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·3 min read

Last night was the worst Yankees loss of the season

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It seems like every time this team takes a step forward, they follow it with two steps back. Last week was arguably the Yankees’ best of the season, sweeping Toronto & taking 2/3 from Oakland. A 5-1 week against two solid teams with a chance to build momentum against Kansas City before heading to Fenway. Well, the Yankees instead dropped a brutal series opener. I legitimately think that was the worst loss of the season so far given everything that went into it. Let’s unpack this.

Horrible situational hitting

Starting with the biggest problem first, the Yankees were dreadful with runners on in this one. They were 0-10 with RISP while leaving 13 runners on base. Impressively bad stuff from the Bombers.

Clint Frazier grounded out with the bases loaded in the 1st inning to start this madness. He later struck out with the tying run on second base in the 9th. Frazier has been  a nightmare all season, and it may be time for his Yankee career to come to an end.

Gleyber Torres was 0-4 with 4 strikeouts, including one with a runner on second in the 7th. I love Gleyber, but he has been awful of late with a .559 OPS over his last 15 games. The Yankees need him to get going, and fast. Also, I saw a lot of people getting on Gleyber for not running on the dropped third strike in the 9th. First base was occupied, so he couldn’t have taken it. No point in him running there.

Giancarlo Stanton may have been the biggest culprit of the night, tying Frazier with a team-high 6 men LOB. The worst offense came in the 4th, when Stanton came up with the bases loaded. He swung at reliever Kris Bubic’s first pitch and weakly grounded it to third to end the inning. If you’re swinging at the first pitch in that spot, you better send that ball to the moon. A weak groundout is pathetic.

The situational hitting wasn’t the only reason the Yankees lost this game, but it was the biggest.

Defensive collapse

Jonathan Loaisiga surrendered a single and a double to start the 8th inning. Don’t get me wrong, Loaisiga was brutal in this one. He allowed four runs on five hits in 2/3 of an inning. But my beef isn’t with him as much as it is the defense.

Two ground balls were hit to Tyler Wade for a grand total of no outs. The first was a tough play ranging to his right, and a throw that DJ *maybe* could’ve scooped. The next play, however, was brutal:

If you’re gonna throw home, don’t hesitate. Just come home. But why not go for two here?

Either tag the runner and go to first, or throw to first & get the second guy in a rundown. The second option still gives the Royals the lead, but at least it ends the inning. To get no outs there is just terrible. Wade is supposed to be on this roster for his speed and defense. Well, the defense isn’t exactly good. But why was Wade even in this game?

Brutal managing

Not every Yankees loss is on Aaron Boone. But he deserves some blame for this one. He made a variety of moves, and none of them worked out.

Why pinch run for Voit when he’s already on third base in the 7th inning? That took Voit’s bat out of the lineup. Not to mention Wade’s gaffes in the field. Wade in the 3-hole forced Boone to pinch hit Rougned Odor who, to put it lightly, sucks. He popped up the first pitch he saw with the tying run on second. And why use Gary Sanchez with nobody on down 3? You could’ve used him to hit for Wade a few batters later.

He doesn’t deserve as much blame as the players, but Boone messed up multiple times Tuesday night.

Blowing a Cole gem

The Yankees are 8-7 in Gerrit Cole starts. That makes me want to lose my mind.

The guy has a 2.33 ERA in 15 starts, he’s absolutely dominated. He’s had two legitimately bad starts all season, surrendering 5 ER to Texas on 5/17 & Tampa on 6/3. Aside from that? He hasn’t let up any more than 2 ER in a given start. A combination of lack of run support, the bullpen blowing it, and poor defense has doomed the Yankees on Cole day this season. I could puke with how much we’re wasting his season right now.

Now what?

Win the next two against Kansas City. This isn’t a series you can lose, especially at home. Come out firing and break games open early. Get your swagger back. Because if there’s one thing I don’t wanna do, it’s take the first Fenway trip of the year coming off losing a series to the Royals.

Also, end the Odor and Frazier experiments. They’re both terrible. And bring me a real center fielder.

Comment below or tweet me @ncostanzo24 to talk anything Yankees.