June 13, 2023
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Sal Maiorana, a friend of the site, will be sharing some of his thoughts on the Yankees here on SSTN.
For honest, unfiltered analysis on the New York Yankees, you can subscribe to Sal Maiorana's free Pinstripe People Newsletter at https://salmaiorana.beehiiv.com/subscribe.
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Without Aaron Judge, the Yankees Offense is Flat Out Terrible
Series loss to the Red Sox showed there isn't a single player the Yankees can count on.
I’m warning you right now, read at your own peril, but you know I’m going to tell it like it is, and this series really pissed me off because not only did the Yankees lose two of three to the Red Sox, they were just so incredibly feeble and aggravating on offense all weekend.
Right now, the Yankees are as unwatchable as any team in baseball, and if you think I’m crazy, then I will assume you did not see that absolute disaster on Sunday Night Baseball which ended in a 3-2 loss to the Red Sox.
I’m not sure a team can be any worse on offense than the Yankees were Sunday night, but really, that’s been the case from the moment Aaron Judge stubbed his toe in Los Angeles. We may look back on that unfortunate incident as the moment when this season began its slow descent into the land of six feet under because this team is terrible without him, and he’s not going to be playing for a while so the ugliness is far from over.
It is absolutely amazing that in a sport where 10 men are in the lineup each and every night and the nine guys in the batting order all have an equal opportunity to help the team win - one of the many reasons why baseball is the best game - that one missing player can make such a difference, but that’s the case with Judge.
This season, the Yankees are now 8-10 when Judge doesn’t play, and they average 3.3 runs per game. I actually thought it was worse when I was looking that up. With Judge in the lineup, they’re 30-19 and average 5.0 runs per game. Shohei Ohtani is a two-way player who is a star pitcher and a star hitter, but the Angels would not miss him more than the Yankees miss Judge.
It just further illuminates how weak this roster is that Brian Cashman put together. Look at these lineups that they’re using on a nightly basis, and to be honest, even with Judge healthy, the lineup is still filled with guys who are either past their time of usefulness, or are never going to be useful. The difference is his presence, like a tide, raises all boats.
His absence is crushing this team and making matters worse, the so-called core players, the veterans who are supposed to pick up the slack, have been the worst players on the team.
On this now-concluded ugly 2-4 homestand, the Yankees scored 17 runs including just seven against the Red Sox. On the homestand, Anthony Rizzo went 0-for-19, and taking it back to when he hurt his neck against the Padres, he’s 1-for-30; Gleyber Torres was 4-for-20; DJ LeMahieu was 3-for-15; Giancarlo Stanton was 1-for-14; and Josh Donaldson was 2-for-18. It’s somewhat of a miracle that they won two games last week, but that was only because their pitching remains strong and is keeping them in every game.
It would seem impossible to have so many guys in such ruts at the same time, but here we are, living it. And it’s not like anyone else is doing much of anything. Anthony Volpe has been in a putrid 7-for-65 slide and it might be time for him to go to Scranton and figure things out because the kid is lost. Oswaldo Cabrera has stunk all season, and while Willie Calhoun, Jake Bauers and Billy McKinney have had their moments, come on, what are we talking about here? The Yankees aren’t going anywhere with those guys playing every night.
The Yankees production from left field, third base, shortstop and catcher is among the very worst in MLB. Four positions where they get almost nothing on a daily basis. As a team, the Yankees now have an on-base percentage of .301 which is better than only the 18-47 Royals, the 29-38 White Sox, and the 26-37 Tigers. Nice company to keep there, huh? The A’s, who are 17-50 but have won five in a row, are at .307. Think about that for a second. They’re getting on base more frequently than the Bronx Bums.
The Yankees are such a mess, they almost lost a player in live batting practice before Sunday’s game. Carlos Rodon, who provided proof that he actually exists, was throwing and he hit Calhoun on the elbow with a fastball. Calhoun was clearly stung and went right into the clubhouse for treatment. Thankfully, he was fine and able to play in the game, not that it mattered.
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For more on Sal, see this interview we conducted with him in 2021:
