Yankees' Remaining Schedule, Injury Returns Make New York Strong 2018 World Series Contenders

After a disastrous weekend at Fenway Park in which the Boston Red Sox all but officially wrapped up the AL East, the New York Yankees are back on track. The Bronx Bombers followed up being swept at the hands of their arch-rivals with a sweep of their own, taking three straight games from the Chicago White Sox.

A large segment of Yankees fans were sent into a panic Sunday night when the team blew a ninth-inning lead in Boston to suffer their fifth straight defeat. Order has since been restored in New York, and there are reasons to be optimistic for what’s to come.

The Yankees won’t have to worry about facing a team nearly as good as the Red Sox for a long time. Boston is on pace to win 114 games, which would tie the Yankees’ franchise record that was set in 1998. New York doesn’t have one winning team—let alone a club that’s going to win well over 100 games—on their schedule for the remainder of August.

Set to face the likes of the Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Miami Marlins, Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers, the Yankees will play teams with losing records in 21 of their next 24 games. Their other three games during that span will come against the Tampa Bay Rays, who sit at .500.

When that stretch is over, New York will visit the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners in consecutive road series. They are the Yankees’ only competition in the wild-card race, assuming the Houston Astros hold off Oakland and Seattle to win the AL West.

New York owns the first wild-card berth with a four-game lead over Oakland. The Yankees are eight games ahead of the Mariners in the standings. The A’s and Mariners have 10 head-to-head meetings remaining, making it difficult for one of them to catch New York for the top spot.

There’s no denying that playing in the AL Wild-Card Game instead of winning the division will make it more difficult for the Yankees to win the World Series. New York, however, was in the same position a year ago and made it all the way to Game 7 of the ALCS with a weaker roster.

These Yankees are certainly better than the 2017 version after adding Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres. New York got even better at the trade deadline by acquiring Lance Lynn, J.A. Happ and Zach Britton, but injuries have prevented them from being at full strength.

Happ is finally set to return from a short stint on the disabled list. It’s been impossible not to notice the absence of Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez from the lineup over the last few weeks. New York will truly be loaded with talent when their best player and the No.1 hitting catcher in baseball are back within the next month.

In spite of what happened at Fenway Park, the Yankees have performed about as well as anyone could’ve asked through the first 113 games. Only Boston has fewer losses than New York, and they are on pace to win 102 games. The Yankees haven’t won that many games since 2009, the year in which they last won the World Series.

New York has the No.2 offense in baseball. The Yankees’ bullpen ranks third, though their group of relievers might be the best come playoff time.

The rotation, which is fifth in the AL, will only get better with Lynn and Happ replacing Sonny Gray and Domingo German. Luis Severino seems to be getting back on track after a string of poor outings.

It’s not exactly fair to compare the Yankees to the Red Sox. Boston is having a historic season. You can argue that no one in the majors has been better at the plate than Mookie Betts or J.D. Martinez, and Chris Sale is the favorite to win the AL Cy Young award.

That gives the Red Sox a major advantage in the standings over the course of 162 games. In a short series, it’s not nearly the same. The Yankees would have more than just a fighting chance against the Red Sox in a best-of-five ALDS, which appears to be where things are headed.

The best team doesn’t always win in baseball. That's why Boston is barely favored to win the World Series. Houston might be built the best to succeed in the playoffs, and New York isn’t far behind.

Last weekend’s four-game series in Boston was the low point of New York’s season. The Yankees are certainly good enough to make it seem like a distant memory in October.