Yankees trusting their steady mindset

This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch’s Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- Six losses in seven games may constitute a hurricane-level event on social media and talk radio, but inside the Yankees’ clubhouse on Wednesday afternoon, it felt just like another day on the calendar: players getting taped up, doing cage work, watching video.

That steady mindset paid off late, when José Caballero delivered a walk-off, two-run double, calling game in a memorable 5-4 Jackie Robinson Day victory over the Angels. Given an extra opportunity in that ninth inning, the Yankees cashed it.

Paul Goldschmidt, who has experienced plenty of hot runs and cold spells over a 16-year career in the big leagues, said that’s by design.

“I think you see how streaky this game is,” Goldschmidt said. “You’ve just got to take it in stride and take it day-by-day when things are going good. You can’t think you’ve got it all figured out. And when you’re struggling, you can’t get down on yourself. You never know what tomorrow’s going to bring, or when things are going to turn -- good or bad.”

This isn’t to dismiss legitimate concerns about the Yankees’ early play; approximately 11 percent of the way through the schedule, an inconsistent offense and a leaky bullpen that manager Aaron Boone calls “a work in progress” have turned their hot West Coast opening act into a distant memory.

But Boone says the expected highs and lows of a 162-game schedule are something the club prepares for, beginning with the manager’s first addresses.

“We’re pretty obsessive in talking about that from jump,” Boone said. “One of the things I lead with in Spring Training is about how we’re going to handle the inevitable things that come at you. If you’re going to be good at this game, you’ve got to be able to handle those things and those rough stretches.

“We’ve struggled offensively a little bit. We’ve got a number of guys trying to get going. That’s part of it. How you handle that is going to say a lot about what kind of team you are.”

These Yankees take their cues, in large part, from Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. After the club was swept by the Rays at Tropicana Field, Judge urged hitters to “simplify some things at the plate.”

“It starts with yourself, looking individually at, ‘Hey, what can I change?’” Judge said. “‘What can I do to put myself in a better position to help this team win?’ That’s what it comes down to, and don’t try to do too much. Go out there, do your job, and we’ll be in a good spot.”

It’s one thing to say it -- another to do it. In the ninth inning on Tuesday, Judge stepped in with his team down by six runs: the kind of plate appearance that commentators refer to as “garbage time.”

Judge could’ve given away that chance. He didn’t.

The reigning American League MVP worked Ryan Zeferjahn for a 12-pitch battle, ending with a well-struck double to left-center. That hit didn’t change the final score, but it’s the kind of effort that gets noticed in the dugout.

“That’s part of the game,” Amed Rosario said in Spanish. “There are going to be a lot of ups and downs. I think the most important thing is to turn the page and keep working hard.”

As Boone said, his players “can’t ride the roller coaster, because they’ve got a job to do.” So the Yankees, like Judge in that at-bat, must continue grinding -- looking to carry over that disciplined standard into each night.

“Every game matters. We know that,” Judge said. “We’ve talked about it every season. We’ll talk about it every single month. It’s nothing new for us. It’s baseball. We’ve just got to show up the next day and right the ship. You’ve got to have a short memory and move on to the next one.”