The Yankees have excuses for getting picked apart by Cy Young Award candidate Tarik Skubal, who limited Aaron Boone’s group to three hits and one run (on a wild pitch) in six innings on Sunday.
They have fewer excuses for the many other left-handers they have silenced.
The Yankees have an overall OPS of just .712 against left-handers, which was the 13th worst in baseball before Monday’s game.
Of 32 games against a left-handed starting pitcher, the Yankees have won only 13, which is a big gap, especially in the home stretch and possibly in the postseason.
The group has a 60-33 record against right-handers.
Aaron Judge and Juan Soto all scored, but the supporting cast had nothing to offer against the left-handers.
DJ LeMahieu, who faces left-handed pitchers, has a miserable OPS of .406 with one home run in 66 at-bats against them.
Left-hander Alex Verdugo (.606 against lefties) has been benched more and more against lefties, which led to switch-hitter Jasson Dominguez (who was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts) being called up for a day on Sunday.
Anthony Volpe has no power against lefties and an OPS of .636. The Yankees hoped that problem would be solved when Giancarlo Stanton returned from the injured list, but the DH has only an OPS of .663 against lefties this year.
The weakness was evident throughout the season and could not be remedied.
The Mets shook up their rotation, protected right-hander Luis Severino from facing his former teammates and used four left-handers as starters to win the season series.
Rotation plans are subject to change, but the Yankees must face six left-handers in their next nine games, beginning a series against left-hander Matthew Boyd and the Guardians in the Bronx on Tuesday.
On Sunday, the Yankees had plenty of at-bats against Skubal early in the game – including an eight-pitch duel by Gleyber Torres to start the game and second-inning duels by Jose Trevino (10 pitches) and Volpe (8 pitches) – and managed four walks, but they failed to strike out the All-Star.
“I think we made him work hard,” Boone said after the 3-2 loss after 10 innings to the Tigers in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. “He’s tough. We obviously couldn’t do much against him. But I think we made it tough for him.”
Tommy Kahnle threw another scoreless inning on Sunday and hasn’t allowed an earned run since July 14.
The veteran right-hander, whose ERA has dropped to 1.74 this season, has pitched 12 ²/₃ innings with two unearned runs on five hits and 12 strikeouts.
Cody Poteet will begin rehab at Double-A Somerset on Tuesday. The right-hander has been out since June 12 with a strained right triceps.
The Yankees are offering free skin cancer screenings on Thursday for fans with tickets to tonight’s game against the Guardians.
From the opening of the stadium gates at 11:30 a.m. until the scheduled first pitch at 1:05 p.m., testing will take place on the concourse on level 200 between the New Era Team Store and section 223.
Reservations are not required.
