New York Yankees: Latest team to clinch a spot for the postseason

The 2019 MLB season is winding down. As of this writing, the Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, and the Los Angeles Dodgers are the only teams that have clinched a spot for the postseason. Braves and Astros clinched a spot, the Dodgers captured their 18th National League West division title. We can now add another team to that list. The New York Yankees were the latest team to clinch a spot for the postseason. This came after they defeated the Los Angeles Angels by the score of 9-1.

This is the 19th time that the Yankees have clinched the American League East title. The Yankees own the most in baseball. In previous years, the Yankees would be walking into the playoffs as the most dominant team. While this team has been dominant, there is a different feel with this years team. The Yankees were hit with the injury bug often this year. It seemed that they were putting on one or more players on the IL at one time. However, they started the mindset of next man up. You had guys like DJ LeMahieu, Luke Voit, Cameron Maybin, and Clint Frazier become vocal points for the team.

While the hitting was there, the pitching also did it’s part. Between Masahiro Tanaka, Domingo German, and at moments JA Happ and James Paxton all contribute. The pitching wasn’t a major concern because the hitting was carrying this team a lot. As of this writing, the Yankees had 292 home runs as a team. However, they do the pitching to not slide off in the playoffs. You aren’t playing the Baltimore Orioles or Detroit Tigers anymore in the playoffs. More than likely you are going to cross paths with the teams that have good pitching.

This is the first time they won the American League East and have over 100 wins since 2009.