Yankees’ Woes Continue As Deadline Draws Closer
The midseason woes continue for the New York Yankees with no end in sight. After losing 3-0 to the Boston Red Sox on Sunday, the Yankees have lost 16 of their last 22 games. It’s the worst record in baseball over that span.
Everything seems to have fallen apart in the Bronx. On June 14, they became the first team in 2024 to record their 50th win, and they moved to 50-22. Since then, almost everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong. The rotation has regressed, the bats have fallen flat, and the bullpen is
gassed. Not only have they lost most of their games, many of those losses were very winnable games. It’s not unusual for the Yankees to have these woes either. This is now the third straight season in which they’ve had a 5-15 stretch.
What has gone wrong with the Bombers, and what can be done to fix it before it’s too late?
Yankees’ Woes Continue with Another Series Loss
The Judge and Soto Show
Apart from Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, who have been two of the league’s best hitters, the Yankees lineup has been abominable. Other than rookie Ben Rice, who has only played in 18 MLB games, almost every hitter in the lineup is now in a funk. New acquisition Alex Verdugo has fallen silent since his grand opening month, Anthony Volpe has fallen back to earth after going on a 21-game hitting streak, and DJ LeMahieu has statistically been one of the worst hitters in baseball since returning from injury.
The sole positives in the lineup have been Judge and Soto, who have both stayed great despite the Yankees’ lackluster performances. If New York didn’t have either of these two, the team would be much further down in the standings. But unfortunately, another historic season from Judge may not be enough to carry the Yanks to October baseball.
Faltering Rotation
Back in May, there was debate over whether the Yankees had the best rotation in baseball, and there was a real argument there. But now, that debate is long over. Even after Clarke Schmidt went down with an injury, the rotation stayed just as dominant as it had been. And when Gerrit Cole returned on June 19, it looked like things could only go up from there.
But Cole hasn’t been his usual self in 2024, and the rest of the rotation hasn’t picked up the slack. Carlos Rodón has regressed significantly after a great start to the year. Nestor Cortes is wildly inconsistent on the road. And worst of all, Luis Gil went from being a Cy Young candidate to having an ERA of 9.37 in his last four starts.
Though the rotation isn’t the biggest problem New York faces, it is certainly no longer their strong suit. The problem is that when the starters do give quality starts, the offense does nothing to support them.
Overworked Bullpen
On paper, the bullpen looked competent to start the year. And in the first few months of the season, they looked that way on the field too. But a combination of injuries and improper management (thank you, Aaron Boone) have forced the Yanks to bulk up their pen with mediocre relievers.
In all fairness, guys like Michael Tonkin and Luke Weaver have been lights-out this year. But the Yanks have had 19 different relievers make appearances this season (including two position players), which is pretty high for a bullpen to be considered formidable.
Even Clay Holmes hasn’t been his best, despite just being selected for his second All-Star appearance. Friday’s loss to the Red Sox in extra innings just highlighted how the bullpen has been responsible for many of the Yanks’ recent losses.
What Can They Do To Turn Things Around?
Now is not the time to wait for the team to start performing again. This Yankees team needs a spark, whether it comes in the form of trading for a star player, an exciting call-up, or even the return of Giancarlo Stanton. Many have claimed that 2024 looks like a repeat of 2022, and if the Yankees want to avoid that repeat, they need to do something different this time around.
When everything is firing on all cylinders, this team has the potential to be one of baseball’s best. We’ve seen them do it in the first half, but right now they need something (or someone) to ignite the bats and get them back on track.
The Last Word
If New York goes .500 in their remaining 70 games, they will still reach 90 wins. Though there are reasons to panic with their recent woes, the Yankees are still in a great spot. It’s unlikely that Brian Cashman will let the deadline go by without acquiring any big names or making a splash. Even if the lineup goes unchanged, this team has proved that they are at times capable of being dominant. It’s a long season, and if this team gets hot at the right time, they have a legitimate chance to go deep into October.
