TORONTO — Give the Yankees this: as their hot start turned cold over the past two weeks, almost all of them have had a hand in it.
Aside from Aaron Judge, the lineup has entered a collective slump, some worse than others.
The bullpen has been in disarray.
Carlos Rodon has struggled in three consecutive starts.AP
A few key injuries have hurt both the lineup and pitching staff.
But there might not be a more critical element of their skid than the rotation’s sudden spiral.
The Yankees — who snapped their four-game skid with a 16-5 blowout win over the Blue Jays on Friday night — woke up on June 15 with the lowest starters’ ERA in the majors at 2.77 across 72 games, all of which they had done without Gerrit Cole.
And the reigning AL Cy Young winner’s return was just days away, a scary thought for opponents as the rotation was primed to get even better.
Instead, the following 11 games before Friday’s win were one big collective struggle, during which Yankees starters combined to post an 8.65 ERA — the highest in the majors during that stretch.
Luis Gil and the rest of the Yankees’ starters have struggled recently.Charles Wenzelberg
The Yankees were outscored 86-43 overall in those 11 games while going 2-9.
Some of it could be chalked up to the ebb and flow of the season, but manager Aaron Boone admitted that was only part of it.
“There’s also a few of us that have gotten popped in the mouth, too,” Boone said Friday at Rogers Centre. “You got to dig in and where there are little improvements and adjustments to be made, [make them].”
Nestor Cortes and Marcus Stroman, who allowed three runs in 4 ¹/₃ innings in Friday’s win, have mostly been solid during this stretch.
Gerrit Cole has stumbled since returning from his injury.Charles Wenzelberg
But Carlos Rodon has turned in three straight clunkers, Luis Gil two and Gerrit Cole has had some bumps in two starts while still building his workload back up.
“So these are all things that are fixable and in every case, capable of getting guys on track,” Boone said. “We just got to make those little subtle adjustments and then go out there and execute at a high level. There’s no reason why we don’t flip that script right away.”
Through the first two-plus months of the season, starters had given the Yankees a chance to win almost every game.
That has hardly been the case of late, with the Yankees often facing a big deficit early.
”It’s not easy for the offense when they’re down 5-0 after the first and then after the second they’re down 8-0,” Rodon said Thursday night after putting them in those early holes. “It makes it hard for them to claw back.”
Alex Verdugo has been one of the other struggling Yankees
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Among the other potential areas of concern that have popped up recently:
A slumping lineup: In this 11-game stretch, the Yankees hit .197 with a .645 OPS. If you subtract the red-hot Judge from that, it is a .182 average and .580 OPS. Though Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu have been scuffling for most of the season, Alex Verdugo entered Friday 4-for-38 during this 11-game stretch while Anthony Volpe has cooled off, batting .200 with a .493 OPS over his last 20 games. Boone was not concerned about either, calling Verdugo “the last one I’m worried about.”
Injuries: Besides the slumps, the middle of the order has taken a hit with Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring strain) and Anthony Rizzo (arm fracture) going down during this stretch. Stanton could be back by late next month while Rizzo is expected to be sidelined until August.
Bullpen woes: The relief corps had been one of the majors’ best in the early going, but they have largely struggled for more than a month now. The Yankees have shuffled up their relievers while trying to find the right group to help them, though they are still expected to address the bullpen at the trade deadline, with it being their biggest area of concern.