When the champagne celebration ended Monday night, after the Yankees removed their goggles and the booze-filled plastic coverings protecting the visitors’ clubhouse at Target Field were taken down, some of their postseason certainties were starting to take shape.
They, after the Blue Jays lost, had clinched a spot in the tournament. Barring a collapse by the Rays over the final two weeks, the Yankees will start from a wild-card position. Barring a collapse by their own roster, they’ll occupy the top wild-card spot. And barring any last-minute nightmares, Aaron Judge, with his home run Monday as evidence, Max Fried, who’s trying to rediscover his vintage form (as he did in Tuesday’s 8-1 win over the Twins), Gerrit Cole, who’s trying to figure out why he’s letting up all these home runs and Cam Schlittler, in the midst of strengthening his case for the American League Cy Young Award, are all healthy.
But in a year where the Yankees kept needing to navigate injuries, where star after star after star kept missing time, unlikely heroes materialized. And if this group ends up being the one to snap the World Series title drought that dates back to 2009, those names — from Brent Headrick and Paul Blackburn to second-half Austin Wells and José Caballero — will need to contribute.
Every contender has its stars. The Judges. The Coles. The Schlittlers, as well as the Frieds, the Ben Rices, the David Bednars and the Cody Bellingers. The constants expected to anchor the run. The faces who’ve been on that October stage before.
