How Yankees got into big September trouble
When the New York Yankees awoke in the Bay Area on Aug. 28, life couldn’t have been much better. They’d just won their 13th consecutive game, a rampage that began after they departed Iowa’s cornfields and powered through two weeks of impeccable baseball, rolling through four playoff-positioned teams on the way.
They were within four games of first place and enjoyed a 61⁄ game cushion
2 for a wild-card spot. FanGraphs set their playoff probability at 97.8%. Their 13-game streak was the longest in franchise history since 1961.
“Any time you can push the record books with this organization,” ace Gerrit Cole said after reaching the 200strikeout mark and firming up his Cy Young Award positioning, “it’s probably something special.”
The reality the Yankees face today is far different.
They have lost eight of their last 10 games, dropping a series to the 45-93 Orioles and also the nascent Blue Jays, who have won seven in a row to vault back into contention. Their AL East title dreams are doused, what with Tampa Bay holding a nine-game lead. They have ceded the top wild-card spot to Boston and lead the Blue Jays by just one game in the loss column.
Cole left his last start early with hamstring discomfort. FanGraphs’ metrics now say they’re a 68.3% shot to make the playoffs. Reality feels a bit less rosy.
“We just haven’t been playing good baseball,” outfielder Brett Gardner said after his home run provided the only offense in a 6-3 loss to Toronto on Wednesday, “and, obviously, that’s something we’ve got to figure out here in relatively short order.”
Too dramatic? Hardly.
The Blue Jays, Mariners and A’s are all within three games of the Yankees, and it’s that time of year when one of baseball’s great cliches rings true: There’s no point in watching the scoreboard when handling your own business will take care of everything.
The Yankees just need to win, a simple proposition that’s proving far too vexing of late. So what went wrong, and what’s ahead? Let’s explore:
Jumbo Package shrinks
There are few things in baseball more majestic than when behemoth Bombers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are healthy and productive at the same time. It’s no coincidence that the Yankees’ 13-game run came when both could not be kept off base or in the yard.
Judge produced a .500 on-base percentage and a 1.151 OPS in that streak, with three homers and 11 RBI; Stanton slugged six homers, with a .429 OBP and 1.266 OPS.
But power can slump, and the Yankees’ subsequent opponents have pitched the pair much more carefully in this 2-8 skid, keeping Judge (.298 OBP) and Stanton (.268 OBP) off the bases, sending the offense into a skid where it’s averaged just 3.3 runs per game. Naturally, the duo can only be as good as what’s around them, which brings us to the third part of their so-called Jumbo Package outfield.
Left fielder Joey Gallo has become a more extreme and less productive version of himself since arriving from Texas at the trade deadline. The Yankees knew what they were getting – Gallo still leads the AL in walks and strikeouts.
Yet he’s been lost in the Bronx, striking out 62 times and drawing just 30 walks, producing a .136/.303/.328 slash line.