It's been a while since we could take pleasure in some Yankees' schadenfreude. The Bronx Bombers went a couple of years without making big acquisitions, due largely to their desire to get under MLB's luxury tax threshold. Last season, armed with a mishmash group of overachieving veterans and bright-eyed youngsters, the Yankees were even –– *gulp* –– likable.
But that all changed on Dec. 9, when the Yankees traded for slugger Giancarlo Stanton. The premier power hitter in baseball was now in pinstripes, and all of the Yankees had to do was open their wallet and part with Starlin Castro. It appeared as if new Marlins president Derek Jeter gave a gift to his old team.
The Red Sox, desperately in search of power, struck back two months later and signed J.D. Martinez. But make no mistake: Stanton, the reigning NL MVP, was the prize of the offseason.
And now he's getting booed. How wonderful.
Yes, Giancarlo Stanton is already getting booed by Yankees fans in his first home game of 2018. pic.twitter.com/F5LlCzV9WQ
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) April 3, 2018The nadir of the Yankees' grueling start came in the bottom of the 12th inning Sunday against the Orioles. Down 8-7 with the bases loaded and nobody out, New York sent Aaron Judge and Stanton to the plate –– the most powerful duo in baseball. They were both retired. Baltimore closer Brad Bach got Judge to ground back to the mound for a double play and struck out Stanton swinging. For the second time this young season, Stanton struck out five times in a single game. He is the first player in the live ball era to record 0 hits and whiff five times in two games in a single season. It's April 9.
Aaron Judge bats into a 1-2-5 double play with the bases loaded pic.twitter.com/hdkIjrdnKd
— Heart of MLB (@HeartofMLB) April 9, 2018Though the Yankees are 5-5, they've endured some especially brutal losses so far. The bullpen blew up twice in Toronto last weekend, with Dellin Betances blowing one contest ––surrendering the game-tying home run and allowing Kevin Pillar to steal three bases –– and David Robertson allowing a game-leading grand slam in the series finale. On Sunday, New York jumped ahead to a 5-0 lead, but squandered that advantage.
Stanton, who homered twice on Opening Day, has been a mess at the plate ever since. Over his last nine games, he's batting .108 with one home run and a paltry .449 OPS. He leads the league with 20 strikeouts.
The Orioles treated Stanton like a bottom of the order hitter Sunday, even walking a batter in front of him at one point. Stanton went 0-for-7 and stranded nine baserunners in the loss.
It's not like Martinez is off to a blistering start, either. He just hit his first home run of the season Saturday and is only batting .226. But the Red Sox are 8-1 and coming off a miraculous comeback win. It's been nothing but positivity so far.
The Red Sox, owners of the highest payroll in baseball, are far from the little engine that could. They are viewed as a super team that's equipped to battle the Yankees head-to-head. But the Yankees are limping as they head into Fenway Park for their three-game series this week. For the first time in years, it feels good watching the Yankees fail.
