NEW YORK — The few fans who remained until the very last out in Sunday’s lifeless 7-1 loss booed the New York Yankees. A few fans wore brown paper bags over their heads, not wanting to be associated with the product the Yankees are putting out daily.

The Yankees haven’t sunk to New York Jets-level futility just yet, but they continue to ignore the harsh reality that’s been staring them in the face for more than two months. They have been a bad and confounding baseball team.

It’s bizarre. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said last week that this might be the best club he’s had since taking over for Joe Girardi in 2018. The talent is obvious, but for some reason, the puzzle pieces are a bit too big and don’t fit seamlessly.

The Yankees are 44-43 since May 1, 27-34 since June 1, 14-20 since July 1 and 2-7 since Aug. 1. Despite their mediocrity, they currently hold the third wild-card spot in the American League, just a half game ahead of the Cleveland Guardians.

“I wholeheartedly believe that we are going to get rolling and turn this thing around,” Boone said. “And when it does, then you really start to build that next layer of confidence where guys are kind of feeding off each other. But it’s all just talk right now. But that’s how I feel about it. We got to go do it.”

Relying on vibes hasn’t worked for the Yankees this season. Maybe it’ll change in the next eight games against the Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals and the Tampa Bay Rays, three non-contending teams. But the Yankees have provided plenty of reasons for their fan base to believe they’ll drop winnable games.

“The game is littered with dead and buried teams,” Boone said. “We’re in playoff position right now.

“We haven’t been good enough the last two months. This is different than ’23 where I didn’t think we were necessarily capable of that run that we needed to really get hot. We were out of it at that point. This is different. We’re in a position right now where we’re in control of things. We’re in a playoff spot technically. I believe we have the people to get it done. We got to play consistent baseball, period.”

Yankees manager Aaron Boone was ejected in the third inning Sunday for arguing balls and strikes. (Wendell Cruz / Imagn Images)

The Yankees still have an 80.7 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to FanGraphs’ projections. But with their current state of the franchise, it’s fair to wonder if it even matters. They’ve been drawing dead for months, and there’s not much inspiring play to assume this team can go on a deep October run.

“We’re not doing the little things that put ourselves in a good position to win baseball games,” Aaron Judge said after Sunday’s deflating defeat to the Houston Astros. “It’s going to take everybody in this room, from every reliever, infielder and outfielder. We just got to step up. I wouldn’t say the confidence has changed. We got a lot of confident guys. We got to focus on what we can control and go out there and do it.”

Here are two more key takeaways on the Yankees:

The Yankees need more from Max Fried

Max Fried has a 6.00 ERA over his past seven starts. (Al Bello / Getty Images)

If this is what the Yankees can expect out of Max Fried for the rest of the season, October vacation plans can be booked soon.

Fried was brilliant in his first 17 starts after signing an eight-year, $218 million contract in the offseason, posting a 1.92 ERA. But in his past seven starts, Fried has allowed 24 runs and has a 6.00 ERA. That stretch includes four starts since returning from a healed blister, a minor injury that Fried and Boone say isn’t affecting him.

“You go through spells sometimes, but to be honest, I just have to be better,” Fried said. “I just got to be better at locating, being able to get more groundballs, and I haven’t been able to do that. It’s something I need to dive into and see what adjustments I can make.”

If the Yankees make the playoffs, they will be in a precarious position if their ace can’t return to his early season form. The rest of the rotation has too many question marks; Fried cannot be one, too.

One issue that is always going to exist with Fried is that his profile invites variance. He is a pitch-to-contact starter who isn’t elite at missing bats. When his walk rate is elevated, which it has been over the past seven starts, opposing teams may cash in if they’re putting the ball in play. That’s what’s happened.

Once Fried finds his command again, he should get back to being a front-line starter. Until then, there will likely be more outings like Sunday, when he got through only five innings after allowing eight hits, hitting two batters and walking one.

Bad luck for trade deadline additions

Amed Rosario, pictured making a catch Friday, was placed on the injured list. He is expected to miss 10 days. (Vincent Carchietta / Imagn Images)

The Yankees brought in seven new players ahead of the trade deadline, and three of them are not on the active roster.

Jake Bird was optioned to Triple A after a couple of poor outings in Miami and Texas. Austin Slater was placed on the injured list with a strained left hamstring, and he’s expected to miss four to six weeks. And now Amed Rosario (left SC joint sprain) is also on the IL with a shoulder injury after crashing into the right-field wall during Friday’s game.

Rosario told reporters before Sunday’s game that he’s expecting to miss the minimum 10 days before returning. In his place, the Yankees recalled catcher J.C. Escarra to give them a left-handed bat option off the bench.

The Yankees dramatically improved their depth over the past few weeks, but these injuries have dented it. They could not call up an outfielder to replace Rosario because they don’t have any on the 40-man roster who are not already on the 26-man roster.

The Yankees used Giancarlo Stanton as a pinch hitter for Jasson Domínguez in Sunday’s game, but Boone didn’t call for a pinch runner after Stanton reached first base. Instead, he played right field for the final three innings. That’s because José Caballero, who would have been the pinch runner for Stanton, is currently the backup infielder. He can play right field, but then the Yankees would be in a predicament if a middle infielder got hurt.

Rosario’s injury isn’t the biggest deal, especially if he does in fact miss just 10 days, but their depth is being tested.

(Top photo of Aaron Judge: Wendell Cruz / Imagn Images)