Yankees fans shouldn’t give up on this team just yet

1. Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez will return

With all due respect to Giancarlo Stanton, Judge is the most important hitter in the Yankees lineup. His injury absence has clearly unsettled the team. It’s hard to imagine this group getting one-hit by Rick Porcello with Judge at the two-spot in the order.

There isn’t a team in baseball who can avoid missing a beat if they lost a hitter of Judge’s quality. Stars who hit .285 with 26 home runs in just 99 games don’t grow on trees. Expecting the Yankee offense to continue to click without Judge in the lineup was a pipe dream. The team was always going to take a step back in his absence.

Unfortunately, Judge isn’t the only big bat missing in the order. Fans have mixed feelings about Gary Sanchez’s effort level on the diamond, but there’s no denying his talent level with a bat in his hand. His average on the season of .188 is really poor, but he’d still managed to mash 14 homers in 245 at bats.

At the very least, pitchers had legitimate fear when they were pitching to him. The combination of Austin Romine and Kyle Higashioka doesn’t produce the same angst for opposing pitchers.

It’s unclear when Judge and Sanchez will be back, but they’ll give the Yankee lineup a massive boost when they return. Fans shouldn’t forget the current offensive struggles have come without two of the biggest hitters in the lineup.