Yankees: Good news and bad news from 6-1 loss to Twins

jhony brito, yankees
Apr 8, 2023; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Jhony Brito (76) throws a first inning pitch against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Tonight, the Yankees continued to show no offensive prowess, as they got dominated by the Twins in Minnesota. Former Yankee Sonny Gray was lights out through 7.0 shutout innings, and of course, Joey Gallo smacked a solo homer to add insult to injury. They lost 6-1, but they have lost the first game in almost every series this year. Jhony Brito struggled, and the offense decided to leave their bats in the Bronx. It was a complete snooze fest of a game, and now the Yanks have to adjust quickly and get back out there tomorrow. 

The bullpen picked up Brito, but the Yankees struggled:

Brito wasn’t able to get anything going, and he simply could not do much against the Twins. He only went 2.2 innings tonight, throwing 80 pitches in the process. He doesn’t have a true putout pitch at this moment, and his breaking ball being lackluster has him struggling to get swings and misses. He gave up three runs, walked three batters, and struck out a lone Carlos Correa. Brito could certainly benefit from getting sent down to work on the feel for his pitches, but the Yanks don’t exactly have an embarrassment of options to replace him with. 

The bullpen did their best to keep this game close, but when the offense doesn’t seem like they want to be there, there’s not much they can do. Weissert followed and gave up a run in 2.0 innings worth, but he also struck out a pair and gave the Yanks some relief on using the entire bullpen tonight. After him, Albert Abreu came in and tossed 1.1 innings but struggled a bit with his command. He walked two, gave up a pair of knocks, and was charged with an unearned run on an Oswaldo Cabrera error. 

After that, Wandy came in and looked much better than he did the last time out, as he induced numerous soft grounders to breeze through his appearance. With the pitch clock, Wandy has been a machine on the bump, aside from his last outing, and he absolutely flies through innings. Jimmy Cordero would handle the bottom of the 8th and would end up giving up a run on a Franchy Cordero error. The bullpen was the least of the issues today, as has been the case the majority of the season. 

The lineup couldn’t get anything rolling:

The Yankees’ offense didn’t do anything tonight, even with a few guys getting on base a couple of times. DJ smacked a pair of base knocks and worked a walk, and Gleyber and Judge accounted for another few hits between them on the evening. Judgey got a double and also worked a walk, and Gleyber poked one for a base hit whilst also working another walk to boost his impressive OBP numbers. Volpe also worked a walk on the night, and he continues to show off some excellent plate discipline. On top of that, he smacked a nice single the other way. It’s only a matter of time before he’s thriving. 

Aside from that, there was nothing to smile about when watching this 1 thru 9 bat. The bottom four hitters went a combined 1-12, with Trevi getting the lone knock in the 8th inning. Aaron Hicks even thought it was wise to bunt with two outs and nobody on base. That single plate appearance perfectly represents how the team played tonight, just uninspired and lacking any sort of aggression. Even with two guys on and no one out in the 9th, it didn’t matter. 

The Yankees are coming off their first series loss on the season, so hopefully, tomorrow, they come out with a fire lit inside. The Franchy Cordero experiment is over, so it’ll be interesting to see what they decide to change tomorrow. He went 0-3 with three strikeouts tonight, and none of his ABs looked competitive. The Yanks have to switch some things up, and I don’t know what that’ll consist of, but it needs to be done. 

The boys had their best chance to crack through in the top of the 8th, as they had bases loaded with two outs, and Anthony Rizzo was unable to come through. Other than that inning, they weren’t really threatening all game, as Sonny Gray had his way with the lineup. If only he could’ve shoved like he has the last few years when he was in Pinstripes. The same went for the 9th inning, as with bases loaded and nobody out, they only managed to get one to cross the plate on a fielder’s choice. 

Tomorrow is Nasty Nestor Day as Cortes takes the bump against Joe Ryan. The Twins have been pretty solid this season, as we both have a 13-10 record on the year. Losing 6-1 tonight better spark something inside these bats. This offense cannot continue to be this feeble as the games pass us by. The first month of the season is nearing the end, and the Yanks need to find some momentum sooner than later. It’s a long season, but every game counts.