Yankees need to get more offensively from these three players ASAP

At a time where the Yankees really need guys to step up without Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge in the lineup, there’s a few that have and a few that haven’t. Brett Gardner, Gleyber Torres and Greg Bird are among those who haven’t and if they don’t start hitting soon this Yankee team could be in some real trouble.

The injuries to Sanchez and Judge have kept them sidelined longer than many expected and there’s still no set timetable on when they might return. Sanchez is closer to returning now that the pain in his groin is gone and he’s running again, but with Judge, he’s still yet to swing a bat so it seems like we might not see him back at least until early September. That means the Yankees will be without their best hitter for at least another two to three weeks.

Although guys like Giancarlo Stanton, Didi Gregorius, and Miguel Andujar have all played well since Judge went down that hasn’t been enough to lead them to more wins because the rest of the lineup isn’t providing much production.

Austin Romine has been okay replacing Sanchez behind the plate and Neil Walker hasn’t been terrible replacing Judge in right, but they don’t deepen the lineup or strike fear into the opposition. They’re both backup players for a reason which is why the Yankees need their three regulars mentioned below to snap out of their recent slumps as soon as possible.

Brett Gardner

Gardner is in the middle of another streaky season and right now he’s going through a cold streak. In August, he only has two RBI and one home run with a .217 average. He’s still a solid leadoff guy because he works deep counts and gets on base, but his power numbers have taken a dip this season after he set a career high in home runs a season ago with 21. If he doesn’t pick it up you might see more of Aaron Hicks at the top of the lineup because he’s had a much better season and has experience leading off.

It’s important that Gardner gets going not only to help the team but to himself since he’s set to be a free agent after this season. He’s the longest tenured player on the team and I’m sure he’d love to be back next year but with Clint Frazier waiting in the wings, he needs to play better down the stretch if he wants to keep his hold on the starting job in left.

Gleyber Torres

No Yankees hitter is struggling more right now than the rookie phenom Torres. After an incredible All-Star worthy first half, Torres has hit .151 in the second half, since he returned from the DL with a strained hip. Who knows if the injury is to blame for his troubles or if he’s just a hit a rookie wall, but right now he looks uncomfortable at the plate and it’s reflecting in the quality of his at-bats.

One thing he did so well in the first half was cut down on his swing and drive the ball to right field, especially with two strikes. Lately, it looks like Torres is trying to pull everything and the two strike approach he had in the first half has disappeared. He’s chasing pitches out of the zone a lot and pitchers are taking advantage of that by pitching him backwards. They’re getting ahead with breaking balls and by the time they get to two strikes they stick with the breaking stuff low and away or attack him up with fastballs because they know he might chase.

Torres is experiencing his first extended slump in the big leagues but he’s so talented that you know it’s only a matter of time before he breaks out. His first half was no fluke and despite his struggles, there’s no doubt in my mind he’s still a star in the making. However, he needs to snap out of this soon because when he’s not hitting it leaves another huge hole in the Yankees lineup.

Greg Bird

While Gardner and Torres are both in slumps right now Greg Bird has been in a slump pretty much all season. Outside of a hot two week stretch in July Bird hasn’t lived up to high expectations for the second season in a row. Injuries have once again played a big role but by all accounts, Bird has been healthy since returning from ankle surgery to make his season debut back on May 29th.

On Wednesday his season reached a low point in the Yankees 3-1 loss to the Rays. Down two in the ninth with the bases loaded and nobody out Bird stepped up to the plate and promptly swung at the first pitch he saw and fouled out near the third base dugout. It finished off an 0-4 day to lower his season average to .211. On the season he only has 9 home runs and 29 RBI in 227 at-bats. In August he has TWO RBI and he’s yet to hit a home run.

After the game Bird talked to the media and talked about how happy he is just to be playing again because it’s the most games he’s ever played in a season.

That had to rub some fans the wrong way. I’ve been a huge Bird supporter, but we’ve come a to a point where it’s time to start looking at the results and right now he’s just not a very productive player. Had it not been for the injuries to Judge and Sanchez you could argue he shouldn’t even be in the lineup at all and his at-bats should go to the veteran Walker.

Maybe all the injuries he’s suffered early in his career will prevent him from ever reaching his full potential because this is not the player we all expect Bird to be. After he burst onto the scene in 2015 and after he was arguably the team’s best hitter last October we expected him to be a force in the middle of the lineup this season. That hasn’t been the case so you wonder if this is just the type of player Bird is and will continue to be. Let’s hope not for him and the Yankees sake.