Yankees aim to aim to avoid their troubling second-half trend

The Yankees finished the first half with a loss in Baltimore that Aaron Boone called “a killer.” 

It ended a month-long stretch in which the Yankees finished the first half on an 8-18 stretch heading into the All-Star break, leaving them one game back of the first-place Orioles in the AL East. 

They resume their season Friday against the Rays in The Bronx looking to play better in the second half than they did in each of the past two seasons, when they failed to play above .500 following the break. 

In 2022, they overcame their 35-35 record after the break and made the ALCS before losing to Houston, but their 33-38 mark last season was part of the reason why the Yankees missed the playoffs. 

Now, they are trying to avoid a similar fate. 

“It’s a sprint when we get back,’’ Boone said. “Show up and give everything you’ve got.” 

The question remains whether that will be enough. 

Before their first-half finale against the Orioles, the manager said his team was “in a pretty good spot going into the second half and that’s a result of how we’ve played, for the most part, to put us in the position that we’re in. We’re in control of the script now moving forward. The second half, we’ve got the pen. It’s in our hands and that’s a result of how we’ve played in this first half.” 

Lately, it’s been the second half that’s been the bigger issue in The Bronx — and if that happens again, changes could come. 

There figure to be some changes even before then. 

With less than two weeks until the July 30 trade deadline — and coming off a season in which they missed the playoffs and then went out and traded for Juan Soto — general manager Brian Cashman and his staff undoubtedly will make some additions to the roster. 

“We’re the Yankees,” Aaron Judge said before Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Texas. “We’re going to try to put ourselves in the best position. And the front office will go out and fill the holes where we need them. But we’ve got a great group so far, and we’ll take any help we can get.” 

Two years ago, the Yankees acquired Andrew Benintendi, Harrison Bader, Scott Effross and Frankie Montas.

Last season, their mediocre first half did not compel the front office to do anything significant. 

How do these Yankees look going into the stretch run? 

The starting rotation, a pleasant surprise for much of the first half despite the absence of Gerrit Cole, was the worst in baseball over the last month and the bullpen hasn’t been great, with the relievers being among the Yankees’ top priorities as the deadline approaches. 

Miami’s Tanner Scott is among the options for possible additions, as offseason pickups Victor Gonzalez and Caleb Ferguson haven’t worked out. 

Nick Burdi and Scott Effross could come off the IL and contribute in the second half. 

The infield has also been a mess, with everyone — outside of newcomer Ben Rice — underperforming. 

Perhaps Rice can be at least a temporary answer at first base, but Gleyber Torres has underperformed again at second and DJ LeMahieu has been almost unplayable offensively at third. 

Anthony Volpe, following an encouraging rookie season, looked overwhelmed at the plate for most of the first half. 

A new bat or two in the infield would not be a surprise, to go along with the expected return of Jon Berti, who played just 17 games before hitting the IL with a strained calf.

He was coming off a solid season a year ago with Miami and should be productive, at least against lefties, while playing good defense at third base — or second, if need be. 

But the Yankees figure to at least consider adding an infielder before the end of the month. 

Soto and Judge have masked many deficiencies with the rest of the roster, but the Yankees’ recent run of poor play showed even they need some help from the rest of the lineup. 

Lately, it hasn’t come from Alex Verdugo, one of several members of the lineup who entered a tailspin prior to the break. 

Jasson Dominguez could have provided a much-needed spark to the offense, but he remains out with an oblique injury suffered at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and isn’t expected back for another month. 

And then there are the injured veteran sluggers, Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo. Stanton provided some protection for Soto and Judge and is expected back from a strained hamstring soon, but health continues to be an issue. 

Rizzo, meanwhile, didn’t resemble the hitter he’s been even before he fractured his arm.