Viral Josh Donaldson moment vs Rays adds to Yankees’ embarrassment

Josh Donaldson, formerly the “agitator” the New York Yankees thought they needed, has now turned into an unplayable $25 million man who can’t even back up his trash talk against a veteran pitcher who just began his career as a starter in 2022.

We’re talking about Tampa Bay Rays left-hander Jeffrey Springs, who was previously a reliever from 2018 until the beginning of 2022 before manager Kevin Cash put him in the rotation. The results have been impressive, we’ll admit, but a seasoned hitter like Donaldson can’t be the butt end of any joke he decides to start involving the Rays’ 29-year-old.

Cut to Friday night, though, and you have Donaldson staring at a 92 MPH fastball down the middle to end the first inning after the Yankees put runners on first and second. How many times is this guy going to watch the meatiest of strikes go right by his face in 2022?

If that wasn’t enough, Donaldson decided to trash talk Springs (for whatever reason) and … dared the left-hander to throw him a fastball? You got three in that at-bat! And then you popped out to shortstop in the top of the fourth!

This is all just living proof the Yankees are an embarrassment. Donaldson, at his absolute WORST, was brought to New York to provide some flare and “f— you” energy to the clubhouse. After doing that for about six weeks, he can’t even determine when it’s appropriate to actually talk trash. Forget about playing baseball since the beginning of July, the Yankees have become the awkward losers when it comes to basic human interaction.

Josh Donaldson’s antics show why the Yankees are an embarrassment

Donaldson, in the midst of a career-worst season after catching “Yankees Disease,” is hitting .220 with a .684 OPS and 96 OPS+. He’s on pace for a career-low in home runs, RBI runs scored, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and total bases for a season in which he’s played in 100 or more games.

Though his play picked back up in August, it’s still been far from what the Yankees have needed, and the damage was already done with his June and July performances. It’s quite possible he’s still battling an injured shoulder (which landed him on the IL at the end of May), but that’ll be information divulged once the Yankees complete their collapse. Fans never know the details of such instances until the story has been written.

Donaldson’s about to become a meme representing the most sad kind of toxic masculinity. Did you guys have that one on your bingo board?

Though the hope was Donaldson’s power could lengthen the Yankees lineup and strike fear into opposing pitching even if he wasn’t delivering offensively, fans at least hoped if that didn’t become a reality, then his defensive abilities/penchant for getting under the opponents’ skin would pay dividends.

Ah, yes. A timely two errors for Donaldson after he opened his mouth when he had no right to. We’ll continue to hope more about this story surfaces that doesn’t make the veteran look like a complete buffoon, but we might be waiting forever.

Donaldson’s never been the same since the controvesial Tim Anderson-“Jackie” incident. He’s dragged the Yankees down ever since. His error at Fenway on July 9 began the Yankees’ epic downturn, which has them at 18-30 since that very moment.

Still on this team, though. Still starting games. Still being featured in the lineup. The front office/Aaron Boone couldn’t be more lost at this juncture of the season, and it’s going to cost them like nobody could’ve ever imagined.

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