David Cone didn’t dress it up. Watching the Yankees on YES Network during Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, the former Yankees ace said plainly what the numbers have been shouting for days.
“Pitching is carrying this team right now,” Cone told Michael Kay.
That wasn’t a throwaway line. It fit the moment, and it fit the stretch the Yankees have been slogging through.
Cam Schlittler, Max Fried and Gerrit Cole have each done their part in recent defeats, with the three starters combining to give up just 3 runs over 18 innings in the Yankees’ last three losses through Friday. The offense, meanwhile, has managed only 2 runs in those same games, per @YankeesMuse.
The slide has been ugly, even if it’s been interrupted briefly. Through Saturday, the Yankees had scored just two runs over their last three games and were outscored 8-2 in that span. Before that, they’d snapped out of the funk long enough to put up 14 combined runs in back-to-back wins over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Michael Kay put the offensive drought in sharper focus during the broadcast, noting the Yankees were averaging 2.93 runs over their previous 14 games entering Saturday.
“[It] shows you how the pitchers have accepted the responsibility and pitched through it because if you’re scoring 2.93 runs per game, you shouldn’t be 7-7,” Kay said. “You’re 7-7 because your pitching’s great.”
Cone agreed, and widened the lens beyond the rotation.
“Said Cone: “It’s remarkable that they have that record, and it’s not just the starters, it’s the bullpen top to bottom. Pitching is carrying this team right now.”
The offensive profile since Aaron Judge went down with a rib injury has been bleak by every measure cited by Talkin’ Yanks. The Yankees rank near the bottom of MLB in that span with a .668 OPS, a .218 average and 3.78 runs per game, placing 29th, 30th and 28th, respectively.
The Yankees enter Sunday 7 games back of the Tampa Bay Rays in the loss column and 6 1/2 games out in the AL East.
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