Aaron Judge sums up New York Yankees' problems with brutal assessment

16 August 2023 , 20:36

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Aaron Judge, the New York Yankees

New York Yankees star Aaron Judge blames the team's current slump on not performing up to their highest standards.

The Yankees' losing streak continued as they dropped their fourth consecutive game and seventh out of their last nine. The Bronx Bombers record since July is 12-22, and they fell to .500 with a 5-0 loss to the Atlanta Braves.

This marks the first time since 1995 that they have been at .500 this late in the season. The last time the Yankees finished under .500 was in 1992 when the team finished 76-86.

After losing to the Braves in the last game, Judge addressed the media. The five-time MLB All-Star summed up their problem by highlighting that they are not capitalising on crucial moments to win important games.

"We're not showing up," said Judge after the game. "That's what it comes down to. We're not showing up when we need to. Especially down the stretch right now, and we've gotten every opportunity to keep ourselves in the race. But we're not capitalizing on what we need to."

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The Yankees failed to score a run in the loss and only got one hit. The team's defense made two costly errors, becoming catalysts for the Braves' five-run victory.

Judge went 0-2 during the game and was walked twice. Second basemen DJ LeMahieu got the team's lone hit, blasting a single to center field in the second inning. "We need to take some personal pride," manager Aaron Boone said after the loss.

Atlanta Braves against the New York Yankees at

Boone addressed the team's losing ways during a press conference in June. He said, "We stink right now. We acknowledge that," after the team lost a game against the Los Angeles Angels 7-3. The loss at the time was the team's nine out of their 11 previous games.

Last May, Yankees GM Brian Cashman said the team's struggles were due to injuries. At the time, Judge was out of the lineup dealing with hip and foot issues. Eleven other players, including Josh Donaldson, Carlos Rodon, Luis Severino, and Giancarlo Stanton, were also placed on injury reserve 31 games into the season.

As things stand, ten players are currently injured on the Yankees—notably, infielder Anthony Rizzo, who was placed on the 10-day injured list with post-concussion syndrome. Rizzo got over his slump in July after admitting to having assistance from mega-pop star Taylor Swift.

Last Friday, 28-year-old left-handed pitcher Nestor Cotres was placed on the ball club's 15-day injured list with a rotator cuff strain on his throwing arm. Before the injury, Cortes spent two months on the injured list with the same injury, with the team worried that Cortes could miss the rest of the entire season.

Since July 1, the Yankees have only won a single series. The club swept the Kansas City Royals in a three-game series from July 21 to 23.

The Yankees are last in the AL East standings with a 60-60 record. They are 14 games behind in winning the division.

Rory Robinson