In a couple hours, the Yankees will open a three-game series with the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Those series are always tough no matter how good or bad each team may be, and right now both are playing pretty well. Get ready for a weekend of marathon four-hour games. You know what I’m talking about.
The series at Fenway is important because it’s an intra-division series, and given how tight the AL East figures to be this summer, every head-to-head matchup with a division rival is super important. This series also marks the start of a very difficult and road-heavy portion of the schedule. Just four of New York’s next 19 games with be at home in the Bronx. Four of 19!
Here is the May schedule from the team’s official site:
That four-game series against the Orioles next weekend will be the Yankees’ only home series from now through May 22nd. The NYCFC guys are going to have free rein over Yankee Stadium for the next three weeks. Lucky them.
It’s not just the sheer number of road games either. They’re road games against good teams and AL East rivals. Fourteen of those 19 games are against AL East teams and the other five are against the Royals and the Nationals. The Royals have arguably been the best team in baseball this year, and by time the Yankees head to Washington, the Nats might be playing like the best team in baseball, which many expected them to be coming into the season.
It goes without saying this upcoming stretch of games will be very difficult and play a big part in deciding whether the Yankees are serious contenders this season or are just hopefuls like the last two years. You hope the Yankees can weather the storm and come out ahead, maybe 10-9 or 11-8 or something like that, but you also know they probably need to do better than that to remain in the hunt for a postseason spot.
These next 19 games aren’t going to define the season for New York. It’s way too early for that. These 19 games are going to be a real challenge though, and since most of those games are on the road against quality opponents, it’s a crucial stretch for the Yankees. It’s a chance to really come out ahead and feel good about what this team is capable of doing. It’s also a chance to get humbled and fall behind the rest of the pack in the AL East.
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