Bronx Bomber Ball

What does Severino's future hold? Will he be a part of the starting rotation for the Yanks from here on out? Or will he embrace his newfound role in the bullpen? Severino's future is still up in the air when it comes to what role he will fill after this season. There are many who argue that he'll become a real productive pitcher if he's limited to pitching one to two innings in relief, rather than having him pitch as a starter. Photo Credit: Rich Schultz/Getty Images

Luis Cessa pitched extremely well for the Yankees, only surrendering one run in six strong innings of work. Unfortunately, the offense wasn’t able to solve rookie pitcher Blake Snell, as the Bombers were shut out in a 2-0 heartbreaker. The Yankees failed to secure a sweep, which is something the team has struggled with all season long. With only ten games to go in the regular season, every game is crucial as there are still three teams that stand between New York and a wild card berth.    (Brian Blanco/Getty Images)

The Yankees were able to stop the bleeding of a five game losing streak by defeating the last place Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday by a score of 5-3. The seemingly unstoppable Gary Sanchez hit a clutch three- run home run to stamp a much needed Yankees victory at Tropicana field. The Yankees entered Wednesday’s game 3.5 games back for the second wildcard spot.   Photo Credit: AP/Chris O'Meara

With the season winding down and the Yankees playoff hope slimming by the day, some 40-man roster spot decisions will have to be made in the near future. While some roster spots will open up because of impending free agents and retirements (Mark Teixeira, Billy Butler, etc.), some roster spots will be needed to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft (Tyler Webb, Kyle Hishioga, etc.). Because of these moves some roster spots may be up in the air this offseason, let’s take a look at some players whose 40-man roster spots may be in limbo. Photo Credit: Kim Klement

The Yankees picked up a much needed 5-3 win tonight against their division foe, the Rays. Their recent skid included losing seven of their last eight and five straight, virtually ruining any chance of making the playoffs. Michael Pineda was very good on the mound tonight and the win moved New York to 3.5 games behind the Orioles. The win improved the Yankees record to 78-72, while the Rays fell to 64-95, second-worst in the AL. Photo Credit: AP/Steve Nesius

Coming off of a rough four game sweep of the division leading Boston Red Sox, the Yankees are looking to rebound against the Rays who are 21 games under .500. This will be the fourth and final series against Tampa Bay as the Yankees have gone 5-4 against them so far this season. The Yankees are coming into this series four games behind the second wild card spot. With October looming, a series win is crucial if the Yankees want to preserve any hopes of reaching the playoffs this season.

28. Will this be the last September we ever see Joe Girardi’s number 28 jersey in the Yankees dugout? It is fair to argue that as fall baseball looms closer and closer, the Yankees are getting pulled further and further down the hole they try to climb out of countless times. Joe’s managing style this season has been a source of debate from pitiful outings, to failure to produce runs, to lack of motivation, and questionable pitching changes. It has caused me as well as other fans to question Girardi. Faith is something the fans and organization of the Yankees have. I have stayed faithful to Girardi; he brought a championship to a whole new era of fans, but is it time for a change? Photo Credit: Paul J. Bereswill | NY POST

Having lost five of their last six, the Yankees came into Saturday’s game desperately needing to turn things around if they want to continue playing meaningful September baseball. They couldn’t muster a win against their bitter rivals, squandering an early lead to fall to 77-71 and 4.5 games out of the second wild card. Photo Credit: AP/Michael Dwyer

Who would have thought that we'd be here? Up until their recent series against the Dodgers, the Yankees were playing the best stint of baseball we'd seen from them all year. Coming off a much needed seven-game win streak, the Yankees look more and more like a team with a chance to make the post season than they had in previous months. If you haven't been living under a rock for these past few weeks, you probably have heard of young slugger Gary Sanchez. Photo Credit: Jim McIsaac/Newsday

It's becoming painfully clear that the Yankees were overachieving for the last month or so. The rotation is nothing special, the bullpen (with the exception of a few pitchers) is an absolute disaster, and the offense is average, at best. The Yankees suffered yet another frustrating defeat at the hands of their longtime rivals this Friday in Boston. Losing their third straight, and fourth of their last five, the Yankees playoff chances are becoming more improbable by the day. The debilitating effects of yesterday's Joe Girardi-induced ninth inning implosion most likely had a detrimental impact on the Yankees performance in this one. Photo Credit: AP/Michael Dwyer

The Yankees dropped a heartbreaker by a score of 2-0 to the LA Dodgers yesterday after Dellin Betances had a ninth inning he would like to forget. The Yankees closer had an abysmal inning allowing two LA runs to score leading to New York losing two of three. The Bronx Bombers head North on I-95 for a four game weekend showdown against their long time rivals the AL East division leading Boston Red Sox. The Yankees have played their way back into the playoff race along with Baltimore and Toronto as they all sit just a few games behind the first place Boston Red Sox. New York could really push themselves even closer to a playoff spot with a good series against their historic foes. It has been ten years since both teams were really fighting hard for a playoff spot this late in the season. Strap in folks there is sure to be some fireworks at Fenway this weekend, it’s Yanks and Sox with the division title on the line.

The Yankees, who are right in the thick of the playoff race, are in a position where they really need to win every series the rest of the way to be able to play October baseball. Thanks to some horrible defensive play in the ninth inning, the Yankees dropped the final game of this series to the Dodgers, 2-0. They remain two games out of the second wild card with 18 games to play. Bryan R. Smith/AP

The Yankees came into action on Tuesday in dire need of a win. They had lost two consecutive contests and needed a big performance from CC Sabathia in hopes that they’d head into Wednesday’s clash with Clayton Kershaw tied at one in the series. Series wins are a necessity at this juncture in the season and the big lefty had to  shut down the Dodgers offense. From the first pitch of the game you could tell CC was bringing his A-plus stuff to the table. He had all of his pitches working and we even saw a few fastballs touch 93 MPH like it was 2012 all over again. Despite all that, CC got in trouble right off the bat after walking Howie Kendrick to leadoff the game. Kendrick advanced to second and then to third on two groundballs but handed his helmet to the third base coach after Yasiel Puig went down swinging. He followed suit in inning number two allowing Kike Hernandez to third, but got another big strikeout to escape trouble again. The Yankees offense was quiet until the thi

Bryan Mitchell, coming off an impressive season debut on Wednesday, got rocked by the Dodgers on Monday night, as the Yankees dropped the series opener 8-2 for the second consecutive defeat. The back-to-back defeats are a huge stumbling block to the Yankees’ playoff hopes, as they need to finish roughly 13-6 the rest of the season to have a realistic shot at the second wild card. Kathy Willens, AP Mitchell shut down the Blue Jays five days ago, only scattering four hits over five shutout innings, giving him his first win of the season. Tonight, however, he didn’t have the same luck. In just two and a third innings, he was tagged for eight hits and six runs, although only two of those runs were earned. His pitches were staying up, and every batter was making solid contact. He left the offense with a deficit they were not able to overcome. This start will leave Joe Girardi with a tough decision as to who he wants to pitch in his spot the next time around, especially if the playo

Fresh off taking care of business against the Tampa Bay Rays winning three of four, the Yankees will take a break from their 10 game AL East stretch against Baltimore, Toronto, and Tampa, the Yankees will now welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Bronx. Since the beginning of interleague play in 1997, the Dodgers have been to Yankee Stadium for just one day back in 2013 where the two teams split a double header at Yankee Stadium. This series provides extra excitement as these two teams rarely play one another in the regular season. Los Angeles will throw a pair of rookies in games one and two, and then they will throw the best pitcher in baseball in game three, so the Yankees will have to hit in games one in two to sure up some wins here.

Masahiro Tanaka continued his stellar pitching Saturday, as he gave up only run and struck out 10 through seven and a third innings. His offense did enough to get him the W, as the Bombers won their seventh straight game. The Yankees ace had a sharp fastball and great command of his off-speed and breaking pitches, fooling several of the Tampa Bay batters.   Tanaka improved his record this season to 13-4 while dropping his ERA to 3.04. The Yankees are now a season-best 12 games over .500 and sit just three games back of the American League East lead. (Kathy Willens, AP)

The Yankees stayed hot in a big win, their sixth in a row, over the Rays by a score of 7-5. In the bottom of the fourth inning after a short rain delay, Mark Teixeira extended a 3-2 lead to 7-2 with a grand slam after Rob Refsnyder and Gary Sanchez hit back to back singles followed by Starlin Castro’s walk. This put the game out of reach as the Rays were not able to overcome the deficit. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

The Yankees won a thriller this Thursday night in the Bronx, pulling to within two games of the second wild card! Fresh off an invigorating sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays, the Bombers proceeded to welcome the last place Rays to the Bronx for four games. Despite a rocky pitching performance from CC Sabathia, the bullpen of misfits somehow pulled through, buying enough time before Tyler Austin's dramatic walk off home run. AP Photo/Adam Hunger

After an impressive series that saw the New York Yankees (73-65) sweep the rival Toronto Blue Jays, the Bombers will welcome the Tampa Bay Rays to the Bronx as they begin a four game set. As was the case against the Blue Jays, this series will be crucial for the Yankees as they hang on to their slim playoff odds. With the Rays record at 59-79, it’s safe to say they aren’t the best team around. But, the Yankees cannot play down to their level, as they sometimes have a habit of doing so.

Why not the New York Yankees? Who is to say the youthful Yankees can’t make a run towards the postseason? Riding a four game winning streak against the two teams above them in the AL East (one win against Baltimore followed by a three-game sweep against Toronto), the Yankees now sit 4.5 games out of the top spot in the AL East behind Boston, and just 2.5 games out of the second wild card spot behind Baltimore. Unfortunately for the New York Yankees, they are going to need some help in order to get to the postseason, but they’re hanging in there by taking care of business against division opponents. Trailing by 2.5 games is not an insurmountable deficit with 24 games left and if the Bombers can stay hot, the Yankee team that had previously been playing for 2017 and beyond may become a contender in 2016. AP Photo

Making his season debut, Bryan Mitchell was called on for one of the biggest games of the season for the New York Yankees. Mitchell answered the bell throwing five plus scoreless innings allowing just four hits against a potent Toronto offense that Yankee pitchers managed to shut down for the most part over the course of this series. Luis Severino then came on in relief of Mitchell and he would toss three scoreless innings before handing the ball off to Tyler Clippard for the save. Photo Credit: Adam Hunger | AP

The Blue Jays got on the board quickly in the first inning when Edwin Encarnacion deposited a Luis Cessa pitch into the left field seats for a solo home run to put the Jays up 1-0. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Brian McCann launched a solo shot of his own into the right field stands, his first since August 19 th , to tie the game up at one a piece. The tie didn’t last long as Kevin Pillar scored on a broken bat single by Jose Bautista in the top of the fifth to retake the lead, 2-1. Things were looking bleak for Yankees fans before Tyler Austin hit a two-run moonshot into the right field bleachers, making it 3-2, Bombers. The lead didn’t last long, however as the Yankees bullpen did what they did best and gave the lead back on a two run double by Kevin Pillar in the top of the eighth to give the Jays the lead once again at 4-3. But again, the lead changed in the bottom of the eighth when Didi Gregorius laced a RBI triple just out of the reach of Pillar and later scored on a sa

The 2016 season hasn't exactly gone the way the Yankees had planned it would for Luis Severino. After helping solidify a rotation in the midst of a playoff run last season, Severino has suffered his share of setbacks thus far. In 2015, he went 5-3 in 11 starts, while putting up a 2.89 ERA. Having been handed a rotation spot after spring training, Severino struggled immensely out of the gate, going 0-6 in seven starts before being placed on the disabled list, and subsequently demoted. Interestingly, two of Severino's best performances this year have come out of the bullpen. While many analysts have argued that the young right hander's stuff translates better in a relief role, the Yankees seem insistent on having him figure things out as a starter. Due to his age and potential, I'm not advocating that we abandon hopes of Severino becoming a successful starting pitcher, however the possibility of him ending up as a dominant reliever warrants further discussion. Photo

Following a disappointing series loss in Baltimore, the Yankees came ready to play this Labor Day against the Blue Jays. Led by Jacoby Ellsbury and Masahiro Tanaka, the Yankees defeated Toronto 5-1. Ellsbury seems to have responded to Joe Girardi's choice to bench him yesterday in what the Yankees manager referred to as the "biggest game of the season." While the Yankees chances of winning the division are certainly slim, it's nowhere near out of the realm of possibility, making these games against the division-leading Blue Jays even more important. That being said, Yankees got off to a great start to their ten-game home stand, clicking on all cylinders. Photo Credit: AP/Kathy Willens

Despite dropping two of three games to the Baltimore Orioles, the Yankees still sit just 3.5 games out of the second wild card spot going into a pivotal three game set with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees will kick off the series in the Bronx with their ace Masahiro Tanaka on the hill and he will look to get the Yankees on the right track in getting a much needed series victory. The pressure is mounting in New York as every series is a must win if they want to gain ground.

Coming into Sunday afternoon’s contest with the Baltimore Orioles in a game that Joe Girardi dubbed as “the most important game of the season,” the Yankees were looking to avoid the sweep. The Yankees sent Michael Pineda to the mound in search of his seventh win of the season as he was opposed by Wade Miley who entered play with a 1-3 record with a 7.14 ERA in six starts with the Orioles. Pineda would throw just 87 pitches across four plus innings before his ineffectiveness led to him being lifted in favor of Luis Severino. Severino was first in line in the Yankee bullpen that would shut down the Orioles on Sunday afternoon in a 5-2 win. Photo Credit: Nick Wass | AP

While the New York Yankees impressive youth movement and shocking playoff push continue, it’s never too early to start taking a look at pieces to potentially add to the team. We shouldn’t expect the Yankees to be major players this winter, in what is shaping up to be a fairly weak free agent class. However, they are the Yankees, and no scenario should be thought of as impossible. Let’s take a look at some potential names and positions that could be of service to the Yankees.

For the second straight night, these two teams went to extra innings tied at four, behind a playoff-like atmosphere. After picking up consecutive quality outings in his first two career starts, Luis Cessa struggled early on the road tonight in Kansas City, before bouncing back and giving them a solid outing. The Yankees win moves them back to being just 2.5 games back in the hunt for a playoff spot. AP Photo/Orlin Wagner