Winning cures everything—until it doesn’t. The Yankees, led by Aaron Judge and managed by Aaron Boone, suddenly find themselves under the microscope. Boone calls it a “tough stretch,” but fans are wondering when the stretch ends and the freefall begins. The stars are quiet, the timing is off, and baseball, once fun in the Bronx, feels like a daily grind.

This season has been top-notch for the New York Yankees, but in the last few games, they have lost their way a bit.  Injuries piled up, mistakes crept in, and frustration started to show on the faces of stars and fans alike. In the last 10 games, they are 4-6, and the fans are not liking that. They even got swept by their biggest rivals, the Red Sox. After the loss against the Angels, manager Boone admitted that the team is “going through a few days of a tough stretch,” and all the eyes went after the player, especially the big names like Judge and Cody Bellinger.

In an article written by MLB analyst Randy Miller, he talked about the poor performance the Yankees put up against the Los Angeles Angels. He wrote, “You can blame Judge for having a week during which he didn’t look like a guy who might win… You can blame Cody Bellinger, whose 0-for-4 with two fly balls to the right-field warning track on Monday left him 3-for-24,” and he is right. But can we blame only the big names?

The Yankees’ star-studded lineup is stuck in neutral, and the engine won’t start. Judge may have launched his 26th homer to force extras in Game 1, but his bat cooled off fast. Bellinger, 3-for-24 in six games, keeps flirting with the warning track instead of the scoreboard. Even Paul Goldschmidt and Trent Grisham have vanished, leaving a trail of strikeouts and slumping averages behind them.

But the real issue? Nobody else has stepped up when the stars went silent. Jasson Dominguez is 6-for-33, DJ LeMahieu is 1-for-11, and Ben Rice is barely batting .143. In Monday’s 11-inning loss to the Angels, the Yankees went 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position. This lineup still leads the league in homers and average, but you’d never guess from this stretch.

On the mound, things aren’t much prettier. Just in the series against the Red Sox and the Angels, they have given up nine runs. That is not bad, but considering the batter form, the pitchers have not stepped up either. The offensive slump has forced the bullpen into high-leverage spots nearly every night. They’ve cracked under pressure, losing multiple close games that could’ve gone either way.

So, can a team built on power bats survive when even the sparks go missing? The Yankees might lead the league in stats, but lately, they’ve been leading in excuses, too. Boone’s “tough stretch” may be an understatement—this feels more like a stress test. Until the stars realign and the lineup remembers how to hit with runners on, even the pinstripes can’t cover up the cracks. October doesn’t wait for slumps to end.

Aaron Judge wants batters to step up, especially after the sweep

So much for juggernauts. Just when the Yankees looked untouchable, reality dropped a broom in Boston and sprinkled salt in Anaheim. Aaron Judge isn’t sugarcoating it. Neither is Boone, who’s running out of ways to say “that’s baseball” without sounding like a broken record. As New York’s bats go quiet, the captain has a message for his lineup: it’s time to stop watching and start hitting.

The Yankees may be division leaders, but they’re not playing like it when it matters most. After getting swept by the Red Sox and dropping a game to the struggling Angels, Judge called out the obvious. “We just couldn’t really string those couple of at-bats together,” he said, highlighting their offensive drought. For a team with October dreams, slumps like these don’t just sting—they echo into the postseason.

Judge knows that every game matters when you are chasing the title, and losing to teams that you are supposed to beat will not help. “Next time I gotta put a little bit more pressure on them,” he admitted, recognizing the need for early momentum. Manager Boone said, “That’s baseball,” but excuses are not going to win you pennants.

The warning signs aren’t blinking—they’re blaring. If the Yankees want to parade down the Canyon of Heroes, they can’t keep sleepwalking through series they’re supposed to own. Judge isn’t just sounding the alarm; he’s daring his lineup to wake up. Because if this is how they handle June, October’s going to feel like a cold shower in pinstripes.