Yankees hitting coach Marcus Thames is in a rare spot, trying to figure out why is usually stacked lineup is full of established hitters laboring through early-season slumps.
The Bombers picked up a much-needed win on Thursday night, piling on 11 hits to eclipse the five-hit mark for the first time in six games, but that output has been an outlier in an otherwise dreadful start to the season. From top to bottom, the Yankees’ normally overpowering lineup hasn’t looked the part as the first month of the season nears a close.
“I just think guys are trying to do a little too much at times instead of worrying about the process of the at-bat,” Thames said on Friday. “I just think guys are going out and trying to do too much to pick up their teammates instead of focusing on the at-bat quality. All of these guys are talented, but when we’re going through a spell like we are, guys start putting too much pressure on themselves. Just trying to keep guys positive and heading in the right direction.”
Very few could have predicted the Bomber bats being this cold to begin the season. Prior to Friday’s game in Cleveland, the Yanks had the second-lowest team OPS in all of baseball, in front of only the Orioles, predicted to battle the Pirates for the worst record in the league this season. In their last three full seasons, the Yanks finished in the top five in that category, and Thames thinks his group is trying to get back to that production with one swing, when it may take a more gradual approach.
“I think they’re chasing hits,” Thames said. “They’re trying to get three hits or hit a three-run home run with nobody on base at times. That comes with being an athlete and trying to pick your teammates up, just doing it the wrong way. I just think mentally, we have to get back to one pitch at a time and one at-bat at a time and all of that will come.”
While Thames fully expects the offense to play closer to the numbers on the back of their baseball cards and turn things around soon, it’s still been difficult to watch Aaron Hicks, Gleyber Torres, Clint Frazier and Giancarlo Stanton all struggle with OPS marks below .600, while DJ LeMahieu, normally the epitome of consistency, has been grounder-heavy with a .736 OPS.
But Thames hasn’t let that change his approach as a coach.
“I’m in every at-bat with those guys,” Thames said. “I’m in every at-bat, every swing, every pitch, I have to stay the same. I have to keep my body language the same, because they’re watching. I have to make sure I stay positive and let them know that they’re going to come out of this. I always say once that at-bat is over, it’s over, and you move on to the next pitch. I just have to stay positive and work with these guys and get them back on the right track.”
For Thames, it’s easy to stay positive in front of his hitters, because he believes they’ll work their way back to their potential soon. It may have even started on Thursday.
“I see these guys every day,” Thames said. “I know how hard they work. We’re in a funk, but they’re coming out of it. We just have to continue to build off one game at a time, and I think the power will come when it comes.”
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