As the pre-postseason begins, the Yankees are uniquely poised to shrug off injuries

Yesterday, somebody in black pajamas, who looked like Sir Didi Gregorius, was pulled from the Yankee game after being drilled by Clayton Kershaw. In another year, another multiverse, such an event would signal a lengthy essay here on the death of God in American literature. The mere notion of losing Sir Didi - everyone's favorite Yankee - through the September-October vortex would have sent the Death Star plummeting from orbit. But last night, with alternative strangers in their hideous black pajamas, you hardly noticed him missing.

Listen closely, there are hidden messages being conveyed from the new reality of 2019:

1. The baseballs are juiced, and this year's HR totals will either be single-year outliers, or the game will precariously change into a slugging derby. 

2. Under the expanded pressures of money, second-guessing media and digital technology, human umpires are increasingly losing control of the game. 

3. Football-level injury rates have come to baseball, and a team is only as strong as its depth allows. 

It's No. 3 that matters to the Yankees, who this year have fielded the deepest roster in baseball - by light years. Even if Didi were to suddenly disappear - a horrible thought, for sure - the Yanks would merely shuffle Gleyber Torres to SS and solve the 1B opening with Mike Ford, or the soon-to-return Luke Voit (and then Edwin Encarnacion.) For injuries to crush this team, they would have to arrive in one concentrated juju wave, attacking one strategic position; even then, with Thairo Estrada and Tyler Wade, the Yanks could heal quickly and surprise opponents.

I say this because yesterday, Cleveland lost Jose Ramirez for the rest of the season with a busted fore paw. They have no Gio Urshela to replace him. Last week, Boston said goodbye to Chris Sale. Even though he had been erratic, there was always the chance Sale would suddenly become lights out in October. Now, that's gone. We've reached the chapter in the season when a tweaked gonad is final. Roll an ankle? Might as well roll a joint; you're done, pal. 

But but BUT... nobody on the Yankees is irreplaceable. Sure, it would hurt like hell to lose Aaron Judge. But Mike Tauchman remains solid, Giancarlo Stanton might return, and who knows what Clint Frazier might do if given a second chance? Gary Sanchez? Yeah, he's a rock, but Austin Romine rises to every occasion, and Kyle Higashioka remains a pleasant surprise. Everywhere you look, the Yankees have back-ups, the kind that could bat third or fourth on many teams. Nobody else in baseball is so blessed. 

Listen: More injuries will come. They never stop, never rest. Supposedly, Didi has a minor bruise and will return. (If we've learned anything over the years, it's to never believe a word the Yankees say about injuries.) We have one incredible advantage over the rest of baseball: We are deeper than Marianne Williamson. Maybe, just maybe, this is how we build championships.