Yankees Cratering Through American League, Drop Three Straight To Reds

In the top of the ninth inning in a practically lost game, Yankees center fielder Trent Grisham sent every high school baseball coach in the country into a hysterical frenzy. The six-year veteran lazily tried to field a soft line drive, bobbled it and allowed Reds batter Spencer Steer to get to second base.

It was a fitting end to an 8-4 Yankees loss and a three-game series sweep for the Reds. Grisham, who is batting .157 in 83 at-bats this year, is, unfortunately, the least of this team’s problems at the moment. New York is now 54-35 and 2.5 games behind the Orioles in the A.L. East division.

The Yankees were in free fall a week ago, so it’s difficult to assess where they are now. The problems are exactly the same, making it unclear whether the team is still falling or if they’ve settled into a general malaise.

Juan Soto was typically brilliant against Cincinnati Thursday, hitting a two-run home run to get the Yankees within one in the fifth inning. Aaron Judge had a quiet day, going 0-for-4, but the slugger still leads MLB with an astounding 32 home runs before the All-Star Break.

As a small silver lining, rookie first baseman Ben Rice hit his first home run against Cincinnati, providing some much-needed pop in a largely anemic offense. That’s where the praise ends, however. The Yankees are categorically failing to live up to the immense record they’ve earned up to this point in the season.

Marcus Stroman is firmly one of many Yankees starters that have lost their touch this summer and allowed five runs in five innings against the Reds Thursday. He has allowed three or more runs in four straight starts and has only gone six innings or longer once since June 1.

To view this rough stretch in its totality, New York has lost 14 of its last 19 games, regressing in every area after a 49-22 start to the season. Gerrit Cole has returned but struggled, while the team lost consistent contributors like Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton to new injuries.

If not for a pedestrian couple of weeks for the Baltimore Orioles, the Yankees would be well out of the divisional race at this point based on their performance. For now, their Wild Card spot is still secure, but even that is slowly slipping away as other teams like the Astros, Red Sox and Royals begin to rally.