If not for Texas Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, the New York Yankees would look invincible right now.
Eovaldi shut down the Yankees for the second time in eight days Wednesday night in a 6-1 victory in the Bronx, handing New York just its third defeat in 17 games since April 17.
Eovaldi has allowed one earned run in 15 innings against the Yankees this season over two starts, compared to 21 earned runs in 32 2/3 innings against everyone else. The Rangers are a postseason contender because the AL West stinks, but if they fall behind the pack before the trade deadline, whoever remains might want to acquire Eovaldi just to give the rest of the field a chance against the Yankees in October. The Yankees themselves might want to re-aquire Eovaldi, just to keep him away from the Tampa Bay Rays or, gasp, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Other than that, the Yankees certainly look like Canyon of Heroes parade material, more than at any point since 2009, the last time they won it all. Seventeen years without a title wouldn’t be much of a drought for most organizations, but for the Yankees it’s about as long as they’ve ever gone. Take away the first 20 years of the franchise’s existence, when they didn’t even play in the Bronx and nobody knew what they were missing, and the current drought is only one year less (and counting) than the infamous 1979-1995 period. (How did George Steinbrenner keep himself sane?)
The youth of today have no clue about lost Yankees dominance. Not only has it seemed like forever since the Yankees won the World Series, they haven’t gotten all that close since ’09. They lost the Series to the Dodgers in five games in 2024. While most of the games were competitive(-ish), the only reason the Yankees won even once was because of a lopsided bullpen game by the Dodgers in Game 4. It’s not like Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went full 1919 Black Sox and lost Game 4 on purpose, but let’s just say that sacrificial tactics were employed.
The Yankees just haven’t had many (or any) great teams since the A-Rod squad won it all in 2009. (That’s Minnesota Timberwolves majority owner and Co-Chair Alex Rodríguez to you kids, by the way.) The Yankees have taken first place in the AL East just five times in that span, and rarely in those years did they finish with the best regular-season record. But even the playoff teams had some kind of fatal flaw that left the Yankees exposed.
Aside from the law of averages catching up with everybody, the Yankees do feel more dominant in 2026. Only the Atlanta Braves have a better won-lost record. Only the Braves have scored more runs. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers have allowed fewer runs. Team defense has been neutral.
With slugger Ben Rice a top MVP candidate, the Yankees have the most powerful lineup in the league, one that’s not only reliant on Aaron Judge going off. Led by Cam Schlittler, they have the best starting pitching so far, and that’s without Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón, who both are in the injury rehab process. The Yankees don’t have the best bullpen in the league, but it’s up there, and strong at the back end with closer David Bednar.
When the time comes for general manager Brian Cashman to make trades, he’s got a big stockpile of talent and won’t need to patch big holes. The vibes are good. Manager Aaron Boone needs only to choose to play Rice every day despite the clubhouse political risk of sitting someone else with more seniority. Other than that, everything is coming up Yankees.
For anybody getting too excited about this finally being the Yankees year, they could take one or two other factors into account. One, the entire American League stinks, except for the Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays. Two, the Dodgers probably await at the end of the line in the World Series. And if not the Dodgers, another team that’s likely better than anyone else on the AL side. The Yankees have a 1-5 record against teams with a record better than .500. A small sample, but a stinky sample.
It’s still a little early to game out the World Series. But with six months of notice, the Yankees are looking better than they have in a long time.
