New-look lineup, same old story as Yankees waste Cam Schlittler's 11-strikeout gem
New York Yankees shortstop George Lombard Jr. reacts after striking out swinging to end the seventh inning against Atlanta on Sunday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Sunday marked the end of the first week of the Yankees’ new-look lineup, one altered by Monday’s trade deadline and subsequent moves.
The results have not looked dramatically different.
The offense, a struggling unit before the deadline, will be viewed with suspicion until it proves otherwise.
On Sunday, the Yankees produced all of four hits in a 2-1 loss to Atlanta in 10 innings.
The collective offensive failure — Trent Grisham’s two-out homer in the eighth accounted for the Yankees’ lone run — relegated Cam Schlittler to the land of no-decision after seven brilliant innings.
The righthander allowed one run, three hits and no walks in an efficient 96 pitches, striking out 11. The dominant outing lowered his season ERA to 2.21, further enhancing his status as an American League Cy Young Award favorite.
“At the moment, those guys have to be almost perfect for us to be in the ballgame,” catcher Austin Wells said of the Yankees’ starting pitchers, lamenting yet another lackluster game by the offense. “And they have been, which has been incredible.”
Entering the day, the Yankees’ rotation ranked second in the majors in ERA (3.44), including a 2.79 ERA in its previous 26 starts.
Schlittler improved those numbers but like many of his rotation mates in recent weeks, he didn’t have much to show for it (though Grisham did take him off the hook for the loss with his blast into the rightfield bleachers).
“Those guys are doing an incredible job of keeping us close in these games,” Wells said.
The lineup again featured deadline additions Luis Garcia Jr., Heliot Ramos, just-promoted organizational top prospect George Lombard Jr. and top outfield prospect Spencer Jones, now getting a lengthy runway of consistent playing time.
Sunday’s effort was a step backward after Saturday’s performance in a 5-4 victory.
There weren’t many scoring chances Sunday, with the best one coming in the sixth inning. Wells singled with one out and advanced to third on Grisham’s double to right.
Taking note of Ronald Acuna Jr.’s cannon arm, third-base coach Luis Rojas held Wells at third. It was the right move; Acuna’s throw to the plate likely would have had Wells “dead to rights,’’ Aaron Boone said.
Ben Rice then lined a bullet straight at Acuna, and the Yankees again (correctly) did not test the rightfielder’s arm. Ramos struck out and the game remained scoreless.
“I thought it was the right decision,” Boone said of Rojas not sending Wells on Grisham’s double. “You’ve got Benny Rice coming up, who actually was another guy that had the right at-bat in that situation, but lines one and Acuna comes in and makes a good play. That’s an example of another guy having a good at-bat in a run-scoring situation and baseball does happen.”
Boone noted that several of his players had good at-bats that did not yield positive results.
“Unlike in some of the other games where we’ve been shut down, I do feel like we were getting some good swings off them,” he said. “Grisham and Rice just missed leaving the ballpark, Ramos had a couple of good at-bats today, Garcia hit a ball on the nose.”
That isn’t to say Boone ignored the obvious: His offense, though showing signs of life this week after the deadline, needs more than just promising signs.
There’s no disputing the numbers. Even when they find ways to scratch by in close games, the Yankees are leaving their pitching staff with little to no room for error.
An offense that was averaging 5.2 runs per game with Aaron Judge in the lineup is averaging a full run less than that since he last played (May 31). They have scored 26 runs in their last 10 games.
“I think it’s important to note, we’re a little different than we were last week,” Boone said, a reference to the lineup changes that came with the deadline.
“We do have a little more flexibility personnel-wise to, in different days, get a couple more real hitters in the lineup. So I feel like we’re better right now . . .
“I’d like to think we’re moving that needle a little bit, and we’re a little different [with] personnel than we were a week ago, but the proof is the pudding. We’ve got to go do it.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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