A week ago I challenged the Yankees to prove me wrong. They were coming off of beating up on the Nationals and White Sox and I was far from convinced that they were “back.” They were about to play the Astros and Blue Jays, teams they had struggled with all year, and it was time to prove their metal against the best of the best. The team definitely doesn’t read this blog, but I’d like to think they accepted the challenge, cause the Yankees rose to it going 4-2 in the six games played. Let’s talk about what went to all that success!

The Good

The Big Sleep: The list of team MVP’s is growing by the day lately, and one of the most prevalent is number 12 Trent Grisham. The lefty center fielder has gotten a lot of big hits for the team this year, and he saved his best work for this week in Houston. Trent hit not one, but two big homers in the three games, the latter of which was his 30th of the season, breaking both games wide open. He’s become known as “the big sleep” for his relaxed nature, yet it’s certainly a compliment. He’s on the drive towards a new contract and hopefully he gets it from the Yankees after this season.

Max on his Mark: One of the things that the Yankees had to get sorted out to turn things around was lefty ace Max Fried. After a brilliant first half, Fried struggled at times in July and into August, but now of late number 54 has it going again. He has gone 3-0 in his last four starts, giving up seven runs over 27 innings pitched. The control is back and the ball is in play less, as he’s pitching with a lot more confidence. There is probably still another gear for him to go to, but Fried rounding back into form and punctuating it with big outings against Houston and Toronto is a music to Yankee fans ears.

“The Bear” Leads the Pen: The Yankee pen has been a bit of a heart attack all year long, but this past week it performed better thanks to a couple of guys in particular. David Bednar is embracing his new nickname, “the Bear”, given to him by Fernando Cruz, as he nails down the ninth inning. He had a string of good outings this week picking up three saves against Houston and Toronto, and his confidence in the ninth is much needed, steadying the vibes. Meanwhile Fernando Cruz got some big outs this week, with his wicked strikeout stuff. Bednar, Cruz, Weaver, and Hill are the core contributors Boone can trust, and hopefully lower leverage work for Williams, Doval and Leiter can lead to good outings.

A Deep Lineup: The Yankee lineup and its depth, or lack there of, has been a point of contention for a while, but this recent stretch has seen it come around. Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton, and Jazz Chisholm has become a fierce collection of hitters once again. With Austin Wells and a mix of Jose Caballero and Anthony Volpe helping at the bottom, things look kind of complete. Let’s continue to focus on how the Yankees hit good pitching, as they have all week, to continue to measure this group.

The Bad

Can Cap Throw?: Friday nights game against the Jays saw Aaron Judge return to the outfield, playing his usual spot in right. But Judge’s flexor strain doesn’t seem to have gotten better, as he was unable to throw the ball home to get a runner. The Yankees have been cagey about how exactly Judge is doing and now Aaron Boone is taking about finding “creative cut off plays,” to help aid Judge’s arm in when runners coming home. All of this confirms Judge isn’t quite right and the Yankees are wedging him back just to make the full lineup fit together. It’s a risk, but one worth taking to keep all the depth of the lineup together.

A Special Honor

CC Has His Day: On Sunday the Yankees honored the great CC Sabathia, with a ceremony to celebrate his Hall of Fame induction. Sabathia was added to monument park with a plague of his own. It’s a terrific thing to see as not many are more deserving than CC, and at the same time it makes yours truly feel very old as players I watched are being honored. Congrats 52!

Highlight of the Week

Fielding His Position: Our highlight of the week comes from the Yankees ace, Max Fried. I love to see a pitcher field his position and this was a beauty against the Stros!

What’s Next

As we start a new week the Yankees continue their stretch against their top competition in the AL. They’re off Monday before welcoming in the Tigers for three games, including a home game on September 11th which figures to be an emotional night as always. Following the three game set with Detroit, the Yanks will head north to play Boston, an important series in both the Wild Card and AL East picture. These six games are the final ones in the 12 game prove it stretch and hopefully the Yankees keep proving me wrong!

On twitter you can find Mike @Mike_Sheerin, Tyler @TMon_19 and Sean @SeanMartinNFL. Subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Check out our Instagram feed @thebroadwaybreakdownsports for special gameday and promotional content. Our podcasts are available on Spotify. Visit the Rangers Ed Shop by clicking the link on our homepage. Check out our mailbag page to join the conversation here on the site and on our partners show, The Rangers Ed Podcast! We’ll be back with more soon.