The New York Yankees sure don’t look like anybody’s future title-winning team right now. After holding down one of the two best records in the majors for most if not all of the season, they’ve seemingly just forgot how to play.
New York has a 7-11 record since the All-Star break and is just 1-6 in its last seven games, including a five-game losing streak. The Yankees even forgot how to run bases in Tuesday’s loss to the Mariners.
As a result of the skid, their odds to win the World Series have tumbled. They went from +350 at the start of August — second-shortest behind the Dodgers — to +450 ahead of Wednesday’s game. Those Tipico Sportsbook odds now have them a distant third behind the Dodgers (+320) and cross-town rival Mets (+350).
They took a similar slide at other sportsbooks.
.@Yankees have lost 7 of their past 9 games.
NYY odds to win the World Series have moved from +325 to +375 at @BetMGM.
— John Ewing 🦁 (@johnewing) August 10, 2022
However, this little slump isn’t a reason to sell your Yankees stock. Rather, it’s a perfect opportunity to buy their futures at odds longer than we’ve seen since June.
Looking at how they’ve performed, particularly since the start of August, there really isn’t one particular problem area holding them back. They’ve seen good pitching and good offense in spurts, and simply haven’t been able to put the two together at the same time.
They lost Tuesday’s game 1-0, squandering a 13-inning gem by Gerrit Cole and the bullpen. But before you blame the offense, they scored nine runs in each of the previous two games. They won one but lost another because they allowed 12 runs. This isn’t a Marlins situation, where the team simply can’t score. And the pitching as a whole could be better, but most of the same arms are still there from earlier in the season.
The delayed return of starter Luis Severino from the injured list is certainly a concern, especially after New York traded Jordan Montgomery at the deadline. But as long as the Yankees have a healthy rotation going into the postseason, I trust the law of averages to balance things out. With so much talent, they’ll be as competitive as anybody.
