The New York Yankees won their 20th Al-East division title last season by clocking record-breaking 99 wins.
The Yankees are arguably one of the most successful franchises in baseball history, with 27 World Series championships and 20 Al-East division titles to their name. Last season, they won the American League East division with the barest of margins. However, this season, the Bronx Bombers will have an opportunity to retain the East division title with a robust roster sitting in the bullpen.
However, the road to glory is going to be tough, as always. The East division is always a tough battle, with the likes of the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays constantly hovering over it. Still, the New York Yankees have a golden opportunity to retain their title and establish dominance in the East. Here are the three factors that will help the Yankees win the East division.
1. Maintain The Health Of Starting Pitching Rotation
The Yankees have been plagued by injuries in recent seasons. The team has loads of talent, but they need their key players, especially the starting pitchers, to stay healthy if they want to win the division. Moreover, the early signs do not look promising at all. Ahead of spring training, two starting pitchers, Frankie Montas and Nestor Cortes, landed on the injury list.
While Montas has been ruled out indefinitely post-surgery, Corte’s participation is also doubtful. Hence, the Bombers must take extra precautions and keep their pitching rotation healthy. Meanwhile, the front office made an excellent first move when they signed Carlos Rodon to assist Gerrit Cole. However, they need to carry on the momentum forward.
2. Aaron Judge Replicates His 2022 Season Record
New York Yankees’ newly minted captain Aaron Judge, will have huge responsibilities on his shoulders. He is coming off a highly successful MLB season, one that will go down in the history of the sport. Judge hit 62 homers to break the record of Roger Maris of scoring the most homers in a single MLB season. Hence, for the Yanks to clinch the east division, Aaron Judge needs to replicate his 2022 season. However, the odds are low as such kind of an extraordinary comes once in a lifetime. Moreover, the projections have predicted 42 home runs from Judge’s bat. 42 is not too low a number. Hence, if the slugger manages to get that, the Yanks are in for a treat.
3. Yankees Need To Emerge As The Best Team In East
The last aspect is an absolute no-brainer. The only way New York Yankees can win the American League East Division title is by beating the rest of the teams. Last season the Bombers recorded exceptional numbers in away games against some tough oppositions. On top of that, the Yanks also clicked 99 wins in total. Hence, the team needs to replicate the same this year as well. Meanwhile, this season, the Yankees have a good bullpen filled with big names. However, all those biggies need to make a complete team effort and work together in sync to achieve the east division as well as the World Series title.