ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Aaron Judge quietly walked to his locker stall after a post-game shower. He dressed quickly and then silently watched the media creep his way.
Following Sunday’s 5-4 loss to the Rays, the captain needed to address a terrible week of Yankees baseball.
They were just swept three games by the Rays at Tropicana Field. They’ve lost five in a row. They’re 1-6 since starting the season 7-1.
In five days, a 3 1/2-game lead in the AL East has turned into a three-way tie with the Rays and Orioles.
Judge wanted every Yankees player, himself included, doing a little soul searching before Monday night’s game at Yankee Stadium against the Angels.
“It starts with yourself,” he said. “You’ve got to look at individually yourself. ‘Hey, what can I change? What can I do to put myself in a better position to help this team win?’
“That’s what it comes down to. Don’t try to do too much. Go out there and do your job and we’ll be in a good spot.”
If you’ve been watching the Yankees, you know why they’re losing.
Most of their hitters are underachieving in stunning fashion, most everyone except Ben Rice, who is among the league leaders in average, homers and RBIs, plus Giancarlo Stanton, who only pinch-hit on Sunday.
Most hitters from the same lineup that led the league in runs scored and homers last season are off to terrible starts.
Aaron Boone’s Sunday lineup included Rice plus two players with no hits for the season, four others with averages below .160 and two batting under .250.
That led to no runs and one hit through six innings facing Rays starter Drew Rasmussen. A two-run seventh and Judge’s homer with a man on in the ninth got the Yankees to within a run twice, but they still ended up four or fewer runs for the eighth time in 15 games.
Judge has been productive with four homers and nine RBIs, but he’s hitting .218 after winning a batting title last year when he was the AL MVP for the second season in a row and third time in four.
“Whew,” he said. “Guys are having some tough at-bats, but I think we just need to simplify some things at the plate. We’re trying to hit every single pitch we see up there and kind of getting ourselves in some bad counts and bad situations.
“I think as a group if we simplify some things, simplify our approach a little bit, hunt the pitch that we’re looking for and kind of pass the baton, we’ll get a better spot.”
Another area let the Yankees down over the weekend, the defense of the Rays’ six bunts, which resulted in three hits, an error, a fielder’s choice and one out.
“A lot of that is we’ve got to make the play,” Judge said. “That’s what it comes down to. If they’re going to bunt and give you a free out, you’ve got to come up and make a play.”
“Yeah, we’ve lost some games, so I’m concerned about that,” he said. “I’m not gonna sit here and talk about all the things that concern me. We’ve got a job to do and we’ve got to focus on the positive things.
“There’s things we need to clean up, obviously, but focus on the positive and get ready for the next series.”
The Yankees’ pitching is their one big positive. The 2.78 team ERA is the lowest in the league, but there’s little margin for error because the offense has been so bad so often.