Here are five things to watch as the Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays play a four-game series at Rogers Center starting on Thursday...

Can the middle, bottom of the order step up?

It didn't seem like a big deal at the time, but the injuries to Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton have really affected the Yankees' offense.

Just taking the two losses to the Mets into account, the lineup outside of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, has struggled. The top two sluggers combined to go 5-for-10 with three walks while the rest of the Yankees lineup mustered just a total of six hits.

But most eye-opening is the fact that of the nine runs scored in those two games, Judge and Soto combined to drive in eight of them.

If the Yankees want to get back to their winning ways, others like Alex Verdugo and Anthony Volpe need to give the team some production or else pitchers will just walk Judge and Soto and take their chances with everyone else.

Pitchers in dire straits

Yankees pitching was a strength for much of the first half of the season, even without Gerrit Cole, but the whole staff and bullpen have fallen on some hard times of late.

Since June 8, the Yankees have allowed nine-plus runs in five games. They didn't allow any such games before then, according to Stathead's Katie Sharp.

That includes allowing nine and 12 runs to the Mets on consecutive nights. So what's the deal? Well, the starting rotation has not gotten deep into games of late, which has taxed the bullpen that has dealt with injuries and turnover.

Cole went just four innings on Tuesday while Luis Gil only went 4.1 innings on Wednesday -- and that's after going just 1.1 innings against the Orioles in his last start.

Carlos Rodon, Thursday's starter, gave up seven earned runs in just 3.2 innings against the Braves last week.

So a diminished lineup coupled with ineffective starting pitching has been a terrible combination for the Yankees of late and they'll need to turn things around.

When will Gleyber Torres play?

After a brutal game in Tuesday's loss to the Mets, manager Aaron Boone benched Torres in the series finale with their crosstown rivals and said that the infielder may even sit for multiple games to give the 27-year-old a "reset."

We'll need to see how far Boone will go without Torres who, despite his struggles this season -- .215/.294/.627 slash line -- gives this lineup a bit more bite.

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