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Yankees: Has Marcus Thames lost control of the players?

Thomas Carannante|
Brett Gardner #11 of the New York Yankees is held back by coach Marcus Thames #62 as he argues with the umpire Todd Tichenor after Gardner was ejected for banging his bat on the dugout roof complaining about the umpiring in an MLB baseball game against the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City on August 17, 2019. Yankees won 6-5. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)
Brett Gardner #11 of the New York Yankees is held back by coach Marcus Thames #62 as he argues with the umpire Todd Tichenor after Gardner was ejected for banging his bat on the dugout roof complaining about the umpiring in an MLB baseball game against the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City on August 17, 2019. Yankees won 6-5. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)

Whatever is going on with the New York Yankees very much seems to be internal. It has to be relative to the mental aspect of the game because this bunch is far too talented to be underperforming at the rate they currently are.

The energy. The motivation. The accountability. None of it is there in losing efforts. Gleyber Torres gave us a glimpse on Sunday when he lost his cool in the dugout, but that was a rarity. In fact, we were shocked when we saw it.

From a leadership perspective, there aren’t any players who speak up in an inflammatory manner to elicit some sort of response from the rest of the team. The manager? Yeah, Aaron Boone is what you’d call an enabler, to put it nicely. He keeps publicly encouraging this bunch amid the worst of slides.

Hitting coach Marcus Thames? He provided his insight on the team’s struggles on Monday and … it didn’t help his case at all.

What are the Yankees doing? How can we diagnose the offensive problems? What’s key in turning all of this around? When will it end? Or at least not rear its ugly head as often?

Well, according to Thames, it’ll “turn around” when players start “sticking to their approaches” during games.

Yankees hitting coach Marcus Thames certainly didn’t inspire fans on Monday.

So … the players aren’t listening? Isn’t that a reflection of leadership? Why aren’t they focused? Why aren’t they executing what they’ve been advised to do in order to succeed at the plate?

Thames saying this may have played a role in digging his grave. How can you openly admit this and not have it be a direct indictment of your ability as a coach? The players simply aren’t listening? Is this a middle school class with a substitute teacher?

On top of that, there are no peripherals suggesting that the Yankees can burst out of this slumber and return to the destructive unit they once were. All of a sudden they preach more situational hitting and everyone’s brain breaks?

Care for some concerning statistics that suggest the Yankees might be even worse than you thought?

  • 24.9% strikeout rate – 19th in MLB
  • .281 BABIP – 23rd in MLB
  • .142 ISO – 23rd in MLB
  • 30.6% hard hit percentage – 18th in MLB
  • 17.5% soft hit percentage – 21st in MLB
  • 74.1% contact percentage – 24th in MLB

Advanced stats obviously don’t tell the whole story, but some of them provide worthwhile insight into what’s going on. As you can see, across the board, the Yankees are among the worst offenses in the league.

Hey guys, maybe start listening? Please?

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