Yankees’ to-do list even more pressing as AL East race tightens up

The Yankees were up in the AL East by seven games after beating the Angels on May 28, looking like a team in total control of the division, with Tampa Bay the only other team in the division over .500. 

After losing their final two games before the All-Star break, the Yankees find themselves not only no longer atop the division — they are two games behind the front-running Blue Jays — but also just a game ahead of the Red Sox.

Boston has surged into third place thanks to a 10-game winning streak and is playing much better in the wake of the Rafael Devers trade to San Francisco. 

So when general manager Brian Cashman said this past week that he would “certainly love to import a starter [and] some relievers” prior to the July 31 trade deadline, it’s easy to understand why. 

He began that task when the Yankees claimed right-hander Rico Garcia off waivers from the Mets on Monday. 

Garcia is out of minor league options, so he will have to be added the big league roster. The 31-year-old appeared in two games with the Mets and threw 4 ²/₃ innings. He spent most of the season with Triple-A Syracuse. 

The Yankees have gotten more than they could have hoped for from Will Warren in the rotation, and Devin Williams seems to have settled into the closer’s role for now, but pitching woes are the main reason they no longer look like the team to beat. 

While the rotation has been ravaged by injuries, the bullpen has often been disappointing, with Mark Leiter Jr. — even before his leg injury — and Jonathan Loáisiga both struggling. 

It’s all added up to some shaky numbers for the past month and a half. 

Prior to the 18-23 stretch they carried into the All-Star break, the Yankees pitching staff had the fifth-best ERA in the majors, as did their starting rotation. 

And the bullpen had the eighth-best WHIP in the sport. 

Since then? 

The staff is 24th in total ERA, with the rotation 14th. 

And the bullpen WHIP is 27th — better than the pens of only the Mets, Rockies and Twins. 

It’s all been part of what’s been an all too familiar pattern in The Bronx, as the Yankees followed a superb May (17-9) with a mediocre June (13-14) and have gotten off to another shaky July (5-7). 

They had similar numbers in those three months in 2023 and ’24 — after a shaky second half in 2022. 

Cashman has a little over two weeks to accomplish his goals and acknowledged he had a “long list.” 

And with the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays all within 1 ½ games of a wild-card spot — not to mention the Blue Jays in first place — the Bombers will have plenty of competition in a division in which they’re 10-16 in games against divisional foes. 

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The Yankees have been waiting for this from Spencer Jones. 

The towering left-handed hitter has been too inconsistent and strikeout-prone to live up to the hype surrounding him — at least until recently. 

In his first 36 games of this season, all with Double-A Somerset, the 2022 first-round pick had an .844 OPS and 56 strikeouts in 151 plate appearances. 

Since then, in 27 games split between Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Jones has hit 13 homers, struck out 34 times and had a 1.268 OPS. 

Scouts point to Jones’ improved contact this season that has led to more line drives and fly balls and fewer grounders as the reason for the improvement. 

The biggest two questions surrounding Jones are whether he’ll be able to sustain this success and — with the July 31 trade deadline a little more than two weeks away — will he remain with the organization or be used as a chip?