The numbers are ugly for the Yankees when Aaron Judge isn’t in the lineup.
Heading into Tuesday, the Yankees had played a dozen games since Judge injured his toe June 3 in Los Angeles and won four of them, scoring just 39 runs.
Veteran hitters DJ LeMahieu, Anthony Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson have failed to make up for Judge’s absence, and considering how much the team struggled offensively without Judge earlier in the season, as well as when he slumped in last year’s playoffs, it’s fair to wonder if they are simply over reliant on their right fielder.
General manager Brian Cashman said that’s not the case, and he’s counting on those other slumping parts of the lineup to pick up the offense.
“No,” Cashman said before the Yankees’ 3-1 win over the Mariners when asked whether they rely too much on Judge. “He’s a big piece, don’t get me wrong. We feel it when he’s not in [the lineup]. We have a lot of professional hitters here. Some of the guys are more than capable of doing great things — Judge-like things — for a period of time.”
That hasn’t happened, as the team has mostly flailed without Judge, seemingly underpaid at $40 million this season.
“I understand the question,” Cashman said. “With Judge down right now and earlier this year [with a hip strain in May], our offense is completely different. Hopefully that’s more of an aberration. We miss him, but we also have professional hitters that are just struggling.”
Rizzo, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI in the Yankees’ victory, is still just 7-for-52 (135) with a three doubles in 14 games since he hurt his neck on May 28.
LeMahieu, who did not play Tuesday, has just six extra-base hits — and 30 strikeouts — and an OPS of .511 in his previous 28 games.
And though Stanton homered in his first game back from a hamstring injury, he’s 4-for-42 (.095) with one homer and 17 strikeouts in his past 12 games.
He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in the Yankees’ win.
Donaldson, who went 0-for-3, hit four homers in his first five starts since coming off the IL, but is now 2-for-24 (.095) with a homer in his past seven games.
Cashman backed his coaching staff despite the recent results, saying, “There’s nothing in our approach that’s causing it. … I think over the course of time, there will be a market correction, and we’ll return to our norm.”
He also supported the players despite entering Tuesday having lost four in a row, leaving them a season-high 10 ½ games back of the first-place Rays in the AL East.
“I’m happy with their commitment. I’m happy with how they prepare and ultimately. I know I’ll be happy with the end results,’’ Cashman said. “We’ve got a really good team when we’re flying high and playing the way we’re capable of, and right now we haven’t been doing that, so it looks bad. … No one likes losing, so I understand why fans are upset with how it’s playing out. There’s a long way to go, and we intend to make sure we do what’s necessary to get to where we need to be.”
Where they are now is not pretty, as the Yankees have gone from first in the majors in walks a year ago to 25th in 2023, which has helped them to slip from fifth overall in on-base percentage to 28th, and fourth in OPS to 21st.
“The bottom line is this group of guys are really good hitters,’’ Cashman said. “It’s been a real grind and a tough season at times. This is part of it. We will grind through it, bottom line. Living through it doesn’t make it any easier.”
