WASHINGTON, D.C — When the Yankees began their last road trip of the first half on July 6, the team seemed split over whether a lack of “focus,” first diagnosed by Aaron Judge and reiterated by Jazz Chisholm Jr., had been crippling the team throughout its latest summer skid.
The team had lost 13 of its last 17 games, several in ugly fashion, before beginning a critical four-game series against the first-place Rays. So that particular F word became a point of, well, focus.
“The captain’s seen it through a good lens,” said Ryan McMahon, alluding to the injured Judge’s front-row seat of the Yankees’ struggles. “This game is tough, and if you make it hard on yourself with a lack of focus or other things like that, it’s going to beat you down, man.
“I just think we haven’t done a good job of not shooting ourselves in the foot.”
Others, including Paul Goldschmidt and José Caballero, didn’t think focus was the issue, but more so execution. Aaron Boone agreed, stating, “I don’t think we’re lacking focus” before the Yankees’ opener against the Rays.
Whatever the issue was – Boone eventually came around to the idea that his players had been pressing, while Caballero said the team’s losing had been weighing heavily on their minds – the Yankees certainly didn’t look or feel good when their trip began, and even while they were at Tropicana Field.
“Just looking at the outcomes, it’s not where we want to be,” Gerrit Cole said after the Yankees lost the middle games of the Ray series, “and it’s not good enough to compete for first place right now.”
Even off the field, Brian Cashman, unable to provide an explanation, had to address another swoon and issue votes of confidence in St. Pete. Hitting coach James Rowson had to answer for a dormant lineup. Anthony Volpe had to defend his character after the team’s play-by-play man, Michael Kay, retracted unfounded claims about the shortdtop’s unwillingness to play second base.
But the vibes did improve, and so did the quality of play.
The Yankees finished the Rays series with a split, a 12-run outburst and a few celebratory bottles of Presidente after Jazz Chisholm Jr., preaching a need for togetherness on and off the field, spoke up in a pregame hitters meeting. The Bombers then ended the first half with a 5-3 win and a sweep over the upstart Nationals on Sunday. It was their third comeback victory in as many days, which made for jovial postgame atmospheres inside the visiting clubhouse at Nationals Park.
“Nothing’s better than a comeback win, so to do three in a row and have it be a sweep, we’re feeling good,” said Ben Rice, who hit a go-ahead, two-run triple on Sunday before making his way to Philadelphia for the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game.
“That’s what’s crazy about baseball,” McMahon added after homering on Saturday. “We feel good right now. Obviously, won a couple games late. That always boosts momentum, no doubt. You just gotta ride the waves of the season. Can’t get too high or too low. Just gotta keep showing up and doing your job.”
With four straight wins, the second-place pinstripers are now 54-42 and three games back of the Rays. They are still not where they want to be, and a banged-up roster still has some blemishes.
However, injured lefties Max Fried and Carlos Rodón are progressing. And while Cashman doesn’t expect impending imaging on Judge’s fractured rib to come back “clean,” the hope is that the results clear him for an expanded workout routine. There’s also the trade deadline; the Yankees will, at the very least, pursue bullpen help and a right-handed hitting catcher, though even Austin Wells, in a season-long slump, found some success before the first half ended.
Now comes some R&R for those not participating in All-Star festivities. After that, the Yankees will host the reigning champion Dodgers to begin the second half.
It will be a trying test for a team that has faced a lot of adversity over the last several weeks, but was also able to build some needed momentum before the break.
“We’ve given ourselves a chance to realize all our hopes and dreams,” Boone said. “Our goal is to play for and win a championship, and that’s still there for the taking. It’s going to be a long road, a tough road, but hopefully one that we’re up to the challenge for.”
