The Yankees acquired Ryan McMahon last year because of his glove — not his bat.
The third baseman’s plate production is becoming an issue.
Even after an offseason tinkering with his swing, McMahon hasn’t slowed his swing and miss and the occasional power the Yankees hoped he’d flash has mostly been absent.
Despite a high-powered top half of the lineup, McMahon is one of several players slumping at the bottom, along with José Caballero and Austin Wells.
He had a couple of hard-hit balls on the West Coast trip, as well as one in Saturday’s win over Miami, but it was on the ground.
He finally snapped an 0-for-22 skid with a single in the sixth inning of Sunday’s 7-6 loss to Miami and walked in the eighth.
Those free passes have offset some of McMahon’s struggles, but not all of them.
And most distressing has been McMahon’s strikeout rate.
McMahon whiffed 40 percent of the time heading into Sunday’s game, higher than his 32.3 percent career mark.
A year ago, his 32.3 percentage was the highest among qualified hitters.
Boone pointed to some positive signs in recent games, but acknowledged the slump.
“I like the ball he hit to left and his at-bats were better than we saw in Seattle, [when] I felt like he was in-between a lot,’’ Boone said. “I thought his intent was good on his swings on a couple of fastballs [by Eury] Pérez. … Hopefully he builds on that.”
McMahon narrowed his stance before the season to reduce his swing-and-miss rate.
It hasn’t worked, and he also seems to have lost power.
“He’s a little bit in-between,” Boone said. “He doesn’t want to chase or make bad decisions, which is great, but you’ve also got to go up there and let it rip. It’s an early-season scuffle. He’s really talented, [has] pop [and] does know the strike zone.”
The Yankees don’t have a clear alternative at third base, since they prefer Amed Rosario to play more of a utility role — especially with Caballero playing shortstop every day due to Anthony Volpe being sidelined following offseason shoulder surgery.
But there’s also no getting around the fact that McMahon — who singled in his first plate appearance of the season Opening Day in San Francisco — didn’t have another hit until Sunday.
With the Yankees having won eight of their first nine games before Sunday’s defeat, they could live with McMahon finding his way at the plate, but that won’t last forever.
