Aaron Judge MIA while Yankees offense struggles

MINNEAPOLIS — The Yankees entered Tuesday night with a foundering offense.

Counting Monday night’s 6-1 loss to the Twins, that made it 33 combined runs in their previous 11 games — including six runs in their last four games — with the bats not producing more than three runs in nine games of the stretch.

And it is not a coincidence that the down period coincides with Aaron Judge’s first slump of the season.

Since collecting two hits April 11 in a victory over Cleveland, which gave Judge a .341 batting average and 1.075 OPS, the outfielder, going into Tuesday night, was in a 6-for-41 skid with two homers and a .607 OPS in 12 games.  

“Feeling good,” Judge said after going 1-for-4 with a double Monday. “Got a couple of pitches to drive my last at-bat [Monday] and rolled over, but we’re in a good position. I think the biggest thing is swinging at strikes, getting good pitches to hit, and when you get good pitches to hit, you’re going to do some damage.”

Every player, even those who go on to winning batting titles, goes through the kind of slump Judge came into Tuesday night in; multiple times, in fact, during the marathon that is the 162-game regular season. Nothing unusual there.

But some slumps are magnified more than others and Judge’s happens to be taking place during a time the Yankees’ lineup is particularly vulnerable.  

As one rival AL scout said: “[Giancarlo] Stanton being out certainly hasn’t helped. But in the end, just look at what they’re sending out there at the bottom [part of the lineup]. Only so much you can do with guys like that.”

Stanton, who was off to a solid start, hitting .269 with four homers and an .854 OPS will be out for at least the next six weeks, and likely longer, with a Grade 2 hamstring strain.  

As for the bottom of the lineup, it hasn’t been pretty.

Monday night it was rightfielder Franchy Cordero hitting sixth, followed by leftfielder Oswaldo Cabrera, catcher Jose Trevino and centerfielder Aaron Hicks. The quartet combined to go 1-for-15 (Trevino had the hit).

Going into Tuesday night Cordero, after a blistering start to his Yankees’ career, had cooled, hitting .144 with four homers, which came in his first seven games, and a .665 OPS in 15 games total. Cabrera is hitting .211 with one homer and a .526 OPS while Trevino is hitting .208 with one homer and a .553 OPS. Hicks, who performed far better on the road a year ago than at home, so far is hitting .107 with no homers and a .301 OPS.

After a first five of Anthony Volpe, Anthony Rizzo, Judge, DJ LeMahieu and Willie Calhoun, Boone on Tuesday went with Oswald Peraza, Cordero, Trevino and Hicks as his final four. Peraza, who started at second as Gleyber Torres had the night off, came in hitting .200 with no homers and a .568 OPS.

Though Judge said he was feeling good at the plate, he wasn’t separating himself from the offense’s difficulties.

“I think it really starts with everyone’s first at-bats, being ready, myself included,” Judge said. “Pop up a pitch [in the first inning Monday] that I should be driving. But as the game goes, we have to be watching the pitcher, we have to be watching the adjustments he’s making to us. It’s a chess match out there.”

Boone agreed with his captain.

“I think it’s important to have that aggressive mindset, while also maintaining that DNA of controlling the zone and making it really difficult on pitchers but having that mindset,” Boone said Tuesday. “Really, just developing that plan, not only team-wise but individually of what you’re looking to do and going up there and looking for what you can do some damage with and having that conviction. Maybe we can be a little better at that right now.”