Yankees power outage has but one solution: Play better

For the first time since 1968, the New York Yankees have not scored a run in three consecutive games. Not exactly what you’d expect from a team colloquially nicknamed “The Bronx Bombers.”

It’s been a really rough go. The Yankees have been outscored 13-5 in their last six games. Nobody in the lineup is hitting now except for the recently-returned Giancarlo Stanton, and a two-game sample size means nothing.

Most notably, team captain and reigning MVP Aaron Judge is no longer dancing with batting .400. He’s batting a respectable .264 in June, but is 2 for 19 during this losing streak with a nauseating 12 strikeouts. It’s always been a common theme that without Judge’s bat, even if he’s healthy, the Yankees simply do not perform as well. Where he and the top of the lineup go, the rest of the bats follow.

Unfortunately for Judge, his fellow top-of-the-lineup residents have been just as silent with the bat these last five games. Paul Goldschmidt, already batting .170 this month, is 2 for 14 over this stretch. His batting average has dipped to .304, the regression to the mean hitting him harder and faster than the 4 train at rush hour.

Cody Bellinger, who was finally swinging a hot bat again after an extended slump, is suddenly 2 for his last 16. DJ LeMahieu’s dance with a hot streak is done after having just a single hit in 14 at-bats these last five games.

And fans will recall, it was right around this time of year that the Yankees hit a pretty lengthy slump. New York was 9-18 from June 13 right up until the All-Star Break. The common denominator: The top of the lineup wasn’t producing, not even the powerful 1-2 punch of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. And yet, the Yankees found their footing again after the Break and were the runners-up to the Dodgers in the World Series. Meanwhile, #YankeesTwitter/X was ready to blow up the team even though the Yankees never once dropped out of first place.

But in 2025, it’s a different story. The Yankees are running cold, while the rival Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays are both running hot. Tampa Bay remains 2.5 games behind in second place after Tuesday’s loss to Baltimore. The Jays, however, are only three back after walking off the Arizona Diamondbacks on back-to-back homers from Bo Bichette and Addison Barger.

Meanwhile, the Yankees can’t even manufacture a single run in two games against the Angels. The Halos being 6.5 games behind first-place Houston in the AL West isn’t a testament to them or manager Ron Washington. It’s more a sign of how truly awful the division is this season. Even the last-place Athletics are only 13 games back. On June 18, that’s still plenty of time to get white-hot and climb into first place.

There is one solution: Play better. Don’t make mistakes like disrespecting Kyle Hendricks and his changeup. He entered Tuesday’s start with a 5.20 ERA, and somehow walked away with six shutout innings and nine strikeouts. Hendricks hadn’t had that many strikeouts in a game since September 18, 2020. That screams New York’s hitters assuming his pitches would stay up in the zone and not break at all.

There is no way out, nor a magic button manager Aaron Boone and hitting coach James Rowson can press. The Yankees can only hope one or more hitters step up and get some runs scored. Judge getting his swing back would be nice, but he’s only one man. The supporting cast needs to get its collective you-know-what together too.

Starting fresh again on Wednesday would be nice.