The New York Yankees find themselves in the thick of September baseball. And they have got here, through plenty of ups and now, and now are staring down at one of their toughest stretches of the season. And bang on at the eye of the storm right now is left-hander Max Fried—someone who has gone from struggling in July to getting back into his ace-level form just in time.

Michael Kay summed it best: “It’s a big task to overtake them…. It’s either 4 or 2, and having Max Fried is a big deal. Obviously, this 12-game gauntlet is humongously important because they’re the last games the Yankees would be playing against playoff teams. If you could go 7-5, or 8-4, it would be unbelievable…. I look at the last series with Boston, and to me that’s as important as this series.” The Yanks are supposed to face the Tigers, who are also a good team, and also Boston down the line.

However, to say that Fried simply struggled in July would be an understatement. It was only then that the Yanks went through back-to-back rocky outings with the Jays that removed them from first place in the AL East. And at that time, Fried even got a blister issue, which most thought was pretty mysterious, and with a shaky command, it looked like his season was just going down.

But come September, Fried is looking like the starter the Yanks had signed up for. And hence for the decider game with Toronto, all eyes will definitely be on him.

Now, the gauntlet begins with Toronto, who came into the stadium and smashed a 7-1 win on Friday. But things cooled when Saturday brought a 3-1 win for the Yankees. Now Fried will have all eyes, because he has to face the Toronto demons. His two July starts against them totaled eight earned runs in just over 11 innings. Career-wise, he has a 2.48 ERA, and for the New York Yankees, they need the steadiness now.

He will counter Max Scherzer, who is coming off a back scare, but he owns a 3-0 mark in his last four starts. With the season series at 8-4 in the Jays’ favor, Sunday’s game could be the momentum shifter for sure.

Another bombshell injury for the New York Yankees! 

The New York Yankees can’t really seem to catch a break. Even when they have to battle through important playoff-contending teams, they might just have a key bat slipping away. And this couldn’t come at a worse possible time. First baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who has been going through a low-grade knee sprain since mid-August, was sidelined yet again on Saturday.

He was only available in case of emergency, and so far, the Yanks have not provided a firm update on when he will be okay to make a return. Boone, though, has been optimistic about the situation. Although Goldschmidt has apparently gone through additional testing, and his numbers since the scare tell a story. He is batting a sad .130/.160/.174 over his last seven games. And if you compare it with his .277/.328/.417 slash line on the year, it’s a huge downfall.

Now utility man Ben Rice had filled in at first base, going 1 for 4 against the Toronto Blue Jays, while Goldy didn’t even make it off the bench. For the 37-year-old cornerstone, who was brought in to add depth, that silence spoke volumes. Meanwhile, Aaron Judge rushing to return to the outfield and then shying away from making a critical throw is an eyebrow raiser. How ready he is and how healthy he is are now questionable.

If Goldy’s knee keeps him out for long, then the Yankees might need to do another reshuffle. For now, the Bronx will hope they can take the series win from the Jays.