Yankees mean no offense . . . literally
Clint Frazier walks back to the Yankees' dugout after striking out during the fifth inning against the Detroit Tigers, Saturday, May 29, 2021. Credit: AP/Carlos Osorio
The Yankees don’t have any answers for their current offensive malaise, which is troubling enough. But we know this much: It’s excruciating to watch no matter the vantage point, whether it be the dugout bench or living room couch. And Saturday’s no-show performance was hard to make excuses for.
Everyone in road grays looked as if he had somewhere else to be, especially at the plate. No wonder Gary Sanchez headed off the field after the Yankees recorded only two outs in the eighth inning, with Albert Abreu gesturing wildly for him to get back behind the plate. The Yankees seemingly checked out long before that, and Sanchez’s brain cramp made it appear as if they were in a hurry to leave, too.
So on the same day MLB celebrated scoring its two millionth run, courtesy of the Twins’ Josh Donaldson, the Yankees would have popped champagne corks for a mere half-dozen, which was the number the Tigers settled for in handing them a second straight loss, this time by the score of 6-1.
At the current rate, it would take the Yankees another week to accrue that many runs, and the small sample size is growing steadily. Before Saturday, in their previous nine games, the Yankees averaged three runs, hitting .248 with five homers and a .342 slugging percentage during that stretch. They also were batting .211 with runners in scoring position (as compared to .244 for the season, 10th in the AL).
Saturday’s production, however, barely registered. Three singles, 12 strikeouts, 0-for-4 with RISP and six left on base. After the second inning, the Yankees had only two runners make it as far as second, and one doesn’t really count; Gary Sanchez got there on defensive indifference in ninth.
All that was missing from this lineup was the postage stamp. It just seemed as if the Yankees mailed this one in.
Despite appearances, Aaron Boone insisted he still was seeing the requisite urgency at the plate.
"I am," he said. "Look, any time offensively you don’t mount much, where you struggle to score runs, if always has that look of being flat. As long as we do this, it kind of has that look. I know these guys are preparing. I know how much they care. I know what they expect of themselves. So I know there’s a level of frustration that it’s not happening. We’ve just got to keep working at it."
Friday felt like rock bottom, as the Yankees needed 10 innings to push across a pair of runs — and one was ghost runner Aaron Judge, who started the 10th at second base (thanks, Rob Manfred). Even then, Judge advanced on a groundout and passed ball. Not exactly the Bronx Bombers we once knew.
On Saturday, Giancarlo Stanton and Gio Urshela took a seat, an ominous sign for a team without any bats to spare. Stanton struck out four times in Friday’s return from a 13-game absence because of a quadriceps strain, so maybe a load-management day wasn’t the worst idea for him. Resting Urshela was not health-related, just a breather, but the Yankees again were left gasping at the plate.
As bad as 0-for-10 with RISP looked Friday night, doing even less against Tigers starter Spencer Turnbull and four relievers was difficult to explain. Detroit’s pitching staff entered Saturday with a 4.48 ERA, which ranked 11th in the AL, and a 1.36 WHIP (12th). Yet Turnbull, who threw a no-hitter earlier this month, gave up just three singles during his 5 2/3-inning stay as the Yankees squandered their best — and what turned out to be final — scoring chance in the second.
Give the Yankees credit for staying on brand. After Turnbull appeared ready to hand this game over by sandwiching a pair of walks around Sanchez’s single — loading the bases with none out — Miguel Andujar did him a huge favor by bouncing into a double play, No. 50 on the season, which leads the majors.
That gave the Yankees a run, but they never got closer than second base the rest of the way. DJ LeMahieu was the only Yankee to legitimately make it that far after his leadoff single in the sixth was followed by Gleyber Torres’ two-out hit.
"The bottom line is we’ve got to be better," Boone said. "If we’re going to be the team we expect to be, a lot of that’s built around what we expect to be offensively, and there’s no question that has to improve. I believe that it will improve, but we’ve got to continue to work and make sure we’re making the necessary adjustments each and every day to get to that point."
If it’s any consolation to Boone, things probably can’t get any worse from an offensive standpoint. But that’s what everyone probably thought Friday night, too.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
