Yankees beaten up and struggling offensively
Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe returns to the dugout after he lined out against the Blue Jays during the ninth inning of an MLB game at Yankee Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Yankees scored only five runs overall in losing two of three to the Blue Jays this weekend. They scored only 32 runs in their 5-5 homestand, managing no more than three in eight of the 10 games.
Injuries to Giancarlo Stanton, Harrison Bader and Josh Donaldson have left the club with a top-heavy lineup, and only Bader is nearing a return. He went 0-for-3 in his second rehab game for Double-A Somerset on Sunday.
The Yankees enter this week’s road trip to Minnesota and Arlington, Texas, with a 13-9 record. Given that they have 10 key players on the injured list and are struggling offensively, that has to be considered a good mark.
“We’re beat up,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I mean, there's no denying that. That said, I think the guys have played really, really well.”
The Yankees' lineup in Sunday's 5-1 loss to the Blue Jays included a bottom four of Oswaldo Cabrera, Oswald Peraza, Kyle Higashioka and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. When you throw in leadoff man Anthony Volpe, who went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and is batting .188, the Yankees had four natural shortstops in the order in Volpe, Cabrera, Peraza and Kiner-Falefa. But none of those four have a batting average higher than Cabrera’s .224 or an OPS greater than Volpe’s .636.
Higashioka, who struck out in all three of his at-bats and is hitting .167, said: “We’ve still won a decent amount. Today was definitely a little disappointing. I thought we saw some decent pitches to hit. Me, especially, I saw some good pitches to hit . . . I did not have good at-bats.”
Rodon update
Carlos Rodon, whose rehab from a forearm injury has been slowed by a back issue, played catch. Boone said imaging on Rodon’s back came out “fine . . . hopefully continue with the throwing program throughout the week and hopefully the back [issue] continues to subside. But I don't think it's anything major, like structurally or from a test standpoint.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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