Yankees, minus Aaron Judge, must play up to their pay checks
Yankees' Anthony Rizzo hits an RBI double off Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby in the first inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, June 20, 2023, in New York. Credit: AP/John Minchillo
Aaron Judge being a spectator for Tuesday’s early batting practice session, roughly five hours before first pitch, wasn’t so unusual, given that GM Brian Cashman refused to even speculate on the slugger’s return in a dugout briefing with the media.
What the reigning MVP witnessed, however, was not your typical pre-series tuneup in the Bronx. At a time of day usually reserved for backups and rookies to get some extra swings in, there was hitting coach Dillon Lawson, tutoring the likes of Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu and Josh Donaldson (yes, Anthony Volpe attended too).
As bad as the Yankees have looked at the plate recently — and it’s been terrible — at least they’re trying to solve the problem. Whether or not this malfunctioning lineup can be fixed, as long as Judge is still wearing a t-shirt and shorts, is another question entirely.
Later Tuesday night, the Yankees scraped together just enough offense to beat the Mariners, 3-1, so we’ll consider that progress, as far as Rizzo is concerned anyway. Rizzo, who was swatting balls off a tee earlier in the afternoon, had three of the team’s eight hits two doubles and a single, matching his total from the previous 11 games.
“This is part of the gig that you signed up to do,” Rizzo said afterward. “You know it’s not going to be all positive all of the time, so you just got to go through it.”
The Yankees' pathetic swoon in Judge’s absence is proving him to be vastly underpaid at $360 million, but it’s not like they can simply run on auto-pilot until his twice PRP-injected big toe is stable again. The rest of this roster is pulling in some big bucks, too. And at this stage of the season, more than five weeks from the trade deadline, Cashman and manager Aaron Boone need a few of these former All-Stars to play closer to their price tags.
Yet once again, the Yankees had to lean on journeyman outfielder Billy McKinney for the big blow, a two-run homer in the second inning that was set up by the newly-activated Harrison Bader’s single and stolen base. Gerrit Cole made sure McKinney’s heroics stood up with his solid 7 1/3 innings (8 Ks), which was fine for one night. But Donaldson and Giancarlo Stanton drew repeated boos for their combined 0-for-7 (3 Ks) in showing almost no sign of a pulse at the plate.
Those two have become a growing concern. Boone already benched one of his automatic outs Tuesday by sitting LeMahieu for the second time in three games and expected to do the same Wednesday. But how many sub-.200 hitters can he start on any given night with Stanton, Donaldson and Volpe all sliding below the Mendoza Line?
Also, in years past, the Yankees’ success was built on controlling the strike zone, but that’s not the case now. Last season, they finished with a .325 on-base percentage, tied for the fourth-best in MLB. This year, their .298 OBP is third-worst, better than only the Royals and White Sox. Given that drastic plunge, Cashman was asked before Tuesday’s game about the deterioration.
“Am I happy with their approach? I’m happy with their commitment. I’m happy with their care. And ultimately I know I’ll be happy with their end results. But right now obviously we’re struggling. We just got to fight through it.”
This is Cashman’s $292 million roster. He’s got no other choice but to have faith in this group, and it would be an astonishing meltdown if all of this aging crew washed out simultaneously. Boone steadfastly refuses to point fingers, but the Yankees also can’t dodge taking action, hence the sitting of LeMahieu.The manager suggested it was sort of a mental re-set for the two-time batting champ, and the Yankees may have to start handing those out more.
“I think he’s grinding through it,” Boone said of LeMahieu. “Diving into a lot of video. As I tell him, he’s got the hit tool, right?”
Ideally, yeah. But track records aren’t a forever guarantee of future success. There’s no solutions for a team-wide malaise, and also really no point for picking on Volpe, who by hitting .211 (8-for-38) puts him closer to the head of this disappointing class. Cashman reiterated Tuesday that he has no intention of demoting the 22-year-old shortstop, despite Oswald Peraza’s success at Triple-A Scranton, but that comes off as stubborn rather than any sound baseball logic.
If this was somebody without the Volpe name or hype, he would’ve been RailRider weeks ago. Putting his development aside, just the fact that Volpe has options makes him one of the rare spots that Cashman has flexibility with, and change for the sake of change can be a spark on occasion. Apparently, the Yankees aren’t there yet.
“Right now, obviously we need our offense to do better,” Cashman said. “But ultimate we’re not relying, per se, on one of the rookies to be filling in a gap, so to speak.”
Cashman will take anyone at this point. For Tuesday, it was Rizzo and McKinney. The Yankees are going to need a lot more.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
