June 19, 2023

The Yankee Way: Old and Underperforming

For the New York Yankees, going 2-6 in an eight-game stretch against the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets is about as bad as it gets. When looking at their offensive numbers, it is clear that things may be even worse than that record would indicate. The Yankee way begins with the captain, but the crew has been manning the stations without him of late. Since June 4, the first game after Aaron Judge‘s injury, the Yankees as a team are hitting .195 with an OPS of .599, both the worst in MLB. In the 23 games they have played without Judge this season, they are scoring 3.4 runs per game. For reference, the Oakland Athletics, a team that is intentionally trying to lose is averaging 3.5 runs per game this season.

Considering there is still no timetable on Judge’s return, the Yankees will need some players to step up sooner rather than later. Specifically the quartet of well paid veterans in Anthony Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson and DJ Lemahieu. All of these players have been All Star/MVP caliber players throughout their careers but are mired in slumps ranging from weeks to months long. If the Yankees are going to tread water in the AL Wild Card race without Judge, some combination of these players will have to figure things out.

Anthony Rizzo

In the first game of yesterdays double header, with two outs in a 2-2 game, Rizzo chose to cut off a throw home that would have been a bang-bang play at the plate. The run scored, and the Red Sox went on to blow the game open that inning, scoring 3 more runs in the frame. The night before, on a routine ground ball to second base, Rizzo ranged so far to his right that he fielded the ball, leaving no one to cover first base, allowing the runner to reach with two outs. The next batter, Justin Turner hit a grand-slam.

It would be easier to look past these defensive miscues if Rizzo had been hitting, but he is in the midst of the worst slump of his Major League career. In the month of June, Rizzo is hitting .083. He has one extra base hit, a badly-timed double in Friday night’s blowout loss at Fenway. He has not homered since May 20. A month ago, Rizzo was playing at an All Star level and enjoying one of the best seasons of his career. Now, his numbers are down across the board compared to the rest of his career and an All Star bid is a distant memory.

Giancarlo Stanton

Since being activated off the IL on June 2, Stanton is hitting .122. He has driven in a total of two runs in that timeframe, both on solo home runs. While some will just chalk this up to being rusty coming off of an injury, this has been a concerning trend for Stanton going back to the middle of last season. Below are his slash lines each month from June 2022 and on.

June 2022- .176/.322/.357
July 2022- .156/ .217/ .406
August 2022- .130/ .259/ .130 (only 6 games due to injury)
September 2022- .174/.268/.430
April 2023- .269/ .296/ .558 (only 13 games due to injury)
June 2023- .147/ .256/ .353

That is exactly one month over his last six in which Stanton posted an AVG over .200 and an OPS over .700. This is a hitter who for his career hit .263 with an .887 OPS. This is no longer just a blip or a slump, but real reason for concern going forward with Stanton who is signed through 2027 with a team option for 2028. If Stanton can’t get back to some semblance of the player he used to be, the Yankees will be carrying some very expensive dead weight for the next few years.

Dj LeMahieu

In his first two seasons as a Yankee, LeMahieu finished 4th, and 3rd in MVP voting. When the Yankees inked him to a 6yr/$90 million contract extension following those two campaigns, it felt like a no brainer. Now in the third year of that deal, LeMahieu, a two time batting champion is hitting .232 on the season. LeMahieu also kept up nicely with his teammates this month, hitting just .171 with two RBI in June.

Similar to Stanton, there are some concerning trends when looking at LeMahieu’s performance, namely his exit velocities and strikeout percentage. In April his average exit velocity was 93.3 MPH. May was down to 89 MPH and this month it is at 88.9 MPH. He is striking out this season at a 26.6% clip. His previous high was in 2015 at 17.3%. As a Yankee his highest had been 13.8%. The Yankees continue to insist that LeMahieu is healthy which makes these struggles all the more concerning. A spike this noticeable in strikeout rate paired with a drop in exit velocity is a big cause for concern for a player in his age-34 season.

Josh Donaldson

In March of 2022, when the Yankees traded Gio Urshela in a package to the Minnesota Twins for Josh Donaldson among others, Brian Cashman said that the Yankees appreciated what Urshela had done for them but “He’s no Josh Donaldson.” Last season, Gio Urshela posted a .767 OPS, a 119 OPS+ and a 3.5 BWAR. He earned 6.5$ million. Donaldson posted a .682 OPS, a 95 OPS+ and a 2.4 BWAR. He earned 25$ million.

This offseason Yankees manager Aaron Boone said “I think you’re crazy to think a bounce back is not in there offensively. This guy still has bat speed. He’s super talented and I think physically, he’s in a much better place than he was a year ago.” Josh Donaldson is hitting .151 with an OBP of .233. He has eight hits, six have been home runs. He has an OPS+ of 95. The exact same he did a year ago. He will again earn $25 million this season. It seems as though the days of Josh Donaldson being an impact bat are over and he is now an expensive clog in the Yankees infield.

When Aaron Judge went down, it was clear that the Yankees needed these players to step up. The Jake Bauers, Billie McKinneys, and IKF‘s of the world have held up their end of the bargain. Gleyber Torres is producing at a high level. Anthony Volpe is struggling but he is a rookie. These 4 guys are who the Yankees pay to produce and if things are going to change, it starts with them.

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