There is panic. There is over-the-top worrying. There is fear that an extremely poor month of baseball means the Yankees are a bad team.
After following Saturday’s rout of the Red Sox with a quick-work 3-0 loss in Sunday night’s rubber game, the Yankees have lost 15 of 20 games and are 10-18 dating back to June 6. They aren’t hitting (four hits on Sunday) or pitching (another two homers allowed to Rafael Devers) or fielding particularly well. A 50-22 record has become 55-37.
Suddenly, they are looking up at the Orioles, three games back in the AL East, which has Yankees fans collectively freaking out.
In the long run, though, this past month isn’t important, as long as it doesn’t continue.
The Yankees are still comfortably in the playoffs — they are in the first wild-card spot by three games and own a six-game cushion to qualify for the postseason — and that’s what matters.
Winning the division has never been less important.
Let’s take a look at how the teams with the best records have fared in the postseason since the advent of a third wild card in each league in 2022. Some think the bye the teams with the two best records in each league receive is a disadvantage in practice because they enter the playoffs cold.
Last season, three teams — the Orioles, Dodgers and Braves — won 100 games. None of them won a postseason series. The 90-win Rangers beat the 84-win Diamondbacks in the World Series.
The year before, the 111-win Dodgers and 101-win Braves were bounced in the Division Series. The 101-win Mets didn’t even get there. True, the teams with the two best records in the American League — the Yankees and Astros — did meet in the ALCS.
The expanded playoffs have led to more unpredictable results. Getting in is what’s important. The Phillies didn’t win the NL East in either of the past two years, yet they went to the World Series once and the NLCS the other season.
Look, the Yankees have issues.
The lineup is too top-heavy. The bullpen is short on pitchers with swing-and-miss stuff. The starting rotation has been tattooed lately.
Additions are needed, and will be made. Giancarlo Stanton will come back. Top prospect Jasson Dominguez could be a late addition when he gets over his oblique injury. Maybe fill-in first baseman Ben Rice can sustain his impressive results.
The Yankees weren’t as good as their record at 50-22. They’re not nearly as bad as the team we’ve seen of late.
A lot of teams would love to swap places with them. The Yankees are still one of the best teams in baseball — with the fourth-best run differential in MLB — and they have the record to prove it.
The Rivalry’s back pages
Sugar highs
Sunday gave Mets fans the entire Edwin Diaz experience.
The wild Diaz who walked a batter on four pitches and hung a slider that resulted in Nick Gonzales’ two-run, go-ahead single in the eighth inning. An inning later came the dominant Diaz, who retired three straight Pirates hitters in dominant fashion in the ninth to seal a come-from-behind Mets victory.
Diaz, back from his 10-game suspension for using foreign substances, represents the unpredictable nature of these Mets.
When Diaz is right, there are few relievers better. When he isn’t, no lead is safe. He blew four saves in May, and that didn’t include him giving up a four-run lead to the Marlins that led to an extra-inning loss.
The Mets (44-44), likewise, have a tendency to go from one extreme to another. They were once 11 games under .500. They got red-hot, winning 18 of 24 games, and are 22-11 in their last 33. But they also were outscored 22-2 in the span of three days from Wednesday to Friday by the pedestrian Nationals and Pirates.
If Diaz gets rolling, it’s easy to see the Mets taking off, especially with ace Kodai Senga expected back soon after the All-Star break. But if he doesn’t, it’s just as easy to imagine him contributing to this season that suddenly has promise falling off the rails.
He’s as hard to figure out as this enigmatic team.
NBA winners and losers
NBA free agency is now more than a week old. Most of the top players have been spoken for.
We take a look at the winners and losers below:
Winners
76ers: Nobody has had a better offseason so far. The Sixers signed nine-time All-Star Paul George to create a Big 3 of George, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. They added quality veterans Andre Drummond and Eric Gordon to fortify the bench, brought back defense-minded wing Kelly Oubre Jr. and on Saturday, added Caleb Martin, a versatile forward who had thrived with the Heat. Some experts believe the 76ers — and not the Knicks — are now the biggest threat to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference.
Mikal Bridges: The standout wing didn’t have to leave town to join a contender, and he got his wish: to play alongside former Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart with the Knicks. Bridges was miscast with the Nets as a go-to guy. He’s far more suited to be a complementary player — which will be his role with the Knicks. I think this is a win-win deal. The Knicks are going for it, and with Bridges and OG Anunoby, now have two of the best two-way wings in the league. The Nets were going nowhere with Bridges and got five first-round draft picks to move him, improving their future.
Thunder: Oklahoma City filled two major holes this offseason: A starting center (Isaiah Hartenstein) and wing defender (Alex Caruso). It can be argued the Thunder are as good as anyone in the Western Conference now. They are young, deep and loaded with potential. Hartenstein and Caruso are both strong defenders and high-characters guys who fit well.
Losers
Lakers: All the Lakers have done so far is hire LeBron James’ podcast partner, JJ Redick, as their new coach after losing out on Dan Hurley and draft his son, Bronny, who almost all experts believe isn’t anywhere close to being ready to play in the NBA. No Klay Thompson. No DeMar DeRozan. No Jonas Valanciunas. Those targets went elsewhere. It’s difficult to see the Lakers being anything more than a play-in team, and even that’s not a guarantee.
Clippers: The Kawhi Leonard-George tandem produced one Western Conference finals berth in five seasons. Acquiring George from the Thunder, however, cost Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, five first-round picks, two pick swaps and Danilo Gallinari. Now George is gone, and so are the Clippers’ title hopes. A Leonard-James Harden pairing isn’t going to scare anyone in the West, especially as Leonard continues to break down physically at the age of 33.
Nikola Jokic: At the age of 29, coming off his third MVP award in four years, this is Jokic’s window to win more championships. Instead, he lost his top perimeter defender in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and the Nuggets haven’t replaced him. Meanwhile, the Thunder and Mavericks — two of Denver’s Western Conference rivals — got better.
What we’re reading 👀
⚾ Pete Alonso was named the Mets’ lone All-Star — sorry, Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo — and will compete in the Home Run Derby. Clay Holmes joined Aaron Judge and Juan Soto as the Yankees’ third representative.
🏀 A look at some of the Knicks’ potential targets at center to replace Isaiah Hartenstein.
🏀 Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese each made WNBA history during a big weekend for the rookie superstars.
🏈 The NFL was reeling from the death of Vikings rookie Khyree Jackson in a car crash at the age of 24.
🏒 The Post’s Larry Brooks gives the proverbial stick tap to the Devils for their offseason roster work.
🎾 Emma Navarro upset Coco Gauff, and suddenly the Wimbledon women’s singles tournament is wide-open.
🏎 Lewis Hamilton snapped a Formula 1 winless streak in storybook fashion.
