The Yankees Are Actually Garbage Without Aaron Judge

Ever since little league, I have always felt that baseball was the biggest “team sport.” Yes I loved hockey but it was seemingly impossible for one ball player to carry an entire team. Just look at the Braves winning the World Series in 2021 after losing Acuna to a brutal knee injury. Or better yet the Angels doing fuck all from 2011-2022 when Mike Trout was playing out of his mind and then looming atop (2nd place) the AL West during a less than ideal season for the 10x all-star. It’s a weird and unpredictable sport to say the least.

Now that we have established that, it is safe to say I completely overestimated the talent and depth of the Yankees roster this year. They went 15-13 in the first month of the season WITH Aaron judge and are realistically a .500 team AT BEST without him. I challenge any Yankees fan to prove me wrong. You can’t because the stats don’t lie. When Judge is in the lineup they score 7+ runs, and in the 12 games since his toe injury in LA, they have averaged a measly 3. It feels just like the Celtics in the first 3 games of the ECF: depressing, boring, and uninspired. They will lead off strong (or at least not garbage) and then die out completely. If it wasn’t for Gleyber Torres saving face for the Yanks they would be 0-12 in the absence of Judge.

Sox Vs. Yanks

I can’t of course complain about the Yankees’ recent disaster-fest since they played Boston a grand total of 6 times since the Judge injury, losing 2/3 at the stadium last weekend before getting swept by the Sox this weekend. The latter series consisted of a 15-5 pummeling and a double header that sucked the will to live out of Aaron Boone.

And it isn’t like this Red Sox team is some hot shit; they are actually quite mid this year. They haven’t been able to hit for shit, pitching has been horrendous (apart from Tanner Houck), and Devers has been bipolar in his performances all season long. Like cmon the Rockies almost swept this Sox team just a week and a half ago. That same team then going and sweeping the Yankees (and winning 5/6 of their matches) is just straight up embarrassing.

Veterans Caught Slacking

The crux of this Yankees team is their veteran players refusing to show up. Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Rizzo, Josh Donaldson all SUCK recently. They just aren’t contributing the way they need to be. The Yanks have the lowest team OPS in the MLB at .632 with Donaldson and Rizzo hitting .874 and .291 respectively. DJ LeMahieu isn’t doing much better, batting .232 with an OBP of .291. Speaking of OBP, the franchise hit an alltime low since 1964 following their double header with Boston. They combined for 4 hits in 31 bats with a .299 OBP on the season. When you pour $82 milli into a team against the luxury tax you expect some production. Unfortunately for Yanks fans that is just something they haven’t seen since Judge left the lineup. Here are some updating stats for those that want something more to complain about:

I hate getting onto Rizzo because my step family is HUGE on the Cubs. They could probably make a 30 for 30 on my step dad and step brother's travels to Wrigley Field but that's irrelevant. Ever since he got kneed in the neck at the end of May (and you could make the point ever since he left the Cubbies) he just hasn't been the same.

Stanton has just been bootycheeks in all regards since coming off the IL and if history tells us anything it's that he'll be headed right back there soon. Don't take my word for it though. Just look at the stats:

Anthony Volpe

Let me start off by saying I feel for Anthony Volpe. The kid is struggling HARD, but is he really to blame?

Anyone that has watched his progression from the minor leagues knows he takes time to transition and adjust to the new level he is forced to play at. And while he usually figures it out sooner or later, that hasn’t been the case here come mid-June.

Granted he is only 22 years old but he is clearly struggling hard with elevated pitches. Something about his swing is off to me; there’s just too much of an uppercut to it. The guy has moments of greatness already but I’m not sure if they outweigh the negatives.

I feel like he’d have a MUCH easier time easing into this transition if the other more experienced players were producing more. There’s a ton of pressure on him already being the new shortstop of the most successful and storied franchise of all time. But having to be a top producer as well for that team (which is hanging onto the WC spot for dear life) doesn’t make things any easier.

Volpe had a .670 OPS in April, .592 in May, and .394 in June. As Bryan Hoche puts it, “The craziness of the rush to get these kids through the upper minors so fast is only surpassed by the ridiculous impatience of fans when they get to the show.” I personally wouldn’t worry too much about Volpe. Definitely don’t lose faith all together just because of a slow start. Tons of MLB greats have taken a while to start cooking up.I could see switching in Oswald Peraza potentially working well but knowing Aaron Boone that is highly unlikely.

Josh Donaldson

All in all this may be more of a Brian Cashman problem than anything but Josh Donaldson has GOT to go. I know Cashman has the emotional maturity of a 5th grader in that he can never own up to his own trials and tribulations **cough cough Kei Igawa and Gary Sanchez** but at some point you have to get out of your own damn way. Donaldson is a free agent at the end of the year. Just DFA him already. It is chump change to an organization as rich as the Yanks and they can’t afford to have a .150 batting average player clogging up the middle of their lineup. Not to mention the guy got fucking PICKED OFF AT FIRST BASE. What in God's name was he thinking taking a lead at first where he isn't able to take a tiny step back on the bag. Jesus Christ that was hard to watch even as a Sox fan. I won’t pretend to fake confidence in Oswald Peraza but I know for a fact he’ll contribute more than JD and his home run or bust type of swing. Get this fucking guy off the field. It's an embarrassment to the sport.

While they say he's getting better by the day, his type of toe injury is something that has a high re-aggravation possibility if rushed back too soon. They're gonna make sure he's right so that when he returns they make their full push to sneak in as a wild card team and hopefully get hot at the right time for a change. That's all this organization is banking on. The front office feels like if Rodon returns as well in a few weeks and you have him ramped up for the stretch run along with Judge and Bader then they like their chances. They view the baseball playoffs as a crapshoot. Just get into the dance and anything can happen. The ol' "anything can happen" Yankees, just what we all grew up on in the late 90s early 2000s.

Sad Reality For Yankees Fans I honestly don't blame any Yankees fan that adopts the woe is me attitude at the point. Realistically, nothing is going to change as long as Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone control the reigns. Seeing as how Cashman just got a four year extension (and for what?? LMAO) I don't see that happening any time soon. Pandemonium is sure to continue with infielders playing the outfield, sloppy play happening all over, and the repetitive signing of bad contracts on behalf of Brian Cashman. I pray (not really because fuck the Yanks) for something to change because this team is in for one longggg season if they keep going like this.