It’s time for another Bronx Breakdown edition of the Beat as the Yanks begin a new week of games. Before we look forward to them battling the Jays and Mets this week, we’ll go back this past one, which was honestly more of the same. The Bombers 3-3 in six games against the Reds and A’s, two teams they should probably fair better against. But, that who this team is right now, as scuffle along to finish June. Let’s get to the good and the bad from this stretch!

The Good

Thank God for Jazz: There really is nothing else to say than that about number 13. Jazz Chisholm has absolutely carried this Yankee team since his return from the IL, as we highlighted last week. Following his big performance Sunday, the Yanks third baseman is back in our ring of honor. In his last seven games he’s hitting .276 with three homers and nine RBI’s. He’s slugging .724 in the stretch and while the Yankees are only 4-3 in the stretch, it’s easy to imagine they’d be 2-5 or worse without him. There is no denying Chisholm has produced since arriving in New York, and it needs to continue, albeit with a positional switch back to second base.

Devin Does the Job: If you’re looking for good news on the bullpen front, it comes from the ninth inning. After struggling for much of April and a May, Devin Williams has fully righted the ship in the ninth inning. He picked up his 11th save of the season Friday night against the A’s, lowering his ERA to 4.75 on the season. He hasn’t allowed a run in his last seven appearances, picking up 4 saves in the process and recording 8 K’s in 6.2 innings. Williams return to form helps to justify his winter acquisition, as well as providing the Yankees with flexibility in the pen as Luke Weaver returns to his Swiss Army knife role. The Yankees need this to continue the rest of the way as they look to add arms for the middle innings at the deadline.

Piecing it Together: Of all the unlikely things to happen in Yankee land this week, Marcus Stroman giving the team valuable innings Sunday was not on my bingo card. The Yanks welcomed the “Stro Show” back to the bump in place of the injured Ryan Yarbrough and number zero came through with a quality outing. Stroman gave the Yanks 5 innings of one run ball, which may seem insignificant, but when you’re just trying to fill innings until Luis Gil comes back, you’ll take it! This could be one of Stroman’s final starts at Yankee stadium depending on how the trade deadline goes, so at least he had one more solid day in the Bronx.

The Bad

Extra Inning Mess: Let’s be blunt, the Yankees are embarrassing in extra innings. Especially on the road, where they are 12-27 since 2020 after the ninth inning. This groups continual lack of fundamentals is consistently on display in these settings, as this team can’t make basic defensive plays in key spots and can’t hit with runners in scoring position. The latter of which is a real issue considering extra innings start with a runner at second. It’s yet another aspect of this team that is indicative of its less than stellar manager, who somehow skates on these things since 2018.

Power Outage: It’s hard to believe we’re talking about this Yanks offense this way after they started the year so well, but here we are. For all their perceived “length” and quality, this offense has been anemic for a while. Outside of Jazz Chisholm and Aaron Judge, who himself was in a bit of a rough patch until this weekend, this group doesn’t do much in the way of hitting. They struggle to string together hits and almost never sustain a rally. Boone is continuing to jam square pegs into round holes and rotate through “complimentary” hitters who never do much to help the lineup flow. This team needs a bat, preferably a righty at third base, that can put some power numbers on the board. Brian Cashman needs to go shopping and Boone needs to settle on a lineup that actually works day to day.

Highlight of the Week

All Rise: Nothing like some Aaron Judge homers to brighten your Monday morning!

The Road Ahead

To begin the week the Yankees will head to Toronto, for a battle with the Jays, who will play their “Canada Game” Tuesday afternoon at Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays come into the series at 45-38, just 3 games behind the Yankees for first in the East, and in possession of the second Wild Card spot. This should be an intense series as Toronto tries to close the gap on the Yanks, and they are expected to draw big crowds for it. The good news is bombers will send both Carlos Rodon and Max Fried to the mound in this series.

After the trip to the great white North, the Yankees come back to New York to battle Mets in the Subway Series! This is the second meeting of the season, after the Yankees took two out of three in the first matchup. These games always have a great energy to them, but this series should be even better as it is over Fourth of July weekend, which should bring out huge crowds. Both teams are desperate to get on track so hopefully it creates for some good games with both working hard to maintain their place in the standings.

On twitter you can find Mike @Mike_Sheerin, Tyler @TMon_19 and Sean @SeanMartinNFL. Subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Check out our Instagram feed @thebroadwaybreakdownsports for special gameday and promotional content. Our podcasts are available on Spotify. Visit the Rangers Ed Shop by clicking the link on our homepage. Check out our mailbag page to join the conversation here on the site and on our partners show, The Rangers Ed Podcast! We’ll be back with more soon.