The New York Yankees’ offense has been anemic during their most recent four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Bombers lost the last two games of the series, scoring a combined three runs but allowing just seven, showcasing more quality pitching performances.
After Gerrit Cole lasted 6.0 innings, giving up just one run and striking out 10 batters on Saturday, Luis Severino did his best over 6.1 innings, giving up two hits, four earned runs, and eight strikeouts. Severino did his part to give the Yanks a chance at victory despite giving up two homers on a few poorly located pitches.
However, the Yankees simply can’t continue to rely on their starters to carry them to victory — they need more offensive production.
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Good news and bad news as the Yankees drop the series finale against Tampa:
In the series finale loss to Tampa, the Yankees tallied nine hits but struck out nine times and failed to get on base via a walk. The Bombers didn’t show much patience at the plate, but several hitters performed well. Gleyber Torres recorded three hits and a solo homer in the 2nd inning to left field. Torres has elevated his average to .243 with a 28.2% on base rate. He’s slowly getting his season together and performing more efficiently, but he still has a long way to go if he wants to catch up after a tough start to the 2022 season.
Aaron Judge also posted two hits and an RBI, increasing his average to .309 with a 37.6% on base rate. However, fellow slugger Joey Gallo continues to struggle, failing to get on base over four at-bats. Kyle Higashioka has also been a detriment on offense, posting an even worse batting average than Gallo at .164 and a 22.2% on base rate. The Yankees simply can’t continue to utilize Higgy on offense if he’s going to be an automatic out for the most part.
As for the pitching, young relief arm Ron Marinaccio labored once again, allowing two walks in 0.2 innings, allowing two runners to score, which were attributed to Severino’s stat line.
Overall, the Yankees’ starting rotation has been stellar thus far, but the bullpen has gone through a few issues, and the offense is wildly inconsistent. Without Giancarlo Stanton in the clean-up spot, manager Aaron Boone is finding it difficult to supplement his production. When the bottom of the order is performing at an abysmal rate, the top of the order is expected to generate most of the run-production, which is an unsustainable strategy.