The All-Star break was a much needed rest and reset period for most of a Yankee team that has struggled greatly over the last month. Sitting at 49-21 after beating the Royals on June 12, the Yankees would go 9-19 over their last 28 games before the break.
Everything that worked for the Yankees over the first few months seemed to crumble as the Yankees dropped series after series, losing 8 straight series before winning 2 out of 3 in Baltimore right before the break. With the exception of Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Clay Holmes (smh), the rest of the Yankee team would have 4 days off to get ready for the start of the 2nd half of the 2024 regular season.
The Yankees opened up play in the second half of the 2024 season with a pivotal 4-game series, at home, against division rival Tampa Bay.
7/19: Yankees 6, Rays 1
With Gerrit Cole on the bump, the Yankees won their first game back in convincing fashion by a score of 6-1. Cole’s final stat line (6 IP, 6 Hits, 1 ER, 1BB, 8 Ks) helped solidify a win for the Yankees as they held a 5-1 lead when his night ended.
After giving up 6 ERs over 4 innings of work on 6/25 against the Mets, Cole has delivered four straight solid starts (yes, even the Boston one) with one start against each of the Yankees’ divisional opponents. Although you never really needed to worry about Cole, it is nice to see him continue to trend upward after that tough outing in Citi Field.
The Yankees offensive drove in runs without the long ball either, which is another good sign of a team that can compete come October. However, of the 9 team hits, 8 of them came from Judge (2-4), Soto (4-4) and Volpe (2-4). Not good. If the Yankees are to have any success in the postseason, they cannot continue to rely on the bats of three guys to win.
Rice, Verdugo, Grisham & LeMahieu went a combined 0-16 while Rice batted leadoff and Verdugo batted clean-up. Rice being a rookie grants him some leeway but that begs a different question: Why is a rookie batting leadoff?
7/20: Rays 9, Yankees 1
Game 2 of this series saw the Yankees get embarrassed, losing by a final score of 9-1. With Nestor Cortes on the mound, the Rays would build a quick 4-0 lead before Yankee killer Randy Arozarena extended that lead to 6-0 in the fifth, knocking Cortes out of the game. Cortes’ final line (4.1 IP, 8 Hits, 6 ER, 2 BBs, 1 K) came a mere few days after he tweeted the below:
Now, I love the sentiment and pride from Cortes. Nestor has been an important piece of the Yankee rotation over the last few years. However, his numbers this year are less than impressive (4-9, 3.99 ERA). An All-Star just two years ago, Cortes has fallen far from being the Yankee’s solidified #2 starter to a guy who might lose his spot in the rotation once Clarke Schmidt comes back.
The Yankee offensive mustered only 5 hits, with Judge and Soto combining for only 1. This is one of my biggest concerns with the Yankees. If Judge/Soto aren’t hitting, and there will be days when they don’t, someone else is going to need to step up. Time and time again over recent years we’ve seen how bad the Yankee offensive becomes when Judge is either hurt or slumping. Juan Soto said it best:
This isn’t basketball. Two guys can’t carry a team to a championship.
7/21: Rays 6, Yankees 4
Game 3 of the series saw the Yankees drop another game to Tampa Bay, 6-4. The Rays would build a 5-0 lead (despite Yankee starter Marcus Stroman only giving up 2 ERs) before Aaron Judge (see a trend here?) belted a 3-run shot in the bottom of the 7th to bring the score to within 2. After the Rays added one more in the 9th to make it 6-3, Juan Soto (see a trend here!?) would double to left and drive in Ben Rice in the bottom of the 9th to again bring the score within 2.
Despite the efforts of the best 1-2 punch in baseball, the Yankees would lose another game to bring their record to 59-42.
7/22: Yankees 9, Rays 1
The final game of the series took place on Monday, 7/22 while everyone was at work. Yankee bats not belonging to Judge or Soto finally woke up as Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe would go back-to-back in the bottom of the 2nd to get the scoring started. Oswaldo Cabrera would tack on 2 more in the 4th with a single to make the score 4-0 Yanks.
After Jose Siri (another Yankee killer it seems) homered in the top of the fifth, DJ LeMahieu would respond with his first homer of the season in the bottom of the fifth to get the run right back for the Yankees.
Juan Soto would tack on 4 more runs with, yes, two homers to pad the Yankee lead. The Yankees offensive produced 15 hits across eight different batters (leadoff hitter Ben Rice went 0-5; I stand by the statement that he shouldn’t be batting leadoff). And they got runs off every Rays pitcher they faced.
Carlos Rodon delivered a much-needed solid outing, giving up only 2 Hits and 1 ER over 7 innings of work while collecting a season high 10 Ks. This was also the first start of Rodon’s that the Yankees won since 6/10, losing his last 6 starts.
Round 2 Vs. Grimace
After winning the series split, the Yanks will now face the Grimace Mets for another two-game set. Only this time, it will be in the Bronx. I don’t need to remind Yankee fans what happened when the Yankees traveled to Citi Field back in June. But I know there is nothing this team needs more than to beat the brakes off the Mets.
The Yankees will throw Luis Gil (10-5, 3.17 ERA) and Gerrit Cole (3-1, 4.60 ERA) at the Mets as both pitchers look to redeem their last start against Grimace.
