Yankees' offensive woes without Aaron Judge just hit an historic new low

You want to rake the Yankees over the coals for their "June Swoon"? Be my guest. But the fact is these ridiculously undermanned Yankees were actually doing a pretty great job treading water until they headed to Fenway Park.

They took a series from the upstart White Sox with two blowout victories. They beat Tarik Skubal in Detroit to take that series. They beat the Blue Jays on the road in a rivalry set with two games' worth of late heroics. Holding court without Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham, Max Fried and Giancarlo Stanton is the best you can hope for, and these Yanks were holding it tightly.

Then, they dropped it — against their chief rivals who were dead before they arrived and are now riding a bumpy Delta flight into a hot streak, obviously — and things have never been worse. Not in 2026, not under Aaron Boone, not even in Yankees history. Things have never been worse for an offense in the history of Major League Baseball than they've been for these Yankees against these Red Sox and Tigers, two teams having wildly disappointing campaigns (to say the least).

Over the last four games — that's two games where Payton Tolle and Jake Bennett wiped them off the planet, one late choke, and one of the most forgettable contests of all time against the Tigers in the Bronx — the Yankees have collected 12 hits, otherwise known as "one pretty good game".

They've also struck out a remarkable 38 times and walked just eight, making them (checks notes) the worst offense in a four-game stretch since 1898, and the only reason we're *saying* 1898 is because we don't have the data and it *might've* happened. Probably didn't. Even the dudes taking sawed-off table legs to hit mud balls were getting on base more frequently than the June 2026 Yankees.

Yankees have (finally) lost their power, hard-hitting ... everything without Aaron Judge

Is Aaron Boone culpable? Not for everything. You can blame him for setting the tone incorrectly at Fenway Park by leaning into a poor defensive alignment instead of tightening things behind Cam Schlittler. I certainly do. You can look at another summer of strange malaise and say, "I don't know if he's causing this, per se, but why not make a change? Why not find out?" I do that sometimes, too.

But the more depressing reality is that this year's team was handling the hand they were dealt ... until they weren't. They're never hot and whole for an entire summer. They're always either decimated or mentally gummed up. This year, it's a little of both — but it's undeniable that things look much, much darker without Aaron Judge.

With Judge in the lineup, the Yankees ranked atop the league in hard-hit percentage. Now, they're 26th. And the crater grows historically deeper everyday.

Judge won't be coming back as the savior any time soon. As the Yankees alerted us at Fenway over the weekend, his injured rib isn't even healed enough to be re-scanned for progress. Stanton could be back at square one after a setback. If that feels too pessimistic, it's at best Square Two.

The Yankees, in this watered-down AL where the Red Sox playoff odds have leapt by 10+% after a five-game winning streak, should be in a better position after the trade deadline. Should be. But there are no guarantees in this game, which isn't played on paper. Right now, the Yankees have gone from treading water to falling below the surface, and they've done it to an historic degree.

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