3 disappointing Yankees who have no hope to rebound in 2022

The 2022 New York Yankees have been a tale of two seasons. The most dominant team in all of MLB has turned into a doormat, and it’ll remain that way until the players on the field prove otherwise. Manager Aaron Boone can slam however many tables he wants until then. It might help, it might not.

The manager can only do so much. Maybe Boone’s not the best motivator/talent maximizer … but he’s not the one pitching poorly, failing to score runs, making egregious errors, or choking constantly in big spots. Fans can only scapegoat so much.

This team was 50-17 a couple months ago. They were getting timely hits, wearing down opposing pitching, and playing fundamental baseball. But then a few injuries hit and everything went off the rails.

That taught us one important thing we perhaps need to come to terms with: some of the struggling players on this roster in 2022 really have little-to-no shot of turning it around. If they couldn’t make it happen with a roster at full strength, how are they going to do it when they’re asked to do more when they can’t even fulfill the bare minimum?

As the going has continued to get tougher, they have kept withering. Sadly, Yankees fans won’t see what these players been capable of in years past. They’ll be eating up roster spots into October and more than likely affecting the team in detrimental fashion.

3 disappointing Yankees players who have no chance of rebounding in 2022

3. Josh Donaldson

In a trade that was supposed to reinvigorate the Yankees’ roster, general manager Brian Cashman traded Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela to the Minnesota Twins for Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, two players who have arguably been just as bad/worse than the two he traded away.

Though IKF’s presence has helped Gleyber Torres return to second base and improve, Donaldson’s offered nothing beyond what Urshela already did. Donaldson’s defense is better, but his bobble at Fenway Park on what should have been a game-ending double play on July 9 has been the catalyst for the Yankees’ current run of garbage form. Since that game’s result, the Yankees are 13-25. Unbelievable.

Even worse, though, is Donaldson’s offensive output. Take out his walk-off on Opening Day and his walk-off grand slam against the Rays last week, and we’re really not sure what value he brings. He’s, by FAR, putting forth a career-worst season (.223/.305/.388 with 12 homers and 47 RBI) and is no longer the “agitator” the Yankees were hoping he’d be (another aspect of what should’ve contributed to his “value”).

If he’s been unable to catch fire with DJ LeMahieu, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo all simultaneously tearing the cover off the ball, then there’s no sense of even hoping for a return to form. He’s been OPSing in the .600s most of this year. Expecting that to change over the next six weeks would be delusional.

2. Aroldis Chapman

Even Aroldis Chapman’s biggest haters might be able to admit they saw him getting back on track at some point. Though he’s no longer hurling 102 MPH or more, he’s developed secondary offerings that showed promise and, at the time, seemed like they would’ve likely panned out eventually.

Except … nope! The left-hander has been varying versions of “bad” for three years now, whether it’s melting down in the postseason, blowing an egregious game after a rain delay, or making you believe he can once again handle high-leverage outings after succeeding in innings 6-8, only to absolutely come crashing back down to earth when put into those situations.

Before Aug. 17, Chapman’s last appearance in the ninth inning or later came on May 22, which was the last game before a lengthy IL stint. Then he returned as a regular bullpen yeoman, tasked with doing whatever was asked of him. That (eventually) resulted in nine straight scoreless appearances to ostensibly earn manager Aaron Boone’s trust.

He’s since been tasked with two (2) outings in the ninth and 10th, which have resulted in three earned runs on two hits, four walks and just one strikeout in a single inning of work. Chapman is not “back,” and he won’t be “back” in 2022 because he continues to get worse and worse with no signs of encouragement when the innings actually matter.

Only a few more weeks of this before he’s no longer the Yankees’ problem. Should’ve been gone after 2019, though, so big props to Cashman for extending this relationship far longer than it should’ve lasted.