The New York Yankees haven’t been this bad since 2005, and if it continues, this hole will become way too deep to climb out of.
By Christian Kouroupakis
The offense has scored three runs or less in their seventh straight game and the Yankees are 2-5 in that span. They have also scored more than four runs only once in their past 17 games.
Overall, their 74 runs scored are dead last in all of Major League baseball with the Atlanta Braves sitting above them.
Pitching-wise, their overall ERA ranks second to last in the American League and their starting pitchers have an overall record of 4-10 with a 4.94 ERA.
Their unhittable bullpen has also been exposed. Yes, Aroldis Chapman returns on May 9th but Dellin Betances has been exposed this past week as well with the bridge to Andrew Miller collapsing.
The ERA of their ‘pen ranks fourth-to-last in the AL and are responsible for four losses this season.
Right now, the Yankees are unfathomably terrible. They need something, anything to get going again. The route they’re on right now will lead to nothing but having them finish right where they are: in the cellar of the AL East.
There is still time, though. The Yankees haven’t reached six games under .500 (currently 8-14) since June 5, 2007, when they were 25-31. By season’s end, the Bombers were 94-68 in the postseason so please, don’t count them off as a lost cause just yet.
However, it’s ignorant to say that the hole isn’t getting quite deep. Even though the Yankees can leap out, it could soon reach a point where the leap of faith will be too big to achieve.
Here’s what the New York Yankees have to do to stop digging their inevitable grave.
4. Bench Chase Headley
The Boston Red Sox told their $95-million third baseman, Pablo Sandoval to ride the pine after a dismal 2015 campaign and an even worse Spring Training.
The Yankees should take a play out of their rivals playbook and sit the man who’s nothing but a hole in New York’s lineup.
Chase Headley’s overall slash line is .150/.268/.150 with no extra-base hits so far this season. Headley is just the 13th player in history to finish the month of April with a slugging percentage of .150 or lower.
The reasons manager Joe Girardi gives for his struggles is “he’s hitting the ball hard at the wrong places.”
Oh really?
According to Fan Graphs, his hard % (percentage of balls in play that was classified as hit with hard speed) is at 21.3% compared to his career average of 30.9%.
On any other team, Headley, like Sandoval, would have been exiled to the bench. Although I don’t think Ronald Torreyes is an impressive alternative, he is slashing .381/.381/.524 and provides the Bombers with a much better glove.
Regardless, Headley is doing nothing but hurting the team in the lineup and at the hot corner. It’s time that Girardi gives him some time on the bench to figure things out.
3. Consistency From Starters
Aside from the ace-like performances by Masahiro Tanaka, there are still inconsistencies from the starting rotation.
Michael Pineda, although he bounced back on Saturday night against Boston, has struggled mightily to say the least in his first five starts of 2016 as he’s allowed 35 hits in his 27 innings of work and sees his ERA at 6.33.
Sunday Night’s starter, Nathan Eovaldi is coming off an outing in which he flirted with a no-hitter, but his ERA is still up there at 4.38 and Nasty Nate has surrendered four home runs in as many starts.
The Yankees’ young phenom Luis Severino, who was expected to take over as the “ace” as soon as this season has done nothing but frustrate fans with his 0-3 record and 6.86 ERA. The 22-year old has surrendered 32 hits in 19.2 innings pitched while seeing his K/9 drop from 8.09 to 5.49.
CC Sabathia has impressed, but is nothing more than a number five starter and there is an undeniable lack of consistency from the rotation. With the exception of Sabathia, every starter has demonstrated the ability to become an ace, yet no one has been able to step up.
New York will go as far as their rotation takes them, despite how magnified the offensive struggles seem right now.
2. Create A Spark In Chemistry
One player that’s tearing it up in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre can be the answer, and his name is Nick Swisher.
Swisher was a member of the dominant 2009 championship team but hit a bumpy road after signing a four-year, $56-million deal with the Cleveland Indians in 2012.
After being traded to the Atlanta Braves he batted .195 and he was cut in Spring Training before landing a minor-league deal with the Yankees.
Nick is being positively Swisherlicious with his .340/.370/.540 slash line with three home runs and 6 RBI in 13 games. Not only is he hitting the cover off the ball, but he’s playing loose with a child-like energy, something that will never change despite being 35-years of age.
Perhaps that’s what the New York Yankees need more than anything right now. A spirited veteran presence to help spice up this joyless team.
The Yankees will not get the 2010 All-Star version of Swisher as he’ll only be a bench option in the Bronx, but no matter what anyone says, “good chemistry” is a crucial characteristic of every winning team.
Chemistry serves as a meaningful impingement by virtue of the adversity teams go through -like the Yankee lineup is currently experiencing- and the closer a group is, the better they perform.
A shift in attitude toward having fun, while still taking care of business might be what the Yankees need the most.
1. Hit The Damn Ball
Well, I’ll try to keep this short.
A Yankee lineup that features Jacoby Ellsbury, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, and Starlin Castro should be a juggernaut in the American League, but that’s unmistakably nowhere close to the case.
Ellsbury looks as bad as that contract does, A-Rod is off to the slowest of starts but shows life, Teixeira has been OK at best, Beltran was off to a great start but cooled off, McCann has become a log, and Castro is perhaps the lone bright spot.
In their last 17 games, this dreary offense owns a .216/.284/.318 slash line and are averaging a mere 2.29 runs per game.
This unit has scored three runs or fewer in 15 of their first 20 games and two runs or fewer in half of their games played. They are the sole reason why this is their losing April since in 2008, a year in which they didn’t make the postseason.
This team cannot and will not win anything unless this team starts raking.
Last night’s loss in Beantown was a perfect example. The top five hitters in the lineup went a combined 1-for-20 with Beltran having the only hit.
Only one runner reached third base, and given their league-worst .189 batting average with runners in scoring position, they weren’t driving that run in, and didn’t.
This team has too much talent in the lineup, too much potential in the rotation, and the bullpen is too epic for the Yankees to be this corrupt.
With the lack of a “lead dog” in the division, this rough stretch should not have you thinking this team is down and out. There is a whole lot of baseball to be played and injuries haven’t hurt them yet, which may or may not be a bad thing.