No offense but, the problem recently is …no offense. The Yankee offense has scored a total of 4 runs in 3 August games. You say, that is too small of a sample size? That may be true but the July slash lines were not good either .237 BA / .313 OnBase % / .400 Slugging. What has become apparent is just how dependent the Yankee offense is on their rookie right fielder. Aaron Judge is hitting .164 BA since the All-Star break. He has struck out at least once in 21 straight games (a Yankee franchise record). Some are pointing to the Home Run Derby as the reason for the slump. I understand why there is a prevailing thought that the home run contest can mess-up a hitters mechanics. Sluggers can become top-hand dominant and ‘pull happy” due to the HRD. But that was not the case with Judge. He sprayed the ball gap to gap in the derby. Check out his spray chart
However, I do think the All-Star festivities did have something to do with Aaron Judge’s drop-off since the mid-summer classic. The long season is a grind for rookies, and instead of a much needed rest during the break, he expended an enormous amount of energy.
There are two issues with Judge in my opinion. He’s fatigued due to the long season, and because of it his bat is a bit slower. This is causing him to try to compensate by starting his bat quicker and is getting him into bad habits. I break down his successful approach in great detail in this column
Joe Girardi gave Judge the night off in the first game of the Cleveland series. Hopefully this gave time for Aaron to rest and hit the reset button on his approach.
Others need to step-up as well. Matt Holliday has struggled mightily since mid-June. He has not been the same since battling a viral infection. Holliday was the veteran leader that Judge, Sanchez & others looked to as a mentor. Todd Frazier was traded for the put up some power numbers at 3rd base. What concerns me is not just a team slump but a regression to a bad approach. I wrote a column in mid-march pointing out a positive change in philosophy called “Opposites Attract”. I noticed that hitters were going to the opposite field with regularity. They were hitting to all-fields. Unfortunately they have gotten away from it. The gap-to-gap approach was the main reason the Yankees were near the top of the league in every offensive category. Even with the month+ slump the Yanks are still ranked in the top 10 in every key category. 4th (out of 30 teams) in Runs Scored, 5th in On Base%, 6th in HRs , 8th in BA , 8th in Slugging.
Yankee management showed confidence in the team, making upgrades to the pitching staff. They also traded for Todd Frazier, but for the most part are depending on the current hitters to produce as they were earlier in the season. The time is now for the Yankee line-up to get back to basics, and start producing again. Time for the Yankee line-up to look in the mirror … no offense.
I feel confident they will.
As always,
GO NYY !!
