To call this season a disappointment for the New York Yankees would be a massive understatement. They're 17 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. The Yankees are the only team in their division with a negative run differential (-27) and they're nine games behind the Seattle Mariners for the third and final AL Wild Card spot, meaning they would have to jump four teams to even snag that wild card spot. Additionally, They are currently on an eight-game losing streak and are 11-21 since MLB resumed play after the All-Star break.

Things are looking bleak. If they want even a prayer at a run to make the playoffs, they have to get on a roll now and fix the two areas that are ailing them the most. It might already be too little too late. But if they fix their areas of concern, well they're not out of it yet.

2) Pitching beyond Gerrit Cole

Gerrit Cole has done his job. Cole is 10-4 on the year out of 26 starts, 18 of which have been deemed quality starts. He has a 3.03 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and a +4 K/BB ratio. Even though some of those numbers have been the worst of Cole's Yankee tenure, they are still very good numbers. Cole has also posted a 4.6 WAR, which is already the second-best mark he's posted as a Yankee despite there being another month to go in the regular season.

But the rest of the Yankees' staff has been an issue. They rank 14th in MLB in ERA (4.11) and are tied for eighth in home runs allowed (156). No starting pitcher outside of Cole has an ERA below four. No starter outside of Cole and Domingo German has a WHIP below 1.2. The Yankees' bullpen hasn't been too much of an issue, but their starting pitching has been a major Achilles heel.

1) Hitting beyond Aaron Judge

Aaron Judge is second on the Yankees in runs scored and WAR, third in RBI, first in home runs, batting average, slugging, OPS, and on-base percentage. The issue is that he's only played in 70 of a possible 124 games. The Yankees' offense has been a tire-fire all season long. They're 29th out of 30 teams in batting average as a team. They're 26th in on-base percentage, as well as 22nd in slugging percentage, and 22nd in OPS.

Those are just a few stats. There are more that put the Yankees in a bad light. They're 29th in MLB in hits. They're 29th in runs. Outside of Aaron Judge, only three other players have a batting average above .250 on the team: Gleyber Torres, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Harrison Bader.

Judge is the only Yankee with above 20 home runs despite the season being past the three-quarter mark. Gleyber Torres and Anthony Volpe are the only players with more RBI and total bases than Judge. Basically, put any which way, the Yankees have drastically underperformed and have been one of the worst offenses in all of baseball.

Conclusion

The New York Yankees are the most prestigious franchise in all of Major League Baseball. Every season comes with big preseason expectations, and those are to win the World Series. This year's club has their work cut out for them to even make the postseason, let alone to win the whole thing. Their hitting has been anemic all season and their pitching hasn't been much better. Both have been too reliant on one player: Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole.

The only chance they have in making a run to save their season is better and more consistent play from players beyond their superstars.