Root cause of Yankees skid should be red flag for Brian Cashman

The New York Yankees have struggled in their past ten games. With a 52-29 record, the Yankees hold the most wins in the American League. They were the first MLB team to reach 50 wins in the 2024 season. But they’ve won just two of nine games since reaching that mark. 

The Yankees are too reliant on the top of their lineup. Take Tuesday night against the New York Mets, for example, when they failed to drive in a run with the bases loaded, no outs in the first inning. The Yankees chipped away at the Mets’ lead throughout the night, with their production primarily coming from the top third of the order: Anthony Volpe, Juan Soto, and Aaron Judge.

A grand slam by Aaron Judge in the eighth inning was enough to put the Yankees back in the game. But the cold lineup behind him was unable to get a rally — or anything, really — going in the ninth. The Mets took the first game of the Subway Series, 9-7. 

It was a similar story on Wednesday night.

This is how it’s been for the Yankees lately, especially since Giancarlo Stanton went down with a hamstring strain. Anthony Rizzo is also on IL. The Yankees were getting solid production out of Stanton in June, but Rizzo had yet to find himself at the plate all season. Jasson Dominguez is not an option for a call-up, as he is on IL as well.

Yankees are desperately missing Giancarlo Stanton and that should have alarm bells going off in Brian Cashman's head.

According to Jon Heyman, an AL scout recently commented, “The problem is when you take out your five- and six-hole hitters, you end up replacing them with down-in-the-order guys. So your new five- and six-hole hitters are Torres and LeMahieu and they both [are struggling] now. Their lineup looks like the top four can get it done and that’s it. And wait ’til Judge goes down.”

The last thing the Yankees need is for that last sentence to come true. Since the remarks were made, the Yankees have done nothing to prove the opposite. In fact, the productive part of the lineup has essentially shortened from the top four to the top three.

Gleyber Torres’s brutal performance this season has not only killed his chances of staying a Yankee next year, but it’s put the rest of this season in question. He's batting just .091 in his past seven games. Torres has been a liability at the plate, running the bases, and fielding. Following Torres' failure to run out a ground ball on Tuesday night amid concerns of a tight groin, Aaron Boone gave Torres Wednesday night off. He may get a few days off to reset.

DJ LeMahieu looks like a shell of himself. The two-time batting champion and four-time Gold Glove Award winner is lost at the plate, and an uncharacteristic fielding error in Tuesday night’s game leaves room for even more concern. LeMahieu has zero extra-base hits since returning from the I.L. Boone is determined to remain patient with LeMahieu.

Alex Verdugo is hitting .077 in his last seven games. Jose Trevino is hitting .105 in his last seven games. When Jahmai Jones is DHing with Stanton on the shelf, it’s clear there’s a lack of depth on the bench. It remains to be seen if J.D. Davis, recently acquired by the Yankees, will be an answer in the infield or just a Band-Aid.

Soto and Judge cannot carry the lineup every night. The Yankees can’t just tread water until Stanton comes back to boost the lineup, and they can’t just wait for Brian Cashman to make moves. They need players not in the top third of their lineup to step up now. If they don’t, it won’t be long before the Yankees relinquish first place in the A.L. East.