The Yankees are wisely hiring an outside agency to pinpoint all their many issues and hopefully get them back on their traditional track. But let me save them some time and provide some Cliffs Notes to highlight the biggest problems.
Before we get to the most obvious and crushing issue, let’s list some other important but secondary stuff:
- The Yankees remain as unhealthy as ever. Heading into the weekend, they were tied with the Reds with 37 injured list placements, behind just the Giants (42) and notoriously star-crossed Angels (38). They were third in IL days lost with 2,009, behind the Dodgers (2,345) and Angels (2,197). The Dodgers overcame their many injuries with overperformance and characteristic depth. The Yankees’ depth is something less than amazing — they are more like the famously top-heavy Angels. And only one player seriously outperformed, AL Cy Young favorite Gerrit Cole.
- They are unathletic and unexciting. The Yankees are 20th in stolen bases (96), tied for 25th in triples (13) and dead last in doubles (206). They still somehow draw fans as they always do. Those fans are as loyal as they are angry.
- They don’t appear to have enough big league-ready kids to spark a turnaround. Jasson Dominguez, in his recent cameo, looked like a revelation before he, too, wound up in sick bay (after Tommy John surgery, he should be ready sometime early next season). The others have had moments, but appear something short of saviors.
Nothing against them, it’ll take a lot to turn the Yankees back into contenders. Let’s face it, not even a certain Cy Young season by Cole and another great year (two-thirds of a great year, anyway) by superstar Aaron Judge could lift them into contention. Their tragic number was two heading into Saturday, though elimination was delayed by weather, as they were postponed a seventh time (if that seems low, they were delayed nine times at the start and twice more in-game).
OK, now for the real issue, which is that they can’t hit. Yes, they still homer now and again (Judge does it more than that, of course), but they have the lowest batting average among all major league teams.
Technically, the team that’s hoping to go to Las Vegas, is slightly lower at .224. But the Athletics shouldn’t be counted, as they obviously weren’t trying this year (or at least their owner wasn’t trying).
Anyway, forget them. The Yankees are at .226, which is their lowest mark since 1968, the year no one hit, and an especially unbecoming number for any franchise, much less the most successful American franchise in any sport.
Everyone agrees they took a positive step by hiring the perpetually positive Sean Casey as hitting coach at the All-Star break, but the issues may be too ingrained to be solved overnight. All that previous talk about launch angle and exit velocity seems to have convinced everyone they are home run hitters, when not everyone is.
The result is a collection of numbers that are so unsightly they can’t be ignored. They have eight players with at least 50 plate appearances batting under .200. They had two former MVPs (Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson) batting under .200.
They also have a majority of the kids under the Mendoza line, which makes sense since the emphasis on launch angle and home runs begins in the minor leagues.
Despite new rules intended to lift batting averages, everyone is below their career average except Kyle Higashioka (.232 to .208), Gleyber Torres (.271 to .266), Billy McKinney (.227 to .209) and Estevan Florial (.229 to .202).
Batting average became de-emphasized with the rise of sabermetrics, and I got it. A stellar on-base percentage with lots of home runs can be a winning formula.
But batting average is back. Maybe it’s the outlawing of the extreme shifts. Maybe it’s the advantages written in for would-be base stealers. Maybe it’s that athleticism is back (for others).
Anyway, batting average shouldn’t be dismissed anymore. All the top 11 teams in average, except the Red Sox, have winning records. That includes baseball’s best teams: the Braves, Dodgers, Orioles and Rays.
The Yankees did right by giving the kids a chance and seeing whether they are ready to lift the 2024 team. So now, at least they know they need to target high-average hitters in free agency.
Unfortunately, this is not the year to be needing hitters. The best hitting free agent catcher may be Gary Sanchez, and we know they aren’t going there.
Shohei Ohtani is obviously the best hitter available, but he’ll only be a DH in 2024, which makes him an odd fit for the Yankees assuming they don’t want to eat $90 million left on Stanton’s contract.
Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman both would fit, but the competition will be keen. Bellinger looks especially enticing as an outstanding center fielder and left-handed hitter who has regained near-MVP form on the North Side of Chicago.
He’d be a great pickup, as long as they let him do what he’s doing now and don’t mention the words “launch” or “angle.”