Yankees miss playoffs for first time since 2016

NEW YORK — The tip has formally arrived for this 12 months’s New York Yankees.

Whereas a bevy of key accidents and a season’s price of offensive struggles lengthy made it appear that their run of six straight postseason appearances was doubtless going to be halted, that conclusion mercifully and formally arrived on a soggy Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

Underneath a gradual, relentless rainfall and amid highly effective, gusty winds introduced on by close by Tropical Storm Ophelia, the Yankees misplaced to the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-1, falling out of competition for the American League’s last wild-card spot.

“It sucks,” Yankees supervisor Aaron Boone mentioned. “That is what you’re employed arduous towards all 12 months spherical — the wintertime, spring coaching, on by way of the season — for a possibility to play in October and compete for a championship.

“So the fact of that not being in play sucks.”

Yankees captain and outfielder Aaron Judge mentioned he plans to take a vocal and proactive position this offseason in making certain the group developments again to the place it was previous to this season.

“It isn’t going to occur in a single day,” Decide mentioned. “So we received to hit the bottom working, particularly when the season ends. We have loads to work on, a whole lot of issues to vary and a whole lot of stuff happening round right here that must be fastened.”

Requested what a few of these issues had been, Decide declined to reply, saying they’d keep “in-house.” He added that he has some concepts of adjustments that want to return, and he plans to work with key decision-makers all through the main and minor league components of the group to make sure they take maintain.

With regard to the AL wild-card race, now that the Yankees are out of the image, the ultimate spot stays a toss-up between the Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners.

Within the Nationwide League, the Diamondbacks nonetheless maintain a one-game lead over the Chicago Cubs for that league’s last wild card.

Sunday’s loss additionally dropped the Yankees to 78-77, as they proceed flirting with the opportunity of being the primary set of Bronx Bombers since 1992 to complete a season with a shedding report.

“I really feel like this membership proper right here can win,” beginning pitcher Carlos Rodon mentioned. “It is form of a kind of issues the place we’ve to show the web page and transfer on. Clearly, we’ve like six or seven video games left, and so we’ve to complete robust with these and present what we are able to do on the sphere and transfer on from there, and look ahead to subsequent 12 months.”

Infielder DJ LeMahieu, a veteran who has performed for the Yankees the previous 5 seasons, mentioned enhancements he has seen in latest weeks by lots of the crew’s younger call-ups give him perception in what the group’s future might be.

“Probably the most irritating a part of this 12 months is we all know we’re adequate to be the place we need to be, we simply have not finished it,” LeMahieu mentioned. “[But] total, there’s undoubtedly loads to look ahead to. However we all know this 12 months’s not adequate.”

Earlier than this season, 2016 was the final time the Yankees missed the playoffs. It was a equally underperforming crew, one which featured the likes of growing old All-Stars Alex Rodriguez, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran.

However following that 12 months’s disappointing end, New York made postseason appearances yearly from 2017 to 2022, together with three journeys to the American League Championship Sequence.

It was a run powered by a crew of youthful, up-and-coming stars. It was paced by the likes of Decide, who received American League Rookie of the Yr honors in 2017.

This 12 months’s Yankees have seven video games remaining, together with a make-up towards Arizona on Monday that was scheduled after Saturday’s sport was rained out.

Decide, who has been enjoying the previous two months by way of a toe harm that landed him on the injured listing for 51 midseason video games, nonetheless plans to remain within the lineup typically this last week.

“There was talks of stuff getting shut down, however I’ve received to be on the market,” Decide mentioned. “I am a frontrunner on this crew, and particularly with the younger guys we have got arising — you bought to point out them that you simply received to submit, even in the event you’re not feeling good, not feeling nice. You have to be on the market each single day in your teammates.

“So I’ll be on the market.”