Left field was a position the Yankees declined to address in the offseason. The center-field and right-field numbers would be better if Judge was playing one of those positions instead of dividing time between those spots and DH. The Yankees’ position-by-position ranks in combined OPS demonstrate the deficiencies throughout their lineup. The Rays are first, the Red Sox third, the Orioles seventh and the Blue Jays 11th The Yankees rank 24th in the majors and a distant last in the AL East in runs per game. Their offense, even when Judge was healthy, amounted to a disappointment. The Yankees are 6-0 when Gerrit Cole starts, 9-15 when he doesn’t. Signing Judge, Rodón and first baseman Anthony Rizzo for a combined $562 million was supposed to help the Yankees bridge the gap to the Astros, but the early trends are disturbing. The Orioles and Blue Jays are pretty darned good, and the Red Sox are 11-6 since their 5-8 start. And it’s not just the Rays who are a force in the East. But the Yankees also remain without left-hander Carlos Rodón, righty Luis Severino and a host of others. Right-hander Frankie Montas, recovering from shoulder surgery, might begin a throwing program soon. Earlier, Boone said reliever Jonathan Loáisiga underwent surgery to remove a bone spur from his elbow, keeping him out until at least August.Ĭenter fielder Harrison Bader could return from his strained left oblique sometime this week ( UPDATE: The Yankees reinstated Bader on Tuesday morning). The team announced the news on Judge, a right hip strain that sent him to the IL, retroactive to April 28, a little more than an hour before first pitch. Monday was a day that ends in “y,” which meant it began with another Yankees injury update. ![]() The Yankees placed outfielder Aaron Judge on the 10-day injured list due to a right hip strain. The group combined to go 2-for-15, including a solo homer by Trevino, and after righty Domingo Germán allowed just two hits in 8 1/3 innings, the bullpen blew a 2-0 lead in the ninth. ![]() Without Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson, manager Aaron Boone likely will trot out five through nine hitters at Tropicana Field this weekend similar to the undistinguished collection he used Monday night in a painful 3-2 loss to the Guardians: Willie Calhoun, Oswald Peraza, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Oswaldo Cabrera and José Trevino. The Yankees, in their injury-depleted state, will face the Rays seven times in the next two weeks, then only six more times the rest of the season. The new, more balanced schedule will work against them erasing that deficit and potentially avoiding the wild-card round. And they have not won a World Series or even played in one since 2009, a veritable millennium in Yankee years.Īt 15-15, the Yankees are last in the AL East, 8 1/2 games behind the Rays. Alas, they set their own standards unfairly high, operating with a championship-or-bust mentality. ![]() And it’s fair to ask how they will plug all of their holes when their farm system has been thinned by numerous trades, several of them ill-fated.Īdditional reading: What we’ve learned in first 30 games of MLB season, from pitch clock to Rays to A’sĮven in their current predicament, the Yankees are fully capable of returning to the postseason. But it’s fair to ask how the Yankees can expect this group to get even reasonably healthy. I come not to bury the Yankees, not after nearly doing that early last September when they appeared on the verge of blowing a 15 1/2-game lead in the AL East and rallied to finish with 99 wins.
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