New York Yankees on the Brink of Disaster with Recent Skid
May 24, 2015 · Heath Clary · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
The New York Yankees lost their 10th game in the last 11 contests on Sunday, falling to the Texas Rangers 5-2. Starter Chris Capuano lasted only 4.1 innings, and the offense could only muster four hits off Yovani Gallardo, who came into the game losing four of his last five starts.
This performance was not nearly as bad as Friday’s defensive meltdown or Saturday’s debacle—which outfielder Brett Gardner described as “embarrassing” to reporters after that 15-4 loss—but it was a loss just the same.
To make matters worse, this is the Rangers we’re talking about. The Bronx Bombers got outplayed three games in a row by a team with more injuries than anyone in recent memory and an underperforming lineup that has limped to a 21-23 record.
The pitching, the hitting, the fielding—it has all been pathetic for the Yankees.
On Saturday, CC Sabathia gave up six earned runs in 2.1 innings, the bullpen allowed nine runs in six innings and the offense was completely shut down by Texas starter Nick Martinez.
Things got so bad that first baseman Garrett Jones was forced into action with some mop-up relief pitching. He got two outs without giving up a run, which is more than most Yankee pitchers can say of late.
Michael Pineda, who pitched like an ace for the first month of the season, has surrendered a combined nine runs in his last two starts and is starting to throw like the inconsistent pitcher that he has always been.
Coming into Sunday night’s game, the starting rotation sported a robust 5.08 ERA that was the worst in all of baseball. Sabathia has contributed greatly to that high number, as he boasts a 5.47 ERA that is the sixth-highest mark among American League starters.
Jacoby Ellsbury, arguably the team’s best player, remains injured, and manager Joe Girardi says there is still no timetable for his return.
But maybe the club is just stuck in a rut from which they will eventually recover. That’s what Girardi claims, anyway.
“They happen during the season,” Girardi said via Newsday. “It’s no fun when you go through it. You don’t expect to go through it for this long a period. We need to change it.”
While it would be terrific if they could just flip a switch and be “changed,” it is going to be very hard to do, especially for a team with as many deficiencies as the Yankees.
The offense and pitching have both been suspect so far, but at least that can be expected to happen at some point over the course of a 162-game season. What should be absolutely worrisome are the fielding woes that the team has experienced in the first quarter of the season.
The Yankees have already made 31 errors and have a .980 fielding percentage—both good for fifth-worst in the MLB. Also, their park-adjusted defensive efficiency currently ranks seventh-worst in baseball, according to Baseball Prospectus.
It is going to be very difficult for the Yankees to get out of their current rough patch, and with fielding like that, it will be nearly impossible.
They will get a major reinforcement when Masahiro Tanaka comes back, assuming that he can engender the same magic that he did in 2014. He will make another rehab start on Wednesday and may rejoin the big league club shortly after that. However, he didn’t look great in two of his four starts before he went to the DL, so it’s kind of a toss-up whether he will pitch up to his potential this year.
The only positive thing happening in the Bronx—aside from the lethal back-of-the-bullpen duo of Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller—is that the rest of the AL East is also struggling. Even with the Yankees’ recent hard times, they are only a game behind the Rays for first place in the division.
But the rest of the division is bound to improve, while the same cannot be said about the Yankees.
They have looked overmatched in every aspect of the game, and if that continues for another week or two, the Yankees run the risk of digging themselves an insurmountable hole that may ultimately result in the third season in a row in which they fail to make the postseason.
Read more New York Yankees news on BleacherReport.com
Yankee Tickets
Shop Yankee
