Yankees offensive struggles continue with few answers

The Yankees are trying to find an answer to their offensive woes heading into the second game of a three-game set with the Minnesota Twins. Things at the plate have not gone as Aaron Boone and company would have liked, especially recently.

The Yankees have put up a combined six runs over the last four games, going back to Friday’s loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, and have scored more than one run just once in that span. Going even further back, the Yankees have scored three or more runs three times dating back to April 16.

It’s safe to say that the Yankees haven’t been living up to the Bronx Bombers nickname. In fact, as a team they’re hitting .225 which is 27th in all of baseball and their 4.09 runs per game is 22nd in baseball.

Part of that stems from an offense that is missing a few pieces. The biggest being the bat of Giancarlo Stanton, who was placed on the injured list last week.

Harrison Bader and Josh Donaldson are also both missing from the lineup, but neither is really known for their offensive production. That leaves Stanton’s injury putting a huge hole in the lineup, which had already been middle of the pack to start the season.

“We’re the Yankees,” manager Aaron Boone said after Monday’s loss, the team’s third in their last four games. “We’ve got to find a way to be better than that.”

The Yankees mustered only three hits on Monday night and they currently rank 28th in hits this season sitting ahead of only the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers. New York’s BABIP also ranked 28th in major league baseball going into Tuesday’s game.

What’s made the issue even more frustrating for the Yankees has been that their pitching has been some of the best in baseball, despite several key injuries to their staff. As it stands, the Yankees have allowed 3.39 runs per game and own a 3.16 team ERA.

Both of those stats are the second-best in all of baseball.

On top of that, Aaron Judge hasn’t been as effective with Stanton out of the lineup. Judge has been batting .158 over the last 11 games, with the Yankees offense as a whole slashing .198/.287/.331 during that span.

“Right now, we’re kind of taking a while getting into the game,” Judge said. “Feeling it and just not doing the job.”

The Yanks have tried to remain positive, but the offensive slump is becoming a growing problem that New York has to find an answer for.