The New York Yankees dropped the final game of a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday. After winning the first two games but struggling to score runs, the Bombers were blanked against a dismal Detroit team.
While manager Aaron Boone will be happy he walked away with the series win, his offense simply isn’t producing.
The Yankees currently rank 25th in overall runs with just 39. They sit at 20th in batting average at .220 and 15th with 11 homers. Given general manager Brian Cashman is heavily invested in home run hitters, it is disappointing to see the Yankees sitting at average among MLB teams in the category. Hopefully, they will start slugging at a more productive rate, but for now, they have relied heavily on their pitching to get the job done.
Good news:
Jordan Montgomery got the start for the Yankees on Thursday, and he arguably had his best game of the season. Montgomery lasted 6.0 innings, giving up just three hits and one run, striking out five batters. He tossed 86 pitches with 57 strikes, showcasing solid efficiency and pitch count, slowly easing his way into the season. Montgomery currently holds a 2.51 ERA. After his first start against the Boston Red Sox, he bounced back nicely to allow just one run over 11 innings.
“I thought he got into a good rhythm as he went,” Boone said. “I loved his pace. He worked quickly and his stuff got better as the game went along.”
Offensively, the Yankees only recorded four strikeouts but weren’t able to tally a run. Aaron Judge had a quality day, recording a hit and walk, but the rest of the batting order was rather quiet, missing out on a few opportunities to drive runners in.
Bad news:
The Yankees’ offense has been abysmal to start the year, especially slugger Joey Gallo, who is hitting .135 on the season and recorded an infield single for his lone hit of the day against Detroit. Hovering around a 40% strikeout rate is not going to do the Yankees any good, and they may consider making a change if he continues to struggle. Fellow home run hitter Giancarlo Stanton has also labored recently, recording just one hitting in his last three games and striking out seven times.
“When you’re struggling to score runs or you’re not hitting the ball in the seats, you got to take advantage of the opportunities you get and we were unable to do that,” Boone said.
The Bombers had a few opportunities to drive in base-runners, but Marwin Gonzalez flied out to right field, and Jose Trevino flied out to center with two men on base in the 5th inning. Fast forward to the 8th inning, and the Yankees had Josh Donaldson and Gleyber Torres on base before Aaron Hicks popped out to shortstop. Judge walked and loaded the bases, but Anthony Rizzo grounded into a fielder’s choice, and Stanton grounded out to first to end the inning. With your premiums hitters up to bat and the bases loaded, you’d expect them to create a bit more damage.