Former New York Yankees prospect Ben Ruta rips apart the team's controversial analytical approach: "There's no baseball being taught"
It has been a rocky season for the New York Yankees, who sit in the basement of the American League East. They hold a 60-60 record, 14 games behind the Baltimore Orioles, who lead the division.
They are 6.5 games out of an American League wild-card spot, and things do not look to be getting much better. They are on a four-game losing streak and could be swept for their fifth consecutive loss Wednesday against the Atlanta Braves.
The front office, coaching staff and players have taken huge criticism from the fanbase this year. Former prospect Ben Ruta gave insight into what has been going behind the scenes during an episode of "Foul Territory."
"There's no baseball being taught," Ruta said.
The former MLB prospect was disappointed during his time with the New York Yankees. He said that there was no real coaching after the team committed to analytics before the 2018 season.
Ruta doubled down on the lackluster coaching by saying the team played a game called "pitchers versus hitters." The only way to score a point was for the hitter to hit a ball over 95 mph or get a walk. He also said there were no baserunning drills or fundamentals.
This season has been a disaster for the New York Yankees
It has been 28 years since the New York Yankees have held a .500 record this late into the season. Few could have expected this after re-signing Aaron Judge and adding Carlos Rodon in the offseason.
Untimely injuries have not helped the Bronx Bombers. Judge went down with a torn ligament in his toe and missed 54 games. The offense disappeared with him on the IL.
Mediocre pitching has also been a problem for this club. They had to deal with Luis Severino and Carlos Rodon starting their seasons on the IL. After coming off the IL, neither has been impressive. Rodon holds a 1-4 record with a 7.33 ERA and Severino is 2-8 with a 7.98 ERA.
The Yankees have also had to deal with some off-field issues. Pitcher Domingo German had an episode in the clubhouse where he smashed a TV and flipped a couch. He had been struggling with alcohol abuse, showing up to the locker room intoxicated. This led to him being placed on the restricted list.
It has been one season that Yankees fans will quickly want to forget about.