For all their muscle and highlight-reel home runs, the New York Yankees might be facing an old, uncomfortable truth. They were baseball’s most fearsome offense this season by most advanced measures — their 119 wRC+ led the league, as did their jaw-dropping 274 home runs — but the way their season ended raised a question they’ve heard before. In a game that increasingly rewards balance, did the Yankees lean too hard on brute strength again?

It’s not that their bats went silent. The Yankees could punish mistakes like no other team in the majors. But when you zoom in on the numbers that tell a more nuanced story, the picture changes. They ranked 10th in batting average at .251, while the Toronto Blue Jays — the team that ultimately dethroned them in the Division Series — hit a league-best .2

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