The Yankees’ big stars are running out of time to save the season

The advantages the Yankees have over the Royals are numerous, especially how numerous they are.

Their payroll is about three times that of Kansas City. But that leaves the Yankees with a very top-heavy roster. And if their wealthiest men don’t move up by October, then they’ll be playing on a much more even playing field with the Royals.

And in fact, they are now playing on an even playing field in this Division Series, with each tied at one point.

In Game 1, the Yankees overcame Gerrit Cole’s poor pitching and Aaron Judge’s continued failure to deliver in October. The Royals walked enough batters, the Yankee choir members stood up, and the instant replay review system really helped the home team.

But in Game 2, the Yankees asked Carlos Rodon to pitch like the highest-paid No. 2 starter in the sport, and he wasn’t equal to his salary or the moment. The judge had more problems, and this time so did Juan Soto.

And in this morass of free money, the Yankees humbly lost 4-2 to the Royals, opening a door they definitely didn’t want to crack open.

Home advantage is gone and now the Royals have a huge advantage by starting Seth Lugo in Game 3 against Clarke Schmidt on Wednesday night. On September 10, Lugo had his best start of 2024 against the Yankees, according to Baseball Reference: seven shutout innings on three hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts. That was in the Bronx. Wednesday takes place at Kauffman Stadium, where the Yankees will not only face an opposing crowd that hasn’t seen a playoff game since 2015, but also their own failed October games since last winning in 2009.

This postseason, AJ Burnett started five times and had two clunkers, but three great performances in Game 2 in Yankees victories – the first two helping the Yankees take a two-games-to-nothing lead and then in the World Series After CC Sabathia and the Yankees lost Game 1 at home, Burnett got his most important start in an overall failed Yankee career.

I mention Burnett because Rodon reminded me of a lefty Burnett from the moment the Yankees signed him to a six-year, $162 million free agent contract – great stuff, but real questions about whether he was overly emotional and got along with New York. Burnett was the type of guy who could have an underwhelming performance, but when you looked at the scoreboard, he had somehow allowed five runs in five innings.

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Rodon had a Game 2 like that. He came out breathing fire – with his fastball and his emotions. And I wonder if he was a marathon runner who ran like a sprinter for the first five miles. He struck out the team in ten pitches in the first inning and cheered like he was auditioning for the WWE.

He threw a first-pitch strike to the first ten batters he saw, going 0-2 on half of them. And then he threw ball 1 to six of the last eight batters he faced – and at one point was behind each of them in the count. Salvador Perez opened the fourth inning with a 2-0 lead and then hit his fourth career home run against Rodon.

He was classic Rodon over the next five batters – three hits, two strikeouts and a stolen base. He was out of the game after 3 ²/₃ innings and four runs – seven hits and seven strikeouts. He was good enough to be great and bad enough to have neither endurance nor success.

If the Yankees do fall behind in this series after the Lugo game, they will look to salvage their season with Cole, who may have been hit harder than ever in Game 1, and – come Game 5 – Rodon lined up to start.

The Yankees lost Game 2 despite drawing five walks in the first five innings, including three to lead outside the frame, struck out a total of 15 Royals, and pitched 5¹/₃ shutout relief innings after striking out four in Game 1 . Rodon was the culprit. But so was the offense.

Judge had two ons and no-outs in a scoreless first inning for the second game in a row, giving the Royals an opportunity to immediately believe they didn’t belong in the same league as the Yankees. Instead, he struck out in both games. Judge hit a fly out to the wall, walked and had an infield single the rest of the way, but his biggest hit ended in a strikeout. He has faced off in 33.8 percent of his playoff plate appearances – the second most of anyone with 200 plate appearances.

Soto walked but struck twice. Giancarlo Stanton, another wealthy Yankee, crushed an RBI grounder off the glove of shortstop Bobby Witt’s Jr. to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the third before Rodon collapsed in the fourth. Stanton, however, continues to run as if he’s carrying the weight of the Yankees’ recent playoff failures on his back.

And the Yanks really seemed to press offensively – they went 2-for-19 with men on base. This shows once again that their offense is hardly a threat when one of their big guys fails to save a home run or two.

Now that division series moves to the Midwest. Will the Yankees’ big stars and highly paid players step up to save their season?