https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-yankees-have-been-bronx-bummers-so-far/
The Yankees hit bottom this past weekend, not once but multiple times. Projected to be the AL’s best team, they’re instead the worst thus far, with a 5–10 record and a five-game losing streak. On Friday, they played so badly against the Rays that Yankee Stadium fans started hurling baseballs back onto the field, and afterwards, manager Aaron Boone dressed his players down in a closed-door meeting. In terms of outcomes, the stern lecture didn’t help, as the Yankees lost again on Saturday and Sunday, making it the first time they’ve been swept this year.
It was an embarrassing display that plays into stereotypes of the fan base’s sense of entitlement.
The sweep marked their seventh straight series loss to the Rays dating back to September 24–25, 2019, a stretch that includes last year’s Division Series; the Yankees are 5–17 against the Rays in that span.
So what’s ailing the Yankees, who at the outset of the season were projected for an AL-best 95.4 wins? First and foremost, they’re in the midst of a power outage and are scoring just 3.67 runs per game, second-to-last in the AL. Their .346 slugging percentage is in a virtual tie for the major league’s lowest, and while some of that is a function of their .210 batting average (the AL’s second-lowest, one point ahead of Cleveland), their .136 isolated power is 13th, and their 16 homers are 10th. For a team that ranked second last year in slugging (.447) and homers (94) and first in ISO (.200), that’s a nasty surprise.
Then there’s the defense, which is 11th in the AL in defensive efficiency (.684, 10 points below league average) and last in Defensive Runs Saved (-7). The infield in particular is a mess right now. Torres is already shaky at shortstop, with -14 DRS in 1,096.1 innings since the start of 2019. With Bruce’s inadequate production at first base, LeMahieu has been playing there lately while Odor plays second — a significant step backwards based upon their respective bodies of work even before considering the latter’s .125/.192/.250 line in 26 PA.