Yankees struggles continue in Red Sox series loss: Three things Bombers must do before season slips away

On Sunday night, the New York Yankees lost for the fifth time on their six-game homestand (BOS 3, NYY 0) and for the 16th time in their last 22 games. In those 22 games they've been outscored 135-108 and outhomered 38-27. The Yankees are 0-6-1 in their last seven series and they've slipped into the first American League wild-card spot after having the sport's best record.

"It feels terrible," manager Aaron Boone said after Sunday's loss. "You gotta be a little sick to be in this game though, and you gotta be able to weather it. You'd like to weather it a little bit better -- which we need to do obviously -- but it's all right there in front of us."

That is a familiar refrain -- "it's right in front of us" -- for Boone, whose teams started to wilt in June the last two years and never fully recovered. The Yankees started 49-16 in 2022 and played .500 the rest of the way. They started 36-25 in 2023 and played sub-.500 ball the rest of the way. This year they started 49-21, and are 6-16 since. That's a troubling pattern.

The Yankees have a top-heavy roster and the top is very, very good. Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are two of the best hitters in the sport, but even they've slumped of late. The two went a combined 9 for 46 (.196) with two homers during the 1-5 homestand. That said, Judge and Soto are really the last two players at fault here. They've been incredible. The season numbers:

Judge and Soto are incredible and give the offense a very high ceiling, but the supporting cast around them is lacking, particularly with the resurgent Giancarlo Stanton on the injured list. The rotation has had more than a few rough starts lately and the bullpen has let games slip away as well. There's no one reason the Yankees are 6-16 in their last 22 games. There's a lot going wrong.

Despite their sluggish homestands, Judge and Soto will be fine. The rest of the Yankees need to pick up the slack. What needs to happen to get their season back on the rails? What changes can they make? Here are three things that must happen for the Yankees to snap out of what is close to a month-long funk.

1. Rodón and Stroman must be better

Reigning AL Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole has made four starts since returning from the injured list and rookie Luis Gil has pitched better than anyone could have reasonably hoped after stepping in for Cole: 3.27 ERA with 111 strikeouts in 96 1/3 innings. Gil is in his first full year back from Tommy John surgery. Nestor Cortes and the currently injured Clarke Schmidt have been steady as well.

The Yankees do need more from veterans Carlos Rodón and Marcus Stroman, however. Those two started the season very well -- they both had sub-3.00 ERAs as recently as May 30. Since the start of June though, Rodón and Stroman have been liabilities, and are contributing to this extended team-wide slump. Their numbers since June 1:

That's a dozen dreadful starts from two veterans the Yankees are counting on to stabilize the rotation as Gil's innings total approaches a career high and Cole works his way back into form following his injury. Rodón signed a six-year, $162 million contract last winter. Stroman received a two-year, $37 million deal this past offseason after the Yankees missed out on Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

With the San Francisco Giants from 2021-22, Rodón had the game's best fastball, one that produced a staggering 28.7% whiff rate and held hitters to a .207 average and .349 slugging percentage. This year, Rodón's fastball is down to an 18.9% whiff rate -- the league average for fastballs is 21.7% -- and opponents are hitting .265 with a .536 slugging percentage against it. Yikes.

Stroman's underlying numbers are even more worrisome. The 33-year-old has the second-lowest strikeout rate of his career as well as the highest walk rate, the lowest ground ball rate, the highest home run rate, and his lowest average sinker velocity. He looks like a veteran pitcher who is losing the battle to Father Time. The trends are worrisome for Stroman and also Rodón.

Regardless, the Yankees need Rodón and Stroman to be better than they have been, and to at least give the team representative starts every fifth day rather than the ineffective five-and-dives they've provided since the calendar flipped to June. It's hard to see how the Yankees can get back to consistently stacking wins without Rodón and Stroman turning their seasons around.

2. They have to tighten things up

The Yankees are a sloppy and undisciplined team that gives away too many free outs offensively and too many free bases defensively. Every game they have to overcome the other team and their own mistakes, whether it's Trent Grisham lollygagging in center field and turning a single into a double, or Anthony Volpe and DJ LeMahieu not executing a rundown to score a run.

These mistakes are not new. The Yankees have been a poor fundamental team for a few years now and it reflects poorly not only on the players, but also the coaching staff and Boone. This game is really, really hard, and the Yankees make it harder on themselves by messing up routine plays on the regular. Simply put, they need to play cleaner baseball.

3. Give another young player a chance?

The highlight of the 1-5 homestand was first baseman Ben Rice clubbing three home runs Saturday, and becoming the first rookie in Yankees' franchise history with a three-homer game. Rice, a former 12th-round pick, has been one of the top performers in all of the minors the last two years. Anthony Rizzo's injury pushed him into action and he's given the Yankees a nice shot in the arm.

With the offense struggling so much behind Judge and Soto (and Rice), it might be time for the Yankees to give more young players a look. The most obvious candidate is catcher prospect Agustin Ramirez, who isn't much of a catcher but can really hit -- 20 homers with premium exit velocity data in 73 games between Double-A and Triple-A -- and he could fill the DH spot until Stanton returns.

Perpetual prospect Oswald Peraza is having a tough year in Triple-A (.211/.238/.252 in 39 games), but the Yankees are getting so little from third base (.606 OPS and 0.4 WAR) that it might be worth giving him a look. At minimum, Peraza would provide defense and speed, something the Yankees sorely lack. They haven't stolen a base in 20 games, their longest drought since 1964.

Change for the sake of change usually isn't the best idea, but sometimes a team needs to shake things up a little, and the Yankees might be at that point right now. Rice has been a pleasant surprise. When you've lost 16 times in your last 22 games, you shouldn't rule out other young players who might also give you a jolt. The bar is currently on the floor at too many positions.

Perspective time: The Yankees are 55-37 with a plus-101 run differential, and they were a Clay Holmes blown save on Friday away from taking two of three from the Boston Red Sox this past weekend. They have the fifth-best record in baseball and the fourth-best run differential. The advantage of starting the season as well as New York is being able to weather a storm like this.

At the same time, the Yankees have a recently history of letting a June swoon snowball into something much larger. It happened in 2022, it happened again in 2023, and it kind of looks like it's starting to happen in 2024, no? The pitching has to be better, Rodón and Stroman in particular. They have clean up the sloppy mistakes, and injecting a little youth into the lineup wouldn't hurt either.

"This is not the time to feel sorry for yourself," Boone said Sunday. "It's time to try and get guys going. Get guys moving and hopefully head into the All-Star break on a good note."