Questions about Yankees offensive struggles in October have only intensified
As the Yankees entered the 2024 playoffs with the best record in the American League, the big question surrounding their championship pedigree was whether or not their hitting woes in recent Octobers had finally been rectified.
Through two postseason games, those questions have not been silenced, or even quieted. They have been intensified.
After working enough walks and coming up with an Alex Verdugo single to do just enough for a win in game one, the Yankee offense’s production with runners on base once again lagged in game two, starting with a rally being squandered in the first inning for a second straight game.
The empty innings continued from there, adding up to a 1-1 series tie heading to Kansas City, and continued uncertainty around the Yankees and their ability to cash in when given the chance.
“That’s playoff baseball. The heat is turned up and you gotta be able to slow things down,” Aaron Boone said after the 4-2 loss. “We took a lot of tough at-bats again, kind of like last night…we just couldn’t punch through again and really break things open.
“Tonight was good, but not good enough.”
The Bombers had formidable lefty Cole Ragans on the ropes in the first, as consecutive walks by Gleyber Torres and Juan Soto brought up Aaron Judge with nobody out. As he did three times in game one, Judge struck out and failed to even advance the runners, and the Yanks came up empty after Austin Wells struck out and Giancarlo Stanton broke his bat on an inning-ending groundout.
For Judge, it was the second time in as many games that he fanned with two runners on, striking out with runners on second and third and nobody out in the first inning of game one. Entering October with something to prove in terms of his underwhelming postseason resume, Judge has done little so far to quiet those that question his ability to replicate his monster regular season production when it matters most.
“Baseball. It’s hitting,” Boone said of Judge’s series so far. “He got a base hit and a walk in a game. I get it, but hitting is hard. You’re not gonna hold him down long.”
Of course, the Yankees offensive concerns aren’t just about Judge. As a whole, the team left 11 men on base and managed just two hits in 13 at-bats with runners in scoring position in game one. Verdugo’s single, Torres’ home run, and eight walks are what added up to the team’s six runs in the win. In game two, the Bombers managed just one hit with runners in scoring position, leaving eight men on base. In the seventh inning, Verdugo led off with a single and made it no further. In the eighth, Judge led off with his first hit of the series - and infield single - and was followed by a Wells strikeout and a Stanton inning-ending double play.
“We gotta punch through,” Boone said. “If they’re gonna keep it in the ballpark against you, you have to take advantage of the opportunities that are given you.”
Had the Yankees found some much-needed slug to put up crooked numbers, like they had for much of the regular season, the complexion of those critical innings, and perhaps the first two games of the series, would have been very different.
Sound familiar?
The Yankees tried to address their lineup holes before the season, believing a superstar in Juan Soto and a contact-oriented Alex Verdugo could help limit the empty at-bats that plagued them in postseasons past. As the season unfolded, Austin Wells emerged as another steady bat good to work counts and provide some protection behind Soto and Judge. But as the calendar has flipped to October, the lineup looks to be taking the same shape as the ones that went out meekly in the playoffs since 2020. Once again, they’re capable of breaking out and going on a run all the way to a title, but once again, they are not showing it as it draws closer to being too late.
