Yankees believe they will snap out of their malaise because of their track record
Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez stands on second base after his two-run double against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, June 6, 2021. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
To a man, the Yankees think they are better than a fourth-place, 31-29 team. They think they are better than the team that went 2-5 against the Rays and Red Sox this week at home, with the final three games the first sweep by Boston in the Bronx in a decade.
Talk can be cheap, but the Yankees aren’t, not with more than a $200-million payroll. But going into the start of a three-city, eight-game road trip on Tuesday in Minnesota, all the Yankees have right now is talk because they’re not getting it done on the field, where they've lost 10 of 13.
"An awful week for us," manager Aaron Boone said after the Yankees’ 6-5, 10-inning loss to the Red Sox on Sunday night.
Those comments echoed the ones Boone made last month after the Yankees were swept in a three-game series in Detroit. Boone called the final game "a bad ending to a terrible weekend."
So Boone doesn’t mince words when it comes to describing how the Yankees are playing at a particular moment. But he and his players also refuse to back down from the notion that the Yankees are super talented and are going to work their way out of this mess through sheer hard work.
"We’re a really good team," catcher Gary Sanchez said through an interpreter late Sunday night. "I believe in my teammates and I believe in the time that we have [left in the season]. I know we haven’t gotten the results we wanted, but I know — I’m confident — that we’re definitely going to get over this hump here and we’re going to start playing the baseball we want."
On Tuesday, the Yankees play the first of three games in Minneapolis against the disappointing Twins, who are 24-35. Then they travel to Philadelphia for a two-game interleague series against former manager Joe Girardi and the Phillies before heading to Buffalo to play a division rival, the Toronto Blue Jays, for three games.
The Yankees are 14-21 against the American League East this season, including losses in their first three meetings of 2021 with the Red Sox over the weekend.
"It’s tough getting swept at home, especially against your rival, but a lot of guys showed a lot of heart," Aaron Judge said. "Build off that into the off day and into our next couple of series."
Can that really be done?
"Always," Judge said. "That’s what championship teams do. They get tested. They get hit in the mouth. It’s about how you respond. What I saw from these guys tonight, collectively, every guy that went up to the plate, every guy that came in out of that bullpen . . . everybody was ready to go fight. You’ve just to build off that.
"You know it’s tough — us getting swept. Big loss like that, especially in extra innings, it’s always tough and it takes a little time to kind of recover from that, watch the film and kind of move on. But I know every guy in that clubhouse is going to be ready to go after the off day in Minnesota."
Last week, Boone was asked why he has such faith in his players.
"You’ve seen the guys on our team?" he answered.
Sanchez said pretty much the same thing in explaining his confidence that the best days are ahead of this year’s squad.
"It has to do with the history," he said. "The history, the talent that my teammates have. What I’ve seen them do over the years. I’ve played with them for a long, long time, so there’s no doubt that we’re going to be able to get out of it. I know we’ve had some losses here in the recent days, but for sure there’s no doubt in my mind and no concern. Eventually we’re going get through this."
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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