BALTIMORE — Two things can be true at the same time: The New York Yankees are one of the best teams in baseball, but a few concerns are starting to arise for a team that had the best record in the American League as recently as last Friday.

The Yankees were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend, then dropped two of three to a bad Baltimore Orioles team this week. In the series finale Wednesday, the Yankees had just one hit, were forced to pull ace Max Fried early because of elbow soreness and lost 7-0.

“It’s a tough road trip,” Yankees captain Aaron Judge said. “You’re gonna have two or three of those during the year. It’s about how you respond. Nothing we can do about it now.”

Technically, the road trip continues for the Yankees on Friday with the start of the Subway Series in Queens. The New York Mets have been one of MLB’s worst teams this season and have problems that go beyond anything the Yankees are dealing with.

“I really don’t understand it,” Judge said of the Mets’ struggles. “They’ve got a great manager with (Carlos Mendoza) over there. They’ve got a great lineup, a great pitching staff. It’s baseball. … You can’t really judge a team off of six weeks of the season. If you did that, you could take six weeks that we’re struggling and say we’re the worst team out there. They’ve got a good ball club over there.”

Before the start of the Subway Series, let’s look at some of the concerns that have emerged for the Yankees over the past few weeks.

Spencer Jones leaps but can’t catch a home run by Adley Rutschman in the fifth inning of the Orioles’ 7-0 win. (Greg Fiume / Getty Images)

Dead zones in the lineup

Entering Wednesday, no team had a better combined wRC+ from their Nos. 1-4 hitters than the Yankees’ 143. That wRC+ drops to a combined 94 for their Nos. 5-9 hitters.

Each game, it seems like once the opposing pitcher gets past Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge, Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger, there’s a chance to finally breathe.

“Overall, we’ve had a good offense, but we’ve got to get some more guys contributing regularly,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “You see it around the league. There are a lot of really good players out there scuffling to this point. It’s part of it. We’ve had some guys flash it and start to pull themselves out a little bit, but obviously, looking for a little more consistency.”

Jazz Chisholm Jr. is the pivot point for the Yankees’ lineup. He usually bats fifth or sixth and is the last true major threat before the bottom of the order, but he has not performed well this season. Chisholm owns a 73 wRC+ and has less-than-encouraging metrics to suggest a turnaround is coming soon.

“Right now, all I want to do is help my team win,” Chisholm said Tuesday. “And when you feel like you’re not doing that and you’re not helping, especially with the bat, that’s just how you feel. You feel like it sucks.”

But he’s not the only one struggling. Without Giancarlo Stanton and Jasson Domínguez, it’s a lackluster group at the moment: Spencer Jones looks as advertised as a high-whiff hitter; Austin Wells has been disappointing; Ryan McMahon strikes out too much; and Anthony Volpe, who has been one of MLB’s worst hitters since debuting in 2023, will play while José Caballero is sidelined with a right finger fracture.

“I expect there to be more in there,” Boone specifically said about Wells. “I feel like he’s capable of more. It’s been a little bit of a struggle. I feel like he’s had, for the most part, some pretty steady at-bats against right-handed pitching. I like the fact that he is walking a little bit, but he’s capable of more.”

The bottom half of the lineup has to get going, at a minimum, to allow Rice, Judge and Bellinger to have off nights here and there.

Right now, the lineup is top-heavy. That has to improve.

Unknown timelines for Stanton, Domínguez

The Yankees did not get great news on the imaging for Stanton’s latest MRI on his right calf. Boone said Stanton has not been cleared to start running, which means he’ll continue to be sidelined for an indefinite period.

Not having Stanton has forced the Yankees to provide an easy lane for opposing teams to attack because they’re too left-handed. As an example, Monday’s lineup had four consecutive lefties. That allowed Orioles manager Craig Albernaz to bring in lefty reliever Dietrich Enns to face Chisholm and McMahon in a critical spot. With one out, a runner on third and the Yankees up 2-0 in the sixth inning, Chisholm struck out and McMahon grounded out. The Yankees lost by one run.

“I always want a former MVP and future Hall of Famer in your lineup, especially having another righty in the string of lefties we’ve got,” Judge said of Stanton’s absence.

Domínguez was showing progress from the right side before he smashed into the left-field wall and landed on the injured list with an AC joint sprain. He’s also a more advanced hitter at this stage of his career than Jones.

Boone said Domínguez received a PRP injection in his left shoulder, but he’s not expected back for at least a few more weeks.

One possibility the Yankees could explore while they search for more production is getting Paul Goldschmidt more at-bats. They signed him to face lefties more than righties, but his batted-ball metrics are among the best on the team, and it would allow Boone to have another right-handed hitter in his lineups.

Waiting on Fried

The Yankees do not yet know how serious, if at all, Fried’s elbow soreness is. He’ll undergo testing Thursday to determine the severity and whether he’ll need to miss time.

“There’s always a little concern anytime any of your pitchers have any issues with the elbow,” Judge said. “I’m hoping to hear some good news. Max is a tough kid. He’s meant a lot to this organization since he came over here. That’s why we went after him and signed him. I think that’s one thing that’s helped us, honestly, this year, is our depth. We’ve got a lot of depth around here, so if something happens, I know guys will step up and fill that role, but I think we’re gonna be in a good spot.”

It’s impossible to look at any loss of Fried as OK, no matter who ends up filling his spot. He has been one of MLB’s most consistent pitchers. But getting Gerrit Cole back soon could significantly help the Yankees’ rotation, if Fried must miss time.

Cole’s velocity has registered as high as 99 mph, a good sign that the life on his fastball has returned to where it was before his surgery in March 2025. It usually takes time for a pitcher who underwent Tommy John surgery to get his command back, so it won’t be a surprise if there are some bumps along the way for Cole when he returns.

That’s why it would be unfair to expect Cole to immediately return to Cy Young Award-level form. It’s also why, if Fried has to go on the injured list, there’s no guarantee the Yankees’ rotation will be fine just because Cole is coming back.

The bullpen remains upgradable

There’s no need for the Yankees to carry two long relievers in Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough. Boone does not use either of them in high-leverage spots, which effectively limits the bullpen to six relievers.

Fernando Cruz has a 2.70 ERA but a 4.14 FIP and is sporting the highest walk rate of his career. Camilo Doval can look dominant in every outing but has struggled with limiting hard contact. Brent Headrick has mostly been fantastic, but no reliever has appeared in more games this season than him.

The Yankees could use one more leverage reliever to supplement their current options, whether it’s an internal or external addition, ahead of the trade deadline.