Ken Davidoff

Ken Davidoff

MLB

Pricey upgrades producing lifeless Bombers offense

Meet the new offense. Same as the old offense?

Look, if you want to lament that CC Sabathia still can’t avoid his one bad inning, go to town. But the Yankees’ spiritual ace pitched well enough to win Friday night at Yankee Stadium, bad inning and all. Striking out nine guys in this Red Sox lineup means you still provide value.

Yet, if we’re still not sure exactly who Sabathia is, let it be known that the Yankees spent well over $200 million over the winter to upgrade their offense … only to see it look a lot like last year’s faulty model in the early going.

Red Sox ace Jon Lester outpitched Sabathia, evening this inaugural 2014 Rivalry series at one game apiece with a 4-2 Boston victory.

“We’ve got to hit, too,” Francisco Cervelli said.

The Yankees’ lineup managed just six hits and two walks against Lester and a pair of relievers, and in a vacuum, you’d shrug that off to Lester being very good and his left-handedness putting Brett Gardner and Brian McCann on the bench. Yet, for the season, the Yankees (5-6) have just 39 runs, which ties them with Tampa Bay and Texas for 10th place in the American League. Last year, the Yankees’ 650 runs placed them 10th, their worst showing since they ranked 12th in 1991 with 674.

“We don’t have everyone clicking at this point yet,” manager Joe Girardi said. “Some days, we’ve swung the bats better than others.”

And in a development that will aggravate the many Yankees fans who perpetually believe that their club lacks guts, this club isn’t hitting with runners in scoring position, putting up a .240/.283/.308 slash line. On Friday, Kelly Johnson ripped a two-out single to right field in the seventh inning off Lester (his first hit off Lester in 15 at-bats) to score Ichiro Suzuki from second base and draw the Yankees within 4-2. Yet, the leadoff man Derek Jeter, coming up with the tying runs on first and third, popped out to end the threat.

What’s odd about this April funk is that many of the Yankees are hitting capably. Newcomers Jacoby Ellsbury, Kelly Johnson and Yangervis Solarte, who entered the season with wildly disparate salaries and expectations, have been the team’s best performers. Jeter has displayed more life with his bat than he showed in spring training, and Gardner and Carlos Beltran have contributed, too.

Those on the negative side of the ledger, though, have been very negative. New catcher McCann leads the first vote for Bust of the Year; he pinch-hit Friday for Francisco Cervelli and struck out against Junichi Tazawa to end the eighth inning, and he owns a ghastly .162/.184/.162 slash line. Alfonso Soriano has a .216/.275/.432 slash after delivering a home run and single Friday; maybe he’s finding his groove.

Second baseman Brian Roberts, one of the Yankees’ riskiest ventures of the winter, went 0-for-2 with a walk and is at a brutal .148/.333/.148. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth Friday, Girardi lifted Roberts for pinch-hitter Gardner, who struck out to end the game.

This is not your 1998 Yankees team. As the roster is currently constructed, even taking the leap of faith that Mark Teixeira (right hamstring strain) can return and produce, they won’t field threats from one through nine. They’ll need the heart of their order to provide coverage for the bottom.

“Offenses can do this, go up and down,” Johnson said. “When it comes, I think it’s going to come in bunches and make up for it.”

If it doesn’t? Well, what are they going to do? Spend another $200-plus million next winter to fix it?