Yankees: This stat proves NYY are struggling with the easiest pitches

The Yankees are legitimately one of the worst teams in MLB at hitting pitches right down the middle of the plate.

In you don’t live under a rock, chances are that you’re fully aware of how immensely the New York Yankees are struggling right now. After steamrolling opponents out of the gate to jump to a 16-6 start, the club has found winning streaks impossible to come by, as they now sit just two games above .500 at 21-19, a distant 6.5 games off the pace of Tampa Bay in the AL East.

A seven-game losing streak in August was believed to be rock bottom, but the Yankees are fresh off dropping three in a row to the Baltimore Orioles, who now sit just two games (!) behind them in the standings.

If the season ended today, New York would barely qualify for the playoffs as the eighth and final seed in the AL.  As crazy as it sounds, their run differential (+9) is the worst among the eight squads in the playoff field. The “predictors” agree with the eye test — this team is bad.

While the Yankees’ starting rotation and bullpen haven’t helped matters, their offense — which was supposed to be among the best in MLB — has grossly underperformed. We can’t even blame their injury woes here, because this stat pertains to the entire season and supposed “meatball” pitches.

That’s right, folks. The Yankees rank 29th in the league in both batting average and slugging percentages on pitches right down broadway. We’re not sure how that’s even possible considering the talent on this roster, but it just confirms that every player — aside from someone like DJ LeMahieu, who’s hitting everything in sight and using all fields while doing so — should be held accountable.

Baseball is hard enough, and the Yankees are making it so much more difficult by failing to do the little things right. It’s not like we’re talking about hitting off-speed pitching or hitting with two strikes, either. Truth be told, this team probably ranks near the bottom of the league in those respective categories, because they aren’t capitalizing on opposing pitchers’ most glaring mistakes.

The Yankees have been held to five total runs during their latest losing streak against Baltimore’s pedestrian pitching staff. Up next is a three-game slate versus Toronto, which ranks eighth in MLB with a 3.87 team ERA.

Hold on to what’s left of your sanity, Yankees fans, because we don’t see this offense turning the course anytime soon. No matter who’s in the box, your eyes aren’t fooling you. They’re getting 92 mph head dead center, and they’re doing the bare minimum with it.

“Next Man Up” or All-Star status shouldn’t matter; everyone has to be better at drilling these mistakes.