DJ LeMahieu gave a blunt and accurate assessment of the Yankees’ 2021 season, which now appears to be hanging in the balance after a seventh straight loss and just a half-game lead over the Blue Jays for the final playoff spot.
“We’ve been the streakiest team in the league,” LeMahieu said after Friday’s 10-3 defeat at the hands of the Mets. “One good game, and the tides can turn in a hurry, like we’ve seen all year. Hopefully quickly.”
Nothing has summed up the Yankees’ streakiness this season than the past month. After winning 13 straight games, the team’s most in a row in a half century, the Yanks have now dropped seven in a row and 11 of their last 13, their worst stretch since the end of the 2000 season, when the team backed into the playoffs and finished with 87 wins before winning a third straight World Series.
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Right now, a World Series title, or even a playoff berth, seems like a tall order if New York continues to play the way it has. The Yanks have looked lifeless before, particularly over the first three months of the season, but that looked to be behind them as they surged into the second half of the season. Now, it has returned, right after the team looked like a true contender, and the Bombers are left to wonder how they can generate some sort of consistency, and what has caused their maddening streakiness throughout the season.
“Not one thing in particular,” LeMahieu said. “Just either been playing really bad or unbelievable, and not a whole lot in between. Before the All-Star break, it didn’t feel like a good team, and coming out of the All-Star break we were a great team. We’re one game away, a few games away to get it going.”
Defensive lapses dominated Friday’s loss, as the Yanks looked nothing like a playoff team. They looked much more like on just weeks ago, and as the group tries to pull itself back up towards that level of play, they appear to only be digging themselves deeper into their current losing streak.
“I think we’re beyond frustrated at this point,” LeMahieu said. “But I don’t think it’s time to point fingers at anyone. It’s just everyone needs to raise their game and collectively get out of it together.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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