The Yankees came through their home stretch gauntlet at 6-4 with a pair of series wins including a crticial 3-from-4 from the Red Sox. Even with an ugly loss out west to close the month, it was overall an encouraging way to round off the month of August and send them into the all-important month of September with the division still within grasp. The offense showed some stirrings of life in the final week while the pitching staff remained consistently excellent rotation and bullpen alike, putting
the team in a good place for the home stretch. However before we break down the performance in August, it might help to look back at the team’s results in prior month as well as the approval rating of the man who assembled it, general manager Brian Cashman.
Cashman polled at a 41-percent approval rating in both April and May as the Yankees were neck-and-neck with the Rays for the division lead, led by a pair of superstar offensive talents in Aaron Judge and Ben Rice. But then came the annual June swoon, and while they avoided it for a couple weeks, it did eventually strike with a vengeance. From June 20th through the end of the month, the Yankees went just 2-9, including an embarrassing four-game sweep by the then-last-place Red Sox at Fenway, that sweep going on to catalyze Boston’s surge back into contention. By the end of the month, Cashman’s approval rating was polling at a minuscule nine percent. Things hardly improved from there, the collective slump spilling well into July as they began the month with a 2-5 record. The offense effectively evaporated in the absences of Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton, averaging just 3.72 runs per game to result in an 11 percent approval rating.
The offensive malaise continued to pervade much of the month of August, the team scoring two or fewer runs in 11 out of 27 games. That resulted in series losses to the Cardinals and Blue Jays in the first half of the month. However, a sweep of Baltimore seemed to get things back on track, and the Yankees would win three out of four series to close out August including taking 3-of-4 from a Red Sox team that desperately needed those wins. What’s more, the offense may finally be digging itself out of its deep rut, scoring 69 runs in the final 13 games of the month including 16 on Sunday against Boston.
The turnaround in offensive fortunes is encouraging given it is occurring with Judge still on the sidelines. Bellinger’s return from injury seemed to be the spark, despite his bat being slow to return to its pre-injury production. His presence almost seems to lift everybody around him, and coincides with contributions from three different pairs of players. You have Trade Deadline acquisitions Luis García Jr. and Heliot Ramos, rookies George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones, and slumping lineup stalwarts Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Austin Wells.
Yankees fans were right to question García and Ramos being the sole two additions at the deadline given the many other needs on the roster. While García hit the ground running and hasn’t looked back, it was the opposite story for Ramos, who started his Yankees career with a 2-for-32 skid. He’s got a 148 wRC+ and .405 OBP since then, while García has slashed .306/.355/.529 with five home runs, 12 RBIs, and a 146 wRC+ since donning pinstripes.
We cannot overlook the boost provided by rookies Lombard and Jones. Lombard’s hot start and sparkling defensive play came at just the right time to jolt his new teammates, and though the bat and glove have regressed since then he still represents an upgrade over Anthony Volpe. Jones appears more comfortable with every additional big league PA under his belt, his 130 wRC+ in his last 21 games and solid defensive work bringing much-needed dependability in the middle of the lineup and in the outfield.
Two of the biggest disappointments of the first four months were Jazz and Wells. The former in particular was expected to be a pillar of the offense, and the pair’s brutal performances severely shortened the lineup. Jazz’s bat is finally coming around to the tune of a 135 wRC+ since August 4th. Wells’ turnaround has been even more dramatic, going from one of the worst qualified hitters in baseball to a 130 wRC+ since July 9th.
All throughout these ups and downs, the pitching staff has been there to prop the team up. Their starters lead the AL in ERA (3.32), FIP (3.58), and fWAR (14.7) while their bullpen is first in ERA (3.04), second in FIP (3.78), and third in fWAR (4.4) Cam Schlittler is neck-and-neck with Dylan Cease in the AL Cy Young race. Between David Bednar (1.7), Brent Headrick (2.0), and Paul Blackburn (0.7), they boast three of the best relievers in baseball.
That being said, the injury bug continues to bite the team. Lombard remains day-to-day after tweaking his knee against Boston and though Ryan McMahon is nearing a return from a thumb sprain, their absences leave the Yankees a bit light on the left side of the infield. While it is certainly encouraging that Judge is targeting a return in their next homestand, Stanton’s latest injury likely jeopardizes his availability for the rest of the season. Max Fried only just returned from a recurrence of the elbow bone bruise that cost him two months and he and Carlos Rodón are slowly building up their pitch counts. Ryan Weathers was just hitting his stride when he suffered a forearm flexor strain, and thought it appears he has avoided the worst and should return, his absence has forced Elmer Rodríguez into the rotation. Fernando Cruz struggled mightily since the end of June, and we have since learned that he suffered a partial tear of the UCL, putting Tommy John surgery on table. The slight bit of good news is that Clarke Schmidt might be ready to take his place in the bullpen as he nears his own return from TJS.
That brings us to today’s task. Do you approve of the job Brian Cashman has done through the end of August? On one hand, the Yankees had a winning record in August and lost just one game in the standings to the Rays over the course of the month, so they’ve managed to tread water despite the injuries and anemic offense. On the other hand, they went from the best offense in the AL in the first half to middle of the pack in terms of runs per game (4.54) and wRC+ (102), and you seriously question how the pitching staff can hold up given the multiple injuries, consistent high stress innings, and hefty workload. The polarizing GM certainly elicits stronger feelings than can be captured in a one-word response — you may feel a question such as the one being posed requires more nuance, greater elaboration, or a wider selection of options than just a “yes” or a “no,” however for the sake of this exercise, a binary question works best.
Note: This is the same poll that is currently appearing on the Feed, so if you’ve voted there, that should already be counted.
