For a couple of weeks, it looked like the Yankees would never lose again – but alas, their true colors are returning.
The Yankees have been super streaky all year long, and after their best streak of the year, the Yankees have now lost seven of their last nine games.
In that span, they are averaging just 3.56 runs a game while scoring seven twice (but both of those instances were 8-7 losses). On Monday, they were shut out.
“Today wasn’t a very good day for us, obviously,” manager Aaron Boone said after the loss. “[Hyun-Jin] Ryu had a big part in that… but we gotta get it rolling offensively. We gotta do better than that.”
Joey Gallo was one of the Yankees’ big trade deadline acquisitions, and while Yankee fans had to deal with a home run-or-strikeout player, he’s been worse what they had hoped for.
He does have a couple of clutch homers, but, while still getting his walks, his slashline as a Yankee is a measly .130/.291/.325 in 35 games.
A slump is one thing, but it’s now almost five weeks of bad offense. At this point, Boone thinks the two-time All-Star is now trying a bit too hard.
“I feel like for most of the time he’s been here, even when he hasn’t been getting a lot of hits, it’s those at-bats, I feel like he’s on a lot of pitches, I feel like he’s recognizing a lot of pitches. I do feel like in the last few games, maybe chasing the result a little bit, expanding more than he normally would, kind of wanting the result, wanting to get a hit instead of controlling that process of putting together a really good at-bat, which is what is a calling card for him, is the ability to work a tough at-bat. Gotta make sure he continues to focus on that and not so much the result.”
It’s not just Gallo, though – Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are a combined 0 for their last 24 with one walk.
Of course, those two just got done basically carrying the team through July and August, and “that’s gonna happen over a few games,” Boone said, but with less than a month left in the season, the Yankees simply can’t afford to be in one of their bad streaks that sometimes seems never-ending.
“We need to dig ourselves out of this little funk we’ve been in for a week and get that opportunity tomorrow. … We will pull out of it, but we need to get it going.”