The New York Yankees have been the subject of many negative headlines recently, but the tide is shifting amidst their five-game winning streak. The club completed a three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday, mostly because the rest of the lineup outside of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto is hitting again.
Outfielder Alex Verdugo sounded off on if there's a different feeling in the clubhouse now, via YES Network.
“I mean yeah, I guess in a sense kinda, but not really,” Verdugo said. “With our own team, like inside here, in the clubhouse, we know who we got. We know who we are as a whole and we got each other's back no matter what. We knew it was just a matter of time before we kinda started getting out of our little funk and everybody kinda contributing. Obviously the big guys for us, they've been there all year.”
The “big guys,” of course, is a reference to Judge and Soto. While the rest of the team struggled, Judge hit .409 and .333 in June and July, respectively. Soto hit .275 and .330.
Verdugo was one of the many struggling players at the plate over that period, hitting .219 and .220. However, the former Boston Red Sock has hits in seven of his last eight games.
“Obviously for me, I think the biggest thing was just staying inside the ball and getting back to my strengths which was really just using the other field,” Verdugo continued. “We're feeling a lot better just not trying to do too much in the box, let the big guys do all that.”
Will Verdugo and New York continue trending in the right direction?
The Yankees have shown that this win streak isn't a fluke
New York has now won five straight games, and its 65 wins are tied with the Cleveland Guardians, Baltimore Orioles, and Phillies for the most in the MLB. While the Yankees were just 25-26 over the past 51 games, they were also the best team in baseball until mid-June. The team has a good foundation to remind it of who it is, even when hard times come around.
“I think it's numerous things. I think it's obviously just the hard work that everybody puts in, the preparation to it, the trust in themselves, and the results will come,” Verdugo continued. “You can't really ride that rollercoaster if you're struggling, if you're doing great. You just gotta trust that you're preparing every day the right way. I think Jazz coming over and being an instant spark for us has helped us a lot too. This is the time of year where you just gotta tuck away your own pride and do whatever it takes to win a game.”
One Yankee who could lift the team into the stratosphere is DJ Lemahieu, who had a career-high six RBI in Wednesday's 6-5 win. The veteran infielder is hitting just .182 on the season but feels like he's “onto something” after his highlight-filled day, via The New York Post's Dan Martin.
“It’s been a tough go for me,’’ LeMahieu said. “Today definitely felt good.”
When players other than the “big guys” hit consistently for New York, the team is tough to beat.
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