Did Brian Cashman do enough at the trade deadline to get the Yankees past the Orioles?

Brian Cashman has used various phrases over his many years as general manager of the Yankees in describing his job.

Among them: “do better than what I have,” when it comes to the roster.

After this year’s trade deadline, which much to many fans’ irritation didn’t involve the acquisition of a big name, Cashman unquestionably improved upon what he had.

What is in question: is it enough to push the Yankees past the Orioles in the American League East, a race appearing destined for a photo finish?

“I liked what we had before we made the moves, and I know we’ve improved since these moves,” Cashman said Wednesday before the Yankees won their fifth straight game and completed a sweep of the NL East-leading Phillies.

Jazz Chisholm Jr., who joined the team Sunday in Boston, has been a revelation in what – and this still needs to be pointed out – is an incremental sample size, four games. Besides taking on third base, a position the 26-year-old had never previously played professionally before Monday night in Philadelphia, Chisholm is 7-for-19 overall, including homering twice in back-to-back games Monday and Tuesday.

Righthander Mark Leiter Jr., acquired from the Cubs to provide some needed swing-and-miss to the bullpen, has turned in two gritty performances. Leiter made an immediate impression on his new teammates Tuesday, arriving in the third inning of that night’s game and producing a scoreless inning in a 12-inning victory, throwing to a catcher, Austin Wells, whom the pitcher essentially met on the mound when he emerged from the bullpen in the 10th.

Enyel De Los Santos, another righty with swing-and-miss stuff, was acquired from the Padres and should be in uniform Friday when the Yankees start a nine-game homestand against the Blue Jays, Angels and Rangers.

Those clubs are all under .500, leading to what should be most encouraging to Yankees fans when it comes to the next two months: yes, contending teams like the Guardians, Royals and Astros made moves – as well as the Orioles, of course – but collectively the American League is, in the words of one rival AL executive, “So, so bad.”

And the Yankees see much of that in the coming weeks.

After the nine-game homestand, they visit the White Sox, who were 27-84 entering Thursday and riding a 17-game losing streak that had them making a spirited run at matching the 1962 Mets (40-120) for modern-day futility. Next is a trip to Detroit to play the sub-.500 Tigers before the AL Central-leading Guardians come to town. But that series is followed by six games against two of the worst the National League has to offer, the Rockies and Nationals.

Can the Yankees take advantage?

They’ve set themselves up to do so.

After falling to 10-23 in their previous 33 games with a heartbreaking loss last Friday in Boston, the five-game winning streak ensued.

The bullpen appears stabilized; the lineup, though far from perfect, is better than it was, and the rotation, also far from perfect, is showing signs of putting its collective downturn behind it.

There remain some red flags, including Gerrit Cole, scratched from Tuesday night’s start with what the team called “general body fatigue.” That makes sense given Cole is just seven starts into his season after starting it on the IL with right elbow inflammation. Starters generally take a month or so after the start of a given season to really feel as if they have their proverbial sea legs under them. Cole is expected to start one of this weekend’s games, but the fact the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner mentioned “recovery” issues between starts gave just about everyone pause because that was the wording used in spring training shortly before he went for testing on the elbow (which he and the Yankees stressed is fine).

There are also the questions surrounding closer Clay Holmes. The ground ball specialist has been the victim of bad luck at times – dinked and doinked to death in some of his blown saves – but eight blown saves are eight blown saves, not an insignificant total by Aug. 1. Though Holmes is well-liked and respected in the clubhouse and has the full-throated support of his manager, teammates and Cashman – who said he was not in the market for a closer – there are, nonetheless, concerns from more than a few in the organization regarding the closer’s trustworthiness down the stretch.

All of it will be fascinating to watch unfold over the next two months as Yankees fans’ biggest question of all gets answered: has the Yankees’ play of late signaled a turnaround, or was it just a tease?