KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The template for what's possible with Juan Soto's 2024 Yankees is Juan Soto's 2019 Nationals.
Because those nuts are definitely not gnats. They have top-tier star players, and the only hallmark of championships in the organization's history is that they have star players on a nightly basis.
The Washington team's two best hitters in October were Soto and Anthony Rendon. The two best pitchers were Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg.
Its quartet of elite players performed the biggest moments on the grandest stages throughout four rounds, accompanied by a chorus.
Through two games of the American League Division Series, the Yankees relied far too much on the chorus. The best at-bats always came from Gleyber Torres. Best pitching by their Bullpen Anonymous group — In fact, if Jake Cousins and Tim Meza were walking down the street, would you know it wasn't Tim Weaver and Luke Hill? Did you? Luke Weaver and Tim Hill. I'm just looking to see if you're paying attention.
Because if you are, you know that these Yankees often go on to stardom. They're top-heavy, and when that top-heavy group thrives, the Yankees thrive, too. When they don't, when the baseball game begins when tactics and execution matter most, the Yankees struggle.
This Yankee is Mike Tyson. They are full of power and anger, not subtlety and cunning. And through the first two games, knockout artists Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon really let the team down. The Royals outscored the Yankees for most of the 18 innings, and in many ways the Yankees were lucky to be tied at one game apiece heading into Wednesday night's Game 3.
Soto gave a diplomatic answer about the 2019 Nationals, saying that “our big stars had some great moments,” but added: “At the end of the day, it's all about the team as a whole. We can't rely on one player and rely on him to do everything to get us to the end. We have to do it as a team.”
And yes, those Nationals certainly had valuable contributions from Patrick Corbin (especially in relief), Howie Kendrick, and Adam Eaton. However, Soto posted a .927 OPS, three doubles and five home runs in the postseason. Rendon posted a 1.003 OPS with seven doubles and three home runs. They combined for 39 percent of the team's playoff hits.
Five years ago Wednesday, Rendon hit a leadoff home run in the eighth inning against Clayton Kershaw, followed by Soto, who hit a leadoff run in Game 5 of the Division Series, also homered to score the game-tying run. The Nationals beat the Dodgers in Kendrick's 10th overtime. grand slam.
Scherzer and Strasburg combined to start 10 games that postseason. Personally, I think they won eight, and the Nats won all 10 (and remember, it took them 12 to win the title).
Both also pitched in the game as relievers. Strasburg played in a unique wild-card game with Scherzer starting. That was the game in which the Nationals defeated David Stearns's Brewers, taking home three runs on Soto's eighth-inning single and Trent Grisham's game-winning run when Washington was leading 3-1.
The Nats then defeated the Dodgers, led by Alex Verdugo, but Verdugo did not play due to an oblique injury, and the Nats defeated Harrison Bader's Cardinals in the National League CS, before the Nationals beat the Astros in seven games. In the middle of the day, he stopped Cole from winning the World Series.
Cole didn't pitch well in the opening game of the Division Series, hitting 11 balls faster than 95 mph. He is scheduled to start Game 4 and said, “I'm looking forward to trying again.”
Soto had three hits in the opening game, contributing to the Yankees' 6-5 victory. But Judge was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. In Game 2, Soto and Judge combined to go 0-for-6 with three strikeouts, and the Yankees lost 4-2 in the fourth inning when Rodon lost energy and control, giving up four runs.
Judge, Soto, Cole, and Rodon are four of the five Yankees with the highest salaries this season. After finishing in the top five and going 1-for-8 in two games in the Bronx, Giancarlo Stanton took early batting practice by himself before Game 3 at Kauffman Stadium.
The quintet earned $166 million this season. That's more than the Royals' total payroll and roughly 55 percent of the Yankees' total payroll. Again, this is a top-heavy team. And unless their star wakes up, the Yankees won't be able to reach the top.
