Hal Steinbrenner is not concerned yet — but it’s safe to assume Yankees fans are.
The Yankees’ owner said Wednesday on “The Michael Kay Show” he was unsure why Yankees fans are so angry with the team’s struggles.
“They are upset,” Steinbrenner said about Yankee fans. “I’m a little confused, this year, being the third week of June, why they’re so upset, but they’re upset and that’s gonna get my attention, of course.”
“Nobody is on the hot seat right now,” Steinbrenner later added. “Let’s get through the season. Let’s see what happens.”
Some of that fan frustration manifested on the field on Wednesday when struggling veteran Josh Donaldson was booed for grounding into a double play in the bottom of the sixth inning during a 3-1 victory over the Mariners.
It was an unsurprising episode in the Yankees’ disappointing Donaldson saga — the 37-year-old third baseman, acquired before the 2022 season, has just a .642 OPS this year in 19 games, despite his hefty $21 million contract.
Donaldson also missed two months with a hamstring strain that he suffered in the first week of the season.
He has been below average offensively for his entire tenure as a Yankee, hitting .212/.297/.381 over two seasons while the Yankees have expected him to be an important offensive contributor.
Yankee fans are quick to turn on struggling sluggers, as they gave former outfielders Aaron Hicks and Joey Gallo the same treatment during their elongated skids in the Bronx.
The Yankees, who sit in third place in the AL East behind a dominant Rays team and an upstart Orioles squad, hold a 7-9 record in June, experiencing a particularly debilitating rut on the offensive end following superstar Aaron Judge’s toe injury on June 3.
Many of those offensive struggles can be attributed to a slumping trio of veterans the Yankees rely on for offense: Anthony Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu all have an OPS under .600 over the last 14 days.
Steinbrenner, nonetheless, offered a vote of confidence in his veterans, saying “there’s no way” Stanton, Rizzo and others don’t improve.
The Yankees owner seemed to be taking the long view when asked to assess the season.
“I would say that if we can march into the playoffs with 90 percent of our intended team that we expected to be on the field every day, 90 percent, and we don’t perform well in the playoffs, I’m going to start asking the questions even then,” Steinbrenner said.