outing recently against the A’s, but is still trying to fight his way back into the starting lineup.  Phil Hughes started out well, but has struggled as of late.  If we don’t have a healthy Andy, we don’t have a playoff team that can contend.

So, where does that leave us?  Tied for the division lead with the Rays, and 7 games ahead in the wild card.  If we’re going to have potential injury problems, we need home-field advantage against teams like the Rays and Texas.

Going to be a dogfight.