The Yankees have back-to-back weekend series against the Orioles with the Rays sandwiched in between. TBS baseball analyst Cal Ripken Jr. breaks down the AL East race with The Post’s Justin Terranova. The Hall of Famer will be in the TBS booth for the Sept. 9 series finale between the teams in Baltimore.
Q: How much of an impact do you expect Alex Rodriguez to have when he returns?
A: Alex is a big-time presence. There are certain players when you put them in the lineup, they have an instant impact even with his numbers being down, and fighting injuries. And he has an ability to rise to the occasion. If I were the Yankees, I’d definitely want his bat back in the lineup for his experience and his ability to drive in runs.
Q: Anything concern you about the Yankees heading into the postseason?
A: You can start picking apart their team, but the underlying theme is that they are winners, they know they are winners and they have the depth of talent to get it done. They grind out at-bats, they put pressure on the other team just being on base all the time. They got the big horse in CC (Sabathia) that they can rely on in the postseason and everything else takes care of itself.
Q: What do you think is the reason for the Orioles’ success this season?
A: I think Buck Showalter has done a really nice job, it’s indicative of their wins in really close ballgames and extra-inning ballgames that you have the right people pitching at that time. It really developed a nice momentum playing confident in those close ballgames and having success along the way. That’s what’s intriguing to me is that they are giving up more runs than they are scoring. That’s generally not a formula for playoff success, but they have figured it out so far.
Q: Did you have any idea this would be coming before the season?
A: I thought they would move toward .500. They had some talent and Buck has a reputation at building a team. He’s done it a few other places. Everyone felt that his evaluation and leadership would start putting the right people in place.
Q: Do the Rays or Orioles have a chance to overtake the Yankees in the AL East?
A: If you look at how strong Tampa Bay finished last year, and just how well they’ve pitched. Pitching will get you a 13-3 record like they had because all your pitchers get hot at the right time. That’s the scary part about the Rays, with (Evan) Longoria back, even if he is not producing home runs and that sort of thing, he brings a presence and stability to this lineup. It changes the way the other team has to pitch you.