New York Yankees Staggering Into All-Star Break

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge (R) celebrates with teammate Alex Verdugo after hitting a two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres in San Diego on May 25, 2024. (Gregory Bull/AP Photo)

Not much seems to be going in the right direction for the New York Yankees these days.

The Bronx Bombers have lost 17 of their last 23 games after dropping the series opener to division rival Tampa Bay, 5–3, on Tuesday.

Luckily for the Yankees, they opened the season by going a major league-best 50-22. So, despite the recent skid, New York trails the first-place Orioles by just three games in the AL East.

However, the surging Red Sox are now just 3.5 games behind New York. Boston won two of three games against the Yankees over the weekend.

New York manager Aaron Boone is taking responsibility for the skid. He is starting to feel the pressure from the local media that has questioned some of his recent decisions

“It starts with me,” Boone said after Tuesday’s loss to the Rays. “I filter into the coaches, and it’s about us trying to get these guys prepared the best we can, setting a tone with how we present ourselves. ... It’s on us as coaches to put our players in the best position possible to go out there and be successful.

“We got to continue to try and do that to the best of our ability and trust that the ball is going to start to bounce our way a little bit and we can get it rolling here.”

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman traveled to Florida this week for the team’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures.

Cashman wanted a front-row seat to determine what the team was reeling so badly just one week before the All-Star break.

“Because of how we’ve been playing I’ve decided to join us,” Cashman said before Tuesday’s game. “It’s been a struggle, obviously. Thankfully we got out of the gates really strong, so hopefully that cushion will allow us to work through this hopefully sooner than later on because it’s gone on long enough.”

The Yankees 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 team has gone 5-16 record since June 15—the worst mark in the majors.

Cashman is in Florida to try to boost his players’ morale and plan ways to improve the team and get them out of their doldrums. The Yankees could make a move to bolster the starting rotation or bullpen before the trade deadline at the end of the month. Cashman also has to prepare for the MLB draft next week.

“We’re going to be open-minded to a lot of different things,” Cashman said. “I’m not going to point out anything specific, but we definitely have areas to improve upon and we’ll do our best. We just got to figure our way through this ourselves and hopefully, we can add some outside pieces at some point.”

The Yankees entered the season as the favorite to win the deep and competitive American League East, just ahead of the Orioles, who won 101 games last season and advanced to the AL Divisional Series. Despite finishing in 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 is starting in this year’s All-Star game and is batting .294 with 221 homers and 63 RBIs over 316 at-bats.

Soto is batting second ahead of fellow MVP candidate Aaron Judge. That duo gives the Yankees one of the best 1–2 punches in all of MLB.

Judge is having a historic season and is also a starter in this year’s All-Star game. Judge leads the league with 32 home runs, surpassing Babe Ruth for the most home runs by a Yankee in a season before July 1. Judge is also batting .308 with 83 RBIs.

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 has been inconsistent since coming off the injured list on June 19. He has a 6.75 ERA over 17.3 innings over four appearances since returning to the team.

“We know we’re not playing well, but that’s the tough part of the game,” Cole said after taking the loss against the cross-town rival Mets on June 25. “You have to approach every game like it’s a fresh day and not get too up or down. It’s challenging, but that’s what you have to do. It’s one of the hardest things to do in sports.”

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 feels terrible,” Boone said on July 7. “You’ve got to be a little sick to be in this game, though. You’ve got to be able to weather it. You [would] like your stretch where it’s a bump in the road to not be this kind of stretch. You’d like to weather it a little bit better, which we need to do.”