Aaron Boone, the manager of the New York Yankees, is having a difficult time continuing his attempts to explain the freefall that the Yankees have been experiencing in the second half of the season. He was furious over his team’s performance at Tropicana Field that handed the Rays a 9-0 win on Friday night.
However, Boone was optimistic that the rout would serve as a wake-up call to New York Yankees and that the team would learn from the mistakes that led to the collapse at Tampa.
“That’s an embarrassing loss,” said the usually mild-mannered Boone. “Hopefully, one of those rock bottom situations, where you should be pissed off and embarrassed. We’ve set a better standard around here. We just got to be better. Period.”
The Yankees lost 9-0, which was their worst loss of the season. That was their nastiest night since October 2, 2021, when they lost by nine runs to Tampa Bay (12-2). The Yankees have lost three of their last four games by nine runs or more against the Rays.
“It’s just embarrassing when you get beat like that and you’re going through the struggles you are,” Boone added. “I’m in charge of this team. What we’re going through right now, I know better than anyone, that there are going to be hard moments and hard times. I do think the effort’s there, I think the care is there. But we’ve set a much better standard in that room that we’ve got to start living up to.”
On July 8, the Yankees led the AL East by as many as 15½ games. Now, they only lead by five games. The Yankees‘ lead in their division hasn’t been less than five games since the end of play on June 1.
However, the Yankee star and MVP contender Aaron Judge emphasized that the team should not make a point of focusing on the slight lead that they have over the rest of the AL East teams at the moment.
“I don’t pay attention to it. “The worst thing you can do in anything is press or feel pressure,” Judge said. “We’re playing a kid’s game. This is a game we love, and we’ve got to go out there with enthusiasm every single night and not worry about the standings. Because if we show up and do what we do — have good at-bats, command the stuff we need to on the mound – we’re going to look up at the end of the year and be where we want to be in the standings. We can’t sit here and try to press. I don’t think anybody in this room is trying to press or look at that kind of stuff. We’ve got plenty on our plate.”
Aaron Judge has been one of the few bright spots for the Yankees at the plate. The Yankees had the best record in Major League Baseball before the All-Star break. Since then, they are 15-25 and have lost five of their last six matches. A lot of these results have come from a power outage on the offensive side.
In their last seven games, the Yankees have scored 3 runs or less six times, 2 runs four times, and a single twice. During that time, the team hit .105 with runners on base.
The Yankees were shut out for the 12th time this season when they lost on Friday night. Since the start of August, they have been shut out more than any other team in MLB. The Yankees’ 9-19 (.321) record since August 2 is the worst in the AL, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information.
However, Judge stated that despite their extended downturn in the second half of the season, he continues to feel that the Yankees have everything in their clubhouse that they need to break out of it.
“These guys have done it. We’ve done it all year, especially to stay in first place in this tough division that we’re in. We’ve got everything we need here in this room. Nobody on the outside’s going to help us, nobody’s feeling sorry for us,” Judge said. “Nobody likes to lose. We’re going to see what this team is made of. No team has ever coasted into the postseason and expects to go out there and win every day.
“We’ve got to bring it every single day. So today’s over with and we have to bring it tomorrow. It’s plain and simple. That’s what it comes down to — pissed off, not pissed off, you’ve got to bring it every single day.”
Will the Yankees be able to recover or slump further? What do you think?
