Yanks lose three straight. Time to sound the alarm bell?

I realize that the head of this post sounds a bit exaggerated, but it is not about the three losses in a row. It is about the way HOW they lost.

Last night the Yankees lost their third game in a row vs Tampa Bay. The final score: 6-1. The only run was scored on a solo shot by Alex Rodriguez. As a team, the Yankees got five lousy basehits.

Like I wrote in a previous article: Teams that are hot will turn cold at one point. It is only a third loss in a row, but can we say that that point is now?

If the Yankees lineup is dominated by some ace, you can say “The guy is too good.” But they were domiated by a pitcher that had a 8.38 until last night. A pitcher that only had a respectable ERA in his first year in the bigs (2012): 3.36. After that his ERA hovered around five: 4.98 in 2013 and 5.26 in 2014.

To make it a bit worse, Chase Whitley left in the second inning with an apparent injury. Hard to tell if his preformance was influenced by it, but it seems to me that Whitley is not the solution to replace Tanaka. Despite two stellar performances in his first two starts (both six innings and only one earned run allowed), his next two (including last night) were not to write home about. In his third start he allowed five earned runs in six innings and last night he gave up three before he was pulled.

Of the much heralded bullpen, Esmil Rogers gave up two runs in 3.1 innings. In eleven games (22.1 innings) Rogers gave up nine earned runs so far. I think it is a miracle that his ERA is still below 4.00. To me he is one of the weakest links in the bullpen.

Now with Whitley possibly going to the DL, what other options does Girardi have? Chris Capuano is on the verge of coming back after an injury. He is rehabbing in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre right now. I am not too fond of him but I think it is one of the very few solutions right now. He is merely a fifth starter, although I would use him as a long reliever.
Louis Severino isn’t Major League ready yet. The kid is a diamond in the rough but is only performing at AA level right now. In sixt starts he went 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA and 34 Ks. He kept his opponents to a .264 batting average, so there is

certainly room for improvement there. One bright spot in the farm system right now may be Jacob Lindgren. He is a  pitcher for AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders and is ranked #9 in the Yankees prospect top 20. Sure he is not a starter but he could bolster the bullpen pretty much. At SWB he is 0-1 with a 1.65 ERA, 22Ks and an opposing batting average of .213. Not too shabby if you’d ask me. His star is rising. He was drafted in June 2014 and in that very same year he already made it to AA. But when it comes to starting pitching, there are not many prospects that can be called up yet. During his days at Mississipi State, Lindgren was used as a starter in 2013. In 14 starts he went 4-3 with a 4.18 ERA. In 2012 and 2014 he was mainly used as a reliever and his numbers were better then. But isn’t it worth a try to let him start a couple of games at AAA or AA and see how things will pan out? Since Minor League Baseball isn’t about winning, I really think that the Yankees should give this a shot. For the rest there is no starting pitcher that is putting up solid numbers in the Yankees farm system.

Regarding the sleeping bats, maybe it is time to shake up the lineup a bit. Perhaps the Yankees should call up Rob Refsnyder and/or Aaron Judge. I know that Refsnyder’s defense remains questionable (so far he has committed seven errors at SWB) but he has a potent bat. Aaron Judge is performing at AA Trenton, but he would not be the first to be called up from that level. With the Thunder he has a .321 batting average, a .542 slugging percentage, a .362 on base percantage and a .904 OPS. So far he has hit six homeruns, nine doubles and a triple. Perhaps it is time to call him up or otherwise promote him to AAA.

So after three straight losses, it may not be the right time to sound the alarm bell yet, but it wouldn’t hurt to shake up the lineup  a bit. When it comes to (starting) pitching, the Yankees do not have many options. Even in the minors they are hit by the injury bug. But calling up some good hitters may not be too much too ask.