Aaron Boone Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
All-Star weekend can’t come soon enough for the slumping Yankees.
Despite being one of just six teams with at least four players selected to next week’s All-Star game, New York is playing like it has none right now.
The Yankees are 3-12 in their last 15 games, dropping them to 49-40 with a four-game series against the first-place Tampa Bay Rays this week to regain some ground.
A slump like this brings up the annual question: Should the Yankees move on from manager Aaron Boone? The answer is likely no — as it has been every time fans have called for his job since his first season in 2018 — but that doesn’t block the noise for a fan base that expects championships every season.
Yankees fans are sick of seeing the same issues that have existed throughout the team’s 16-season World Series drought. And again, the manager and front office tell fans that they are close despite the roster having clear issues.
This season, the Yankees’ struggles are largely attributed to a roster that hasn’t been at full strength.
The slumping offense desperately needs Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to return, while the pitching staff would benefit from Max Fried’s stability. The left-hander appears the closest to a return after completing a 36-pitch session and is expected to receive a rehab assignment soon.
The 2026 roster was built to withstand injuries, boasting arguably the most depth of any Yankees team during the Judge era. For much of the season, it lived up to that expectation.
But now, the players who kept the Yankees afloat are slumping all at once.
“We got really good names on this card. Capable,” Boone said after the Yankees’ first home series loss to the Twins since 2014 on Sunday. “That’s why I feel a level of confidence walking into the yard every day. I know there’s guys that are gonna get turned around. We got a handful of guys, and some key guys that are going through it and scuffling. But we got answers here, too.”
Those answers need to come quickly. New York’s next challenge is a Rays team headed in the opposite direction. Tampa Bay has won nine of its last 11 games and rebuilt a four-game lead in the American League East.
“It’s a big series for sure,” Cody Bellinger said Sunday about facing the Rays. “You can’t look too far ahead … No easy task. They got a bunch of good arms, and we’re gonna have to do a better job of manufacturing runs.”
The Yankees can’t keep waning for reinforcements. With only seven games remaining before the All-Star break and a chance to retake first place if they sweep, the available players need to stop the slide themselves.
Boone said he doesn’t believe his players are looking “to the door” for injured players to return and solve the Yankees’ problems. Instead, he hopes this week’s series in Tampa Bay against one of the league’s hottest teams raises the team’s level of play and sparks the turnaround they desperately need.
“It’s been frustrating,” Bellinger said about the losing skid. “We’re in a little bit of a storm right now, and you can’t run away from a storm; it’ll keep on chasing you. So, got to take a head on. Seven more until the break. So, finish strong, go into the All-Star break, healthy and feeling good, and [get] some momentum.”
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