Yankees have a mound of trouble as pitching continues to let them down
Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia (L) makes his way into the dugout after being relived during the fifth inning of the MLB baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in Boston, on July 27, 2019. Credit: EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/CJ GUNTHER
BOSTON — Panic City?
Sandy Alderson’s clever term always seemed a better fit for the other New York team, but it’s now feeling that way lately around the Yankees, who are coming as close to a crisis as a first-place club can get, even one that’s still 28 games over .500.
What’s happened to them during this Hell Week is not something that you just chalk up to the typical ebb-and-flow of a 162-game season. Not when it’s the Yankees, and not when they were supposed to be on cruise control until October.
Instead, the Yankees have found themselves mired in an historically terrible stretch after the Red Sox delivered another beatdown Saturday by the relatively close score of 9-5 at Fenway Park. We say close because at least they kept it to single digits. The Yankees have allowed at least seven runs in seven straight games for a whopping total of 73 during that span -- and both are firsts in franchise history.
Plenty of bad teams have put on the pinstripes. So the fact that these Yankees now own such an embarrassing distinction speaks to some potentially deeper cracks in the foundation, and it’s no secret where to look. After Saturday’s loss, all you had to do was see pitching coach Larry Rothschild standing in the middle of the clubhouse, his back up against a support pillar.
The spot is used for postgame interviews in Fenway Park’s cramped visitors' clubhouse, but with Rothschild standing there, it had a courtroom vibe, and he was the one on trial. To add further context, Rothschild rarely does group interviews in this fashion. But these are special circumstances, with the rotation in flames and the bullpen at risk of catching fire itself, so Rothschild was trotted out to give responses to questions. We’re not sure anyone has answers right now.
“It’s not one thing,” he said. “It’s different things for different guys. It’s been really tough, but it’s my responsibility to get it right.”
While we appreciated Rothschild stepping up, he’s not babysitting a bunch of rookies on this staff. There are all established, veteran, previously successful starters in the Yankees’ rotation -- with the exception of Domingo German, who has outperformed all the others.
On Saturday, the Yankees turned to CC Sabathia, the team’s de facto captain, and the best he could do was keep the game somewhat competitive into the fifth.
Sabathia’s 4 1/3-inning effort was the longest by a Yankees starter since the previous Saturday, so kudos for that. But the Red Sox still ripped him for nine hits and five runs, including a Pesky Pole homer by Andrew Benintendi and a not-so-cheap Monster blast by J.D. Martinez. The Yankees were down by only 5-3 when Sabathia was pulled, but the Sox kept piling on from there against a bullpen that is becoming less formidable the more it’s used. Just like any ordinary relief corps.
“Now we’re using [high-leverage] guys just to get through games,” Rothschild said. “It’s a Catch-22 right now. It will turn, but it’s tough right now.”
The Twins and Red Sox certainly deserve some of the credit. They’re two of the top offensive teams in the sport, along with the Yankees, so they can dismantle a struggling staff like few others. The troubling part, however, is the futility. In their last 27 innings, the starting pitchers have allowed 57 runs (53 earned) with 61 hits, including 19 home runs. That’s a 17.67 ERA in that span.
“We’ve been the reason why we’ve been losing games,” Sabathia said.
Even the ’27 Yankees would get frustrated trying to overcome such a terrible pitching performance on a daily basis. And for all the adversity this 2019 squad has fought through, dealing with a total of 23 players on the injured list, this week has turned into a baffling, unsolvable challenge. Along with the rotation’s collapse, the Yankees put Gary Sanchez (groin strain) and Brett Gardner (knee inflammation) on the injured list, with DJ LeMahieu possibly about to join them after suffering his own groin issue in Friday night’s 10-5 loss.
Sanchez was struggling lately. Gardner was bound to need a break eventually. But LeMahieu has been the Yankees’ MVP, and the real chance of him landing on the IL for any period of time -- especially now -- is a scary thought.
Aaron Boone said LeMahieu won't be in Sunday’s starting lineup either as they re-evaluate him, and you’d have to think the Yankees want this condition resolved rather than risk a more serious injury by pushing him.
To make matters worse, everything is snowballing on the Yankees at Fenway Park, against a revived Red Sox team that suddenly has remembered they’re the defending world champs. You can bet the Sox will be smelling blood Sunday night, going for the sweep against German. And frankly, the Yankees don’t look as if they’re capable of preventing that right now.
“I don’t worry about the guys’ [ability to] fight and compete when they walk through those doors,” Boone said.
Maybe so. But the problems start once they step on the mound. And the concern is real.
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.
