“We suck right now as bad as we can be.” That quote was from Brian Cashman, the Yankees GM, who was being honest with the media, before last night’s game, on a hot and humid Yankee Stadium field early Tuesday evening.
And then the clock struck 7:08PM. The Yankees made a statement early in their half of the first inning and suddenly those names in the lineup were not listed on mailboxes a half mile away at the main post office in the Bronx that the Yankees have resembled lately.
These were the Yankees that were expected to rake and not the team that Cashman put together that has underperformed, which prompted a scathing statement from the Yankees GM.
The 11-5 rout over the Angels snapped a four-game losing streak. The 11-runs were a season high. This was the way it was supposed to be with home runs from Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, and Miguel Andujar.
The Yankees hit with authority and perhaps they heard those words from their GM.
So for one night, Brian Cashman ate his words. The issue though, and this is something that has haunted the Yankees this season. Can they build off this win and gain some ground in their division? It seems they take one step forward and revert two steps back.
And Cashman offered no indication about pulling a major trade or two prior to the non-waiver trade deadline in late July. According to Cashman, the manager, Aaron Boone, is not the issue.
“This is not an Aaron Boone problem and this is not a coaching staff problem,” Cashman said. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. They’re doing what they need to do, but we’re not getting results we need. They’ve got my support.. We’re in this together.”
Cashman is going nowhere if the Yankees don’t turn this around, because the Steinbrenner hierarchy have been loyal and have never fired their GM during the season. But you have to admire Brian Cashman and his assessment. This is his team and this all-star roster with a sluggish offense has been a major disappointment with one of the top four payrolls in baseball.
But hand it to the Yankees as they responded Tuesday night and they did not comment about their GM accepting the blame. They have not scored at least 10 runs since April 30 and are 7½ games behind the AL East leading Red Sox.
“That’s those guys right there,” Boone said. “That’s the heaviness I’m talking about.”
Nine Yankees came to bat in a five-run fourth inning. Andujar hit his 6th homer, RBI doubles from Sanchez and Luke Voit, and a two run single from Gleyber Torres who had his best at bats in three weeks, gave the Yankees an inning that hasn’t been seen a whole lot this season.
In all probability, the offensive spurt had nothing to do with those words from the GM. Baseball is played everyday and the remedy is fighting the inconsistencies. The Yankees look to continue the consistent at bats Wednesday night when they look at the mound and see Shohei Ohtani.
Ohtani could make this a brief one-game winning streak and will take his turns at bat tonight after a two-home run night that gave him a MLB leading 28.
Boone said the runs were big. We will never know if he spoke to his team about the comments of his GM, and all that mattered was a Yankees offense that finally showed some life.
“I think they’ve identified some things and are working behind the scenes to unlock them. When you’re going through a tough time, shaking hands is a good thing,” Boone said.
Fixing what is broken is what Cashman said. He said the Yankees have to do this, “Somehow and some way.”
Well, I have to credit the GM for being blunt. The Yankees need to get fixed and quick before this season slips away more.
But Tuesday night, his team made the GM eat those words of “We suck now.”
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