Aaron Boone, Yankees downplay their offensive struggles

DETROIT — If this continues much longer, the Yankees might have to fire Marcus Thames again.

Thames, the club’s hitting coach from 2018-21, was among those who paid the price for last season’s roller-coaster offensive ride as his contract wasn’t renewed (he technically wasn’t fired, but that’s a distinction without a difference).

The former big-leaguer, who was immensely popular in the clubhouse and soon was hired by the Marlins as their hitting coach, was not seen as quite new-world-order enough when it came to analytics — though he was far from dismissive of them — and became the latest in a long line of individuals to be tossed overboard by the organization for questioning a department that is neither desirous nor particularly tolerant of behind-the-scenes pushback.

He was replaced by Dillon Lawson, the well-regarded hitting coach with     Triple-A Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre who was deemed a better fit for the direction the club has taken in recent years.

But to this point, the offense looks suspiciously like the underperforming 2021 group.

Through 10 games, the Yankees (5-5) are hitting .229 with 10 homers and a .677 OPS. They’ve struck out 92 times in 328 at-bats.

Through 10 games in 2021, the Yankees (5-5) were hitting .232 with 11 homers and a .692 OPS with 90 strikeouts in 336 at-bats.

As for hitting with runners in scoring position, the 2022 Yankees are 15-for-79 (.190) compared to 17-for-76 (.224) in 2021.

The Yankees scored six runs in 29 innings against the Orioles this past weekend, and four of the runs came in one inning. In the last eight games, they have scored 20 runs.

“It just looks like there’s no plan,” a National League scout said. “It looks like it’s all or nothing. Like it’s ‘we’re going to try and hit the ball as far as we absolutely can.’ There’s no adjustments.”

Aaron Boone has insisted that the start is an aberration and that any similarities to the 2021 offense are overblown. He pointed to a far more balanced lineup — starting at the 2021 trade deadline, the Yankees finally acknowledged that their righthanded-hitting-heavy group was too easy for opponents to navigate — and the resumes of players who are expected to bounce back after poor seasons a year ago.

“I just think ultimately we’re made up a little bit differently,” said Boone, whose team will start a three-game series against the Tigers on Tuesday night at a frigid Comerica Park (first-pitch temperature is forecast to be about 40 degrees). “We have a few guys that are swinging it pretty well and off to pretty good starts. But I’m going to bet on the track record of a few other guys that are going to have the kind of seasons we’re used to . . . I don’t get too emotional over a few games where you could start beating the drum a certain way. I am confident this offense will be what [it] should be. But we’ve got to get it rolling.”

Gleyber Torres is among those who has not done that, hitting .161 with one homer and a .552 OPS and looking much like his 2021 self, which is not a good thing. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has shown recent signs of breaking out but is at .214 with a .553 OPS. After a standout spring training in which he hit seven homers, Kyle Higashioka is hitting .120 with a .280 OPS. Joey Gallo is at .138/.424 and Josh Donaldson is at .200/.581. Donaldson, Giancarlo Stanton, Gallo and Aaron Judge have struck out 49 times in 142 at-bats and the team has hit into 10 double plays.

Only Aaron Hicks (.333/.882) and DJ LeMahieu (.321/.924) have gotten off to good starts. Judge (.257/.779) and Stanton (.263/.722 with eight RBIs) have been OK. Anthony Rizzo is 1-for-13 in the last four games and is hitting .212, although he does have three homers, eight RBIs and an .896 OPS.

“No worries there,” LeMahieu said Friday of the team’s difficulties to this point with runners in scoring position. “I don’t think we’ve played to our capabilities yet, but we’re getting there.”

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.