Daily Report – 4/9/25
Here is today’s report:
Yankees
Devin Williams didn’t make it easy, but thanks to the crafty Max Fried, the Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers 4-3 this afternoon.
Against his close friend and former Harvard-Westlake high school teammate Jack Flaherty, Max Fried fired 97 pitches across seven shutout innings, allowing five hits while fanning 11 batters. Flaherty added nine strikeouts across 5.1 innings.
“It was cool to be able to walk out before the game and give him a little head nod,” said Fried after delivering today’s Yankees win. “We’re both competitive and so we knew we were locked in and had a job to do.”
The Yankees gained their first offensive threat in the sixth inning. With one out, Aaron Judge was at third base and Paul Goldschmidt was at second, but Jazz Chisholm Jr. grounded a ball to Tyler Holton, and he tagged Judge out on his way to home plate.
The Yankees didn’t score any runs until the seventh inning when Ben Rice mashed a 418-foot two-run home run to center field. Impressively, it was against the lefty Holton, who shut the Yankees down yesterday. This home run also ended a 16-inning scoring drought for the Yankees.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Yankees led Detroit 4-0, and Devin Williams was called upon to close things out. For the second straight outing, he struggled to locate his changeup, which allowed three runs to score. Mark Leiter Jr. ended the game by forcing Justyn-Henry Malloy to fly out.
After the game, Devin Williams told the media that he hasn’t been feeling 100%, but physically, he feels fine. Given his stint on the paternity list and his limited number of relief appearances, Williams has struggled to find his flow. He explained that this isn’t his first time starting a season “off on the wrong foot,” and he is confident that with more opportunities, he will improve on the mound.
The Yankees will be off tomorrow, and then they will host the red-hot 9-3 San Francisco Giants for a three-game weekend series at Yankee Stadium.
Rangers
Tonight at 7:30 PM (6:30 PM CDT), the Rangers will host the Philadelphia Flyers at Madison Square Garden (TNT, TruTV, MAX). Guess what dynamic duo is on the call of tonight’s game? Sam Rosen and John Davidson! Oh, baby!
Sam Rosen told the New York Post this morning that John Davidson is “taking [tonight’s broadcast] very seriously.” Rosen explained, “He’s already made several phone calls. We spoke this morning and he said, ‘Where you off to?’ I said, ‘I’m heading for the training facility.’ He said, ‘If you can, would you ask K’Andre Miller about how old he was when he switched from forward to defense and whose idea it was? And would you ask Vincent Trocheck…’ That was our conversation this morning.” Rosen and Davidson will reunite in the Rangers broadcast booth for the first time since 2006.
Sam Rosen plans to retire at the end of this season, and earlier this year, JD said, “I think over the decades if you ever added up the time and the energy that [Sam] has spent trying to make the world a better place – especially New York, the greater New York area – it would be remarkable to look at it.”
Ahead of tonight’s game, I want to highlight Igor Shesterkin, although Jonathan Quick will tend the net tonight for the Rangers as they are scheduled to play on Long Island tomorrow.
For most of this season, Shesterkin helped the Rangers stay afloat in the NHL playoff conversation. He is the only reason why their record is above .500. But despite his fifth-best goaltender save percentage contribution rating (Clear Sight Analytics), he ranks in the 65th percentile or worse in goals against average (2.89), save percentage (.903), high-danger save percentage (.810), mid-range save percentage (.886), percentage of games with a save percentage over .900 (55.2%), and goal differential per 60 minutes (-0.09).
In simpler terms, Shesterkin allows 2.89 goals per game this season and holds a .903 save percentage. Last season, he allowed 2.58 goals per game and recorded a .913 save percentage. In 2021-22, when he won the Vezina Trophy, he allowed 2.07 goals per game and held a .935 save percentage. This is an extreme regression in performance, and it puts Shesterkin’s 8-year $92.5 million in question.
The Rangers are not required to pay Shesterkin any money from his new contract until the beginning of the 2025-26 season, and I’ve been told the Rangers can still revoke or reduce it.
Also, worth noting for those keeping score at home: Gabe Perreault will not play tonight. Brett Berard will skate in his place.
Knicks
Last night at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks fell to the Boston Celtics in overtime 119-117. The Knicks are now 0-9 against the top three teams in the NBA – Boston, Cleveland, and Oklahoma City.
The Knicks played some of their best basketball of the season for 59:59:55.2 before OG Anunoby allowed Jayson Tatum plenty of space to hit a three-point shot to send the game to overtime.
“I should have fouled,” said OG Anunoby. “I should’ve known to foul.” Anunoby had plenty of time to foul Tatum as he made his way to the right wing to position himself for a three-point shot. Tatum wiggled away from Anunoby – one of the NBA’s best defenders – and drilled the game-tying basket.
It was exactly like how Jalen Brunson didn’t foul Andrew Nembhard in Game 3 of last year’s Eastern Conference Semifinal against Indiana. That poor Knicks decision turned the entire series around for the Pacers.
“I don’t think there’s anything really positive about it,” said Josh Hart when asked about last night’s loss to Boston. “I think we’re playing good basketball, and that’s where we want to be toward the end of the year going into the playoffs.”
Half of the Knicks fan base believes this loss to Boston is worth celebrating because the Knicks kept the game close. But as Karl-Anthony Towns stated postgame, “We don’t take moral victories.”
Let me be crystal clear, and I’ve said this many times before: I cannot accept another second-round playoff exit from this team. Not this season. And given the current standings, the Knicks will most likely clinch the No. 3 seed, and if they beat Detroit or Milwaukee in the first round, they will probably face the defending champion Boston Celtics in the second round.
If the Knicks lose in the first or second round of the playoffs this year, Tom Thibodeau might have to go. Indeed, Thibodeau is responsible for constructing the first competitive Knicks team in over a decade, but they haven’t been able to beat the league’s toughest teams this season. And if you want to tell me the regular season doesn’t matter, then I’ll point to his postseason record in New York.
And last night, why wouldn’t Thibodeau ensure that with less than 10 seconds remaining in a three-point game, his best defender would foul one of the NBA’s best three-point shooters? Why did OG Anunoby say he should have “known” to foul? In other words, his coach should have told him to foul Jayson Tatum. Even though Boston did not call a timeout, there was plenty of time for Thibodeau to instruct Anunoby. Tatum shot that three-pointer right in front of Thibodeau’s face!
“Until someone proves they can beat [the defending champion Celtics], they’re defending their championship, so we know that there’s a lot of work for us to do,” said Tom Thibodeau after last night’s loss. “We’re still working through things.” It’s shocking that with three games remaining in the regular season, this Knicks team – with their two All-Stars and 50 victories – is not prepared for the playoffs.
This team is too talented and too experienced for another Eastern Conference Semifinal exit. A coaching change might be a desirable difference-maker.
Schedule
7:30 PM (6:30 PM CDT): NYR vs. PHI; TNT, TRUTV, MAX
That will conclude this report. Enjoy your evening.
