After the worst defeat of the season for the New York Yankees, manager Aaron Boone has warned his squad of more adversity unless they are able to win. The team will play 10 of the next 13 games before the home crowd and must stem the tide. They have lost seven of their past 10 games.
It’s possible that the Yankees are already in a tough position. They are looking to keep Aaron Judge healthy and off of the injury list for Monday’s three-game series opener against the Cleveland Guardians. Because of hip pain, Judge has missed the previous three games. He hasn’t played since Thursday when he was pulled out from a 4-2 Texas victory after his second at-bat. The Yankees are expected to make a decision on Judge’s potential injured list placement on Monday.
“I know he came in feeling a little bit better today,” Aaron Boone told prior to the Yankees’ 15-2 loss. “I’m sure he’ll go through everything and we’ll evaluate where we are.”
Aaron Boone is worried over runs
The Yankees have been limited to three runs or fewer in 11 of their last 13 games, including scoring just four times during their second three-game losing streak of the season. Aaron Boone’s team allowed four home runs in 10 runs in the fifth and sixth innings on Sunday while finishing with eight hits.
“Adversity is coming for us,” Aaron Boone said. “We know it and we will get through it. The league waits for no one, and no one is going to feel sorry for us for what we’re going through. Even though we beat up a little bit, we’re still capable of going out there and winning ballgames. That’s what we’ve got to find a way to do right now.”
It’s the same type of remark Aaron Boone made back in the sluggish dog days of August, only this time he didn’t pound on the stage to illustrate his point, as he did on August 19 following a dull 4-0 defeat to the Toronto Blue Jays.
After running into a wall against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Cleveland is determined to keep them from getting back on track. The Guardians are 6-11 in their previous 17 games since April 10, when they won the opening game of a three-game series against the Yankees 3-2 in Cleveland.
A further defeat can seriously dent the hopes Aaron Boone’s men carry before the home crowd at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees’ fading promise
Fans don’t have a favorable impression of the Yankees based on the first month of the season alone. Whether it’s due to injuries or the starting pitchers, the Yankees lack strength when Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes aren’t on the field.
At 15-14, April this year is hardly a success for the Yankees. But it is not unusual for a club to recover from that kind of record. The Yankees, for example, went from 13-15 to 103 wins and the World Series in 2009. They had a similar April in 1978 before pushing through to become champions.
Ten of the Yankees’ past thirteen games have resulted in a score of two runs or fewer for the home team. And the first month is the worst. They’re experiencing the beginning of what will inevitably be many streaks of terrible luck for this squad. After one of their worst recent losses, a 15-2 thrashing at the hands of the Texas Rangers (who had been terrible on the mound for years), manager Aaron Boone was forced to warn his team.
The Yankees won’t be able to accomplish much unless they get well. They are short Giancarlo Stanton, who was expected to play DH, Harrison Bader, who was expected to play CF, Josh Donaldson, who was expected to play 3B (for the time being), Carlos Rodon $162 million man and Luis Severino, who was expected to start.
The depth behind these injured players isn’t great, with the exceptions of Domingo German‘s 11 strikeouts and three checks for sticky substances and Clarke Schmidt, who allowed no runs in five innings before Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Daulton Varsho hit back-to-back home runs after an error by Anthony Volpe.
A year ago at this time, the Yankees were 12-14, but they were just 4 1/2 games out of first place after the first month of a lengthy season. They’re eight games behind Tampa Bay this year and have seven scheduled matches against them. When compared to the rest of the league in April, this is the largest deficit the Yankees have faced since 1984, when they were 8-13 and 10 1/2 games behind the Detroit Tigers, who had won 35 of their first 40 games.
The Yankees aren’t the only New York baseball club struggling early on. The Braves are “only” 18-9, while the Mets’ record salary has them at 15-12. The Mets are three games down in the NL East.
Boone wants Yankees to “prepare and compete”
Aaron Boone expressed his displeasure with how things are going for the New York Yankees after their defeat on Sunday. With 15 wins and 14 defeats, the club sits in last place in the AL East, tied with the Boston Red Sox.
After the Yankees dropped their third consecutive series and sixth game in the last eight, manager Aaron Boone emphasized the significance of preparing well and performing well on the field. He understood their predicament but encouraged them to keep training and competing since they were the only ones who could help them. Even though they were missing some important players, Boone understood they had to find a way to score runs despite having some solid at-bats.
“Prepare and compete,” Boone said following the Yankees’ third straight series loss and sixth defeat in eight games. “We’re obviously a little up against it right now, but we’ve got to keep on preparing and competing and realize we’re the ones that have got to dig ourselves out of this a little bit. We did have some good at-bats today, but we’ve got to find a way — missing some pieces and stuff — to scratch out some runs.
Aaron Judge was listed as day-to-day with a strained right hip, while Giancarlo Stanton was out for 10 days with a strained left hamstring. New York’s inability to score more than four runs in each of its three games versus Texas due to the absence of these players.
Boone added that despite falling farther down, the squad never gave up and had several solid opportunities at the plate. He explained how Adolis Garcia’s outstanding throw prevented them from reducing the deficit in half and how anything might have occurred from there. But Boone emphasized the importance of experimenting with different lineups to find solutions quickly.
“It’s tough, when you fall behind like that, to work your way back. Thought we had some good at-bats to get back in the game and get our first run — (Adolis) Garcia makes a great throw where we almost cut the lead in half there and then who knows. But we’ve definitely got to find a way right now with some mixing and matching.”
The Yankees had a strong last inning on Sunday. They loaded the bases with no outs, scored a run, and lost the game when Aaron Hicks struck out looking. Boone was inspired by the perseverance he saw, particularly under trying circumstances. He urged his squad to maintain a high level of competition even when the offense is struggling and gave them hope that they may become better. As the team worked to turn things around, Boone agreed that the players needed to be reminded of their responsibilities and warned them to tone down the competition.
“I like some of the efforts I saw when you’re up against it, but that’s what we’ve got to do right now — when you’re not overly offensive right now, those are the things that you’ve got to control is that level of compete. And we’re doing that and reminding these guys of that, and we’ve got to be the ones to turn it around.”
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