Yankees Sputter Into All-Star Break

The weekend sure got off to a nice start for the Yankees, but then the bats went silent against outstanding Cubs pitching and they dropped the final series before the All-Star break. And don’t look now, but the friggin’ Red Sox have won 10 straight and are just one game behind the second-place Yankees. Lets get to it. 

The Cubs obviously don’t miss Cody Bellinger who had spent the previous two seasons on the north side of Chicago.

They acquired superstar Kyle Tucker to take his place and Tucker - though quiet over the weekend against the Yankees - has been predictably great. And they are also getting seasons for the ages from center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and left fielder/DH Seiya Suzuki, and those three players have helped the NL Central-leading Cubs’ offense soar.

Did it look like the Cubs needed Bellinger Saturday and Sunday when they were winning the final two games of the series, doing what most good teams do? They pitched well, got a few timely hits, played flawless defense, and did so many little things which were in direct correlation to the Yankees’ all-too-common inability to not do the little things, the fundamental miscues that always bite this team in the ass.

Bellinger had a good 2023 season offensively in Chicago, then took a dip in 2024 so when the Yankees made the trade to get him in the offseason, even though it only cost pitcher Cody Poteet, I kind of shrugged my shoulders and wasn’t that moved by the transaction.

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Remember, after three explosive seasons with the Dodgers to begin his career which included an NL rookie of the year award and an MVP, Bellinger had gone through three miserable years and after 2022 the Dodgers didn’t even bother tendering him a qualifying offer. They just allowed him to walk into free agency.

So I wondered which Bellinger were the Yankees getting? Well, they’ve gotten a pretty good version of the versatile lefty-swinging outfielder/first baseman. Friday night, the Cubs had to be wincing just a little when Bellinger enjoyed the first three-homer game of his career - and he could have had a fourth, but Tucker leaped over the wall to rob him.

He became the 29th player in Yankees history to hit at least three homers in a regular-season game and it was the 40th time it has happened with three of those coming this year - Aaron Judge on March 29 against the Brewers and Jasson Domínguez on May 9 against the Athletics.

“It was good to see them,” Bellinger said of the Cubs. “We were hanging out (during batting practice). I have a lot of good relationships over there. It’s really a fun group of guys. I had an unbelievable time in Chicago. I love all of those guys over there. It was good to see a majority of them today and share a few laughs. No revenge.”

Sure looked like revenge.

“I know his time there was really good,” Aaron Boone said. “I don’t want to make it like anything like that, but it’s always good to go against your old teammates that you spent a lot of time with, (who) you know and respect. To perform right away against them, I’m sure probably is a little cherry on top of it all. I know that’s always a weird feeling sometimes, and you certainly want to perform. And he did.”

The way Bellinger started the season, he looked like the batter the Dodgers cast away. His defense and speed were still elite, but he was hitting just .196 with three homers through May 2. Since then he’s been one of the best players in MLB. In his last 59 games he’s hitting .319/.366/.559 with an OPS of .925, 13 homers, 38 RBI, a 15-game hitting streak in May and a career-high 17-game streak that ended Sunday.

“He has been through a lot during his career - MVP, massive power, shoulder injury, really down years,” Boone said. “He has remade himself and adjusted. There is a lot to be said for that ability to persevere through a career to become maybe a little bit different profile player. His defensive versatility, I knew about. But to see it is impressive. To be able to play four positions the way he does at a high level. The quality of at-bats, the speed - he does a lot of good things on a baseball field that helps you win. He is a winning player.”

He’s exactly the kind of player the Yankees need more of - versatile, terrific athlete, great defender and baserunner, and knows how to play the game. Because they don’t have enough of his type, they lost this series.

July 11: Yankees 11, Cubs 0

➤ This was about as perfect a game as a team can play. The Yankees were pretty much flawless as they scored 11 runs on 15 hits, went 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position, did not make an error, did not allow a run thanks to Carlos Rodon’s pitching and Judge’s fielding, and of course, there was the Bellinger show. What a night.

➤ And what a night for Rodon. Before the game, it was announced that Max Fried would not pitch in the All-Star game so Rodon was named to the AL team to take his place, the third invitation of his career. Duly stoked, he blanked the second-highest scoring team in MLB with eight brilliant innings allowing just four hits and a walk, retiring 16 straight at one point.

➤ Judge helped Rodon by robbing Crow-Armstrong of a homer in the fourth, and he also made two diving catches to prevent hits including one to end the eighth and preserve the shutout. The big man put on a show out there.

➤ And then there was the offense. After all the struggles they had for about a month, the Yankees have scored at least five runs in 10 straight games, their longest such streak since 2012. Obviously, Bellinger was the catalyst with his three home runs and six RBI. The first homer was a two-run shot that made it 3-0 in the third, then came a two-run blast in the fifth that bumped the lead to 5-0, and he capped it off with a two-run shot in the eighth.

➤ Paul Goldschmidt also had three hits including two doubles, while Dominguez, Ben Rice and even Oswald Peraza had two hits each. Yeah, it was that kind of game for the Yankees.

What they said in Friday’s clubhouse

• Rodon: “Well, Aaron Judge made three incredible plays for me, so that was part of it. Obviously, Belli had three homers offensively. We swung the bat well, just gave me a cushion to be able to go out there and be in the zone and attack. Defensively, we were pretty spectacular. I wasn’t good when I first got here and I wanted to prove that I wasn’t going to give up and just put my best foot forward and try to win as many games as I can.”

• Boone on Rodon: “Sharp is the word I would use. I thought he was just so efficient. The strike throwing was good. I thought just the crispness to his fastball, changeup, mixed in some cutters. … Just a really dominant performance against a really good offense.”

July 12: Cubs 5, Yankees 2

➤ On the heels of that fun Friday, there was this sad Saturday, which was followed by an even sadder Sunday. In this game the Yankees were helpless against Cubs starter Matthew Boyd who pitched eight scoreless, four-hit innings with no walks and six strikeouts. He needed only 85 pitches but Craig Counsell didn’t allow him to finish the shutout which seemed kind of stupid given his pitch count, but that’s just what we expect from these modern day managers.

➤ Brad Keller came in and gave up a double to Bellinger which extended his hitting streak to 17, and then Judge’s two-run homer, so closer Daniel Palencia had to come in to finish it off.

➤ Not a good day for Fried who developed a blister which affected him throughout the three lousy innings he pitched. He had zero command as he threw 73 pitches and gave up four runs (three earned) on six hits and three walks. And now the worry is that the blister becomes problematic. Fortunately, he has the All-Star break to heal, and the Yankees should probably push him back in the rotation to maximize that recovery time. Blisters can be very tricky.

➤ The Yankees infield defense didn’t help Fried in a three-run third. With men on second and third and no outs, Peraza couldn’t handle a soft liner to his left and it went off his glove and past Volpe which allowed a run to score. Then Peraza fielded a ball and made a poor throw to second in an attempt to start a DP. Chisholm had to stretch to catch it to get the force, but then he compounded matters by throwing wildly to first for an error so a run scored, and because Dansby Swanson went to second on the bad throw, he was able to score on Ian Happ’s single that made it 4-0.

➤ The Cubs didn’t do much more, but they didn’t need to. Of course, what would a Yankees game be these days without a gopher ball surrendered by Jonathan Loaisiga? He worked a promising 1-2-3 seventh, but then Carson Kelly took him deep in the eighth. The lone good news is that Ian Hamilton continued his turnaround with two scoreless innings. After a brutal start, he had a 1.29 ERA over his last 16 appearances, 13 of which were scoreless.

What they said in Saturday’s clubhouse

• Fried: “I was bad. I just wasn’t good. I wasn’t able to execute pitches and get outs when I needed them. It’s too early to tell (about the blister). The good thing is we have the break to do as much as we can. Timeline, I don’t know. A lot of times you have to see how it starts healing. It was definitely uncomfortable enough to the point where I didn’t want to risk it.”

• Judge on becoming the fastest player in history to reach 350 home runs: “It would have been great if we got a win today if you do something like that. I’ve had a lot of great teammates and I’ve been on some good teams. They put me in the best position to go out there and perform at my best. It’s just a shoutout to all the teammates I’ve had over the years.”

July 13: Cubs 4, Yankees 1

➤ Shota Imanaga did exactly what Boyd did the day before - made the Yankees look utterly feeble. He went seven innings and gave up just two hits, one being a solo homer by Giancarlo Stanton. They had no chance against him, and then Drew Pomeranz and Palencia mowed down six straight at the end.

➤ Will Warren could not match Imanaga, but he wasn’t terrible. As usual, he had a tough first inning as Michael Busch led off with a homer and then there was a walk and a single before he escaped with a fly out and a double play grounder. He allowed the first two men to reach in the fourth but retired three straight to get out of that mess and then he was fine until a leadoff double by Kelly in the sixth. Boone pulled him at 88 pitches and brought in Hamilton, and I guess I spoke too soon about Hamilton as he immediately served up a tiebreaking two-run homer to Swanson which basically decided the game.

➤ The Cubs tacked one on in the seventh against Tim Hill. He retired the first two men, but then Suzuki doubled and Crow-Armstrong hit a grounder up the middle. Volpe got to it but his throw pulled Goldschmidt off the bag and Suzuki never stopped and scored. Just good baseball.

➤ A really irritating play happened in the eighth and it was yet another example of the Yankees’ too frequent lack of detail and crispness. With two outs and Swanson on first, Matt Shaw hit a grounder to Volpe who didn’t come in on it. He stayed back and then made a lazy throw to Chisholm at second and Swanson, busting his ass, beat it. Volpe went hitless again, he’s down to .214 with a .287 on-base, and is a disaster in every way right now.

➤ After getting 15 hits in the first game, the Yankees had just eight across the final two.

➤ There was cautiously good news from Double-A Somerset as Luis Gil made his first rehab start. He went 3.1 innings and gave up two hits including a solo homer, walked one and truck out six. That’s encouraging, but now he has to recover and then build on it.

What they said in Sunday’s clubhouse

• Boone on the Volpe play: “As a shortstop you gotta have the freedom to try and get yourself the best hop, and then, Jazz probably has to turn into a first baseman there where we’re stretching because obviously it’s the third out, and then a good job by Swanson of just getting his butt to the bag.”

• Boone on the state of the team: “I think there’s across the board improvements to be made. We never stop feeling like we could be a little bit better and that’s individually, but certainly as a team as well. Obviously, we’ve had a little bit of attrition here and gotten a little bit short in the pen the last few weeks, and that’s been a little bit of a challenge, especially as we went through a long stretch of a lot of games and whatever it was 26 out of 27 where we were kind of playing catch up with the ‘pen a lot and then a couple key guys down. So gotta make sure we shore that up and continue to get guys in good roles down there. I feel like we have the makings of a good defensive club, but we gotta be tighter in that area, too. And then you’re always fighting for that consistency offensively. I think on balance, we’ve had an outstanding offense to this point, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be better.”