John Sterling gave a blunt assessment of the Yankees’ problems in a brief cameo appearance

Legendary New York Yankees commentator John Sterling returned to the announcer’s booth Tuesday night for the first time since announcing his retirement in April, filling in for a half-inning on the YES Network and two innings on radio station WFAN.

During the televised broadcast, he took the opportunity to analyze the Yankees’ problems since his last broadcast break on April 7.

“What surprised me is that so many of the guys weren’t hitting — obviously not (Juan) Soto and (Aaron) Judge — and that the bullpen was so bad. … You look at your lineup card: (Gleyber) Torres isn’t hitting, (Anthony) Volpe really isn’t hitting and DJ (LeMahieu) isn’t hitting. That really hurts because with Soto and Judge, they can be unbelievably good on offense.”

The Yankees, who had the best record in the American League at 41-19 as of June 1, have struggled in recent months. They were 14-13 in June, 11-13 in July and 8-7 in August entering Tuesday night’s game, maintaining a nearly half-game lead over the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East.

New York’s offense has been a problem. Aside from Soto and Judge, who combined to hit 80 home runs, the Yankees have only three players with an OPS above .685 – Giancarlo Stanton, Austin Wells and Jose Trevino.

The Yankees’ bullpen hasn’t been much better, ranking 23rd in baseball with a 4.30 ERA since June 1. Clay Holmes’ status as the team’s closer is in jeopardy after he blew his 10th save of the season, which ties for the MLB lead, in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Detroit Tigers on Sunday.

When Sterling left after the fifth inning on the WFAN radio broadcast, the Yankees and Guardians were tied 3-3. If that game isn’t in New York, Yankees fans could at least enjoy a few bonus innings with the legendary Sterling on the mic.