Fresh off a 12-3 loss to the Mets, Aaron Boone interrupted a question during his postgame press conference on Wednesday.

“For weeks now, you and the players have been saying that this was just a poor stretch and you will eventually get out of it,” a reporter began.

“It’s still a poor stretch,” Boone interjected after the Mets swept the Subway Series for the first time since 2013.

The “stretch” in question has seen the Yankees go 15-25 since June 7. That’s 40 games, roughly a quarter of the season.

Only the abysmal White Sox, a 27-win team with no organizational direction, have been worse over that span.

With the Yankees playing so putridly for such a prolonged period, Boone was then asked, “At what point is it not a poor stretch?”

The follow-up resulted in a display of frustration that the Yankees’ play had yet to inspire at the postgame podium.

“I’m not defining it,” a fiery Boone shot back. “We gotta play better, OK? We have it right in front of us. We’re a really good team that has played sh–ty of late. We need to be better. I’m not going to define stretch, this or that. We gotta go win. And we’re right there. We’re watching other teams struggle around us. We know we’ve got to be better. We’re pissed off in there. We’ve got a lot of pride in there. We have a lot of expectations in there.

“So stretch, slump, recent — I don’t give a s–t. It’s we’ve got to play better the rest of the way, and it’s right there. I’ve said it’s right in front of us. It is. It’s right in front of us. For as bad as it’s been, we’re also in a great position. We’ve gotta go play baseball the way we’re capable of playing, and it’s on all of us, starting with me, in that room to make sure we’re coming out with the right level of energy and getting after it.”

Boone’s common “it’s right in front of us” refrain has drawn criticism from fans over the last few weeks (and years), but his passionate response was a first for this ongoing slide.

After getting pantsed by the Mets, it felt appropriate, but also expected.

Boone was somewhat right in saying the Yankees are a good team in a good position, as they had baseball’s best record prior to June 7.

They also lead the American League’s wild card race and entered Thursday’s off day just 1.5 games back of the Orioles. Fortunately for the pinstripers, their division foe is also struggling.

“We don’t even worry about the Orioles,” Juan Soto said. “We worry about what we have in here. Yeah, it’s fine that they are right there, that they haven’t gone too far. But definitely, we worry about what we have in here. We don’t worry about them.”

The Bombers are lucky to still be in striking distance, though, as they’ve actually played sub-.500 ball since May 24. They’re 25-27 since then, matching the middling Angels.

So no, this is not just a stretch, especially when the Yankees have endured a lengthy summer swoon in each of the last three seasons.

“Our job is to flush it and not let the play of the last six weeks affect how we prepare for the next game,” Gerrit Cole said after getting bombed by the Mets for the second time in as many months. “It’s not like we’re not feeling it. At the same time, our job is to take it one game at a time.”

In the past, the Yankees have blamed injuries for their extended slumps. That was especially true last season, when the team failed to make the playoffs.

While Giancarlo Stanton is currently out — he could return to a scuffling offense soon — that’s not as valid an excuse for this year’s $300 million roster.

Asked why it’s taken the Yankees so long to snap out of it once again, Aaron Judge said “it’s tough to say.”

“It’s a variety of different things,” the captain continued. “But it honestly comes back down to that confidence level. You gotta go out there and you gotta be confident every single night and not worry about what happened the night before, what happened the series before, the outside noises going on. We got a mission. We gotta put your blinders on and go out there and play.”

Judge was then questioned about the Yankees’ confidence possibly being shaken. Once again, he said “it’s tough to say.”

“You can read body language sometimes,” he added, “and there’s some certain times where we’re hanging our head a little bit and you just need a little kick in the butt to get it going again.”

Boone said that he’s been happy with the Yankees’ energy, but perhaps his sizzling comments will provide the kick they require.

The team begins a road trip in Boston on Friday, and it will head to Philadelphia before the July 30 trade deadline. The Yankees are expected to make some upgrades, but they also have more holes than they can possibly fill in just a few days.

If they’re to make good on their goal of winning a World Series, they’ll need some incumbents to start performing better. They know this.

“Nobody has higher expectations than us in that frickin’ room,” Boone said. “And we understand that. We’re pissed off. We’ve got to play better. This has gone on long enough. It’s very frustrating to go through, but I also know we’re competing our asses off and we’ve just got to make sure we continue to walk out with the right level of edge and willingness to compete, because no one’s going to pull us out of this but us.

“Right now, we’re getting our teeth kicked in. We’ve got to change it.”

Originally Published: July 25, 2024 at 11:28 a.m.