One of the Yankees’ most unexpected and crippling deficiencies of the 2021 season was the offense, which hovered around the middle of the pack after being among the league leaders in home runs and runs scored over the previous three seasons under Aaron Boone.
A major culprit of the team’s scoring woes? An inability to bring runners home, as the Yanks finished last season with the fifth-lowest OPS with two outs and runners in scoring position. For context, the top team was the Braves, the eventual World Series champion, followed by the juggernaut Dodgers. Meanwhile, the worst team was the lowly Pirates.
Over the offseason, the Yanks didn’t do much to improve upon the offense they ended the 2021 campaign with, swapping Gio Urshela for Josh Donaldson, Gary Sanchez for a full-time Kyle Higashioka, and adding glove-first Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the infield fold.
Turns out, if nothing changes, nothing changes.
It’s still early of course, but the team’s woes with runners in scoring position are back in full force in the early going. Through the first six games of the season, the Bombers are hardly living up to that nickname, managing just seven hits in 40 at-bats with runners in scoring position, good for a .175 batting average. Wednesday night’s game-tying double by DJ LeMahieu was the first hit with two outs and runners in scoring position all year for the Yanks, who ended the night 1-for-6 with RISP and left eight men on base in a 6-4 loss.
The teams currently at the bottom of the RISP leaders are ones you’d expect, as the Marlins, Orioles, and Diamondbacks are the three worst. But the Yankees plan on competing for a World Series behind potent sluggers like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Joey Gallo. But unless they capitalize on their run-scoring opportunities, it’s hard to see 2022 unfolding much differently than its familiar predecessor.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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