The New York Yankees may falter against playoff-caliber opponents, but when facing mediocrity, they look like juggernauts.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Yankees hammered the Washington Nationals 11-2, completing a decisive sweep and restoring some needed momentum.
Now sitting at 73-60, the Yankees have positioned themselves to potentially reclaim the top Wild Card slot if Boston stumbles on Wednesday against Baltimore.
What’s surprising is that despite constant ups and downs, the Yankees are quietly 13-7 across their last 20 games played.
Bombs away in the Bronx
The Yankees’ lineup erupted with an offensive fireworks show, producing 11 runs, 13 hits, and an eye-popping six home runs.
Aaron Judge, Ryan McMahon, Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham, Austin Wells, and Ben Rice all launched long balls against shaky Nationals pitching.
For McMahon, it marked his first home run in pinstripes, while Wells’ shot offered a rare positive in a difficult season.
This wasn’t just power for the sake of power—it was relentless, controlled destruction that showcased the depth of New York’s lineup.
Watching the Yankees on a day like this feels like seeing a heavyweight fighter finally connect with every punch in combination.
Max Fried shows signs of ace-level dominance
The Yankees invested $218 million in Max Fried for games like Wednesday, and the lefty finally pitched like the ace they envisioned.
Heading into the start, Fried carried an alarming 5.73 ERA since the break, far removed from his pre-All-Star dominance.
But after silencing Boston last week, he backed it up with seven innings of one-run ball against Washington’s lineup.
Fried scattered four hits, walked two, and struck out six while inducing ten ground-ball outs—proof his command was sharp again.
By the end of the outing, his ERA dropped to 3.06, offering reassurance that his second-half woes may finally be behind him.
For a Yankees team desperate for stability in the rotation, seeing Fried regain form feels as essential as oxygen in October.
Anthony Volpe can’t escape his struggles
While nearly every Yankee reached base in the offensive outburst, Anthony Volpe endured another hitless afternoon, going 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
He is now mired in a staggering 1-for-37 slump over his last 11 games, with 14 painful strikeouts mixed in.
According to team insider Max Goodman, Volpe was the only Yankee who failed to reach base during the 11-run explosion.
His season line now sits at .204 with a .662 OPS, a brutal regression that has fans quickly losing patience with him.
For a third-year player once seen as a cornerstone, Volpe’s current spiral feels like a slow unraveling that’s hard to watch.
Every player has valleys, but Volpe’s bat has been so silent that it’s drowning out the team’s recent positive momentum.
Yankees at a crossroads
The sweep of Washington proves the Yankees can bully weaker opponents, but questions linger about whether they can sustain this firepower.
Fried looks revived, and role players contributed in ways the team has desperately needed.
Yet Volpe’s struggles remain an open wound, and with postseason intensity ahead, the margin for error grows thinner every day.
The Yankees may look unstoppable against a team like the Nationals, but October baseball won’t be nearly as forgiving.
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