Another game, another loss for the Yankees. Another series, another series loss for the Yankees.
Here are 10 thoughts on the Yankees.
1. After losing a series to the 25th-ranked Nationals, the Yankees helped the Cardinals get above .500 by losing a series at home to them. And then over the last three nights in Texas, the Yankees dropped their third straight series to a Rangers team that hasn’t seen the .500 mark since May 19. Three straight series losses and a 3-6 record against three teams that won’t be playing in October.
2. Since August 1, the Yankees are 15-15. In those 30 games, three came against a team that started their series with the Yankees above .500. They were gifted an incredible five-week stretch to play mediocre-to-historically-bad teams and they squandered it. They completely wasted it.
3. Wednesday was much of the same from the Yankees. Bad starting pitching, horrific relief pitching and an offense that didn’t show up until garbage time. After getting shut down by ex-Yankee Andrew Heaney on Tuesday, ex-Yankee Nathan Eovaldi did the honor on Wednesday. It wasn’t until the game was out of hand and the Yankees trailed by eight runs in the ninth inning that they added to their anemic run total in the 10-6 loss.
Their four runs in the ninth came from a Trent Grisham grand slam. In one swing, Grisham matched Alex Verdugo’s home run total since July 6. In that one swing, he equaled Verdugo’s RBI output from the last three weeks. If Jasson Dominguez is going to waste away in Triple-A, maybe Grisham can be given a turn playing every day instead of Verdugo? Grisham has the better on-base percentage and the better slugging percentage, and better power and walk numbers relative to plate appearances. At worst, he provides actual Gold Glove defense — having won the award twice — and not the kind of fake, made-up strong defense Verdugo is perceived to have by some (including the front office).
4. Verdugo went 1-for-3 in the game, hitting three ground balls in all of his plate appearances. One of three reached the outfield for a single, and on the other two, they were easily turned into outs as Verdugo power walked down the first-base line, forcing Michael Kay to ask on the broadcast, “Is there something wrong with his legs?”
“He’s beat up,” Aaron Boone said of Verdugo not running to first. “He’s playing his ass off … I don’t have any issue with how hard he’s playing the game.”
One loser talking about another loser. If Verdugo is “beat up” then why is he playing? That’s even more reason to sit him.
5. Verdugo dogs it in a way that makes Gleyber Torres seem like Charlie Hustle, but nothing ever happens to Verdugo. Just more playing time, more at-bats and no threat of consequence for dogging it. (Or is it “dawging it” for Verdugo?) Why would there be? When there’s no consequence for being the worst everyday hitter in the majors, there can’t be any consequence for jogging (and jogging is putting generously).
As long as Verdugo is a Yankee and continues to play everyday, the idea that he is part of the backup “plan” is Juan Soto leaves via free agency grows in probability.
6. “We’ve been in this tight AL race all year long,” Verdugo said after the loss. “It’s just a couple of series, we’re right there.”
Oh it’s been “just a couple of series?” The Yankees are 3-6 in their last nine. They’re 15-15 since August 1. They’re 31-39 since June 13. That’s not a couple of series.
7. “A couple of games not going our way,” Aaron Judge said. “Stuff like that is going to happen.”
Delusion runs deep in the Yankees clubhouse. The captain thinks it’s been just a couple of games not going their way, even though they have been under .500 for three months. But like his manager likes to say, “That’s baseball!”
Judge had another no-show game, which has been the case for the last 10 days. It’s easy to excuse him when he’s having a Barry Bonds-type season, but it’s hard not to think about how Judge has played in his postseason career and not think he’s getting a headstart on his all-too-familiar October disappearing acts.
He was part of the problem on Wednesday as the Yankees’ 3 through 8 hitters went 1-for-21 with the one being a Jazz Chisholm single. The offense didn’t show up until the fifth when Juan Soto hit a two-run home run, and by then, Marcus Stroman had already put them in a 5-0 hole.
8. “Just don’t think I executed when I needed to,” Stroman said. “Got in some long counts and they were able to put the barrel on balls.”
Oh you don’t think you executed when you needed to? No shit. It’s concerning that Stroman is staying in the rotation over Nestor Cortes because Stroman had a few good starts in a row against the Rangers, Tigers, Rockies and Cardinals. Stroman’s entire game is based around living on the edge and getting ground balls. He can’t win in the strike zone because he can’t throw quality strikes or getting swings and misses in the zone. If Stroman isn’t painting the black with every pitch or if the home plate umpire isn’t being favorable to him, he has no chance.
9. The Yankees are a mess. For outsiders who only view the standings, they see a team with an 80-60 record that is a 1/2 game out of the division. For Yankees fans who watch them play every day, they see a team that is eight games under .500 over their last 69 games. They haven’t been the team that once had a 49-21 record in nearly three months.
10. John Sterling announced he will come out of retirement to call all of the Yankees playoff games this October before going back into retirement. It’s welcome news and hopefully Sterling’s return will last more than a couple of nights in a best-of-3, wild-card series. Right now, it’s hard to believe it will.
Last modified: Sep 6, 2024
