The Yankees have excuses for being carved up by Tarik Skubal, a Cy Young Award candidate who limited Aaron Boone’s group to three hits and one run (on a wild pitch) in six innings Sunday.
They have fewer excuses for the many other southpaws who have silenced them.
The Yankees own just a .712 OPS overall against southpaws, which was the 13th-worst mark in baseball entering play Monday.
In 32 games against a lefty starting pitcher, the Yankees have won just 13 times, which looms as a particularly significant hole during the stretch run and potentially into the postseason.
The group has gone 60-33 against righty starters.
Aaron Judge and Juan Soto have hit everyone, but the supporting cast has come up empty against southpaws.
DJ LeMahieu, who has been getting starts against lefties, owns a miserable .406 OPS with one home run in 66 plate appearances against them.
Lefty-hitting Alex Verdugo (.606 against southpaws) increasingly has been sitting against lefties, which prompted Sunday’s one-day call-up of switch-hitting Jasson Dominguez (who went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts).
Anthony Volpe has not found any power against lefties, posting a .636 OPS. The Yankees hoped the issue would be solved when Giancarlo Stanton returned from the injured list, but the DH owns just a .663 OPS against lefties this year.
The weakness has been apparent all season and has not been cured.
The Mets jumbled their rotation, shielding righty Luis Severino from facing his former teammates, and used four lefty starters to sweep the season series.
Rotation plans can change, but the Yankees are lined up to face six southpaws in their next nine games, beginning Tuesday in opening a series against lefty Matthew Boyd and the Guardians in The Bronx.
On Sunday, the Yankees worked long at-bats against Skubal early — including a game-opening eight-pitch battle from Gleyber Torres, and second-inning fights from Jose Trevino (10 pitches) and Volpe (eight pitches) — and walked four times, but they did not hit the All-Star.
“I thought we made him work hard,” Boone said after the 3-2, 10-inning loss to the Tigers in Williamsport, Pa.. “He’s tough. We didn’t do a lot against him obviously. But I thought we made it challenging for him.”
Tommy Kahnle threw another scoreless inning on Sunday and has not allowed an earned run since July 14.
The veteran righty, whose season ERA is down to 1.74, has gone 12 ²/₃ innings with two unearned runs on five hits with 12 strikeouts in the span.
Cody Poteet will begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset on Tuesday. The righty has been sidelined with a right triceps strain since June 12.
The Yankees will host free skin cancer screenings on Thursday for fans with tickets to that day’s game against the Guardians.
From when the Stadium gates open at 11:30 a.m. until the scheduled 1:05 p.m. first pitch, the examinations will take place on the 200 Level Concourse in between the New Era Team Store and Section 223.
Reservations are not required.
