Yankees pitcher says Crimson Sox ‘haven’t been who they are surely the final couple years’

Crimson Sox

“It doesn’t really feel like what we’ve with Tampa now, or with Toronto now.”

The Crimson Sox and Yankees have met twice within the postseason over the previous 5 MLB seasons, with Boston rising victorious in each the 2018 ALDS and the 2021 AL Wild Card Recreation.

Nonetheless, even with these latest playoff bouts and the years of dangerous blood between the historic franchises, the Crimson Sox-Yankees rivalry has been toned down considerably over the previous couple of years.

Forward of the Crimson Sox and Yankees’ first matchup this season on Friday, FOX Sports activities’ Jake Mintz wished to evaluate whether or not or not baseball’s high feud had mellowed out as of late. 

Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes was candid when it got here to the place Boston sits in New York’s pecking order of divisional foes.

“It doesn’t really feel like what we’ve with Tampa now, or with Toronto now,” Cortes stated. “You might argue that [the Red Sox] haven’t been who they are surely the final couple years.”

It’s laborious to disagree with Cortes’ blunt evaluation of Boston. After successful the 2018 World Collection, the Crimson Sox completed fifth within the AL East two out of the final three seasons. As of Thursday afternoon, the Sox stay in fifth place within the division with a 31-31 file.

The Yankees are at present 36-26 and sit in third within the AL East. And whereas you can also make the case that this present Bronx core has underachieved provided that they haven’t superior to the World Collection since 2009, New York has been constant within the standings.

New York has posted at the least 90 wins in every of the final 4 full MLB seasons, together with a pair of 100-win campaigns in 2018 and 2019.

“I can’t communicate to the hatred 15, 20 years in the past, however I’d say there’s not a lot of that now,” Yankees ace Gerrit Cole informed FOX Sports activities. “We wish to beat them simply as badly as we wish to beat Baltimore. And regardless that it’s extra distinctive within the sense of the historical past, I’m unsure how a lot we feature that baggage with us.”

In fact, Boston nonetheless holds the final chuckle when it comes to latest {hardware}. The Crimson Sox have received 4 championships beginning in 2004, whereas New York has their one title over that very same stretch in 2009.

Maybe Cortes’ feedback will spark what has been a fairly quiet chapter on this rivalry throughout this weekend set in The Bronx.