Aaron Judge-Juan Soto tandem the Yankees’ only offensive production

When the lineups for the All-Star Game came out Monday, it must have been a relief to both Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. 

Again hitting back-to-back in the order for the American League, Soto will have Gunnar Henderson in front of him and Judge will have Yordan Alvarez following him. 

It will be quite a change for the All-Stars, who have lived up to the immense expectations that were placed on them when the Yankees acquired Soto in a December trade from the Padres. 

But so far this season, the duo has been surrounded by among the least productive hitters in the majors.

Through the first half, with Soto and Judge consistently hitting in the No. 2 and 3 holes, the Yankees have been unable to find anyone to get on base in front of them or behind them with any regularity. 

While the Yankees lead the majors out of the No. 2 spot with a .424 on-base percentage and an OPS of .978, as well as at No. 3, with a .431 OBP and an OPS of 1.103, they are at or near the bottom of the ranks in the leadoff and cleanup spots, according to Fangraphs.com. 

The slumping Gleyber Torres and then Anthony Volpe spent much of the first half in the leadoff spot before the Yankees looked to lefty-swingers like Alex Verdugo and Ben Rice to face right-handed starters and even turned to DJ LeMahieu the last time a left-handed pitcher started. 

And through it all, only the Royals and A’s have been worse, meaning instead of having a chance to drive runners in throughout the game, Soto and Judge are often left to do damage on their own. 

For the first two-plus months of the season, the strategy was mostly fine, but it’s one of the flaws of the team that’s been exposed as they stumbled toward the break. 

In the cleanup spot, Anthony Rizzo spent time there before his extended slump forced him down in the lineup and a fractured arm forced him to the IL. 

And with Giancarlo Stanton out with a hamstring injury, and the Yankees facing mostly right-handers, Verdugo often found himself hitting fourth, even as his performance also slipped badly. 

Rice, prior to Sunday’s three-run homer that briefly put the Yankees ahead in the top of the ninth, had been mired in a 2-for-27 rut.

But he’s been excellent in his brief time atop the order, with an OPS of 1.169 in 29 plate appearances there. 

Verdugo has struggled just about everywhere lately and after his defensive miscue on the final play Sunday, the outfielder assessed his season as having been “up and down.” 

“There are no easy answers,’’ said one AL scout who watched the Yankees near the end of the first half. “The issue with their lineup has been depth outside of the two big guys [Soto and Judge], so it’s not like there’s someone obvious to have them sandwiched between. Maybe they’ll have someone like that after the trade deadline [on July 30].” 

Aaron Boone said he expected Stanton to be “really close” to a return from the IL following the break and that will help, but with so much of the lineup hitting poorly, it’s not hard to determine why the Yankees went into the break having lost 18 of their last 26 games.