The New York Yankees have a swing-and-miss problem. And it just got historically bad.
Over the last two games against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees struck out 31 times. That’s a new franchise record for the most Ks in consecutive games, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. The previous mark was 30, set back in September 2025.
Game 1 of this series went fine. The Yankees won 5-1, and everything looked like they might finally close the gap in the AL East. But the strikeouts were already piling up. They whiffed 17 times in that win. Then in Game 2, they punched out 16 more times and lost 4-6.
New York is now four games back of Tampa Bay again. That’s exactly where they started this four-game set.
The biggest problem isn’t just the strikeouts themselves. It’s what happens when contact is made. The Yankees had 11 hits in the loss, but a three-run homer from Ben Rice accounted for almost all their scoring. They left runners on base. They couldn’t push across runs in key spots. It’s a pattern that’s been nagging them all season.
New York ranks fifth in the league in strikeout percentage at 23.9 percent. This team lives by the home run, and when the long ball doesn’t show up, they die by the whiff. Playing for dingers works great when you hit them. But it leads to weird, inconsistent nights where the lineup looks lost against average pitching.
The Rays aren’t exactly throwing Hall of Famers out there. But it doesn’t matter when you’re swinging through fastballs and chasing sliders in the dirt.
Jose Caballero hit two home runs in the win for Tampa Bay. That helped cover for the fact that the Rays offense didn’t exactly light things up either. But they did enough. And the Yankees helped them out by refusing to put the ball in play.
This is the kind of stretch that can bury a team before the All-Star break. The Yankees are still talented. Aaron Judge is still out there. But if the strikeouts don’t get under control, the division race could be over before September even rolls around.
Next up is another game against the Rays. Then it’s off to face teams that have no problem taking advantage of a slumping lineup.
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