The New York Yankees have recently become MLB’s punching bag. Sure, the Chicago White Sox are likely the worst team in the majors, but the Yankees’ season has gotten out of hand since mid-June. Despite being the first club to achieve 50 wins, the Yankees had an eight-series losing streak and lost first place in the AL East.
The Yankees hoped to put the disastrous first half of the season behind them, leveraging their return from the All-Star break to begin a new chapter. They got off to a terrific start, defeating the rival Tampa Bay Rays 6-1 thanks to a remarkable performance from starting pitcher Gerrit Cole.
Former Yankee Luis Severino’s words, however, drew the most attention.
Severino, now with the Mets, stated on Friday that his former Yankees teammates were taunting him in a group chat, stating he was “afraid” to face them in the Subway Series. Severino then admitted that he informed them the Yankees “have two good hitters.” That was, of course, referring to Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. Severino was joking, but his words carried over to the Yankees’ postgame news conference.
One reporter questioned manager Aaron Boone about Severino’s comments. Boone stated that the team is now leading the league in runs scored, but added, “Hopefully we can answer him.”
“Lets see where the dust settles when we’re all said and done,” Boone announced. “Add it all up, we’ve had our ups and downs, but I believe we’re around the top of the league in terms of runs scored. I watched how Sevy stated it…hopefully we can respond to him.”
Aaron Boone defends Yankees lineup after Luis Severino jokes team only has ‘two good hitters’
Boone is not exaggerating with his figures. As of this writing, the Yankees have scored a total of 494 runs this season. That is the most by any team in the majors. That can be due to their impressive start to the season.
In June, the Yankees scored 152 runs in 27 games, the third most in the majors. Despite the downturn that began after the middle of the month, the numbers remain good. However, in July, the Yankees scored 57 runs in 13 games, tying for the 18th most in the majors. So there’s a huge drop.
Judge has been on fire this season, leading the league in home runs (34), RBI (85), on-base percentage (.433), slugging percentage (.679), and OPS (1.112). With these figures, Judge is the overwhelming favorite to win the AL MVP this season.
Meanwhile, Soto is clearly the Yankees’ second-best hitter, as proven by his.295/.426/.558 batting line, 23 home runs, 66 RBI, 75 runs.
The problem is that the rest of the Yankees’ lineup is far from impressive. Alex Verdugo experienced a downturn in June. Gleyber Torres isn’t putting up the same numbers as in the past. D.J. LeMahieu struggles to get extra-base hits and tends to ground into double plays. Anthony Volpe fell into a troubling slump following a great start to his sophomore season.
There is hope, with rookie Ben Rice and backup catcher Austin Wells truly coming into their own and giving the Yankees an offensive boost recently.
With the trade deadline on July 30, the Yankees have an opportunity to enhance their batting order. Yes, the total number of runs scored has been consistent with the current Yankees squad. However, with the club in a rut, they need to make significant changes to make a deep run to the World Series for the first time since 2009.
But for now, Boone will demonstrate that his appraisal of the team is true.
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