Yankees June Approval Poll: Brian Cashman

Oh, how much can change in a month. Yankees GM Brian Cashman’s approval rating sat at 32 percent according to our poll back when spring training started, but improved as the Yankees did, coming in at a robust 71 percent at the end of May, a month that saw the Yankees blitz their opponents and roll up a 21-7 record. After a far more middling month of June, and a particularly poor finish to the month, it’ll be interesting to see how respondents react to this month’s GM poll.

As awful as the last week or two has been, it is important to put the whole season, and month of June, in context. Even with some awful play of late, the Yankees will still close out June at 14-13, a much more cogent record than it feels like they’ve compiled. They also remain on a 102-win pace, which would be second only to the 2019 club for the most wins during the Aaron Judge era.

All that said, it’s clear the vibes aren’t what they were a month ago. The Yankees stayed pretty healthy for the season’s first two months, but injuries took a hammer to the roster in June. Anthony Rizzo went down with a hand injury and will miss a chunk of the summer, while Giancarlo Stanton suffered a hamstring strain, hindering a lineup that was leading the league. The team’s pitching depth has thinned as well, with Ian Hamilton and Cody Poteet joining Clarke Schmidt, Nick Burdi, and Jonathan Loáisiga on the IL.

Those injuries, combined with ineffectiveness from a number of key players, have left the Yankees limping for a time. Gleyber Torres was benched after a rough game last week, and he scuffled through June with a .207/.269/.402 line. Anthony Volpe suffered a major slump, and finished the month hitting .229/.248/.322. DJ LeMahieu has been nothing short of a disaster, posting a 35 wRC+ in June and needing until this past weekend to record his first extra-base hit of the season.

There have also been concerning developments on the pitching side of things, most notably massive regression from Carlos Rodón. Opposing hitters tattooed the lefty’s fastball all month, with Rodón putting together a 7.76 ERA in five starts, though his strikeout and walk rates actually improved compared to earlier in the year.

And of course, there’s the return of Gerrit Cole. The ace looked shaky over his first two starts in the bigs, struggling with command at times and seeing his velocity fluctuate. He bounced back nicely yesterday, holding the Blue Jays to one run over five innings. As long as he stays healthy, Cole should help the Yankees turn things around heading into July.

It wasn’t all bad in June, as the Yankees’ superstar duo of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto continued to lead the way. Judge somehow didn’t cool off in the slightest, pushing his wRC+ on the season to 215 after hitting his 31st homer yesterday. Soto worked around a couple of injury scares to run a stellar 199 wRC+. Each would be shoe-in MVP frontrunners in most years, but in 2024 they’ll have to deal with each other, as well as Orioles sensation Gunnar Henderson.

The month also saw Cashman make his first noteworthy in-season trade, sending minor leaguer Jordan Groshans to Oakland in exchange for veteran infielder J.D. Davis. It’s certainly not an earth-shaking move; any deal that involves picking up a castoff from the Athletics is almost by definition small potatoes. But it’s probably still about as much as the Yankees can do as they try to grind through this rough patch and into the All-Star break and toward the trade deadline. Davis hit his first home run as a Yankee against the Blue Jays, and hopefully will provide at least capable production with the bat over the next few weeks.

In all, let us know how you feel about the work Cashman’s done and the state of the Yankees at this midseason juncture. This month hasn’t been as bad as it’s felt at times, at least if you look at the club’s overall record, but the situation has obviously deteriorated a bit since our last poll. Please give us a “yes” or a “no” in the poll below as we find out how Yankees fans feel about the team’s GM after the month of June.