A Lifeless Yankees Squad Loses Two Out of Three in Dunedin

Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, DJ Lemahieu, Gleyber Torres. Those are some of the superstars the New York Yankees have in their lineup. You would expect those household names to bring in the majority of the runs for the Yanks. Well, tonight that was not the case. The Yankees squeeze out a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Florida. The surprising part of the game was that all three of the RBIs came off the bat of Kyle Higashioka. Higgy hit two home runs as he was the bomber’s only source of offense. Higgy was catching none other than Gerrit Cole.

Cole started slow allowing an early run. Cole settled in and became unhittable. He quickly turned into the ace that we all know and love. Cole was clearly without his best stuff, but he still gave the Yanks six electric innings with eight strikeouts while allowing three hits and one run. The bullpen continued to be dominant as Justin Wilson, Darren O’Day, and Aroldis Chapman all gave scoreless innings. While the Yankees got a big win this was not exactly what fans wanted to see from the offense. DJ Lemahiue, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, and Gio Urshela all went hitless. These Yankees have got to start hitting quickly. Nevertheless, the New York Yankees pick up a great win and look to keep it rolling on Tuesday with Jameson Taillon on the bump. 

In the words of Joe Girardi “It’s not what you want”. That’s a great way to describe the 7-3 New York Yankees’ loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees now hold an underwhelming 5-6 record on the year. Jameson Taillon got the start, and his performance was concerning. He went 3.2 innings while allowing eight hits and five runs. He was not sharp and considering he was a question mark going into the season this is not the type of performance you want to see from Taillon. The Yankees’ offense was alarming. The bats were quiet until the eighth when they scored two off of a Giancarlo Stanton single, and they looked for more bringing Aaron Hicks the tying runner up the plate. But a baserunning blunder from Gary Sanchez prevented Hicks from getting the opportunity to tie the game off one swing of the bat.

The lack of offensive production from the Yanks is alarming. Their star powered lineup has struggled to put runs across the board all season long, and Yankees fans are still waiting for the bombers to get it going. Corey Kluber will get the ball in the rubber match of the series as the Yanks look to pick up a series victory in Dunedin on Wednesday.

This season is officially depressing. I know it’s early but the New York Yankees have not shown any signs of being the world series caliber team we all expected. Of all the tough losses the Yankees have taken this season, Wednesday's 5-4 loss may have been the toughest to take. As Bo Bichette’s 9th innings rocket shot over the right field wall I found myself not even somewhat surprised. The Yankees since 2010 have put the fans through so much misery that it's hard to feel the pain we should after losing off a walkoff. The Yanks’ performance has come to an all time low to begin the year. The bombers have a history of starting the season off slow, but this season the team has given us no reasons to believe this is a World Series caliber team like we have been told.

Corey Kluber got the start today, and he did not have his best stuff. Kluber’s struggles are beginning to be alarming considering he was a huge question mark heading into the season. Although it’s very early, you would like to have seen more signs that Kluber can be a competent starter in the Yanks’ rotation this season. He is yet to put together a quality start, and in this game, he went four innings while allowing six hits, three runs, and two walks. It is very concerning that we don’t have a reliable starter outside of Gerrit Cole. It is becoming a real head scratcher that the Yankees never showed any interest in re-signing Masahiro Tanaka this offseason. I understand it’s early, but I sure hope that decision doesn’t haunt the Yankees for the rest of the season.

A bright spot of the heartbreaking loss was Aaron Judge. Judge hit two solo homers and got the Yanks’ their only first inning run of the year. Gio Urshela also continued to swing the bat well as he drove in a big two RBI single. The bullpen was again good, but Jonathan Loaisiga gave up a run on a ball that bounced past Kyle Higashioka. The bullpen has been lights out all year, and they have had to be. Starters are simply not going deep enough into games. The bullpen has been overworked, and starters need to step up and take some pressure off the relievers. With the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth Chad Green toed the rubber. His first batter faced Bo Bichette who hit a line drive that carried out of the ballpark to win the game.

While this loss did not have the same glaring issues as past losses, it felt like rock bottom. I understand I am being overly dramatic considering we are twelve games into the season, but this has been an unbelievably unacceptable twelve games. The Yankees are not only playing bad, but they are dead. Their energy level is zero. Nobody looks like they're having fun, and they look like they don’t wanna be there. The Yankees need a spark. Whether it be Aaron Boone going ballistic on an umpire, Brett Gardner going ballistic on an umpire, Luke Voit’s return, or Deivi Garcia being called up. But they need somebody or something to give them some energy. The Yankees will need all the energy they can get this weekend in the three game series against their bitter rivals, The Tampa Bay Rays.