NEW YORK – Néstor Cortés didn’t feel much difference. The New York Yankees starting pitcher stood before reporters in the Yankee Stadium clubhouse. Everything was silent, except for the light music playing through the speakers. The players milled around, taking off their uniforms and putting on street clothes, chatting.
But the Yankees, who had been so impressive to start the season, were skidding, having lost seven of their last 10 games. They had lost three straight series to the Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves, respectively. Despite Sunday’s 3-1 loss to Atlanta, they remained a game and a half ahead of the Orioles for first place in the American League East with Baltimore on a three-game losing streak.
Cortés was optimistic.
“No one is hanging their head,” he said. “Nobody panics here. Just one bad streak in 162 games that you’re going to go through. We just have to find a way out of this.”
“No one hangs their head, no one panics.”
– Néstor Cortés on the Yankees’ recent struggles pic.twitter.com/3qu1UGu6Cv
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) June 23, 2024
Cortés’s assessment was reasonable. Although the All-Star break is still a few weeks away, the team has created a good cushion for itself. Although his starting pitching struggled last week, he has generally been excellent, and ace Gerrit Cole will make just his second start of the season Tuesday against the New York Mets. And Juan Soto and Aaron Judge remain perhaps the best duo in the majors.
Still, while things have gone pretty well overall and the panic button should remain intact, the Yankees need to iron out some kinks. Here are three.
The Yankees are going to miss Stanton dearly. His 120 OPS+ was third-best on the team among hitters with at least 25 plate appearances, behind Judge (209) and Soto (181). He had been struggling lately, hitting .288/.358/.521 in his last 19 games. He maybe he was about to get even hotter.
With Stanton out, the daily at-bats will go to Trent Grisham, a star defender in center field who has never been a great hitter. Even if we rule out that he is hitting only .138 this season because his 65 at-bats have been scattered, he still had a career OPS+ of 95 before this season. That’s a major drop.
Other players will have to step up, but who? The answer should be Gleyber Torres, but he had hit just .197 since early June (19 games) to continue the rest of his terrible season (OPS+ of 83) at the plate through Sunday. The Yankees couldn’t ask for more from Judge or Soto. The team needs Anthony Volpe to continue focusing on setting the table for Soto and Judge, not driving in runs.
Not having slugging prospect Jasson Dominguez, who injured his bib last week, around was simply bad luck. And no one else seems particularly willing to contribute from Triple A.
The corners of the painting
Adding JD Davis from the Oakland Athletics could be another shrewd move by the Yankees. Yes, Oakland is terrible, and yes, they threw Davis into the DFA (designated for assignment) bin. What would the Yankees want with him? Well, he’s been good against lefties this season, hitting .265 with a .795 OPS in 37 plate appearances against them, and his career OPS against left-handed pitching is .779.
Third base and first base have been terrible offensive positions for the Yankees. At third base, DJ LeMahieu and his team had combined for a 78 wRC+ heading into Sunday the 26th in the MLB. At first base, Anthony Rizzo (placed on the 60-day injured list retroactive to June 17) and the rest had been almost as bad with a wRC+ of 86, 24th in the game.
As far as we know, this is the Yankees’ plan. They’re going to hope that a Ben Rice/Davis platoon at first base will liven things up and that LeMahieu (.465 OPS in 65 at-bats) will turn things around. Probably not the most encouraging thought for Yankees fans.
The back of the bullpen
The Yankees are in a strange situation. His 3.39 ERA for relievers is fifth in baseball, but take a look at his leaders in games pitched:
1. Clay Holmes, 34 games with a 2.45 ERA
2. Caleb Ferguson, 31 games with a 5.47 ERA
3. Luke Weaver, 29 games with a 2.62 ERA
4. Víctor González, 27 games with a 3.86 ERA (DFA on Thursday)
5. Ian Hamilton, 27 games with a 4.55 ERA (went on the disabled list June 18 and won’t be ready until maybe August)
6. Dennis Santana, 23 games with a 6.26 ERA (DFA June 9)
Michael Tonkin (1.07 ERA, 19 games) has been a revelation. Tommy Kahnle (3.48 ERA, 13 games) has been up and down.
The Yankees are rebuilding behind Weaver and Holmes, who before pitching a scoreless ninth inning on Sunday had been shaky lately, allowing five earned runs and nine hits in his previous four appearances. They’re still sending Ron Marinaccio (2.84 ERA, 13 games) because he’s one of the few relievers on the 40-man roster with a minor league option left. They hope his bets on Phil Bickford and Tim Hill pay off, but that can’t be reassuring, especially since his bullpen ranks 19th in strikeouts with 255.
(Trent Grisham Photo: Wendell Cruz/USA Today)
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