The heart of the Yankees sits at the keystone

Yesterday, in the fifth, with Showalter lackeys on first and second and no outs, Didi Gregorius turned a potential single into a stunning double play - a running, leaping, acrobatic throw that saved Jordan Montgomery's peach-fuzzed, lily-white, 24-year-old butt. This came shortly after Starlin Castro's 13th HR put the Yankees ahead 5-3 - which followed Didi's 20th. The pair hit third and fourth in the Yankee lineup.

Of course, they batted there only because Gary Sanchez is on MLB double-secret probation, and Matt Holliday had blasted two HRs in two games, thereby mandating a day off under the Joe Girardi Optimum Chaos System of Personnel Management, as taught at Trump University.

Here's my best version of reality: Didi and Starlin remain not only the Empire's heart and soul, but its lungs and liver. Though plucky Ronald Torreyes played magnificently in recent weeks, replacing Castro and anybody else with a strained boner, it wasn't the same. Castro can hit fourth. Torreyes bats ninth (unless Austin Romine emerges from cryonic suspension.) With Castro hitting - and, fingers crossed here, Greg Bird carrying his weight at first - the Yankees look like the wet dream we swam through during the season's first half.

They are one of MLB's top slugging keystones. These are HR totals. (I did the math.):  
Houston: Altuve-Correa... 41
Cincinnati: Cozart-Gennett... 40
Baltimore: Beckham-Schoop...39
Minnesota: Polanco-Dozer... 38
Cleveland: Lindor-Kipness.. 37
Texas: Andrus-Ordor... 37
Yankees: Gregorius-Castro... 33.
Cubs: Russell-Baez... 31 
Seattle: Segura-Cano... 29
Washington: Turner-Murphy... 28
Angels: Phillips-Simmons... 28
Dodgers: Seager-Utley... 26

I know what you're thinking: If we cook the books and note how Didi missed April and Castro lost seven weeks with tweaked gonads - we could add 15 HRs and beat our chests. Truth is, other teams have gonads, too. But the days of Chicken Stanley and Steady Eddie Brinkman up the middle are over: To make MLB's post-season, you need mashers. And with Castro and Didi healthy, I'll take comparisons to the Redsock '17 Hall of Fame Superteam of Destiny (TM), even with Little Lord Pedroia twerking his dwarf butt in short right field. 

By Thursday, Gary Sanchez will hit third. As soon as he has suitably cooled off, Holliday will likely hit fourth. That leaves Didi and Castro fifth and sixth, with Judge seventh, Bird - gulp - eighth and Jacoby Ellsbury ninth. Yeah, ninth. (I'm figuring the newly reborn Headley bats second.) Jeez, folks. That's a decent lineup. A little pitching and bullpen and - holy crap! But make no mistake: It's all about the keystone. We can replace almost anybody, but not them.