BOSTON — New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone called it a sickness.
He didn’t mean it this way, but what the Yankees displayed at Fenway Park during this four-game series resembled a dog vomiting on itself after eating something off the street. It’s only hours later that the dog’s owner realizes something terrible has happened.
And terrible events did happen this weekend for the Yankees. They were swept by the last-place Boston Red Sox in a four-game series for the first time since 2018, dropping the series finale 5-4 in 10 innings Sunday night. The Yankees now return home for a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers, where they must figure out how not to let this embarrassing display snowball into something more catastrophic.
“That’s what we do, baby,” Boone said. “You’ve got to love this stuff. You’ve got to eat this stuff up. It’s a sickness. That’s what the grind is. We’ve got a really good freaking team. We played crappy on this trip, kind of. It feels bad. Kind of pissed off, right? But it’s what we do. It’s what you signed up for. We’ll dig ourselves out of it and get it going here in short order. The bottom line is we didn’t play well this weekend, and we’ve got to do better.”
The Yankees have dropped out of first place in the American League East and are one game back of the Tampa Bay Rays. They cannot afford this slump to extend long because a four-game set at Tropicana Field looms next week. Before Sunday’s game, Boone mentioned how he believes this season’s roster can be just as good as last season’s, which he believed was the best team he had going into the postseason.
“I feel like we have a chance to be that team again,” Boone said. “Obviously, we want to get to the top of the mountain. That’s the ultimate goal. That’s also so far away. There’s so many boxes to check and things that we have to accomplish.”
Here are three takeaways after a brutal weekend for the Yankees:
Jazz Chisholm’s lack of accountability
Anthony Rizzo strolled into the Yankees clubhouse before the game, and it was as if he still had a locker with his old No. 48 jersey hanging ready for him to wear. He dapped up his former teammates, hugged behind-the-scenes employees and even went into areas barred from regular media.
Rizzo might now work for NBC, but he’s not far removed from still having many connections on the current Yankees. So it was at least notable listening to the team’s former first baseman speak about Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s ejection in the sixth inning Sunday night.
Chisholm was upset after home plate umpire Adam Hamari said he went around on a checked swing, resulting in a strikeout. Boone acknowledged it was a borderline call, but Chisholm disagreed in the moment. The second baseman slammed his helmet into the dirt in disgust and was ejected.
“You just have to be smarter there,” Rizzo said on the broadcast. “Jazz is such a big part of this offense. They need to get him going. To get ejected there, it shows a little bit of immaturity. The team’s scuffling. They need him in the lineup. It now puts (Anthony) Volpe, one of his teammates, in a tough position coming in completely cold.”
The Yankees’ Opening Day right fielder, center fielder, third baseman and designated hitter are all on the injured list. Chisholm is one of their best available hitters. Boone said before the game that Chisholm convinced him to lead off as the team grinds through offensive struggles. His manager showed faith in him, and Chisholm responded by getting ejected, further diminishing the team’s lack of depth. He then made it worse by showing a lack of accountability when he ducked reporters after the game.
Chisholm is one of baseball’s most entertaining players, and his personality in a sport that can be beyond stuck-up is refreshing. But this is now a pattern: He hasn’t shown an understanding that accountability is a requirement.
It wasn’t so long ago that former Yankee Clint Frazier avoided talking to reporters at Fenway Park after a brutal defensive showing. The clubhouse did not appreciate it then. The Yankees, for many years now, have spent time during spring training reminding their players that speaking to reporters, even after bad moments, is an expectation and not a personal choice.
Fans might not care who does and doesn’t talk, but the players, coaches and executives do. And that is what matters.
The Yankees lost Jazz Chisholm to an ejection in Sunday night’s loss. (Jaiden Tripi / Getty Images)
Lack of depth shows
The Yankees should be fine. Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham, Giancarlo Stanton, Ryan McMahon and Max Fried are all expected back. Boone said Grisham should return at some point during the upcoming homestand, and McMahon should also be back this week after an illness. In the meantime, the offense might continue to struggle.
The Red Sox took a no-hitter into the sixth inning Friday, a no-hitter into the fifth inning Saturday and a no-hitter into the eighth inning Sunday. There’s no sugarcoating how lifeless the offense looked this weekend. Making matters worse was that Sonny Gray, one of the least-liked Yankees in recent memory, was on the mound Sunday.
“I felt like we got some pitches to hit, some in the center of the plate where he was coming after us,” Boone said. “Maybe just missed a couple of them or just didn’t put them in play with enough authority. On top of that, he was carving, too, moving the ball in different ways. I felt like we got a handful of pitches that we didn’t take advantage of. That kind of hurt us this weekend. That’s where we’ve got to get back on track as a group.”
Boone is right. Per Statcast, the Yankees had a .500 OPS on pitches in the heart of the zone in the first three games of the series. Before this series, the Yankees had a .900 OPS on those same pitches for the season. That is a sign of a team collectively slumping at the same time.
“We’re an incomplete, unfinished product with a chance of being great,” Boone said before Sunday’s game. “We’ve put ourselves in a position to realize that. You always want to play well enough to give yourself a chance to realize what you think you could be as a team. We’re going through it right now, a little bit on the injury front, which gives you an opportunity to find out about your depth, who’s going to be a part of a meaningful role moving forward, which I think is important and valuable.”
Ben Rice has cooled off
The Yankees’ lack of success over the past few weeks has coincided with Ben Rice’s struggles. Entering Sunday’s game, Rice had a 90 wRC+ in June. His on-base percentage is below .300, and his contact quality has dropped considerably.
One theory is teams are pitching Rice differently with Judge out of the lineup. Boone doesn’t think that has anything to do with Rice’s recent struggles.
“Certainly having Aaron Judge in the lineup changes our team in a profound way,” Boone said. “I don’t think it changes how you pitch to individual guys. They’re going to attack Ben Rice carefully, regardless of who’s in the lineup. I think this is one of those things where he’s had a down week swinging the bat from the standard he’s started to set.”
Rice’s timing is off, which has led to his struggles. His groundball rate has skyrocketed. He had a stretch during this series in which he grounded out to second nine straight times. He’s too special a hitter not to get back on track, but the lack of results becomes accentuated when the team goes cold.
