Struggling Yankee offense getting pitches to hit, but doing nothing with them
With Aaron Judge at the plate in the ninth inning back in game one, the struggling MVP took a hack at a sweeper knee high, right down the middle of the plate, but could only foul it off. He popped out on the next pitch to strand two and end the threat.
In the seventh inning of game three, Anthony Volpe took a 3-1 fastball right down broadway to make it a full count. He later struck out, losing his bat in the Dodger dugout in the process. Two batters later, Austin Wells looked at a middle-middle fastball on a 2-0 count, and later struck out looking.
By the end of the night, the Yanks were put on the brink of elimination, in danger of being swept in the World Series for the first time since 1976.
The Yanks looked overmatched by Dodger pitching once again, but LA’s pitching staff has not been overpowering. The Yankee bats have had their chances to do damage, but have been unable to capitalize.
“I feel like Buehler and Yamamoto did a good job of taking a lead and attacking and getting ahead,” Aaron Boone said. “Both games...early on, we were making them work a little bit. They were a little in and out of the zone, but once they got that lead, they did a good job attacking and having count leverage.”
For years, the Yankee philosophy has been to hit strikes hard. So far in this series, they have not been accomplishing that as a collective. Especially not against Dodgers starters, which was supposed to be an area where the Bombers held an advantage in this World Series. Monday’s starter Walker Buehler dared the Yankees to pounce on his mid-90s fastball in the early innings, but the Yankees couldn’t make him pay. The offense around Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton continued to be an issue, as Austin Wells’ brutal slump continued after he entered the game for Jose Trevino, Aaron Judge went hitless again, and Jazz Chisholm went 0-for-4 to drop his postseason OPS to .475. After riding big home runs from Soto and Stanton to a pennant, the all-too-familiar offense struggles have returned in the World Series, and it may be too late to turn it around with the Dodgers now having the series in a chokehold.
Outside of Soto and Stanton, the Yankees are batting a miserable .106 with runners in scoring position, again highlighting an area that has plagued the team several times in October during the Boone era. The chances are there, but they often result in zeroes. Even when there are pitches to hit.
A garbage time home run by Alex Verdugo made game three appear closer than it really was. Just like a ninth-inning rally in game two in another 4-2 loss. The last two games were not particularly close, as the Dodgers have grabbed early leads while the Yankee offense has mainly disappeared, making a comeback feel like a farfetched wish. With those offensive woes continuing, a miraculous series comeback seems next to impossible.
