The Yankees were looking good before their trip to Boston. Starting pitchers were giving length, the offense seemed to be heating up at home in the Kansas City Royals series, and signs of a breakout were finally forming.

Then, the Boston Red Sox -- leaders of the AL East -- killed all that momentum.

They’re clearly not the leaders for nothing after sweeping the Yanks in a three-game set. It was two close games that came before Sunday’s 9-2 blowout that featured Gerrit Cole’s worst start of the season.

So, after seeing this series as well as considering the Yanks haven’t beaten the Red Sox this season, is it justified to say this New York squad is in a dire situation?

The overall dysfunction that’s come from this group when they play the Sox or Tampa Bay Rays is very noticeable. New York is 5-14 combined against these two rivals at the top of the division, and that’s not going to get the job done.

Let’s try to get a clearer view of what needs to change for these Yankees to compete with some of the best teams in the game right now:

Starting Pitching Woes

This is the obvious bugaboo when you look at this club. Outside of Cole – and we’re certainly looking at his Sunday start as an aberration right now – the rotation hasn’t been able to shut teams down consistently.

And that’s not to say the Yanks and their fans should expect that going against some of the best offenses in the league any given night. But when you see Jordan Montgomery, Domingo German, and Jameson Taillon all have an ERA over four (Taillon is the worst at 5.18), it’s a true cause for concern heading toward the MLB trade deadline.

It also doesn’t help the group that Corey Kluber, who owned a 3.04 ERA, can’t be counted on to return any time soon to be their No. 2 guy behind Cole. And with no one like Deivi Garcia or Michael King proving they can hold down a rotation spot, there’s tons of flux at the back end.

Will the Yanks eventually make a trade deadline move to pick up the slack? If GM Brian Cashman continues to have a directive not to go over the luxury tax, it’s hard to see where he can go.

Either way, someone needs to step up after Cole and the team can't bank on it being someone new.

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