The Yankees have played 13 games this season, and have already been shut out three times after being blanked 3-0 by Michael Pineda and the Tigers in Thursday’s series finale.
The offensive struggles continued a trend that lasted throughout the 2021 campaign, but now in 2022, those issues are even more glaring.
The Yankees insist and believe that things will turn around, but so far, the numbers don’t lie: the Bombers have not been worthy of their nickname.
The team has scored just 39 runs to start the season, their fewest mark through the first 13 games in 50 years (they also had 39 runs in 13 games to start the 1972 campaign). The team as a whole is hitting just .220 with a .301 OBP, and those numbers are even worse with runners in scoring position, where the Yanks currently hold a putrid .176/.276/.287 slash line.
The big bats are not producing, nor are the bats that struggled last year but the team hoped would return to form in 2022. Gleyber Torres, benched in two of the three games in the series in Detroit, is hitting .167 and slugging .306, while Joey Gallo is batting .135 with 16 strikeouts. Josh Donaldson, expected to provide an upgrade over Gio Urshela at third base, has 17 strikeouts and is batting .191.
Then there are the typical producers like Giancarlo Stanton, batting just .216 with 19 strikeouts as he labors through a brutal slump since his hot start to the season against the Red Sox. Aaron Judge is batting .255 with a .744 OPS, but is chasing pitches at a rate that rivals his 2016 campaign, when he struck out in half of his at-bats.
Whatever the Yankees have tried so far, has not worked. They have sported a different lineup in every game so far this season, but nothing has led to runs. The power has been down across the board, potentially due to the increased use of humidors, but nevertheless, the Yanks hitting just 11 home runs so far is concerning, especially when they aren’t cashing in with runners in scoring position. Even with the pitching staff leading the team to a 7-6 record, that won’t hold up if the offense continues to be a no-show.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
