Slacking off in the middle of the game has to be the greatest sin a professional player can do. Even if the game is all but over, you don't want to show bad body language to your teammates. During the New York Yankees' brutal loss to the Cincinnati Reds, center fielder Trent Grisham committed this awful error.
New York was down four runs at the top of the ninth when Jeimer Candelario hit a blooper to center field. Grisham all but jogged to the ball and even bobbled it upon picking it up, turning what should've been a single into a double all of a sudden. Yankees fans were of course irate about this, and for good reason. It's an unforgivable mistake to make in what is still a winnable game.
Thankfully, the Yankees were able to strand Candelerio and refused to give up more runs. Unfortunately, their comeback attempt fell flat in the bottom of the ninth, unable to produce a run. After the game, manager Aaron Boone talked about what he said to Grisham after this error, per Bryan Hoch.
“Aaron Boone said that he told Trent Grisham it was “a bad look” to play that 9th inning hit so lackadaisically, but added: “One of the reasons he’s a Gold Glove centerfielder is because of his heartbeat, his reads, his jumps, the ease with which he plays the position.””
Grisham played center field in lieu of Aaron Judge, who was listed as the designated hitter. Judge is well-known for his hitting, but he's also a great asset on defense with a cannon arm and good instincts on fly balls. The Yankees were probably hoping that Grisham's Gold Glove defense would help compensate for the absence of Judge at the position. Unfortunately, they were proven wrong.
Yankees struggling during midseason (again)
Unfortunately, the Yankees are following the same script they did just a few years ago. During Aaron Judge's historic MVP season, the Pinstripes got off to a hot start, only to cool down significantly in the middle of the season. They ended up limping into the Divisional Series, barely escaping the Cleveland Guardians before being routed by the Houston Astros.
The same thing is happening this season. It felt like ages ago when the Yankees became the first team in the Major League to reach 50 wins. Since then, New York has only gotten four more wins. They've ceded control of the AL East to the Baltimore Orioles, and are now three games behind the top seed. They were swept by the Reds in their last series, and they once again lost to the Boston Red Sox in the series opener.
All of this is happening while Judge is having yet another historic season. Somehow, the Yankees star is once again on pace to reach 60 home runs. He already has 32 home runs after 81 games. He has the highest OPS by far in the majors. Judge is doing everything humanly possible to give New York wins, but it's not happened (much to the frustration of fans and Judge's personal coach).
The Yankees need to talk a long hard look in the mirror and ask themselves what happened to that team that dominated to start the year. Because if not… things are going to be much, much bleaker moving forward.
