Friday night was a sticky, hot summer night — the type of night that keeps you from wanting to do anything besides splaying out on the couch in the cold embrace of the AC. These past two weeks have been the same, and to match the oppressive lethargy inherent in this kind of weather, the Yankees have been playing a lazy, languid, and uninspiring baseball. They have lost three of the past four series in frustrating fashion — two avoidable losses in extra-innings to the Dodgers and Orioles cost the Yankees those respective series.
The Yankees also suffered embarrassing blowouts to the Red Sox in Fenway and the Dodgers and Orioles at the Stadium. Friday was more of the same, with Chris Sale dominating the Yankees while the Braves’ offense hammered Carlos Rodón to put the game away almost from the start (though the Yanks at least rebounded with a win yesterday). There’s no denying that the Yankees have glaring holes in their roster that need to be filled.
There will no doubt be an incoming flurry of articles and blogs that will point those holes out. Yet this uninspiring stretch of baseball is not the end of the season, not by a long shot. Here are a couple of reasons why I think the Yankees will break out of this slump soon.
First, the Yankees lineup is still one of the deepest in the game. Six players — Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Volpe, Jose Trevino, and Alex Verdugo — have an OPS+ over 100. Only the Dodgers and Orioles have more.
It’s tru.
