After being swept in a home-and-home series against the New York Mets, the New York Yankees are reeling and have lost 20 of their last 32 games.
The New York Yankees are an angry team right now.
After being swept in a home-and-home series against the New York Mets, the Yankees are reeling and have
gone 6-12 so far this month.
Nonetheless, the Yankees have managed to stay in second place in the American League East behind the also struggling Baltimore Orioles, who have lost
8 of 11 and 10 of 15.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone is not happy with his team’s performance and is gasping for answers to get the season back on track.
“Nobody has higher expectations than us in that frickin' room,” Boone
said in his postgame news conference following a 12-3 loss to the Mets late July 24. “We’re [ticked] off. We got to play better. This has gone on long enough. It’s very frustrating to go through, but I also know we’re competing our [expletive] off, and we just got to make sure we continue to walk in with the right level of edge and willingness to compete because no one’s going to pull us out of this but us.”
The Yankees are 60-44 but are 1-8-2 in their last 11 series after opening 17-3-2 to open the season. The pitchers have allowed 34 homers over their last 18 games in July. The Yankees allowed five home runs to the Mets in the series finale, the first time that’s happened since
June 10, 2022.
The Mets won all four games against the Yankees this year, outscoring them
36-14.
The Yankees are now looking to regroup and get out of this slide. They do have depth and talent, so that is why the coaches and front office are struggling to pinpoint the reasons for the recent struggles.
The Yankees entered the season as the favorite to win the American League East, just ahead of the Orioles, who won 101 games last season and advanced to the AL Divisional Series. Despite finishing fourth place and missing the playoffs last season, expectations are still high for the Yankees to bounce back from this recent adversity.
The team acquired Juan Soto from the Padres this offseason, and that decision has paid dividends. Soto started for the American League in this year’s All-Star game and is
batting .308 with 25 homers and 71 RBIs over 364 at-bats. Soto is batting second ahead of fellow MVP candidate Aaron Judge. That duo gives the Yankees one of the best one-two punches in all of MLB.
Judge is having a historic season and was also a starter in this year’s All-Star game. Judge leads the league with 35 home runs. Judge is also
batting .309 with 88 RBIs over 359 at-bats.
“We just have to play better,” Judge said in a
postgame interview following the latest loss to the Mets on July 24. “That’s what it comes down to. Can’t make excuses, can’t point fingers. It just comes down to what we’re doing on the field. It’s not great right now. But like we said all year, we got a lot of great ballplayers in here, and we just got to step up and do our job, and we’ll be where we want to be.”
However, Soto and Judge are essentially the only two batters who have been productive lately. Since June 15, the duo has a
1.061 On-base Plus Slugging percentage (OPS), while the rest of the lineup has a combined .625 OPS, second worst in the league behind the last-place Chicago White Sox.
The Yankees also have the pitching to help carry the team this season if the bats slow down. The team has a solid rotation that consists of left-hander Carlos Rodón, Nestor Cortes, and Gerrit Cole, who was last year’s Cy Young Award winner and is a six-time All-Star.
However, Cole, like the rest of the rotation, has been inconsistent since coming off the injured list on June 19.
In the series finale against the Mets, Cole allowed six runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings, raising his ERA to 5.40. He has given up seven home runs with an 11.17 ERA in two starts against the Mets and two homers.
Boone fully understands the expectations that come with managing or playing for the Yankees. The fans expect the team to compete for a World Series title each year. The Yankees are the most storied franchise in MLB and Boone knows it is an honor to wear the uniform every day and that’s why the club’s struggles are especially bothersome.
“It’s no fun going through it. I know how hard this frickin' game is,” Boone
said at the press conference after the latest Mets loss. “You take your lumps, and it’s it sucks, especially when you know what you’re capable of and you’re taking your lumps for an extended period. It can be rough, but no one’s going to feel sorry for you, that’s for sure, especially when you wear this uniform.”
“So it’s on us to just make sure we’re nose down, getting after it, walking through those doors every day with an edge and an expectation that today’s the day we can get it rolling,” Boone said.
