The Yankees Need To Turn On The Offense Right Now

Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Yankees offense is in rough shape. The team is 11-13 in August and they have scored two or fewer runs in nine of those games. In early August the Yankees scored a combines four runs in five games versus the Red Sox and Blue Jays. They just scored four runs in a home series against the Astros. Luckily, they won one game 1-0. After yesterday’s off day, the Yankees play in Atlanta and in Boston before having another off day next Thursday. It is an important week, as the Blue Jays have taken a 1.5 game lead over first place and lead by one in the loss column.

This offense has been led by 35 year old Mark Teixeira and 31 year old Brian McCann. Lately, however, the only bright spot in the lineup has come from Carlos Beltran of all people. In the last two weeks he has three home runs and eleven runs batted in to go along with his .341 average and .392 on base percentage. He has been keeping the Yankees in games they have no business winning.

Brett Gardner and Alex Rodriguez are killing the Yankees. In the last month Gardner is hitting .178 with a .286 OBP and a massive 28 strikeouts. Rodriguez is hitting .167 with a .292 OBP and 26 strikeouts of his own. The list of underperformers could be much longer.

The big question now is will the Yankees turn this ship around? Rosters expand Tuesday to 40 players. This will definitely inject some life into the team. Rob Refsnyder will make his return to the Bronx, as GM Brian Cashman stated earlier this week. Slade Heathcott should eventually make his way to the big leagues as well as Gary Sanchez depending on his injury.

The Yankees still have 7 games against the Blue Jays, giving them control of their destiny. This is where pitching comes in. Masahiro Tanaka, Nathan Eovaldi, and Luis Severino have taken over as the Yankees top three starters. If they can hold the Jays ridiculous offense, the Yankees may be able to grab some head to head ground. Blue Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey has lost the luster he has had for the last two months, turning into an easy target.

While some youth could spark the team, it will be up to the top of the lineup to win games. Without McCann, Teixeira, Rodriguez, Gardner, and Jacoby Ellsbury the team will be forced to play a one game playoff just to get into the real playoffs. The team needs to be patient, get on base, and let the middle of this lineup send them home. Everyone knows this team is old and it’s the end of the season. They just need to come together for 36 more games. The adrenaline of the playoffs should take over from there.