The New York Yankees just did something no team in franchise history has done before, and it’s not the kind of record you want to see in the standings.
After two games in St. Petersburg against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees have struck out 34 times. That’s 17 in each game, which broke the previous franchise mark of 30 over a two-game span. And the reaction from Cody Bellinger? Pretty much what you’d expect.
“That’s a lot of strikeouts,” Bellinger said. “I knew we had 17 yesterday; I didn’t feel like we had that many today. But the Rays, they’ve notoriously got really good arms.”
The Yankees split the first two games of this four-game set, which sounds fine until you realize the offense is completely broken right now. Tuesday’s loss dropped them four games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East. That’s not a huge gap, but it feels bigger when you’re swinging through fastballs like it’s batting practice for everyone else.
Bellinger’s slump is getting ugly
The guy who won a Gold Glove and hit 26 homers last year for Chicago is now batting .096 over his last 14 games. That’s not a typo. He’s got a .324 OPS in that stretch, one RBI, and 16 strikeouts. Five hits total, and only two went for extra bases.
Tuesday night he finally got a hit, a single in the sixth that moved Ryan McMahon to third. Then he immediately got picked off rounding first too aggressively. The Rays cut off the throw to third and caught him napping. Jose Caballero struck out to end the inning, and the Yankees stayed down by three runs.
“That should never happen, especially late,” Bellinger said. “That was a bad mistake, and really unacceptable.”
He’s not wrong. When you’re already struggling at the plate, making baserunning errors that erase your only hit of the night is a fast way to lose playing time, or at least some trust from the dugout.
The bigger picture for New York
The Bombers have been in freefall for two weeks now. They had the division lead. They had momentum. Now they’re chasing the Rays, the Orioles are lurking, and the trade deadline is coming up fast. The front office has to decide whether this team can turn it around or if they need to go get some help. (Strikeout records don’t exactly scream “we’re fine, just wait.”)
The pitching has been decent enough. The bats have been the problem, and Bellinger is just the most visible example. He’s the guy they brought in to add some balance to the lineup. Right now he’s adding strikeouts.
At some point the Yankees need to stop setting unwanted franchise records and start hitting the baseball. The deadline is coming, and patience in New York is not a renewable resource.
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