When the season was in its first few weeks, New York Yankees fans were excited that this year they were going to be one of the clear candidates for the World Series title, as the results were on their side. Now, with the midpoint of the campaign surpassed, the New Yorkers are not living a good moment and uncertainty is growing at Yankee Stadium.

Despite being second in the American League East Division, with a 50-41 record, the current situation is not encouraging. It is enough to see what they have done in their 10 most recent games, where they have a record of two wins and eight losses, something that has caused the Tampa Bay Rays (53-36) to pull away at the top of the division.

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Why did the New York Yankees' performance drop?

Although those led by Aaron Boone are the team with the most home runs in the 2026 MLB season, with 132, if we look at the last 15 days, the reality is different; with 16 home runs in 13 games, they are in 16th position in the Majors.

But the most worrying section is at the moment of producing runs, given that the New York Yankees are the second Major League team that has driven in the fewest runs in the last 15 days. With 36, they only surpass the Los Angeles Angels (35), with the aggravating factor that the Californians have two fewer games (13 vs 11). Therefore, on average, those from the Bronx produce only 2.7 runs per game. A figure with which it is very difficult to win.

The series lost against the Minnesota Twins was a clear example, without exceeding five runs in any game. The same happened in the sweeps administered by the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox, where the most they scored was four.

The curious thing is that the pitching has responded to some extent, with an ERA of 3.67 in the last 15 games, placing them ninth in MLB, allowing an average of .238 against their opponents.

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The loss of Aaron Judge is decisive

One of the things that explains the offensive slump of the New York Yankees is the loss of Aaron Judge, who has not played since last May 31 against the Athletics. Until that date, his team showed a record of 36-23. Without him, the mark is 14-18. Something not good at all for a team from which so much is demanded.

It is no small thing to lose someone who was shaping up along with Yordan Alvarez as the clear candidate for the American League Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, with extraordinary numbers, such as 17 home runs, 10 doubles, 38 RBIs, and 43 runs scored in 59 games.

Since he has not been in Aaron Boone's lineup, no one has been able to be consistent with the bat. Even the one who shows the best batting average is Paul Goldschmidt, who exhibits an average of .242, followed by the Panamanian José Caballero (.228) and Jasson Domínguez (.220).

In home runs there is a little more support, with Ben Rice taking it out of the park on eight occasions, although with an average of .208 that has meant he does not drive in as many runs (15), with Caballero precisely being the best in that category (17).

The positive thing for the New Yorkers is that they are still in the top positions of the American League and there is a long way to go to reverse this bad streak, although they have to start by not letting the Tampa Bay Rays get away. Will they be able to keep up the pace?