When it came to facing the Yankees, Dallas Keuchel was Cliff Lee. He was so much like Lee that I started calling him Cliff Lee 2.0. He owned the Yankees with low-90s fastballs and breaking balls to the point where it was an automatic loss when he pitched against them.

In 2015, Keuchel faced the Yankees on June 25. His line: 9 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 12 K.

He faced them again that season on August 25. His line: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K.

When it was announced that he would start the wild-card game, it didn’t matter that it was at Yankee Stadium. The game could have been played anywhere and he would have won, and the annoying Astros fans wearing Keuchel beards that made the trip to the Bronx would have been in attendance wherever it was played. But it was played in the Bronx, and Keuchel once again didn’t allow a run. 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K.

Opening Day is a beautiful day. It’s the start of a new season after six months of no baseball and miserable weather. The excitement I get from Opening Day can’t be put into words. But after leaving the Stadium following the wild-card game loss the previous fall, I was more than ready for the start of the 2016 season. Until I realized who would be pitching: Cliff Lee 2.0.

Keuchel was on the mound again on Opening Day 2016 at the Stadium, going head-t0-head with Masahiro Tanaka in a rematch of the wild-card game, and just like they had in their last game of the 2015, the Yankees lost the first game of 2016. They did finally break through against Keuchel for two runs, but that would be all. 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K.

Nearly four months later, on July 25, the Yankees finally did beat Keuchel. But it was more that the Astros’ lost him the game than the Yankees beat him. 7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K.

Then, on May 11, 2017, in his only regular-season appearance against the Yankees of the regular season, Keuchel put together his usual performance for another win: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB 9 K.

The Yankees couldn’t beat him. Well, they could once, but that was a 2-1 win, in which he pitched into the eighth inning and allowed six baserunners in seven-plus. From the start of 2015 through the end of the 2017 regular season, the Yankees had scored four earned runs against Keuchel in 42 2/3 innings. His combined line in those six starts: 42.2 IP, 26 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 7 BB, 47 K, 0.84 ERA, 0.773 WHIP. And on top of those outrageous numbers, he had never allowed a home run to a Yankee in his career.

I knew entering the ALCS the Yankees were in trouble. They would essentially have to go 4-1 in Games 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 to advance to the World Series because they weren’t going to win Game 1 or Game 5, which Keuchel was going to start. I was right. In Game 1, Keuchel dominated the Yankees the way he always had (7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K) and the Astros went up 1-0 in the series. The next day, Justin Verlander followed Keuchel’s dominance and the Yankees were down 2-0.

The Yankees went on to win Game 3 and had the legendary comeback against the Astros’ bullpen in Game 4 to tie the series at 2. But it was Keuchel’s turn in the rotation again, and unless the Yankees could beat him, they were going to have to win Games 6 and 7 in Houston.

And that’s when everything changed.

In the first inning of Game 5, Keuchel got Brett Gardner to ground out on the second pitch of the at-bat, and then struck out Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez. As I sat/stood in right field, I knew how this game would play out. I was in the same exact spot two years ago when Keuchel shut down the Yankees (granted, the 2015 Yankees), and Tanaka, also starting Game 5, couldn’t hold down the Astros’ offense. From my apartment, I had watched this same game unfold five days earlier with the same starting pitchers. The only chance the Yankees would have was the familiar one with Keuchel on the mound: Tanaka needed to keep the game close to get to the bullpen because the Yankees were unlikely to score.

Thankfully, I was wrong.

Tanaka pitched around a leadoff double in the second, and Keuchel answered by quickly retiring Didi Gregorius and Aaron Hicks in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs and no one on, Starlin Castro jumped on a 1-0 pitch for a double to left-center, and Greg Bird, who had saved the Yankees in Game 3 of the ALDS, and who had one of the only three hits against Keuchel in the 2015 wild-card game stepped in. Keuchel got behind him 2-0, and on the next pitch, Bird rocked a line-drive single to right to score Castro. The Yankees led 1-0.

That was the at-bat that changed it all. That was the at-bat that started the process of turning Keuchel into any other pitcher against the Yankees.

Judge added an RBI double in the third to make it 2-0, and in the fifth, the Yankees delivered the knockout punch. With two on and two outs, Sanchez and Gregorius delivered back-to-back RBI singles to make it 4-0 as Keuchel gave up the ball and made the long walk back to the visitor’s dugout with the Stadium shaking. His line: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. The Yankees had done it. They had ruined Keuchel.

On May 2 of this season, the Yankees saw Keuchel for the first time since Game 5, and they beat him again. He pitched good enough to win on most days, but he was no longer Cliff Lee 2.0. 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. All three of those runs were a product of two Giancarlo Stanton home runs. A two-run home run in the first and a solo home run in the fourth. The first and second home runs Dallas Keuchel had ever given up to a Yankee in his career.

Last night, Keuchel was back at the Stadium for the first time since Game 5, and again, the Yankees beat him. He got his strikeouts, the way he always seems to do against the Yankees (the way every elite starting pitcher seems to do against the Yankees), but he put 10 runners on base in five innings, and once again, he couldn’t get Sanchez out in a big spot. 5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 7 K.

The 5-3 win over Keuchel and the Astros gave the Yankees the season series win, which could be a significant factor if they meet against in October for the third time in the last four years. After losing all four games in Houston in the ALCS, the Yankees proved they could win there, taking three out of four in Houston four weeks ago, and then two out of three in the Bronx this week. They also proved they could beat Dallas Keuchel with their third straight win over the former Cy Young winner. They proved that Dallas Keuchel is no Cliff Lee.

Now there’s only one thing left for the Yankees to do: Figure out how to beat Justin Verlander.

The Yankees are in Texas and faced Cole Hamels, and because of Hamels’ impending free agency, the fact he’s on a bad team and the Yankees need starting pitching, it only makes sense that everyone envisions Hamels as a Yankee by July 31.

Do I want the Yankees to trade for Hamels? I don’t know? Maybe? It really depends on the asking price. And if that asking price involves Clint Frazier, then no, I don’t want the Yankees to trade for Hamels. But if the asking price is a salary dump and/or lesser prospects, then sign me up.

Hamels will have a little less than $8 million left on his 2018 salary at the trade deadline, and with him having the power to block a trade to the Yankees, he might be looking for them to pick up his $24 million option for 2019 in order for him to allow a deal. (His option would have vested if he pitched 400 innings between 2017 and 2018, but he only pitched 148 in 2017, and certainly isn’t going to pitch 252 this season.) A demand like that would likely scare the Yankees away as that money would be better used on the upcoming free-agent class. If Hamels made a wild demand like that, then the Yankees should be out on him. But let’s say the Yankees want to trade for Hamels and he doesn’t want anything other than the chance to pitch for the World Series favorite …

This isn’t three years ago when the Rangers traded for 31-year-old Cole Hamels, and it’s not even two years ago when 32-year-old Cole Hamels was an All-Star and went 15-5 with a 3.32 ERA for the AL West champion Rangers. And even though it’s brought up in every mention of Hamels, this most definitely isn’t the NLCS and World Series MVP of a decade ago. This is a 34-year-old impending free agent, who has pitched to a 3.38 ERA with the best K/9 ratio (9.8) since his 2006 rookie season (9.9), and who went seven innings, allowing two earned runs (both solo home runs) to the Yankees on Wednesday night, handing them just their fourth loss in 25 games.

An oblique injury in 2017 kept Hamels out for two months, but aside from last season, the last time he didn’t pitch at least 200 innings in a season was in 2009 when he pitched 193.2. He has been as durable as any starting pitcher in the league over the last 10 years, and you won’t have to worry about injuries with him the way you would with Michael Fulmer or James Paxton. And you wouldn’t have to worry about wildly inconsistent starts from him the way you would with Danny Duffy or Chris Archer. And he wouldn’t cost nearly as much as any of those four, and he’s most likely better than all four as is.

The Yankees’ two biggest threats to winning the AL pennant are the Astros and Red Sox. This season Hamels has made the following starts against both:

March 29 vs. Houston: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 2 HR

April 13 at Houston: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ,ER 2 BB, 7 K, 2 HR

May 5 vs. Boston: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR

May 11 at Houston: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 0 HR

In four starts against the Astros and Red Sox, Hamels has pitched to the following line: 23.2 IP, 17 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 11 BB, 24 K, 5 HR, 2.66 ERA, 1.183 WHIP.

When you add in his start against the Yankees, Hamels has pitched to the following line against the three best teams in baseball: 30.2 IP, 21 H, 10 R, 9 ER, 13 BB, 31 K, 7 HR, 2.64 ERA, 1.109 WHIP.

Yes, that home run total is a little high, but again, this is against the three best teams in baseball. Those numbers are pretty freakin’ good.

The Yankees have given Domingo German a chance to take over Jordan Montgomery’s rotation spot, and he has turned in one great start and two A.J. Burnett-like starts. But if German can’t get on track, then turn to another in-house option, and if that doesn’t work, turn to another. Exhaust all in-house options over the next nine-plus weeks before deciding to go out and potentially trade a future star for a two-month rental or cost-controlled starter, who might not make a significant difference and might not make a difference at all.

The Yankees were good enough to come within one win of the World Series last season with the same team that now has Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar. That might be enough to get that win and four more after that, but if it’s not, getting a starting pitcher should be. Cole Hamels is the best option to be that starting pitcher.

The Yankees are 27-12 and no one wants to hear a Yankees fan complain, but I’m not really complaining. I’m trying to improve the Yankees as the best team in baseball because the second-best team in baseball plays in their division, and the difference between going right to the ALDS or having to play another one-game playoff might actually come down to one game. (I don’t think it will. I think the Yankees will run away with the AL East, but the Yankees front office has to think it will be a close race when making decisions.) I don’t want the Yankees to play in the wild-card game for the third time in four years. I can’t keep going through one-game playoffs. I can’t.

Are the Yankees currently putting out the best possible lineup every day? The answer to that is an easy no, and it’s not only because Greg Bird isn’t playing first base yet. It’s because Aaron Hicks continues to bat sixth, serving as Gary Sanchez’s protection, and bat fifth when Sanchez has the day off. I don’t necessarily think Sanchez needs protection as the best pure hitter on the team, but even so, Hicks has no business batting sixth, let alone fifth. In reality, Hicks has no business being a starter on this team.

Hicks is hitting .213/.330/.382 through Sunday with three home runs and 13 RBIs. He hit his third home run of the season on Saturday against the A’s, but prior to that, he hadn’t hit a home run since April 13 at Detroit, when he hit both of his home runs this season in that one game. The RBI that came on that home run against A’s was his first RBI since April 28. The home run was his eighth extra-base hit of the season, and he has one multi-hit game since April 20.

Hicks hasn’t had a good season. But this isn’t a player where you can say “It’s early!” or “He’ll heat up!” or “Give him time and he will play to the back of his baseball card!” Hicks is playing to the back of his baseball card. He’s a career .230/.316/.373 hitter in 1,759 plate appearances. And it’s not like he’s a spring chicken. He’s 28, which is old in baseball years, and at some point the Yankees are going to have to admit this is who he is as a player. The only reason they haven’t admitted it yet is because of two things: 1. Hicks was a first-round pick and first-round picks seemingly get infinite chances to figure it out even if he was selected in the first round based on how he performed when he was in high school playing with metal bats, and 2. April 2, 2017 to June 25, 2017.

April 2, 2017 through June 25, 2017 was the worst thing that could have happened to the Yankees from a judging Hicks standpoint. In 242 plate appearances during that time, Hicks hit .290/.398/.515 with 10 home runs and 37 RBIs, playing at an All-Star level. Then Hicks went on the disabled list, and when he returned on Aug. 10 through the end of the season, he hit .218/.319/.396 in 119 plate appearances, essentially his career numbers.

Those 242 plate appearances gave Hicks the starting center field job in the playoffs, where he hit .196/.260/.304 in 50 plate appearances. (I didn’t have a problem with him starting in center field in the playoffs because the alternative was Jacoby Ellsbury). Those 242 plate appearances gave Hicks the starting center field job this season. (Again, I didn’t have a problem with him starting in center field in the playoffs because the alternative would have been Jacoby Ellsbury if weren’t hurt.) Those 242 plate appearances have led to Hicks batting sixth (16 times), fifth (5), first, (3) and third (1) this season, never hitting lower than sixth despite his actual production.

Prior to those 242 plate appearances, Hicks had 1,289 career plate appearance. In those 1,289 plate appearances, he hit .223/.299/.346. Since the end of those 242 plate appearances, Hicks has had another 282 plate appearances (including playoffs) and has hit .213/.312/.371. So for 1,571 of plate appearances in the majors, Hicks has been a first-round bust, but for a 242-plate appearance stretch, he played like an All-Star. In Maury fashion, the results are in, and Hicks IS NOT the player we watched during those 242 plate appearances.

Maybe the Yankees are OK with that. Maybe Brian Cashman is fine with a starting center fielder who has a great arm and has improved his defense and routes to balls and doesn’t care that over 162 games, he averages a .230/.316/.373 line with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs. In a lineup that has Sanchez, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Didi Gregorius and Bird coming back, maybe Cashman feels he doesn’t need another offensive presence in center field and can due with Hicks being an average player. The problem is there is an offensive presence waiting in Triple-A.

Clint Frazier, a former first-round pick himself, is hitting .333/.404/.643 with seven extra-base hits in 47 plate appearances in Triple-A. He has started to play games in center field to go along with his usual spot in left field, and while it always helps to have players that can play multiple positions, he’s doing so now for two potential reasons: 1. A lineup change is coming for the Yankees, and 2. The Yankees are increasing his value. No. 1 is unlikely, even though I wish it were the case. No. 2 is most likely the reason.

Gardner can play left and center, and if Yankee Stadium didn’t have such a big left field, he would likely always play center. Judge can play right and center. Stanton can play right and left, and Hicks can play anywhere. The Yankees wouldn’t need Frazier to play center, and if he were called up and used, I find it hard to believe they would ever actually use him in center unless there was an emergency. Frazier is playing center field in Triple-A to showcase his defensive range for the rest of the league for when the Yankees make a move this summer on a starting pitcher.

I wouldn’t trade Frazier. I mean I would for a true front-end starter that could pair with Luis Severino that would give the Yankees an actual 1-2 postseason punch and increase their chances at winning the division and getting through the ALDS to a seven-game series. But I wouldn’t trade him for an impending free agent whose no more trustworthy than CC Sabathia or Masahiro Tanaka. I wouldn’t want to trade him in a deal for a pitcher, who will need a personal catcher even if that personal catcher isn’t any good. I’m sure the Yankees don’t plan on trading him for anything other than the pitcher that I also want, but if injuries were to arise, and the market and demand were to change, who knows what might happen.

I also wouldn’t want the Yankees to trade Frazier and then be forced to watch his career develop from a far, while Hicks continues to be given countless chances to prove himself as a Major Leaguer. In a worst-case scenario, Frazier’s offense only ever becomes Hicks’: a .230/.316/.373 hitter. But that’s the absolute worst-case scenario and highly unlikely given what Frazier has done in the minors and what he did in his short stint with the Yankees last season.

Frazier deserves a chance to play in the majors for the Yankees right now. Hicks has had enough chances. He’s had five-plus seasons, 484 games and 1,759 plate appearances worth of chances to prove himself in the majors, and outside of a three-month stretch that represents 13.8 percent of his career playing time, he hasn’t proved himself.

After the way the Yankees came back against the Indians and then took the Astros to Game 7 and then got rid of Chase Headley and traded for reigning MVP Giancarlo Stanton, this is what I thought the 2018 Yankees season would be like. When I left Rogers Centre after the second game of the season, that’s exactly what the 2018 season felt like. But then, after falling apart in Games 3 and 4 and then losing three of four at home to the should-have-started-rebuilding-last-year Orioles and then getting embarrassed in two out of three in Boston and then getting embarrassed at home by the Marlins, I thought this season might end up more like the 2013-2016 seasons and not the way the 2017 season ended.

But since the lowest point of the season on April 17, the Yankees have won 13 of 15, including a nine-game winning streak. They have gone 13-2 in a 21-game stretch I said would decide if I had a baseball season to watch this summer. I have a baseball season to watch thanks to this run.

Exactly two weeks ago, the Yankees lost to the Blue Jays, fell to 9-9 and trailed the Red Sox by 7 1/2 games. Now they are 21-10 and trail the Red Sox by 1 game. I haven’t seen a division lead dissolve that fast since the Yankees blew a seven-game lead after the 2015 trade deadline.

The scariest part about the Yankees is that they aren’t even as good as they can or will be. Yes, a team with a .677 winning percentage that just won three in a row on the road against the defending champions can be better than they have been. Here’s how that’s possible.

1. Giancarlo Stanton hasn’t been anywhere close to his 2017 NL MVP self. Aside from Opening Day in Toronto and Wednesday night in Houston, Stanton has been bad. Like painfully bad. Four of his seven home runs have come in those two games and he’s batting .234/.314/.468 on the season. Stanton has been hard on himself, as he should be given his salary, but he did say after he single-handedly beat Dallas Keuchel that he needs to put together weeks of production, not just one night. Stanton is known as a slow starter, and if you think back to 2009 when Mark Teixeira, another slow starter, was batting .194/.315/.287 with three home runs and 11 RBIs through 31 games before going on a tear and finishing second in the AL MVP voting then there is promise that Stanton will get hot, and maybe Wednesday was the start of it. To think, this team is 21-10 without the reigning NL MVP playing anywhere near his abilities …

2. Gary Sanchez was basically an automatic out for the first two weeks of the season, or the equivalent of about one-third of the games the Yankees have played so far. Sanchez started the year 2-for-36 before becoming his usual self on April 11 in Boston. Since that night, Sanchez is batting .278 with a 1.040 OPS, seven home runs and 24 RBIs in 19 games. To think, this team is 21-10 despite the best catcher in baseball being non-existent for one-third of the season …

3. We’re getting very close to having a real conversation about Brett Gardner not batting leadoff anymore. I’m ready to have that conversation now, but any decision like that, especially with the Yankees, takes a long, long time to take place and for change to come. We’re talking about a team that played Stephen Drew at second base for an entire season despite not hitting his weight, and then finally deciding to bench him in a one-game playoff. Gardner is batting .194/.315/.250, hasn’t had an extra-base hit since April 13 and his lone home run came on Opening Day. He might be the longest-tenured Yankee and a veteran leader and a Gold Glove left fielder, but at some point you can’t give him the most possible amount of at-bats on this team. If Gardner were hitting .204, but still had a high on-base percentage then OK, but even that has has slowly faded to .315. Gardner seems to be safe for now since the team is winning, but if things get back to the way they were for the first half of April, the topic of him batting leadoff will grow in popularity. To think, this team is 21-10 with their leadoff hitter having a lower on-base percentage than Austin Romine …

4. If Neil Walker’s first name weren’t Neil, I would be much harder on him. How much harder? Well, he would basically be getting the Chase Headley treatment. But because Walker has the best first name in baseball, I take it easy on him. The rest of the Yankees fans seem to be picking up my slack and destroying him left and right, and deservedly so. Walker is batting .171/.233/.195 this season. Those are numbers of a backup catcher, who is only in the majors because the two catchers ahead of him on the minor-league depth chart got hurt at the same time as the actual backup catcher in the majors. Those aren’t numbers of a career .270/.339/.431 hitter making $4 million this season. At that price, Walker was supposed to be the steal of the offseason. Instead, it’s making a lot more sense as to why he was still available so late in the offseason. Roster spots are going to be hard to come by soon with Greg Bird starting to take at-bats, Miguel Andujar raking, Tyler Austin playing well and Brandon Drury on his way back. If Walker doesn’t start hitting soon, he will be this year’s Chris Carter. To think, this team is 21-10 with 90 plate appearances going to a player who isn’t hitting or slugging his weight (210) …

5. Sonny Gray getting a personal catcher is a ridiculous story for another day, but Gray being bad is the story right now. The Yankees’ only two losses in the last 15 games were both Gray starts as he has pitched to a 6.67 ERA and 1.926 WHIP this season. The Yankees are 2-4 in his starts and 19-6 in their other games. It was nice to see Gray pitch well in Houston this week (6 IP, 2 ER), and maybe that start was what he needed to become the pitcher he was for the Yankees last season (3.72 ERA) or the pitcher he was for A’s from 2013 until he became a Yankee (3.42 ERA). To think, this team is 21-10 with their No. 3 starter not lasting more than 4 2/3 innings in four of six starts …

6. Last season, Greg Bird was the team’s No. 3 hitter on Opening Day. Then he missed nearly the entire regular season before returning as a force in the postseason. This season, it would have been Bird, not Didi Gregorius as the left-handed hitter between the Big Three in the heart of the order, except he hasn’t even played yet. Aaron Judge has called Bird the team’s best hitter, which means the Yankees have gotten off to this start without possibly the team’s best hitter. To think, this team is 21-10 with their everyday first baseman having played zero games …

6. For as good as the bullpen has been of late, it was that bad early on. Well, it was that bad and Aaron Boone managed it in a way that made it worse. (How was Jonathan Holder allowed to ruin two of the team’s first eight games?) Before this run, when the team was 9-9, five of those losses were charged to the bullpen. What was the supposed to be the team’s strength, even more than their offense and the best in baseball, was bad and no one was excused. Holder was flat-out awful; Tommy Kahnle was bad before getting hurt; Chasen Shreve let every inherited runner score; Adam Warren looked the way he did on the Cubs; Chad Green was suddenly no longer unhittable; David Robertson couldn’t complete his famous escape acts; Aroldis Chapman couldn’t find the strike zone at times. Thankfully, the bullpen has become what was expected of it and now when the Yankees have a lead and the bullpen door opens, the game is over. To think, this team is 21-10 even though the bullpen couldn’t be trusted for three weeks …

7. The injury bug hasn’t been as bad as it has been for the Dodgers, but the Yankees have already used 17 position players and 17 pitchers this season. The injuries have forced Shane Robinson and Jace Peterson to not only be Yankees, but to start games for the Yankees, and for the team to trade for A.J. Cole off the Nationals’ scrap heap. Aaron Hicks and CC Sabathia have both been on the disabled list, Jordan Montgomery, Adam Warren, Tommy Kahnle, Luis Cessa, Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney are on it now and Greg Bird, Clint Frazier and Jacoby Ellsbury (who cares?) haven’t played this season because of injury. To think, this team is 21-10 with so many injuries in just one month …

The 2018 Yankees have finally become the team I envisioned they could be in the offseason and the team I watched them be in Toronto in the first two games of the season. This is going to be one fun summer.