The New York Yankees had a great start to the current season. Moreover, their offense looked like one of the best in the league. However, there were concerns over the slow start of Aaron Judge. But it was understandable, as he missed quite a few games in the Spring Training. Moreover, the captain of the NY side is clearly not 100% healthy. He missed some games in the Spring Training owing to an abs injury. Previously, he sustained a severe toe injury that turned out to be a torn ligament. As a result, he had to miss 35 games over two months in 2023. Later, prior to the Spring Training this year, Aaron Judge said that his toe injury will need constant maintenance until the day he hangs his boots.
Hence, it only makes sense that the 2022 AL MVP will take time to get back to his groove. Moreover, there were a couple more big concerns during the Spring Training for the Yankees as Gerrit Cole and DJ LeMahieu got their names on the 60-day Injured List. Not having these quality veteran players in the lineup was not a good sign. Nevertheless, the Yankees have been doing well so far in 2024. But the bullpen is letting them down sometimes, and the offense has been a bit inconsistent. Lately, the Bronx Bombers lost a close game against the Milwaukee Brewers owing to a bullpen strategy backfire.
Bullpen Strategy Lets Down Offensive Brilliance
On Thursday, the New York Yankees picked Michael Tonkin up off waivers. Perhaps it was not the right call to push him right into the fire on Friday. At the American Family Field, the Bronx Bombers lost 7-6 in extra inning. In the tenth inning, the Yankees were enjoying a one-run lead. Later, Tonkin came to pitch and allowed the Milwaukee Brewers to score the tying run in the bottom of the tenth inning. Finally, in the 11th inning, the Milwaukee side walked it off on Tonkin for securing the victory. It was Joey Ortiz for the Brewers who delivered the dagger and hit a hard ground ball that went past the third baseman Jahmai Jones.
According to Greg Joyce of The New York Post, Michael Tonkin mentioned after the game that baseball is tough in general. Nonetheless, Tonkin said, “We have to go out there and do our job.” Before getting to the 10th inning, the Yankees had used four relievers already, including, Luis Gil and Clay Holmes. According to Aaron Boone, the idea was not to put too much of a workload on Holmes. Hence, he chose to call on Tonkin. Besides Tonkin, Victor Gonzales was the last man available in the Yankees bullpen on Friday.
The Efforts Of Yankees Offense Went In Vain
Juan Soto hit his seventh home run of the 2024 season early in the game to give his team a 1-0 lead. Then, Alex Verdugo and Trent Grisham joined the party as well, hitting homers. These home runs gave the Yankees a 5-4 lead in the top of the fourth inning.
Later, the Designated Hitter of the NY side, Giancarlo Stanton, hit a leadoff double to the gap in the top of the 10th inning. Thanks to Stanton scoring the automatic runner, the Yankees got to a 6-5 lead. Unfortunately for the fans in New York, the team did not score any more runs in the game.
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