The Yankees Are a National Embarrassment and it Only Took 2 Weeks

The New York Yankees are losers of seven straight and it’s now officially pathetic.

Let’s be real here: there’s a chance the New York Yankees might not even make the playoffs. After starting the season 16-6 and seemingly appearing unstoppable, injuries have stripped the organization down to its undies and to call the roster a shell of its former self would be an insult to that expression.

Now, the Bombers have lost seven straight — three against the Rays, two against the Braves and two against the Mets — blowing leads in a number of those contests to fall to 16-13 with no light at the end of the tunnel. But sure, let’s keep talking about how “deep” this roster is and how they can’t be held down.

They’re being pinned down effortlessly right now and the man who’s supposed to be guiding the ship doesn’t seem to have a clue what he’s doing. What’s going on with Aaron Boone?

That was the second blown late-inning lead of the day. Aroldis Chapman, who’s pretty much taken a mini vacation to start the season, can’t even close games, or even throw strikes at this juncture. He walked Jeff McNeil to start off the bottom of the seventh and then allowed a walk-off home run to the Mets’ worst hitter in the starting lineup.

Hours prior, Chad Green, who for some reason was given 10 days of rest prior to Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Braves, blew his second game of the week after allowing three home runs in an inning (the top of the sixth) — each one coming with two strikes on the batter.

How is this an indictment of Boone? Well, for one, he continues to put out confounding lineups. Earlier in Game 1, Brett Gardner, who’s batting .183, was batting third. Gary Sanchez, who batted cleanup in both contests, is batting .130. We’re still putting Aaron Hicks atop the lineup and he’s constantly hovering below the Mendoza Line. Who cares if he manages to get walks, he can’t hit. For the series against the Braves, Boone opted not to play Aaron Judge and Clint Frazier in first game of the doubleheader.

And the pitching decisions? Removing Masahiro Tanaka after 66 pitches on Wednesday; removing Jordan Montgomery after 68 pitches the moment he gave up two straight singles on Friday; bringing in Adam Ottavino in the fourth inning the very next game and then deciding to pitch Nick Nelson and Luis Cessa after him. Then, sure, let’s give Chapman a save situation in a must-win game when he hasn’t pitched in **checks diary** 11 days. This was his second appearance of the year.

Did we forget another horrific move/decision/incident? Let us know, please. Oh yeah! The organization is still taking forever to release a statement in regards to the escalating racial tensions in the United States after two African American prospects pleaded for the Yankees to do so.

Seriously, what are we doing here? It’s OK if the offense is going to lay a number of eggs because all of the stars are injured, but we at LEAST need somebody putting together a competent, consistent-looking lineup with the guys we have. We also have to use pitchers sensibly! The last seven games have proven to be an unmitigated disaster on that front. The few areas the Yankees are able show strength are not being utilized properly, and that’s putting it nicely.

At the end of the day, you’re probably sitting here reading and thinking “Yankees fans will complain about anything” or “if they don’t blow this lead, nobody is outraged at the end of the day.” Well, you’re wrong. We’ve seen the cracks in the managerial decisions. We’ve seen the lack motivation and drive from this team that has told us “they want it more.”

They almost got no-hit by a rookie on Wednesday. They let the Rays walk all over them for six out of seven games. They barely managed to hit AAA-caliber pitching on Friday against Michael Wacha and Dustin Peterson.

Injuries can only be an excuse for so long. This team is completely lost on a number of fronts regardless of who’s in the starting lineup or not.

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