Yankees Dominance Despite Record-Setting Injury Stints is Greatest MLB Regular Season Accomplishment

It's no secret that the Yankees have been battered and bruised this year. Plenty of star players have spent most or all of their seasons sitting on the bench recovering from injury. On the whole, they've sent a whopping 30 players to the injured list, an MLB record.

But through all of their health woes, they not only survived, but thrived. They won 100 games for the second year in a row and they clinched the AL East division title for the first time since 2012 on Thursday.

Now that it's somewhat official, the Yankees' utter dominance in the face of a catastrophic amount of injuries makes their performance undoubtedly the greatest accomplishment of the MLB regular season.

The Yankees, who have had 30 players land on the IL, a new MLB record, had two players taken out of the game due to injury today: Edwin Encarnación (left oblique strain) and Gary Sánchez (left groin tightness). We also learned J.A. Happ has been dealing... https://t.co/IV89wUbbq1
— Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) September 12, 2019

Everything about their success is unbelievable. Their depth has been put to the ultimate test, so much so that the likes of Mike Ford and Tyler Wade have seen significant playing time.

And it's not just the amount of injuries, but the severity of them and the stars that they've sidelined that makes their winning ways so impressive. 2017 NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton, for example, has played in just 11 games this year. Rotation ace and two-time All-Star Luis Severino has made exactly one appearance, going four innings. Superstar outfielder Aaron Judge might not even play in 100 games.

Aaron Judge is out of the lineup in part because of his shoulder. Aaron Boone said he thinks Judge is fine, but Boone said he “thought it was a good idea” to rest Judge. Boone said Judge did not go for tests.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) September 19, 2019

The stars who were supposed to lead them were instead forced to nurse their wounds for the majority of the season. And while they did, their teammates just kept on winning.

The baseball gods tried to stop the Yankees and manager Aaron Boone at every turn. They decimated them with injuries that would have made most teams shudder. Yet in the face of adversity, they pieced together one of the best regular season performances in recent memory.

After all the injuries & illnesses, trades & FA pickups, I present to you all-

The 2019 New York Yankees Season pic.twitter.com/k1Iopa62Hh
— David (@David_Seymour1) September 20, 2019

The road to the World Series isn't going to get any easier, but this team is no stranger to a challenge. There's still plenty of work to be done in October. No matter what the outcome is, though, the Yankees deserve recognition for their superb play. What they did in the 2019 regular season was magical.