The Rays added to the Yankees’ agony on Tuesday night, which has had them utterly out of control for nearly a month.The New York Yankees erased memories of their dismal 2023 season with their scorching hot start to the 2024 campaign. For the crew in pinstripes, though, things haven’t exactly gone as planned over the last few weeks. They have returned to earth, and their Tuesday night 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays just makes the sorrow that has the Yankees by the throat even worse.
With their most recent loss, the Yankees have now lost 16 of their last 21 games, which is a dreadful run for any club, much less one with World Series hopes like theirs. The Yankees hold the distinction of having the worst stretch of the 2024 season since, according to Bleacher Report, no other club has gone 5-16 or worse over a 21-game span this season. Although still respectable, the Yankees’ current record of 55-38 is a far cry from their early-season form.
The Yankees provided themselves a healthy enough cushion to start the season, allowing them the leeway to make mistakes during times like this, which is one of the few bright spots of this stretch. Most teams’ hopes of making the playoffs would be eliminated after going 5-16 at one point, but the Yankees are still in the running, despite losing the AL East lead to the Baltimore Orioles.
Once more, the good news is that New York remains in first place in the AL Wild Card battle and trails the Orioles by just three games in the win-loss record. However, the Yankees must immediately figure out how to stem the bleeding, or else this awful 21-game period will fester and become a rot thatWhen it counts most, they are unable to flee.
A brief examination of the Yankees’ brutal 21-game home stand With a 50-22 record to begin the season, the Yankees appeared to be in command of the heavily stacked AL East division. But in the midst of a difficult stretch that saw them play three teams that are currently in playoff positions (the Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, and Orioles), three teams that are struggling but have the talent to push over.500 (the New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, and Tampa Bay Rays), and the Cincinnati Reds, a team that finished with a winning record in 2023, the Yankees’ bats have mostly stopped talking.Even so, facing formidable opposition is not an acceptable defense. After all, you have to defeat the greatest in order to be the best. The Yankees lost to the Reds and Mets in sweeps, and they haven’t prevailed in a series since defeating the Kansas City Royals in the middle of June.
Some attribute the Yankees’ recent downfall to their uneven offense, and to some extent, this is accurate. Their season-long rankings place them 10th in the MLB, but their average of 4.76 runs per game over the last 21 games is inflated by their blowout victories, in which they scored 16 and 14 runs, respectively.
Overall, their bats have been hot and cold, but throughout this time, their team’s OPS fell to.695, placing them 18th in the MLB. But the Yankees’ recent concerns about the pitching might be more serious.
Their collective ERA over the last 21 games is an astounding 6.16; throughout that time, they have given up 135 runs in total, an 6.42 on average every baseball game. It’s enough to say that if this continued, they would have finished the season dead bottom in the MLB.6.42 on average every baseball game. It’s enough to say that if this continued, they would have finished the season dead bottom in the MLB.
Particularly Carlos Rodon has been having a great deal of difficulty. Over his last five outings, Rodon has recorded an incredibly low ERA of 10.57, going 0–5 consecutively. In fact, after giving up four earned runs in four innings of work, he was the losing pitcher for the Yankees in their most recent loss against the Rays.
Marcus Stroman hasn’t done much better either; in four starts over the last 21 games, he has an ERA of 6.43. Upon rejoining the Yankees off the disabled list, Gerrit Cole hasn’t yet reached his peak performance (6.75 ERA in four starts). Even the breakout sensation Luis Gil, who has an ERA of 9.37 over his last four appearances, has had a couple poor outings throughout this run.
During this time, only Nelson Cortes has shown some form of consistency, recording a 2.70 ERA. For those keeping score at home, the five starters noted above have combined to start every game during this stretch, and they have typically put the Yankees in a challenging position to start the season.
The Yankees can at least cling to the thought that positive regression is perhaps in their near future. Furthermore, they ought to have some excellent reinforcements returned from the Injured List very soon.
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