NEW YORK — Not much felt different to Nestor Cortes. The New York Yankees’ starting pitcher was standing before reporters in the clubhouse at Yankee Stadium. It was mostly quiet, save for light music playing over the speakers. Players milled about, changing out of their uniforms and into street clothes, chatting.
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But the Yankees, who had been so impressive to start the season, were skidding, having lost seven of their past 10 games. They had dropped three series in a row to the Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves, respectively. Despite Sunday’s 3-1 loss to Atlanta, they remained 1 1/2 games ahead of the Orioles for first place in the American League East with Baltimore on a three-game losing streak.
Cortes was optimistic.
“Nobody’s hanging their heads,” he said. “Nobody’s panicking here. Just a rough patch in 162 games you’re going to go through. We just have to figure out a way out of it.”
"Nobody's hanging their heads, nobody's panicking."
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— YES Network (@YESNetwork) June 23, 2024
Cortes’ assessment was reasonable. Though the All-Star break is still weeks away, the team has built itself a nice cushion. Though its starting pitching hiccuped last week, it has been mostly great, and ace Gerrit Cole will make just his second start of the season Tuesday against the New York Mets. And Juan Soto and Aaron Judge are still perhaps the best duo in the majors.
Still, though things have gone mostly well on the whole and the panic button should stay untouched, the Yankees need to figure out some problems. Here are three.
Filling in for Giancarlo Stanton
The Yankees are going to badly miss Stanton. His 120 OPS+ was the third best on the team among hitters with at least 25 plate appearances, behind Judge (209) and Soto (181). He had been on a heater of late, slashing .288/.358/.521 over his past 19 games. Perhaps he was about to get even hotter.
With Stanton out, everyday at-bats will go to Trent Grisham, a stellar defender in center field who has never been much of a hitter. Even if you toss out that he’s hitting just .138 this season because his 65 at-bats have been scattered, he still had a career OPS+ of 95 before this season. That’s a major drop-off.
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Other players will have to step up, but who? The answer should be Gleyber Torres, but he had hit just .197 since the start of June (19 games) to go along with the rest of his terrible season (83 OPS+) at the plate going into Sunday. The Yankees can’t ask more of Judge or Soto. The team needs Anthony Volpe to continue to focus on setting the table for Soto and Judge, not driving in runs.
Not having around slugging prospect Jasson Domínguez, who strained his lat last week, was just rotten luck. And nobody else appears particularly ready to contribute from Triple A.
The infield corners
Adding J.D. Davis from the Oakland Athletics could be another shrewd move by the Yankees. Yes, Oakland is terrible, and yes, it tossed Davis to the DFA (designated for assignment) scrap heap. What would the Yankees want with him? Well, he’s been good against lefties this season, hitting .265 with a .795 OPS in 37 plate appearances against them, and his career OPS against left-handed pitching is .779.
Third base and first base have been terrible offensive positions for the Yankees. At third base, DJ LeMahieu and crew had combined for a 78 wRC+ going into Sunday, 26th in MLB. At first base, Anthony Rizzo (put on the 60-day injured list retroactive to June 17)and the rest had been nearly as bad with an 86 wRC+, 24th in the game.
As far as we can tell, this is the Yankees’ plan. They’re going to hope a Ben Rice/Davis platoon at first base livens things up and that LeMahieu (.465 OPS in 65 at-bats) turns it around. Probably not the most encouraging thought for Yankees fans.
The back of the bullpen
The Yankees are in a weird spot. Their 3.39 ERA for relievers is fifth in baseball, but take a look at their leaders in games pitched:
1. Clay Holmes, 34 games with a 2.45 ERA
2. Caleb Ferguson, 31 games with a 5.47 ERA
3. Luke Weaver, 29 games with a 2.62 ERA
4. Victor González, 27 games with a 3.86 ERA (DFA’d on Thursday)
5. Ian Hamilton, 27 games with a 4.55 ERA (went on the IL on June 18 and won’t be ready until maybe August)
6. Dennis Santana, 23 games with a 6.26 ERA (DFA’d on June 9)
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Michael Tonkin (1.07 ERA, 19 games) has been a revelation. Tommy Kahnle (3.48 ERA, 13 games) has been up and down.
The Yankees are piecing it together behind Weaver and Holmes, who before throwing a scoreless ninth inning Sunday had been shaky of late, allowing five earned runs and nine hits over his previous four appearances. They keep sending down Ron Marinaccio (2.84 ERA, 13 games) because he’s one of the few 40-man roster relievers with a minor-league option remaining. They hope their gambles on Phil Bickford and Tim Hill pay off, but that can’t feel reassuring, especially as their bullpen sits just 19th in strikeouts with 255.
(Photo of Trent Grisham: Wendell Cruz / USA Today)
Brendan Kuty is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering the New York Yankees and MLB. He has covered the Yankees since 2014, most recently as a beat reporter for NJ Advance Media. Brendan was honored to receive the 2022 New Jersey Sportswriter of the Year award from the National Sports Media Association. He attended William Paterson University and the County College of Morris, and he is from Hopatcong, N.J.
