If the cure for the common slump is a matchup with a vulnerable pitcher, the Yankees couldn’t have asked for a better chance to finally bust loose. After putting together a 20-inning scoreless streak in two hitter-friendly ballparks entering Tuesday’s meeting with the Angels, their opposition was Kyle Hendricks, owning the second-worst ERA among all qualified MLB starters.
How lucky can one team be?
But it didn’t take long for disgruntled fans to realize the team’s latest slump can’t be labeled as common. Despite the more-than-favorable bout with Hendricks, the Yankees once again struggled to pack a punch, as they fell to the Angels, 4-0, in the Bronx for a third straight shutout loss. Their scoreless streak has reached a confounding 29 innings. Their losing skid has dipped to a season-worst five games.
The lack of rhythm and timing at the plate also wasted a stellar performance from rookie starter Will Warren, who learned the hard way that allowing three runs across six innings with a career-high 11 strikeouts isn’t always good enough. He’s not alone, though — Yankees starters have given up just nine earned runs during this five-game slide.
Befitting of a team mired in some deep funk, the Yankees essentially turned Cy Yuck into Cy Young. In six innings against Hendricks, they struck out nine times — a season-high mark for the veteran right-hander — and mustered only four hits. Overall, they left six runners on base and went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.
“Baseball. We’re one of the best offenses in the league, and had a tough few days. I thought maybe today, pressing a little bit,” manager Aaron Boone said after the loss. “We’ve got to go up and focus on having quality at-bats, and that will happen. We’ll get there…. These guys are excellent at turning the page… We’ll come in with the right process and really focus on grinding out quality at-bats. And when we start to stack those, we’ll take off.”
Of course, this dry spell doesn’t represent the Yankees as a whole. Their season batting average (.253) still ranks seventh-highest in the majors. Their OPS of .784 is best for second — the same can be said for their home run total (109). They also scored six runs against the league’s ERA leader just last week.
Ain’t that a kick in the head?
But they’ve clearly fallen into a valley, and the mess looks even worse with Aaron Judge enduring his own week of hiccups. Over his last seven games, the Yankees’ captain is hitting a measly .125 (3-for-24) with 15 strikeouts. There’s no player more entitled to a cold stretch than Judge, but his recent woes can’t be shrouded either.
“There’s always a certain point where it’s not necessarily going your way and you feel it,” said Cody Bellinger, who registered the Yankees’ lone extra-base hit on Tuesday. “You feel this extra pressure to get the job done. At the end of the day, it’s the same game… It’s been a wild three games. It’s been very frustrating… Obviously, we’re not getting the job done. We’re going to fight like hell to get the job done tomorrow.”
Considering how the Yankees fared against Hendricks, there’s no telling how or when they’ll break out and resemble their old, dangerous self. But if the cure for this type of slump is a second straight matchup with someone sporting a league-low ERA, they’re in luck. Jack Kochanowicz, slated to start for the Angels on Wednesday, is 3-8 with a 5.53 ERA this season.
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