When it rained, it poured at Citi Field.
This is life with the Yankees these days
Oh, and Wednesday’s game also was delayed in the fifth inning by as bad a storm as I’ve seen at a ballpark in nearly four decades. The precipitation was so heavy that the outfield fence was not visible from the pressbox, the sixth Great Lake formed down the left-field line within a matter of minutes and the slapping of the rain on seats and concrete was making discernible noise.
But now back to the team that is currently drowning. The Yankees are leaking from so many areas that it is hard to pick the worst.
This stuff changes rapidly over a long season, of course. If you can remember all the way back to June 11, the Yankees crushed the Royals 10-1, still had the majors’ best record and were seemingly ready to improve further with Gerrit Cole near a return. The Mets opened a homestand with a loss to the feeble Marlins that dropped them to 28-37 and in the moment it felt like a statement that there was just no “on” switch to their season.
In the two weeks since, the Mets are an MLB-best 11-2, including a 12-2 rout Wednesday to complete a two-game Subway sweep and get to .500 (39-39) for the first time since they were 18-18 on May 7. The Yanks even after, in Aaron Boone’s words, “getting our teeth kicked in” for two days at Citi Field, still lead the AL East with the majors’ third-best record. Yet, the vibe about New York baseball has done a complete flip.
Currently, the Yankees are down to one special item — Aaron Judge. The Yanks scored nine Subway runs and he drove in seven. His two-run homer was the Yankees scoring Wednesday and sent him to 30 homers and a .712 slugging percentage — no qualified hitter has been over .700 since Barry Bonds in 2004.
But so much around him is collapsing. The Yanks had lost just three of their first 22 series, but have now lost four straight. They are 2-8 in the last 10 with a ghastly 7.24 ERA after allowing the 21 runs in two games against the Mets. For most of the season, the rotation had performed well and covered innings to camouflage a troubling pen. Now both entities are struggling.
Luis Gil is central to the downturn. He insists he has lost no strength in his arm pitching regularly after missing most of the previous two seasons following Tommy John surgery. Boone said the rookie righty lost his delivery and his best fastball with it. But here is what we know: In the last two starts against the Orioles and the Mets, Gil has gone from Cole in the Yankee stocking to coal. Even at his best this year, Gil won with stuff over precision and that extra kick that overwhelmed hitters is now going, going …
Before his start against the Orioles, Gil was getting a swing and miss on 13.7 percent of his pitches, among the majors’ best. But in these last two starts, it is 8.2 percent. Hitters were 11-for-155 (.096) with two strikes before these last two starts. But they are 4-for-10 (.400) with four walks and a hit by pitch in these two games.
Francisco Lindor doubled on an 0-2 pitch leading off what became a three-run third, and Brandon Nimmo worked a walk after being behind 1-2. Two full-count walks finished Gil off in the fifth — and brought on the worrisome pen. Caleb Ferguson allowed an RBI double to the only batter he faced, then came a one hour, 27 rain delay and Yoendrys Gomez came on to get crushed.
If Gil needs a break, there is not much maneuverability. Clarke Schmidt and Cody Poteet are far from a return. Clayton Beeter is injured at Triple-A, Will Warren has a 6.53 Triple-A ERA and Gomez, who has been the best Triple-A starter, is likely returning there after allowing five runs in two innings.
And the offense is not removing pressure from the starters. The Yanks had the bases loaded with no outs in the first Tuesday and the bases loaded and one out in the first Wednesday and failed to score both times Alex Verdugo’s double play ended the first Wednesday and he hit into another in the fourth to fall to 0-for-22 before two garbage-time singles. Boone had benched Gleyber Torres — basically 60 percent to give the struggling second baseman a mental break and 40 percent to send a message to a player whose attention and energy can wander. Will Torres get the message of being a pedigreed hitter sent to the bench at a time when the Yanks are crying out for anyone beyond Judge and Juan Soto to deliver?
“It’s been a crappy two weeks for us,” Boone acknowledged. “But that’s part of it. We knew it was coming, adversity is going to hit you. We got hit with a little bit right now. We have all the right pieces in there. We’ve had a light shined on some things that we need to get better at. We need to get going. But I have full confidence that we will.”
Suddenly, the Yankees — so good much of this year — are looking for some sunshine.
