It has been a rough summer for the New York Yankees as they suffered another series loss that happened Friday when they lost to the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-4. Yankees superstar Aaron Judge and others spoke after the game about why the team has turned a negative corner and what can be done to remedy it and get back to their winning ways.
At one point, New York had the best record in baseball on June 14 where they were 50-22, but since then, their record has been 6-17 which is the worst in the majors in that span. Because of that spill, their once three and a half game lead on top of the American League East is gone as they are now two games back of first place to the Baltimore Orioles as Judge said that missed opportunities is what's killing the Yankees according to MLB.com.
“Missing opportunities, that’s what I think it comes down to,” Judge said. “There was a lot of fight out of the guys, all the way to the end. We were having tough at-bats all the way down the stretch, and just weren’t able to come away with the win.”
Judge gives insight into how the Yankees' locker room is during slump
Part of the mindset for the Yankees is dealing with the past and only controlling what they can is which what's in front of them which is their upcoming series against the Orioles, who as said before are first in the AL East. Judge said that no one in the ball club is “happy” with where New York is currently, but they have to look ahead to the immediate future.
“Nobody likes losing,” Judge said. “Nobody is happy about it. We’ve just got to keep showing up, doing our thing. [The Yankees are] a couple of games out of first place. We’re going to play a first-place team right now. We’ve got to take these good at-bats into Baltimore.”
So far this season, Judge has been incredible as he leads the majors in home runs with 32, has 83 runs batted in, and has a .302 batting average.
Yankees will now “play with that chip on our shoulder”
Whenever the Yankees go through a losing slump and skid like they are having now, there will always be a catastrophic fan reaction that the team will once again fall off a cliff. There is no doubt there is a pressure with being a part of the historic organization as Jose Trevino echoed those same sentiments saying that the team will now “play with that chip on our shoulder.”
“Nobody is going to feel sorry for us,” Trevino said after Thursday's game. “If anything, people want to see this. We’re the Yankees. People don’t care. If we win, [it’s], yeah, we should have won. If we lose, they like that. I think we will get back to where we were, and play with that chip on our shoulder.”
Nestor Cortes Jr. got the start Thursday, but struggled as he let go of five earned runs, allowed seven hits, walked two, and struck out four batters. It has been no secret that he has been worse on the road as so far this season as he is 0-5 and has a 6.04 ERA while he has much better numbers at home which confuses Cortes
“I know it’s there,” Cortes said. “I haven’t had success on the road this year, but I don’t think much of it when I’m out there. I’m just trying to locate pitches, command pitches.”
New York manager Aaron Boone on the hot seat again?
Usually when the Yankees have a skid like this, the blame for the most part gets put on manager Aaron Boone who has been in the position since 2018. However, New York general manager Brian Cashman has given his support to the skipper saying he is “very well-connected” with the players and the success early in the season can not be avoided according to The New York Post.
“Obviously he works extremely hard,” Cashman said on Boone. “He’s very well-connected with these guys. He’s charged every day with pushing the right buttons the best he can with what he’s got. I think he’s navigating that as well as he possibly can.”
“It was a tidal wave of success here for the first two months and then here, as we closed out June and entered July, we’ve hit a really rough patch for an extended period of time,” Cashman continued. “Ultimately it all comes together with what our current record is, but we gotta be playing better than we currently are right now as an entire unit.”
Boone says the Yankees' struggles start with him
When talking about Boone, there is no doubt that there has been disappointment with the results since while the Yankees have been solid every season, it does not translate to the playoffs. If there is one aspect Boone has that is commendable, it is his ability to take responsibility where he believes the struggles “starts” with him.
“It starts with me,” Boone said per The New York Post. “I filter in through the coaches and it’s about us trying to get these guys prepared the best we can, setting a tone with how we present ourselves. But it’s on us as coaches to put our players in the best position possible to go out there and be successful.
“We got to continue to try to do that to the best of our ability and trust that the ball’s going to start to bounce our way a little bit and we can get it rolling here,” Boone continued. “It starts on that bump and we gotta keep at it.”
Yankees still have one of the better records in baseball
If there is still something to get excited about, the Yankees still have one of the better records in baseball, so while the last three or so weeks have been “brutal” to use Boone's words, they have a ton of time to come back. Especially since the All-Star break is near, it could come at a great time for the team to clear their heads and get back to what was working.
“Acknowledging the last three, four weeks have been brutal — we know we’re better than that, and everyone’s a little bit frustrated,” Boone said during the series against the Rays. “But the other reality of the situation is we’ve put ourselves in a good spot here however many games into it. We’ve set ourselves up to achieve all our hopes and dreams in the season.”
“We know we got to turn it around,” Boone continued. “We know we got to play better. But certainly acknowledge what we’re going through, but also keep that big picture in mind. We gotta play better and finish off innings, finish off games and hopefully get this thing turned around.”
At any rate, the Yankees are still 56-39 which puts them second in the AL East as said before being two games behind the Orioles. Judge will look to lift them up and capitalize on the missed opportunities as he said where New York will start a series against Baltimore Friday night, which could be a great chance to turn their season around.
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