The New York Yankees are coming off of five straight losses, in a short season that doesn’t favor series losses. Embarrassingly, the Yankees have not only lost two series but have been swept by the Tampa Bay Rays and the Atlanta Braves. Just two weeks ago the Yankees were riding high with comfortable AL East lead. Now they are in a situation where they might not even reach the postseason if the present play continues. The Yankees that were number one in all of baseball are now number nine.
Luckily, the Yankees may have a reprieve from the losses as they will face the much lesser team of the New York Mets. The Yankees will have five games in just three days this weekend. After a day off on Thursday, Friday will see a day-night doubleheader, a single day game on Saturday, and another doubleheader on Sunday. However, that has to be said with caution as the Yankees have only garnered a total of two runs in the Braves sweep and then 10 runs in the three-game Rays series. The Yankees offense appears to have taken a vacation. For some reason, the Yankee players seem to lack energy and purpose.
There is no question that the New York Yankees have had more than their share of injuries. In both cases, the two teams that swept them were much healthier at the time. The Yankees were minus slugger Aaron Judge, hitting machine, DJ LeMahieu, shortstop Gleyber Torres, and 2017 MVP Giancarlo Stanton, that started out the season with his best play since 2017. The great Yankee depth on the bench, which usually has risen to the occasion, fell flat.
On the pitching side, second in the rotation James Paxton has been out with forearm flexor problems. Tommy Kahnle and Luis Severino are out for the season. Domingo German, the Yankees best pitcher last season, is still serving out his suspension. David Hale has been traded away. Zack Britton has a hamstring injury, and the usually dependable Adam Ottavino has been pitching poorly. Number four starter J.A. Happ has been totally ineffective this season. Add to that Masahiro Tanaka was taken out of last night’s game, being tired after just 66 pitches. Even the Yankee ace, Gerrit Cole was pulled from game one of the doubleheader after giving up five earned runs.
Although under normal circumstances the Yankees shouldn’t have much trouble, at least taking the five-game series from the Mets, with the lack of hitting, and lack of pitchers for the five games, the Yankees may still lose this series as well. With Cole and Tanaka pitching yesterday, we won’t see them in the series. That leaves Jordan Mongomery to start tomorrow’s first game. Who is going to pitch in the next four games is a big question for the Yankees. Fans will likely see J.A. Happ, who is not a happy camper at the moment, at some point over the weekend. After that, it will be bullpen games and call ups.
What makes matters worse is that following the Mets series, the New York Yankees have to again face the Tampa Bay Rays at the Stadium. Going into that series the Yankees will face a team that they have only won one game from in the last seven tries. If the Yankees blow the Mets series and lose to the Rays, their chances for an East Division win are all but dashed. The next seven days will be telling.
In a bit of tantalizing hope, slugger Aaron Judge was activated yesterday to play in game two of the doubleheader, only to be pulled in the sixth inning, possibly re-injuring his calf. More tests will be done today, and he will be reevaluated. The loss of Aaron Judge again, will be devastating for the Yankees. He entered yesterday’s game hitting .290 with nine home runs over the last fifteen games. Yankees fans will eagerly be waiting for good news today.
On the horizon is some good news going forward. Probably on Sunday, the Yankee fans will see DJ LeMahieu at the plate. LeMahieu upon his entry onto the IL, with a bruised thumb, was hitting .411 with two home runs. Another somewhat surprising delight for the Yankees is that Luke Voit is slowly emerging as the Yankees’ possible MVP of the season. He has improved his batting average to .300 with a team-leading eleven home runs.
Regarding the Yankee offense, it just isn’t there, right now. Gleyber Torres has been playing poorly, Miguel Andujar has a batting average of just .160. All in all, the Yankees have six players that are batting under .200. That type of production doesn’t spell success. Even Clint Frazier that started out like a bang, has fallen flat as well. Always a key to Yankee’s success is Gary Sachez. Sanchez is batting just .139 with a passed ball in every four games. Sanchez has just been horrible in the last three seasons. Yet the Yankees still for some reason, think he is the best thing since fried rice.
Something that is way down the list of concerns, is their new pitching ace, Gerrit Cole. Although Cole is 4-1 and has found a way to keep the Yankees in games. There are some troubling issues. One is that he gives up home runs, lots of them. Ten of the sixteen he has given up has been via the home run. In yesterday’s loss, he gave up 3, 2 in one inning. Another concern, at least for this writer, is that Cole doesn’t seem happy with himself when pitching. He struggles more than he should and seems to lack the demeanor, dominance, and confidence he showed pitching for the Astros last season.
As I see it the Yankees right now, they have no chance of a World Championship number 28, hitting and pitching as they are presently. Poor pitching loses postseason games when facing the best of the best. The good news is that the New York Yankees can turn it around, but they must do it quickly, there are only four weeks left in the season. General Manager Brian Cashman is also going to have to help, at least with a number 2 starter and some bullpen help, before next Monday’s 4 pm trading deadline. That, and the hope of returning players boosting the offense, the complexion of the Yankees could turn into positivity.