The Yankees haven’t been this bad this late in over a quarter-century.
And manager Aaron Boone held a team meeting Friday night, to try to snap them out of their malaise.
“I talked with the team last night,” Boone said. “But try and keep consistent in what we do and how we prepare, and look forward to [Saturday] being the day you start turning things around. That’s how you got to kind of look at it.”
But the meeting didn’t help as Boone’s Bombers were drilled, 8-1, by the Red Sox on Saturday at the Stadium to fall to 60-63..
Before the latest loss, it was the first time the Yankees were been two games under .500 this late in a season since Aug. 31, 1995.
Though Boone insisted morale is still “ok,” he acknowledged the players are predictably stinging from their extended struggles.
“I mean, definitely wearing it. Not fun going through this, right? But I feel like we’re ok. And I do feel like the turnaround is coming,” said Boone, adding his messaging was aimed more at his players’ headspace than tactics.
“Oh, just acknowledging what we’re going through, and making sure that we’re controlling how we come in each and every day and how we prepare,” he said. “And also remembering to make sure [you] don’t lose sight of the fact why you started playing this game, either. That’s because it was fun and you were probably pretty good at it. Don’t lose sight of that, especially when it’s hard.
“And different guys are feeling it in different ways. Come in with that edge, that little chip on your shoulder, ready to prepare and work. But when it comes time to play, go out there and have fun playing the game.”
Boone’s talk with the team was sagely given the night before Cy Young candidate Gerrit Cole took the mound as a slump-buster.
The Yankees came into Saturday having lost a season-worst six straight games – their longest skid since dropping seven straight from Sept. 4-10, 2021 – falling seven games back of an AL wild-card spot.
When questioned on whether he thought his messaging was still getting through to his players, Boone replied with a one-word “Yeah.”
Boone was asked if he – behind closed doors, away from TV cameras – wanted to yell at them to snap out of it.
“Yeah, I mean, I’m talking with our guys all the time,” Boone said. “Look, there’s been different circumstances of why we’ve been in these situations. And you also can’t run from ’em. You’ve got to embrace them, and just make sure you feel like everyone is in the right frame of mind coming in to work and try to turn it around every day. And I do feel good about that.”
It could be blind faith.
And even Boone had to admit the Yankees haven’t given anybody reason for it.
Even the return of Aaron Judge hasn’t helped, the Bombers are now 6-15 since the star’s July 28 return from a toe injury.
About the only hope Boone could offer his players was dropping little hints to look at teams that have righted the ship to make late surges.
“Maybe in a subtle way, but I think you certainly paint the picture that this thing is not over,” Boone said.
Ironically, those 1995 Yankees closed on a 23-6 run to earn a wild-card playoff berth.
“We have 40 games left and there’s not just occasional, there’s a lot of examples — a lot of recent examples even — of teams turning it around,” Boone said. “Now, I also recognize we haven’t put ourselves in any kind of position or certainly given anyone a thought like why we would get back into it. But neither had those teams when they made their runs or when they got going.
“So the reality is we still have a chance, and we’ve got to kind of prepare and compete every day with a mind that today’s the day we turn it around. But it’s not even about down the road: It’s today. Come and put our best foot forward and expect today’s the day we get something going.”
