As Yanks flounder, Cashman cites ‘belief’ in roster

NEW YORK — A series sweep has Yankees fans inching toward the panic button, but general manager Brian Cashman tried to assure them on Tuesday that the team is in good shape.

“I know there’s frustration outside. I can promise you there’s frustration inside, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’ve got a lot of belief in who we have here and what they’re capable of,” Cashman said.

New York currently sits in third place in the AL East after getting swept by the Boston Red Sox during a weekend series at Fenway Park, and sports a 3-8 record in the past 11 games. With star slugger Aaron Judge sidelined, the Yankees have struggled to generate offense, highlighted by the three runs they scored across two games in a doubleheader on Sunday.

While some fans believe the Yankees are too reliant on Judge for offense, Cashman expressed belief in the rest of the lineup.

“Am I happy with their approach? I’m happy with their commitment. I’m happy with their care,” Cashman said. “Ultimately, I know I’ll be happy with their end results.”

As a result of the sweep by the Red Sox, the Yankees now sit 10½ games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the division crown and 5½ games behind the second-place Baltimore Orioles. Their place in the division has brought fixation on the Yankees’ offensive struggles without Judge — they are last in the majors with a .195 batting average since he last played on June 3.

And while Cashman remains open to trades that make sense for the team, replacing Judge’s production is a tall task.

“We’re not going to do any trading to replace Judge. Ultimately, we’ve just got to wait for him to get back,” Cashman said. “In the meantime, we’ve definitely got a lot of guys that are more than capable of doing great things for us. We just need that. We’re missing it right now, but it’ll come around.”

Cashman reiterated his support for rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe, who’s hitting .189/.264/.350 this season, logging 1.1 bWAR in 72 games played.

“We’re not shying away from Anthony Volpe. We believe in him,” Cashman said. “We’re invested in him and we know that there’s a payoff there for us as long as we walk that tightrope with him.”