Why ‘there's no panic' about the Yankees' offense, especially Aaron Judge
NEW YORK — The 1908 New York Highlanders were an awful ball club. They finished in last place in the American League, 17 1/2 games behind the second-to-last-place team, the Washington Senators. Their hitting was atrocious, and their pitching was somehow worse.
The 2025 New York Yankees found themselves in the same sentence as the 1908 Highlanders this week. Only twice in franchise history has New York had a seven-game span with seven runs scored or fewer. But despite the historically woeful weeklong stretch for the Yankees, they're unconcerned about the lack of offense and view it as a blip in a 162-game season.
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'I don't really feel like there's any major red flags in terms of what they're doing,' Yankees hitting coach James Rowson said before Wednesday's game. 'We just need to get a few balls to fall. I think we're hitting some balls hard and not getting some luck. We're probably not stringing them together quite as well as we were at one point. But that happens in the ebbs and flows of baseball. There's no panic. There's no worry from my side. I don't feel any panic or worry from our guys.'
The Yankees' offense finally broke through in Thursday afternoon's game against the Los Angeles Angels. They scored seven runs, equaling their total from the previous seven games, and had 13 hard-hit balls. They snapped their scoreless streak at 30 1/3 innings Wednesday, and ended their six-game losing streak in Thursday's 7-3 win over the Angels.
It was a reprieve from a truly terrible week. The lack of offense has received the most attention, but during this stretch the Yankees also made several base-running mistakes — which they did again Thursday with Austin Wells forcing Anthony Volpe to get picked off — and their lack of fundamentals has been in focus, too, with their inability to get bunts down in a few key spots.
But it's the offense that has perplexed the fan base the most of late. A week's worth of games is a small sample to draw any meaningful conclusions from because one game can harshly skew the data positively or negatively.
Before Thursday's game, as a whole, the Yankees had the second-worst average exit velocity in MLB during their six-game losing streak. Is that a sign the Yankees' offense is crumbling? Well, no. The larger sample of games shows the Yankees with the second-highest average exit velocity on the season. Their isolated power ranked second-to-last during the six-game losing streak. But on the season, the Yankees rank first.
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Rowson understands the fans' frustration though. A lot of time and money gets invested in fandom. When the team isn't producing, fans will speak out.
'I always respect how the fans feel,' Rowson said. 'I respect that, because deep down, I'm a fan of baseball. I think it's because you care about the team and you want to see the team win. I completely get it and understand it. What I would tell them is that this is a good team, and we have good players. These guys are going to do what they normally do and not to get worried about it. Ultimately, this is a good group that's going to be there until the very end.'
Aaron Judge in particular has struggled over the past week. He's in the middle of the worst stretch of his season, going 4-for-31 with two home runs, one double and 18 strikeouts. Judge had a monthlong stretch to begin last season in which he did not see results, yet ended up with the greatest season ever by a right-handed hitter. A down week shouldn't be too concerning considering his track record. During this stretch, Judge has noticeably struggled with expanding the zone. His chase percentage entering Thursday was at 36.8 percent, up from his season-long rate of 23.3 percent. He doubled in his last at-bat Thursday to finish the day 1-for-3 with a walk.
'He's the best I've ever seen,' Paul Goldschmidt said. 'He always has a chance to leave the yard. When he gets hot, watch out.'
'I do know this is the most dangerous man in baseball, and everybody else knows that,' Rowson said. 'His track record shows you he's going to catch up, and you're not going to be able to do these things forever, and he's going to do what he normally does. … I don't think he's worried about it at all. I know I'm not.'
In baseball, whatever happens in one game doesn't necessarily carry over to the next one. The same applies for a week of bad baseball in a season that's now been nearly three months long. Before this losing streak, the Yankees had the best offense in the sport. It's certainly frustrating for fans to watch a week's worth of 1908 Highlanders-esque baseball, but nothing statistically suggests that the first few months of the season were a fluke, nor that this past week is who the Yankees truly are.
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'There's never been a year in baseball where you don't go have an up and down, and you don't have a rough at-bat,' Rowson said. 'You just kind of reflect on how the game has been for 100 years. It's been five or six tough games, but also know I fully expect this team to come back and do what you expect them to do. They're fully capable, and know that these guys are ready to go.
'These guys are not wearing it. They're not down. They just want to get going.'
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