It was a familiar phrase uttered by New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone, typically signifying the team’s state of disarray.
In 2022, Boone said it while slamming his hand on a table as the Yankees skidded into the playoffs. He repeated it the following year after the Los Angeles Angels swept them in July, marking the first series where acknowledgment of the Yankees’ struggles clashed with their championship aspirations. After being shut out at home by the Boston Red Sox on Sunday Night Baseball, Boone echoed the phrase for the third consecutive year.
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“It’s all right there in front of us,” Boone said.
The Yankees have lost 16 of their past 22 games. Over their past seven series, the best they’ve done is split a four-game set against the Toronto Blue Jays. They haven’t won consecutive games since doing so on June 11-12 against the Kansas City Royals. It’s bleak in the Bronx.
“It feels terrible. You’ve got to be a little sick to be in this game, though,” Boone said. “You’ve got to be able to weather it. You (would) like your stretch where it’s a bump in the road to not be this kind of stretch. You’d like to weather it a little bit better, which we need to do.”
"It feels terrible."
Aaron Boone on the Yankees' recent stretch of baseball. pic.twitter.com/p1mexdQC3s
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 8, 2024
This downturn validates the skepticism of fans who doubted the Yankees’ 50-22 start. Last season, they finished 46-55 after peaking at 11 games above .500. In 2022, a similar trend saw them go 38-40 after a 61-23 start before being swept in the American League Championship Series.
Concerns about the 2024 season mirroring these past failures are justified, so let’s identify on a 1-10 scale where fans’ panic meters should be set.
Catchers
Panic meter: 3
Austin Wells made his first start behind the plate since April 15 with Luis Gil on the mound on Sunday. Initially, the Yankees favored pairing Gil with Jose Trevino for the veteran’s calming effect on the rookie pitcher. However, after three shaky starts from Gil and the team’s offensive struggles, Wells got the nod. It seems Wells may take the majority of starts behind the plate, relegating Trevino to a backup role.
Since June 13, amid the team’s downward spiral, Wells has posted a 132 wRC+ with two home runs, two doubles and eight walks. He’s been one of the few consistent performers in the lineup. His catching ability has improved, narrowing the difference between him and Trevino. Trevino is the better framer and blocker but that’s not enough to have Wells out of the lineup regularly.
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Expect Trevino to continue catching Gerrit Cole’s starts, but it’s time for Wells to take over most games.
Infielders
Panic meter: 9
The Yankees’ infielders rank seventh-worst in wRC+. No other potential playoff team has received less production from their infield. The panic meter isn’t at 10 solely because rookie first baseman Ben Rice has shown promise. His three-homer game on Saturday provided a needed lift after their embarrassing loss on Friday. Rice’s quality at-bats, despite limited playtime, justify his recent move to the leadoff spot.
But outside of Rice, it’s been a disaster.
Of Rice and Men. #RepBX pic.twitter.com/dYUotqZ6TS
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 6, 2024
Anthony Volpe has been one of MLB’s 15 worst hitters since April 10, the day he was moved to the leadoff spot. After utilizing a slugging approach last season, his contact-oriented strategy has been a failure this year. A deeper issue is neither approach has worked for him to become an above-average hitter in the big leagues. He is only 23 years old and there’s still no reason to write him off yet, but it would be unfortunate if he turns out to mostly be a glove-only player at the major-league level because of how good of a hitter he was in the minors.
Gleyber Torres is one of MLB’s most disappointing players in 2024. Out of all qualifying hitters, Torres’ 85 wRC+ is tied for the 17th-worst in baseball. A free agent at the end of the season, Torres has already likely cost himself millions of dollars with his poor play in all facets. His 11 errors are the most for any second baseman. He also has been the worst second baseman with at least 100 plate appearances in FanGraphs’ base runs metric, which measures a player’s baserunning skills. After being the Yankees’ second-best hitter last season, there aren’t any signs that Torres will turn his season around and become productive — all his underlying metrics suggest this season will end as the worst of his career.
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“The Machine” has been a ground-ball machine. DJ LeMahieu’s 58.1 percent ground-ball rate is the 10th-worst out of all hitters with at least 100 plate appearances. His .511 OPS is the 11th-worst in MLB. While he’s been a terrific defender, he has been a liability at the plate.
The Yankees will get Jon Berti back after the All-Star break. Boone should see if he can take over at third base or second base. Oswaldo Cabrera is not the answer at either position with his .624 OPS and poor defense. If it’s not Berti, the Yankees have to consider an upgrade on the trade market. Colorado Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon would be the ideal target. Angels third baseman Luis Rengifo, who’s currently on the injured list, would be a potential leadoff option for the Yankees. If the Cincinnati Reds sell, Jonathan India, who plays multiple positions, would make a great fit.
Outfielders
Panic meter: 2
Both Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are in mini-slumps. Judge is 2-for-his-past-20 and Soto 11-for-his-past-59. With almost the entirety of the lineup struggling, these two not producing to their astronomical levels has hurt. However, there’s no reason to believe these slumps will continue for much longer.
Alex Verdugo’s offense has taken a stark dip since the start of May. He has an 82 wRC+ and a .271 on-base percentage since May 1, and the Yankees haven’t moved him out of the middle of their order yet, simply because there aren’t many better options. His defense has been elite but he needs to start hitting better than he has for the past two-plus months.
Dugie Delivers 🐶 pic.twitter.com/4m50Vtq3FV
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 6, 2024
We’ll lump Giancarlo Stanton in here. He could be back in the lineup shortly after the All-Star break but there should be some caution in predicting he’ll return to his slugging form. Stanton’s production fell off in each of the past two seasons after returning from injuries.
Starting rotation
Panic meter: 6
The Yankees have the worst starting rotation ERA since June 13. This comes after the Yankees’ rotation had the league’s best ERA before Cole’s return. As pitching coach Matt Blake said, the starters were over-performing to a high degree.
Carlos Rodón has been MLB’s worst starting pitcher since June 13. His fastball is no longer elite and he needs to reassess how he pitches moving forward. His inability to limit hard contact in the air is troublesome and he can’t be trusted to produce right now. He needs to figure it out before October.
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Marcus Stroman is walking more hitters this year and is bleeding velocity month over month. He’s never been overpowering as a pitcher, but the diminished velocity is worrisome. He has the second-worst FIP among qualified starters. After being one of the best ground-ball pitchers of his generation, Stroman has by far the highest fly-ball rate of his career this season. Last season with the Chicago Cubs, Stroman had a 21.9 percent fly-ball rate. It’s up to 34.5 percent this season.
Gil had an excellent bounce-back performance on Sunday but the Yankees are expected to reduce his workload at some point since he’s pitching for the first time since since Tommy John surgery in May 2022.
There’s no reason to have concern over Cole’s starts so far. He should return to form, but if he doesn’t, it’ll be difficult for this team to win in October. Nestor Cortes has been a constant bright spot for the Yankees this season, which has been a bit overlooked.
Bullpen
Panic meter: 10
Yankees closer Clay Holmes was named an American League All-Star, but it was a puzzling decision. Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen and Baltimore Orioles closer Craig Kimbrel have better numbers than Holmes. A case could be made that Luke Weaver has been better than Holmes this season, but alas, the closer is headed for his second All-Star Game appearance with the Yankees.
Smooth Operator 🙌 pic.twitter.com/5lt5fUv0ry
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 6, 2024
Holmes has now allowed at least one run in five of his past seven appearances, including blowing Friday’s game after giving up a two-run home run to Masataka Yoshida. Holmes pitches to contact, and this is the risk you take with batted-ball luck. It hasn’t reached the point of the Yankees needing to change closers but there’s not much confidence lately when he takes the mound. He still has the stuff to return to being one of MLB’s best.
Weaver has been spectacular this season and turned out to be a home run free-agent signing. Michael Tonkin has been a quality pickup off of waivers, too. Tommy Kahnle, before giving up a two-run home run on Friday, looked great. But those four aren’t enough for October.
Caleb Ferguson has been a dud. The Yankees hope someone in their latest revolving door of options including Tim Hill, Josh Maciejewski and Jake Cousins could stick. But this is a clear area of need for the Yankees at the deadline. Scott Effross is expected back soon. Ian Hamilton and Nick Burdi should be back at some point, too. Ideally, they need to acquire two more quality relievers to shore up the bullpen.
(Photo of Anthony Volpe: Vincent Carchietta / USA Today)
