Stock Up, Stock Down: Braves, Yankees, Cubs, Red Sox

Stock Down: New York Yankees

After the last week, the New York Yankees had and the overall nine-game road trip they finished up by getting swept by the Atlanta Braves, the 2023 postseason is a foregone conclusion for the Bronx Bombers, regardless of what manager Aaron Boone thinks.

“There’s a lot of season left,” said Boone after Tuesday’s 11-3 loss. “We gotta do better than this.”

Yes, there is a quarter of the season left for the Yankees, however, with injuries to their pitching staff, their lack of offense, defense, and overall competition level, the ship has sailed on the 2023 season for both Boone and the Bronx Bombers.

When they began their nine-game road trip on August 7 in Chicago against the White Sox, yes, there was plenty of season left, but after dropping two out of three there, then two out of three to the Miami Marlins, which included a ninth-inning meltdown by Clay Holmes and Tommy Kahnle Sunday in an 8-7 loss. The icing on the cake was the Braves’ sweep and dropping New York under .500 at 60-61. They went scoreless in the final two games in Atlanta.

The Yankees return home to open a weekend series against the Boston Red Sox and for late August, this is going to be the least hyped Yankees/Red Sox series in some time.

Stock Up: Atlanta Braves

After hitting a bit of a rough patch after the All-Star Break, the Braves have rebounded and once again showed the rest of the league why they are the favorites to win the World Series and sit on top of the power rankings.

Atlanta flexed their muscles against the two New York teams, winning three out of four over the Mets, including a 21-3 thumping on Saturday in the first game of a day/night doubleheader. They then swept the three games from the Yankees, all but icing their postseason hopes.

As usual, Atlanta used the long ball to do most of their damage against both the Mets and Yankees, hitting four in the first game of the doubleheader. Eddie Rosario had two in the series against the Yankees, including a two-run shot in the second inning Wednesday night in the second inning to get the Braves rolling.

The Braves have the NL East locked up and are five games clear of the Los Angeles Dodgers for home-field advantage through the National League playoffs. For Atlanta, it’s about not taking the foot off the gas over the final six weeks heading into the postseason to carry all the momentum they can into October.

Stock Down: Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox began a stretch of 10 games against the Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, and Washington Nationals where they had a chance to make a dent in the Wild Card race behind the Blue Jays. They went 5-2 against the Royals and Tigers at home, but stumbled against the Nationals, dropping two of three against a team they needed to at least win two from or sweep.

After winning the first game against Washington, they turned to James Paxton and Chris Sale to win the series and while the starters delivered, the bullpen and defense did not. The bullpen allowed four eighth-inning runs in a 6-2 loss on Wednesday then, one day later, they allowed seven in a 10-7 loss. The Red Sox defense, which has been bad all season, did not help the cause with two key errors in a five-run fifth inning Thursday.

During their 10-game stretch, Boston needed to win at least seven games, but only went 6-4 and now head to the Bronx for a three-game weekend series with the Yankees. After that, they have four against the Houston Astros on the road before returning home for three with the Los Angeles Dodgers and three against the Astros. The last two games against the Nationals feel like a big missed opportunity.

The Yankees and Red Sox are clearly in trouble, while the Braves are still setting the pace and improving their standing at the top, while the Cubs are turning into a legitimate playoff team. It was certainly an up-and-down week for the four teams.