The New York Yankees have been hit significantly hard by the injury bug the last few seasons, which has been a direct influence on their postseason strategy. In 2020, sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton missed a majority of the season. That doesn’t even begin to incorporate the pitching and their issues, with James Paxton missing a majority of the campaign and Tommy Kahnle undergoing Tommy John surgery.
In light of all these realizations, the Yankees fired their previous director of health and performance, Matt Kraus. They hired Eric Cressey to replace him, but with COVID-19 taking hold, he wasn’t able to implement his new strategies, which was obvious based on the injuries the team faced.