Brian Cashman on Yankees' Offensive Struggles: 'I'm Happy With Their Commitment'

The New York Yankees are 3-8 in their last 11 games and have struggled at the plate with star slugger Aaron Judge sidelined, but general manager Brian Cashman still believes he will be pleased with the team's long-term results despite the recent slump.

"Am I happy with their approach? I'm happy with their commitment. I'm happy with their care," he told reporters when discussing the offensive issues. "Ultimately, I know I'll be happy with their end results."

Things have gotten fairly ugly of late for the Bronx Bombers.

They are coming off a sweep at the hands of the rival Boston Red Sox and scored a combined three runs in the final two games. They also lost two of three to Boston the prior week and scored a total of seven runs across that series.

New York is always under a brighter spotlight when going up against the hated Red Sox, which only exacerbated the offensive concerns.

As a result of the slump, the Yankees are now 10.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays and 5.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East race. They are just a half-game ahead of the Houston Astros in the chase for the second wild-card spot.

Judge hasn't played since June 3, and Bryan Hoch of MLB.com noted the team is last in the majors with a .195 batting average and .599 on-base plus slugging during his absence.

"There's 30 teams in baseball right now that don't have Aaron Judge on it," Anthony Rizzo said. "I don't think it's different for any other team. He's our captain; he's our leader. But one guy doesn't make the biggest difference in the world.

"For us as a unit, we've got to come together and rally for us, for him, for everyone. I know the narrative is 'Without Judge,' but I don't think that's fair to put on him or anyone on this team."

Cashman echoed many of those same sentiments:

Fortunately for New York, its impressive start to the season still has it in playoff positioning. But that will change if it doesn't turn things around on the offensive end.