The slugger who hit the most home runs in a season in the 122-year history of the American League (AL) has been completely absent.
It’s been ten days since the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge returned from injury, but the home run column is more like “closed for business. The Yankees offense, which seemed to explode upon his return, is still in silent mode.
The Yankees fell to their knees in a 7-9 loss to the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium on Sunday. The bats came out of nowhere.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone told the New York Post after the game, “I thought our hitters did a good job at the plate today. Our strike zone control is getting back on track. We picked our pitches and harassed them.” “We went 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position, which is not a bad thing. I scored seven runs today and tried to put some runs on the board. Maybe one big swing and a double-digit run in the future. The hitters are getting better and better.”
카지노사이트The Yankees attacked the Houston mound with eight hits and 12 walks. The Yankees lost starter Carlos Rodon to a hamstring injury after giving up five runs in 2⅔ innings, but Boone said the bats did their job.
The New York Yankees offense ranks near the bottom of most offensive metrics this year. AP
“I think this week was very encouraging,” Boone said. “It didn’t always go the way we wanted it to go, but the hitters got serious and heavy,” Boone said, “and that’s what we needed. With 50 games to go, we need to utilize all of our momentum. At least that’s the direction we’re heading in.”
So is Judge, who is back from a toe injury, improving?
He went 1-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and two strikeouts in the No. 2 spot. He struck out three times. Not a very satisfying at-bat at all. After striking out swinging in his first at-bat in the top of the first inning on an outside sweeper by Jose Aquidi, he grounded out to shortstop in his second at-bat in the third.
In the fourth inning, he drew a bases-loaded walk, and in the sixth, he drew a walk to get his team on the board. But back-to-back swinging strikes in the eighth and ninth innings put his head down. He was hit by a high fastball from Hector Neris in the eighth and a body slider from Brian Abreu in the ninth.
Jersey, who tore a ligament in his right big toe while playing defense against the Los Angeles Dodgers in early June, returned to action on May 29. He had a strong start against the Baltimore Orioles, going 1-for-4 with a walk and three strikeouts.
The next day, he announced his return with three hits, including a two-run homer, and two RBIs. Since then, however, he hasn’t been able to generate a hit, let alone a home run. Part of it is that opposing pitchers are avoiding him head-on. In nine games since his return, he’s batting .185 (5-for-27) with one home run, three doubles, three RBIs, and a .685 OPS. He’s drawn nine walks and struck out eight times.
His hitting is still far from normal.
Yankees’ Anthony Volpi reacts after being called out for strikes in the fifth inning against Houston on Sunday. AFP
MLB.com ranked the Yankees 19th on its list of teams most likely to win the World Series that day, and wrote, “Aaron Judge had a Babe Ruth-like presence for two months (before his injury), and it was the driving force behind last year’s playoff run, but the hitters surrounding him this year aren’t as good as they were last year. He blamed his fellow hitters, not Jersey.
MLB.com has a point. The Yankees are 29th in team batting average (.231), 22nd in team OPS (.719), and tied for sixth in team home runs (156) this season. Outside of home runs, they are near the bottom of most offensive metrics. Their average runs per game (4.32) is just 21st. They hit a lot of home runs, but they lack accuracy and consistency.
The Yankees need to revitalize their jerseys or their hopes will be dashed. At 58-54, the Yankees are 4.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the third AL wild card. Fangraphs gives the Yankees a 15.2% chance of making the playoffs. Desperate.
