Anthony Volpe singled on the first pitch David Peterson threw in the Subway Series and Peterson had a clock violation before throwing another en route to walking Juan Soto and then Aaron Judge. Bases loaded. No out. Citi Field half abuzz and half in dread.
And then a Yankees team with many issues suddenly revealed their most disturbing: they are a top of a batting order in search of a lineup.
Gleyber Torres, who hasn’t hit all year (or fielded); Alex Verdugo, who stopped hitting a week ago; and J.D. Davis, who was just enlisted off the street, all struck out to strand three runners. The Yankees didn’t score. The Mets — suddenly with a longer, more fierce lineup than the Yankees — never did stop hitting in a worrisome outing by Gerrit Cole, who allowed four homers and struck out none in a 9-7 Mets shellacking.
The best item right now about the Yankees that is not Soto and Judge is that the Orioles also have stopped winning. Because pretty much every other phase — from Jose Trevino’s inability to slow running games to a lack of trustworthy bullpen arms — has cratered. But nothing sticks out like the length of the offense, which became more vulnerable, especially against lefties, with the loss of Giancarlo Stanton.
Peterson did not pitch particularly well and certainly not efficiently (103 pitches to get 13 outs). But the Yanks have now lost their past five games when the opponent starts a lefty, and Sean Manaea starts Wednesday night for the Mets.
The Yankees tried to counteract that with the addition of Davis, who struck out twice in his debut and grounded into a double play. Verdugo fell to hitless in his last 20 at-bats. And in what felt like a cry for help more than a decision, Jahmai Jones, who has made four previous starts all year, was installed as the DH. It harkened to a Subway Series 22 Junes ago, when Joe Torre made a statement by playing Enrique Wilson in right field for the only outfield start of his career, watched him play poorly and the Yanks panicked into trading for Raul Mondesi the next day.
George Steinbrenner is not here for that kind of repeat impetuousness. But if he were, this would be a bad time to be Torres or DJ LeMahieu. Because those two — and before he was hurt, Anthony Rizzo — were most debasing the lineup. They have the most pedigree. They earn significant dollars. And yet the Yankees had the seventh-worst OPS at first base, fifth-worst at second and fourth-worst at third.
And it isn’t like the Yanks have many places to turn, with their best alternative, Jasson Dominguez, out with an oblique injury and Oswald Peraza on the Miguel Andujar-losing-all-value superhighway. Ben Rice has had strong at-bats since arriving and until that stops Aaron Boone should play him regardless of lefty or righty starter. Austin Wells needs to play more to get the best offense out of him and Boone should not be hesitant to use him at DH when he is not catching.
But this lineup is desperate most for Torres and LeMahieu to awake and with every passing game that feels more unlikely. They combined on Tuesday for no hits and two errors, Torres’ 12th (second-most in the majors) was particularly costly as the Yanks surged from deficits of 6-0 and 9-1 because of Soto, who homered, and the otherworldly Judge, who had an RBI double and a grand slam and now has 29 homers in 81 games or the same pace as 2022 when he hit 62 homers. The Yankees were mainly a one-man offense, especially in the second half that season, and are mainly a two-man operation now.
They are crying out for something, anything from Torres and LeMahieu.
Torres put in the cleanup spot against the Mets and saw his batting average fall to .215 and his slugging percentage to .333 while his strikeout percentage went to 23.9 (it was 14.6 last year). It seems like he and LeMahieu are feeling for the ball more than letting swings go.
As he has all year, Torres insisted that looming free agency is not impacting him. But I think he loves being a Yankee and as one club official said, “He’s human,” meaning how can he not be thinking that the sand is running out on his time in pinstripes.
“What’s most important right now is we are still winning and are in first place,” Torres said. “So I basically still have a couple of months to figure out how to help my team.”
As for LeMahieu, when Boone and hitting coach James Rowson talk about a two-time former batting champ, it sounds like they are trying to be encouraging about a Little Leaguer. About how there have been hard-hit balls that haven’t gone for hits. But he was up to 81 plate appearances without an extra-base hit going into Tuesday night. He was like another former batting champ, Jeff McNeil, looking totally lost and pop-less.
Soto and Judge can cover for a lot. But this is not basketball. You can’t win with a two-man offense. The Yankees need more. Especially from LeMahieu and Torres. But it is literally half a season now, 81 games. It has become harder to believe that either will revive.