So, you thought the July Yankees could not get any worse in August?

Wrong! 10 wins -15 losses in July, 10-18 in August.

At the beginning of the month, they had been deliberating whether to buy or sell at the trade deadline. At the deadline, they really did neither. Their only change was to bring in right-handed relief pitcher Keynan Middleton (from the Chicago White Sox) for another right-hander from their farm system, Juan Carela.

And by the end of August, as they were out of contention and the rosters were due to expand, they decide to do a little cleaning house. Predictably but expensively, they cut Josh Donaldson. Also going through the out door was Greg Allen, who wasn’t being used much, but did bring something to the team. More surprisingly, they placed Harrison Bader on waivers.

Let’s see what else happened:

Here are the batters who were a success, and those who weren’t:

Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Greg Allen of	8	5	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	2	2	.400	.500	.600	1.100
Gleyber Torres if	28	107	17	35	8	0	7	13	13	19	5	.327	.410	.598	1.008
Oswaldo Cabrera of/if	11	19	3	6	0	0	0	2	3	6	1	.316	.409	.316	.725
DJ LeMahieu if	22	79	9	23	2	0	5	7	12	21	0	.291	.391	.506	.897
Anthony Volpe ss	27	90	9	23	4	1	7	21	8	23	2	.256	.333	.556	.889
Anthony Rizzo 1b	1	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250	.250	.250	.500
Isiah Kiner-Falefa of/if	22	78	8	17	3	0	1	7	6	18	1	.218	.274	.295	.569
Giancarlo Stanton dh/of	27	98	10	21	4	0	6	16	11	37	0	.214	.294	.439	.733
Kyle Higashioka c	18	48	6	10	1	0	4	7	4	14	0	.208	.269	.479	.748
Harrison Bader cf	27	89	12	18	4	0	0	4	8	22	7	.202	.268	.247	.515
Aaron Judge of/dh	28	97	16	19	1	0	9	14	20	35	0	.196	.333	.485	.818
Billy McKinney of/1b	14	38	6	7	0	0	1	3	7	14	0	.184	.304	.263	.567
Jake Bauers 1b/of	20	61	4	9	1	0	2	4	6	29	1	.148	.221	.262	.483
Everson Pereira lf	10	35	2	4	1	0	0	4	3	16	1	.114	.205	.143	.348
Ben Rortvedt c	18	37	2	4	0	0	2	2	6	11	0	.108	.233	.270	.503
Oswald Peraza 3b	9	29	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	8	0	.069	.129	.069	.198
Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS

Catchers:

The whispers were that things were going to change at the position of catcher when the roster expanded in September. Both Kyle Higashioka and Ben Rortvedt had below par months in August, with Rortvedt being consistently poor at the plate. He did add 2 home runs and 6 walks to his two singles, but there doesn’t seem to be much future for him in the Bronx. Higashioka with 1 double, and 4 home runs was able to retain a monthly batting average of .208 for August. However, if the rumoured promotion of Austin Wells from the minors (Scranton Triple-A) happens, Higashioka will be looking at life from the bench most of the time.

Infielders:

Donaldson went on a rehab assignment, but all too soon the Yankees had reversed that decision and released him. There were to be no farewell swings at Yankee Stadium for Josh. With Anthony Rizzo placed on the injured list with post-concussion syndrome, the Yankees had holes to fill in the infield. It seems that Rizzo’s problems dated back to his injury in May, but his difficulties had been inaccurately diagnosed from a medical point-of-view, and that his problems that led to an alarming slump had remained until now.

DJ LeMahieu, playing at the corner positions, had his best month of the season with the bat. He hit .291 with 7 extra base hits. A section of the time, Isiah Kiner-Falefa moved from his outfield endeavours to work at third-base. He struggled at the plate, but did feature in 22 games.

Gleyber Torres at second base, was the pick of the pack. He led the team in August in games played, at bats, runs, hits, doubles, and OPS. He has had a great season for the Yankees, and is one of the highlights of the offensive line-up – he’s missed few games, and should be pencilled in for next season now.

Anthony Volpe is growing into his role both offensively and defensively, and despite the Yankees’ horrendous slump, August saw him improve. In 27 appearances, he gathered 23 hits, including 12 extra base hits (including 7 home runs). His 21 RBIs led the team, and his .889 OPS was better than most.

Jake Bauers played most of the time at first base, but in 20 games he hit only .148. Oswaldo Cabrera was used in both infield and outfield. In his 11 games, he hit .316, but didn’t show any power at the plate.

Rizzo played in one game prior to his going on the injured list, producing one hit in four at bats.

Outfielders

Everson Pereira was promoted from Scranton on the 22nd of August, and was used in leftfield. He managed only .114 and a double. He will need to make a sharp improvement to survive at this level. In the current situation, he will be given plenty of opportunity.

Since his return, Aaron Judge has shown lots of power (10 extra base hits – 1 double and 9 home runs), but his batting average has slumped dramatcally since his return from injury. In August, he batted only .196.

Before his being placed on waivers, Harrison Bader had only a marginally batting average in the month than Judge, and displayed little power with only 4 doubles and no homers. He showed tremendous athleticism in the field, but this wasn’t enough to save him and he was claimed by the Cincinnati Reds.

Billy McKinney played in 14 games, but his purple patch has come to an end. He hit only .184 with just one extra base hit. Greg Allen did much better than last month, but he is now a free agent.

Designated Hitters

Giancarlo Stanton played some of the time in the outfield (when Judge needed a day out of the field), but most of his month was spent at the designated hitter spot. Again, like others, he managed little in the way of simply getting on base, but 10 of his hits went for extra base hits.