4-1 (March)

16-10 (April)

16-12 (May)

12-14 (June)

Things are not getting better for the New York Yankees. Most of their batters are batting below a .250 batting average in recent weeks. Starting pitchers are struggling. The players they depend upon are being added to a lengthening injury list.

Let’s take a closer look at what is happening with the batters:

Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Trent Grisham cf	9	36	7	13	2	1	1	4	4	2	2	.361	.425	.556	.981
Paul Goldschmidt 1b/dh	26	101	12	30	3	0	8	22	4	24	1	.297	.321	.564	.885
Spencer Jones of	19	47	6	12	4	0	2	5	6	22	0	.255	.340	.468	.808
Ali Sanchez c	13	24	2	6	2	0	0	3	1	8	0	.250	.308	.333	.641
Anthony Volpe ss	24	75	9	18	3	1	0	5	9	18	3	.240	.321	.307	.628
Jasson Dominguez of/dh	16	60	5	14	5	0	2	5	3	18	4	.233	.270	.417	.687
Cody Bellinger lf	25	92	9	21	3	0	3	11	11	16	5	.228	.305	.359	.664
Ryan McMahon 3b	15	36	3	8	0	0	2	4	3	10	0	.222	.282	.389	.671
Amed Rosario if/of	17	47	6	10	1	0	2	6	4	12	1	.213	.275	.362	.637
Jose Caballero if/of	24	81	12	17	2	0	4	13	7	26	5	.210	.275	.383	.658
Ben Rice 1b/dh	26	102	13	20	1	0	6	10	11	30	0	.195	.274	.382	.656
J.C. Escarra c	11	26	3	5	2	0	0	0	1	5	0	.192	.222	.269	.491
Jazz Chisholm Jr 2b	25	79	17	14	0	1	6	13	12	29	10	.177	.283	.430	.713
Max Schuemann if/of	12	20	5	2	1	0	1	1	2	7	0	.100	.250	.300	.550
Austin Wells c	12	33	1	2	1	0	0	3	0	11	1	.061	.061	.091	.152
David Bednar p/ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Oswaldo Cabrera 3b/if	2	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Fernando Cruz p/ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Name/Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS

Catchers

The New York Yankees were intending to send J.C. Escarra to Scranton on June 6th, the very day that Austin Wells reported in with severe headaches and needed to go on the Injured List. This meant that Ali Sanchez who was meant to replace Escarra on the roster now found himself replacing Wells.

Sanchez was only batting .227 at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders when he was called up but it was certainly time to try something different.

He went on to play the highest number of the games at catcher in June and was one of only 4 Yankees to hit .250 or better on the month. Sanchez spent 3 days on the paternity list and they recalled Escarra from the minors. This happened on the 23rd whereas Wells had returned from injury 2 days prior. Both Wells and Escarra batted below .200 on the month, with Wells .061 showing that his time on the injured list hadn’t helped him much, if at all.

Infielders

Paul Goldschmidt and Ben Rice divided up time as they played first base and designated hitter almost alternately. The most notable thing was that Goldschmidt maintained a hitting rate well above that which was expected of him, whilst Rice began to slow up noticeably. Rice hit only .195 in June accompanied by 7 extra base hits. Thankfully, six of these were homers. Amazingly, Goldschmidt who appeared in exactly the same number of games to match Rice (26) hit 8 home runs and 11 extra base hits, leading to a .297 batting average on the month. When the Yankees decided to pick him up on a short term contract, they were expecting to gain someone who would add to their strength in the field. To perform in this way with the batter also has been a tremendous and unexpected gain.

Jazz Chisholm played in 25 games in this month, but his batting performance and the way that his ego in the field draws him to seek the camera’s eyes all the time is not a gain for the New York team. On June 23rd, he drew attention away from the Yankees’ performance by sucking a lollipop whilst in the field and when he had a great hit a few days later, he shook the box of his lollipops at the camera despite earning a rebuke from Aaron Boone when the coach found out about the whole lollipop matter. Chisholm batted only .177, but his stats in the home run (6) and stolen base (10) columns are gaining ground.

Anthony Volpe has returned to being the most days shortstop, lifting his batting average – he hit .240 in June – but he is not bringing much power to the game.

Third baseman Ryan McMahon ended the month on the injured list, heading that way retroactive to the 22nd with a throat infection. Like so many others this month he struggled this month, hitting only .222.

And on the bench? A group of players who could cover for infield and outfield gaps as those injuries mounted. None of them excelled. There was Amed Rosario (.213 BA, with 3 XBH), Jose Caballero (.210 BA, 6 XBH, 5 SB), Max Schuemann (a mere .100 BA) and – in only 2 games – Oswaldo Cabrera (6 ABs, 3 of them strikeouts and a .000 BA).

Outfielders

Aaron Judge, who went on the injured list in May, was not to return in June. This meant the Yankees had to lean heavily on Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones who both began this season at Scranton. The less-experienced Jones did the best of the two but neither of them set the world on fire.

Jones hit .255 with 6 extra base hits (2 home runs). Dominguez hit .233 with 7 extra base hits.

Trent Grisham started the month extremely well but after 9 appearances, he strained his right hamstring and was another to head to the injured list. In that early part of June, he batted .361, but his absence just meant more pressure went on the youthful and the bench players.

Cody Bellinger played in 25 games in June, but really struggled producing only .228.

Designated hitters.

With the ongoing absence of the injured Giancarlo Stanton, Ben Rice has now become the most used DH, with Goldschmidt being second choice. Whether the fact that Rice is playing less time in the field is contributing to his falling batting average remains to be seen.

One factor that must be noted was the Yankees extreme lack of patience at the plate. Even the otherwise exemplary, Paul Goldschmidt struck out six times more than he walked this month. Others who showed real weakness in this area were Sanchez (8 times more strikeouts than walks), Dominguez (6 times more strikeouts than walks), Wells (no walks to 11 strikeouts), and Caballero (7 walks to 26 strikeouts).