As the old saying goes, “If it aint broke, don’t fix it.” Well, something is broke with the Yankees and they need to fix it.
After dropping a 9-7 decision to the Mets in the opening act of the Subway Series at Citifield last night, the Yankees have lost 8 of their last 11.
Fixing it starts with accountability. There’s not enough seats on the bench to accommodate who needs to be benched but Gleyber Torres and D.J. LeMahieu should be sitting. The Yankees have struggled against left handed pitching and those two bats are dragging them down.
The Yankees brought in J.D. Davis and hope to catch lightning in a bottle but the veteran has already been released twice this season.
LeMahieu has been awful at the plate (5 for his last 37, hitting .174 on the season) but at least he appears to be trying, although his error that allowed Francisco Lindor to take second in the eighth was not a good look. Torres committed his 12th error last night but an even greater error was his lack of hustle on the bases.
After Aaron Judge hit a grand slam in the eighth to slice what once was an eight run Mets lead to two, Torres (who, for some reason was hitting clean up) hit a slow roller to Lindor and showed no effort whatsoever in trying to beat it out to keep the inning going.
If Torres is hurt, then he needs to go on the IL. If not, then he needs to take a seat on the bench.
During this recent skid, Torres has made mistakes in the field, had some terrible at bats and has shown a lack of hustle that reflects on the rest of the team. Judge is diving for balls when the Yankees are losing by eight runs and Torres doesn’t hustle? That is unacceptable.
The error, to no one’s surprise, came in a big spot.
The Yankees were already down 7-1 and the Mets had runners on second and third with one out in the sixth.
With the infield in, Brandon Nimmo hit a sharp grounder towards second that went right under Torres’ glove to score an eighth run and set the Mets up for a ninth run that scored on a sacrifice fly. That turned into two big runs as the Mets ended up winning the game by two.
Physical errors happen but when they come in abundance, there comes a point when those mistakes are unacceptable and that time has arrived for Torres, who is slashing .215/.294/.333. Those numbers do not justify overlooking his defensive miscues to keep him in the lineup. Yankees Manager Aaron Boone keeps defending him, but those words have become hollow.
Is LeMahieu finished? Maybe so, but the Yankees certainly can’t afford to keep trotting him out there if he’s hitting under .200, although their lack of infield depth leaves them stuck.
Catcher Jose Trevino’s supposed strength is his defense and any offense you get from him is a bonus, but his defense has suffered mightily the past few weeks, particularly when throwing out potential base stealers. Maybe it’s time to abandon the “one knee down to better frame pitches” philosophy.
Trevino has been in a crouch for practically his entire career, but you can’t help but think that having one knee down on the ground has limited his “pop time” and his “arm strength.”
The Yankees trade options are limited so they may need to try and solve the problem from within.
Is it time for Oswald Peraza to get a shot at the second base job? Peraza’s stats at Triple-A this season (.182/.325/.280) are nothing to write home about, but you may get a spark from a player who’s been longing for a chance and did show something two years ago when he was healthy.
The problem is that Peraza was recently sent back down to the minors so he may have to wait ten days to be recalled, unless someone goes on the IL. If Peraza cannot be called back up yet, maybe move LeMahieu to second and play Oswaldo Cabrera at third.
The Yankees need to try something because what they’re doing recently is not working.