Yankees, Ian HamiltonJohn Jones-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Yankees have been enjoying a purple patch in the last few games. Moreover, Aaron Judge, the captain, has started to hit home runs again after a 16-game long homerless streak. That home run drought has been the longest in the California native’s career. Lately, the 2022 AL MVP hit his 53rd home run of the 2024 season against the Boston Red Sox. Moreover, he helped his team enjoy a series win against their arch-rivals after a battle of four games. Now, the Bronx Bombers have a three-game lead over their primary threat in the American League East division, the Baltimore Orioles.

If they don’t get into another slump in the remaining couple of weeks, the NY side should comfortably win the American League East Division yet again. Then, the challenge of the postseason will be something that the Yankees must face over the next month. At present, though, they look pretty good and they are a top contender to win the World Series this year. But the front office is still busy in making changes to the roster.

Yankees Released Victor Gonzales And Ian Hamilton Returns To The Lineup

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Since the last offseason, the 40-man roster of the NY Yankees underwent a lot of changes. The biggest change was, of course, the addition of Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo to the lineup. Along with Soto, Trent Grisham came to the Bronx from the San Diego Padres as well. Lately, during the trade deadline, Jazz Chisholm Jr. joined the NY side as he came from the Miami Marlins. Then, Enyel De Los Santos and Mark Leiter Jr. arrived to the Bronx, too. But Leiter has not performed well for the Pinstripes yet. Then, Santos is not at the Bronx anymore. Next offseason, the Yankees might have to let go of Alex Verdugo and Trent Grisham. Lately, the NY side sent the left-handed pitcher Victor Gonzales packing. A few months ago, the LHP was DFA’d. Perhaps the Yankees were hoping that Gonzales can impress them in the Triple-A level. However, over 21 games at Triple-A, he recorded a 4.50 ERA, and also a 1.73 WHIP.

As a result, on Sunday, the Bronx Bombers released him. Along with Caleb Ferguson, Gonzales was supposed to be contributing lefties in the bullpen because the team had no one else heading to the 2024 season. But then, Tim Hill and Tim Mayza had to replace Gonzales and Ferguson. But the good news for the Yankees bullpen was the return of Ian Hamilton. Since September 9, he didn’t have another outing until last Sunday. Hamilton had a pretty meaningful outing against the Boston Red Sox. He had to take care of a situation in the sixth inning, when Carlos Rodon left after 5 1/3 innings. Anyway, Hamilton successfully preserved the Yankees 4-2 lead as he struck out Danny Jansen and Trevor Story. Eventually, the Bombers won 5-2 that night.

Collapse Of Orioles Helping The Pinstripes A Lot

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The Yankees have been playing well lately. But its not their competence which is the only reason for their three-game lead over the O’s. It is the collapse of the Baltimore Orioles who have been really bad as of late. Over the weekend, the O’s dropped two games out of three against the Detroit Tigers.

On July 7, the Baltimore side was 57-33. Since then, the O’s have gone down 27-33. They have lost series to the Chicago Cubs, the Detroit Tigers as well as the Toronto Blue Jays and the Miami Marlins. In the last two and a half months, the Orioles have not won a series against a team over .500. Hence, it is not looking good for the O’s.