Yankees’ Ryan McMahon problem is getting worse originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
It’s the time of year when you want to write struggles off as a small sample size.
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But at some point, now or later, they’ve got to be recognized as a real problem. The New York Yankees are starting to approach that point with Ryan McMahon.
In his second-to-last at bat on Wednesday night, in a key spot, McMahon grounded meekly into an inning-ending double play.
His last at bat featured whiffs on 3-1 and 3-2 to end the game, a 3-2 loss to the A’s.
McMahon is now 2-for-26 this season.
He has struck out 13 times, which you can do the math on — half of his at bats have ended in a punch out.
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The only saving grace is that McMahon has walked seven times, including once on Wednesday night — but with the way he’s hitting, pitchers need to just throw him as many strikes as possible, because he’s doing no damage whatsoever.
His two hits are both singles, too. It’s been a total whimper in the early going.
The Yankees started Amed Rosario at third base on Tuesday even against a right-handed pitcher, and he hit two homers, so they started him there again Wednesday. That put McMahon at shortstop as a way to try to change things up for him.
He was fine defensively, but his offense still didn’t come around.
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McMahon was once a better hitter than this, but in his late stages in Colorado and at the tail end of last season with the Yankees, he was already looking like a guy a bit in decline.
At this point, he’s hard to play. How can he break out a funk if he isn’t on the field? That’s a fair question. But what if he’s never going to break out of this funk? The Yankees may not be able to afford the patience to find out.
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