With the New York Yankees under scrutiny following a 9-19 skid, starting pitcher Nestor Cortes responded with a feisty tweet during the All-Star Game.
“Everyone talks down about the Yanks, but they want to be us. It is a luxury to wear pinstripes. Every year, we are in contention. “I’m grateful to be able to compete for a playoff spot and always be contenders at the end,” Cortes posted on X on July 16.
Despite their dismal monthlong stretch, the Yankees are still in contention, and Cortes, in his second tenure with New York, has made the playoffs in three of his four seasons there.
The Yankees’ Offense Has Struggled
In July, the Yankees’ offense ranked 19th in runs scored. They ranked in the top ten in April, May, and June. However, their pitching has suffered in comparison to the early half of the season. In April, they had a 3.22 team ERA. In May, they had the league’s top ERA of 2.37. However, in June, they had an ERA of 5.27. Halfway through July, their ERA is 3.63.
The Yankees have been blown out ten times this season. Six of those cases occurred after June 12.
National media outlets, including as ESPN, have focused on the Yankees’ troubles. However, the big picture shows that, despite their recent struggles, they are only one game behind the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. They have the third best record in the American League, trailing only the Cleveland Guardians and the Orioles.
Cortes said that the Yankees are still “in contention” despite their downturn. Cortes is in his second stint with the Yankees. He played for the Seattle Mariners in 2020 before rejoining the team. Except for 2023, the Yankees have made the postseason every year since Cortes joined the team.
The club made it to the American League Championship Series in both 2019 and 2022. They lost the 2021 Wild Card Game against the Boston Red Sox.
Cortes made only 12 starts in 2023, while Aaron Judge missed 42 games between June 4 and July 28. Even in what general manager Brian Cashman described as a “disaster” season, the Yankees were not officially eliminated from the playoffs until September 24.
Brian Cashman’s Thoughts on the Trade Deadline and Struggles
Cashman told reporters on July 9 that the organization will “be open-minded to a lot of different things” before the July 30 trade deadline.
“We definitely have areas to improve upon and we’ll do our best to do so,” Cashman said investors.
In 2022, the Yankees started 61-23 before finishing under.500. Finally, they were swept by the eventual World Series winner Houston Astros. If the Yankees do not improve, this season could be similar to the last.
“Thankfully, we got out of the gates really strong, so hopefully that cushion will allow us to work through this, hopefully sooner than later, because it’s gone on long enough,” Cashman told the crowd.
Brian Cashman met with @M_Marakovits and the rest of the media earlier today, to discuss the state of the Yankees. #YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/ZCREbKbzSj
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 9, 2024
In 2022, the Yankees attempted to right the ship by acquiring Andrew Benintendi, Frankie Montas, and Harrison Bader. These additions did not produce the outcomes the Yankees had hoped for, but 2024 may be a different story.
The score is 58-40 at the All-Star break. After a 49-21 start, they faltered into the Midsummer Classic. They’ve lost 19 of their last 28 games, and their offense has been struggling for quite some time. Playing in one of the country’s largest markets, the problems have received media attention. Nestor Cortes resorted to social media to confront the hatred around the Yankees.
Leave a Reply