Why Yankees hitting coach won’t ‘panic’ with power outage threatening season

The Yankees enter Game 3 of the ALDS against the Blue Jays with just one homer and 21 strikeouts in the first two games.

With their season on the line, hitting coach James Rowson knows what’s at stake. 

“We have full confidence in our guys,” Rowson said Monday at the Stadium prior to the Yankees’ light workout. “I’m not worried about the punchouts in terms of getting panicked. We have a track record of all the games we’ve played this year and that speaks to how they can refocus and come back. It’s two games — two big games — but you can’t panic. You have to continue to battle and try to break through.”

But strikeouts aren’t the only aspect of the offense that’s ailing the Yankees, who led the majors by a wide margin with 274 homers — and also paced the majors in runs scored and OPS, while striking out at the third-highest rate.