If we told you before the start of the season that the Pittsburgh Pirates and Texas Rangers would be leading their divisions and the New York Yankees would be in last, you probably wouldn’t have believed us.
Here we are, though, and that’s exactly what has happened so far in MLB.
The Yankees looked competitive to start the year, but injuries have exposed their depth issues and they are now last in the AL East, with a 15-15 record.
The Yankees are in last place pic.twitter.com/faCJw30SA1
— MLB Errors (@mlberrors) May 2, 2023
After Monday’s crushing loss against the Cleveland Guardians, the Yanks have dropped four straight and seven of their last 10.
Their offense is comically bad at this point, as they are without Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson, and Harrison Bader, among others.
Bader will return to the active roster on Tuesday and Judge, who was placed on the 10-day injured list on Monday, should be back in about a week.
In the meantime, however, the lineup will probably keep struggling because the Yankees didn’t prepare for this scenario.
Facing the prospect of having Aaron Hicks and Donaldson starting games, they ignored third base and brought in just a few journeymen (Willie Calhoun and Franchy Cordero) as outfield depth.
The decision is currently backfiring, as the lineup is absolutely punchless beyond Anthony Volpe, Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu, and Gleyber Torres.
Last place is definitely unfamiliar territory for the Yankees.
However, if they don’t start hitting soon, they might stay there for a while.
The rest of the division is very, very good, and the Yankees don’t seem to have an immediate solution to their offensive woes.
It could be a long season in the Bronx.
NEXT: Yankees Fans React To The Return Of Harrison Bader
