Yankees’ Cody Bellinger breaks silence on struggles as Aaron Judge concerns grow louder

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone seemingly hoped that giving slugger Cody Bellinger an off day on Tuesday would help Bellinger break out of his current funk. Bellinger then went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts during New York's 6-2 11-inning home loss to the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday afternoon.

As Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News shared on Friday morning, Bellinger recently spoke openly and honestly about a season that isn't going quite as he had hoped. 

Cody Bellinger going through a "very frustrating" time

"It f------ sucks," Bellinger admitted about his performances. "It’s a sh----- feeling. You want to contribute, and when you’re not succeeding, it’s very frustrating." 

When Yankees captain Aaron Judge began missing games due to a stress fracture of the first rib on his right side on June 1, the hope was that Bellinger and others would help pick up the slack. Bellinger began Friday hitting .254 with a .785 OPS, 11 home runs and 49 RBI on the season. 

Meanwhile, the Yankees completed their off day on Thursday in the middle of a seven-game losing streak. As Phillips mentioned in a different piece, the Yankees allowed 23 unearned runs over their last 12 games. Additionally, they recorded 23 hits in their last six contests.

Cody Bellinger trying to not make things "harder" 

Before Wednesday's loss, Judge somewhat surprisingly called his teammates out for "a little lack of focus." Bellinger indicated that he hasn't changed his approach amid Judge's absences.

"Baseball is hard enough, and then when you try to probably do more, it makes it even harder," Bellinger added during his comments. "I wake up to perform every day. No matter the lineup, I feel like I want to put my best foot forward." 

Per Ben Stinar of Heavy, ESPN’s Buster Olney said this week that "Judge is not close to getting back" and may not return to the big-league lineup until the "middle of August or the beginning of September" at the earliest. Numerous reports have indicated that the Yankees and other teams won't get pre-MLB trade deadline help until after the All-Star break. Thus, the Bronx Bombers will need to hope that Bellinger and others build some momentum when New York's three-game home series versus the Minnesota Twins (42-46) gets underway on Friday night.