162 games in a season, 5,422 at-bats, 807 runs scored, and 254 home runs as team. These are just a few statistics that describe this season for the New York Yankees. With what seemed like a million roster changes and a whirlwind of team dynamics, their season finally ends with 99 wins under their belt in the W column.
With an historic start to the season, to one of the worst months of any team in the major leagues this year, the Yankees can take a claim to both. Not only were they the best team in baseball, but somehow also ended up being the worst for an unfortunate spell after the All-Star break.
One thing is for sure, most of us couldn’t have predicted anything close to what actually happened this season. From Judge breaking league records, to almost falling out of first place in the division after a 16-game lead, just about everything that could have happened, came to fruition.
Throughout the off-season, the entire league was stuck in a lockout, which prevented any type of baseball activity throughout its duration. Negotiations were very far apart from a middle ground between the two sides (players and union) up until hours before the deadline.
If there was no deal, there simply would have been no season in 2022. That means Aaron Judge would have not hit 62 home runs to pass Roger Maris. Gerrit Cole also wouldn’t pass Ron Guidry to be the franchise strikeout leader in a season. And consequently, the Yankees wouldn’t have won the division either.
It was no less than a whirlwind of a season for the Yankees, but now we look to the playoffs and remain hopeful that they will perform well throughout.
In the final month of the baseball season, the Yankees quite clearly had a goal in mind to start off strong. For their second game of the series against Baltimore, they didn’t want to start the month off the same way they ended September. In the game prior, the Yankees struggled to manufacture runs the entire game as the Orioles shut down the offense the entire game.
However, the Yankees turned the offense back on for game two as they exploded for eight runs collectively. With multi-hit games from over half of the stating lineup, it created a perfect storm for massive run production. Lead by home runs from Giancarlo Stanton and Kyle Higashioka (who added two more hits), the Yankees scored four runs in the first two innings.
Nestor Cortes continued his phenomenal season with a 12 strikeout performance over 7.1 innings of one-hit ball. The Yankees rode their powerful offense and great pitching to an 8-0 victory in grand fashion.
In their final meeting for the season, the Yankees were looking for a win in the rubber match of this series. People from around the globe continued to watch on as Judge was still chasing history at this point.
The entire team struggled throughout the entire game as both pitching and offense were both experiencing problems. Aroldis Chapman headlines these struggles as he toed the rubber in the 7th inning and simply couldn’t find the strike zone. He walked a total of three batters and eventually walked a run while only recording one out. With the offense struggling the entire game, this outing from Chapman in particular stung pretty badly. The Orioles ended up taking this game with a final score of 3-1.
For the last series of the regular season, the Yankees were tasked with facing off against the Texas Rangers on the road. For Aaron Judge, it was the final three games where he could write himself up in the record books and the perfect opportunity for the Yankees to head into the playoffs with their heads high.
Luis Severino came out dealing throughout his entire start. Pitching seven inning of no-hit ball while the Yankees put up three runs in the meantime (which included a 457 foot home run from Stanton). Texas Rangers third baseman, Josh Jung ended up breaking up the no-hit bid in the 8th inning unfortunately. However, the Yankees remained focused at garnered yet another win with a score of 3-1.
The Yankees and Rangers combined a make-up game and a scheduled game for the 4th with a doubleheader. Many seemed today would finally be the day that Judge would break Maris’ record. He would receive double the at-bats that he would’ve normally got on a single day. On top of that, the Rangers stadium is known for being relatively hitter-friendly.
Although everyone was hopeful for Judge throughout this game, he would struggle yet again to square the ball up enough to get it over the fence. While Judge struggled at the plate and his frustrations continued, the rest of the offense had something different in store. Lead by three home runs, the Yankees pulled ahead of the Rangers, as pitching kept the opposition at bay. The Yankees ended up taking game one with a final score of 5-4.
Yankee fans had been waiting for this game for weeks. It was hard to imagine that someone would eventually top Roger Maris for the AL home run record, but Aaron Judge had other plans. While 61 may not be the MLB record for home runs in a single season, it is considered by some to be the “clean” record as it was done well before the steroid era.
Because of the significance of Maris’ record, it truly made it special that someone outside the steroid era was on the brink of breaking it. Judge stepped up to the plate as the lead-off hitter for the Yankees in game two and did what some doubted he could do. He got a fastball down the middle and he didn’t miss it. He sent it over the left-field fence for home run no. 62 on the season.
Although Judge gave the offense an early charge in game two, it struggled the rest of the way. They only were able to muster together one more run and eventually lost the game 3-2.
In the final game of the 2022 season, it is the perfect steppingstone to go into the playoffs with heads high. In numerous other times, winning the last game of the season can have positive effects on team momentum going into the postseason. While the Yankees were guaranteed to compete in the division series, this game was a must win to keep the team morale where it needs to be.
While the Yankees fought hard the entire game, it just wasn’t enough to overcome a tough outing from starting pitcher, Domingo German. Through only 4.1 innings, he allowed seven hits and four runs. And with the offense struggling against Ranger pitching, they were the only runs that the Rangers needed as they won this game with a score of 4-2.
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Featured image courtesy of Gregory Fisher / USA Today Sports
Video clips courtesy of MLB.com
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