Yankees: Week 23

After a rather poor showing last week, the Yankees bounced back nicely with two series wins over the Rays and crosstown rival Mets. In addition, they closed the division gap with the Blue Jays to just 2.5 games heading into a crucial three game set at the Rogers Centre. This is make or break time for the Yankees as anything less than a series win or sweep could be the final nail in their hopes for an AL East crown.

The Good

In a twist of fortunes, CC Sabathia put up two of his best outings of the year totaling 12.2 innings 8 hits 1 run and 13 strikeouts combined. It's nice to see him showing shades of his old self, especially when the Yankees are down an arm. If he can keep it up for the final two weeks it could pay dividends in whichever playoff situation the Yankees find themselves in.

Justin Wilson showed off his power arm as he tallied 8 strikeouts in 3 nearly dominant outings. The Yankees failure to land a second setup man at the trade deadline gave fans some cause for concern about how the current bullpen would hold up. However, should Wilson continue to work impressive innings like this, he may have that role all to himself when it's said and done.

Dustin Ackley made nice contributions in limited action this week, delivering 5 hits including a back breaking home run Sunday night against the Mets. While there is not much expected of the backup utility, he has shown the ability to gather hits and bet on base, something that the Yankees probably didn't think they would get when he was acquired from Seattle in late July

The Bad

The second half of the season has been unkind to Brett Gardner and it didn't get any better this week. He hit just .124 this week and hasn't put together a good stretch in quite some time. One can only hope that his hitting can return sometime soon or he will make himself into a huge liability for an offense that needs it's batters to step up big from here on out.

Chasen Shreve has a second bat week out of the bullpen as the once untouchable lefty has posted an ERA over 10 in the month of September. His pitches have become very flat and hittable, the tell tale sign of an tiring overused pitcher. It may be wise to limit his innings so that he can get his confidence back in order as the team will need their pen at full strength for the final push.