NEW YORK — Amid the New York Yankees‘ worst two-week stretch to begin an MLB season in more than two decades, general manager Brian Cashman admitted the team is off to a “really disappointing” start but is exuding patience with both the roster and coaching staff.
“It’s 15 games,” Cashman said Monday. “It’s 15 games I’d like to forget.”
Yankees fans are in crisis mode after a weekend sweep by the division-rival Tampa Bay Rays that dropped New York to an American League-worst 5-10, marking only the eighth time in franchise history that it has lost 10 of its first 15 games.
The Yankees’ offense has struggled mightily out of the gate, batting .210 as a team with a .346 slugging percentage — the lowest in the majors — and just 16 home runs despite a slugger-laden lineup that features Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.
When asked whether there was any consideration about the coaching staff, Cashman backed up manager Aaron Boone and hitting coach Marcus Thames.
“I’ve got a lot of trust in the people we have,” Cashman said. “I’ve seen them work a lot of magic along the way. … We’re not reactive. I don’t see us reacting to not believing in the staff we have, and the players we have, either.”
Cashman said he believes the offense will eventually become a strength for the Yankees with so much time left on the schedule.
“We trust our players and their abilities, and we trust over the course of time that it will, as it normally does, correct itself with a lot more games under the belt,” he said.
The Yankees are off to their worst start since 1997, when they went 5-10 with Joe Torre as manager. That team bounced back and won 96 games before reaching the playoffs as a wild card. Cashman said he has faith in the current roster to turn its collective performance around.
“When you have a really talented roster, you just want them to be who they are and what they’re capable of, plug and play and let them go,” Cashman said. “And so I’ve got full confidence in our staff because I’ve seen them work a lot of magic along the way, impact a lot of players along the way.”
Cashman said that despite the sluggish start, the Yankees won’t overreact to a handful of games at the start of the season.
“Change doesn’t happen without a great deal of thought and effort and reason behind it, and we’re not reactive,” Cashman said. “And so I don’t see us reacting to how to shake the roster up too quickly, and I don’t see us reacting to not believing in the staff that we have and the players that we have, either.
“That’s the message to our players: ‘Hey, man, we do believe in you. We know what you’re capable of. This is a bad stretch; we’re going to get through this together.'”