Daily Report – 6/10/25
Here is today’s report:
Yankees
Over the last few days, many people have criticized Aaron Boone for the Yankees’ series loss to the Boston Red Sox this weekend. After a 9-6 win on Friday, they lost 10-7 and 11-7 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The Yankees couldn’t get length from Ryan Yarbrough or Carlos Rodón, so they overworked their depleted bullpen.
Yarbrough doesn’t pitch beyond 90 mph, and he requires impeccable command to secure outs. He lacked that command on Saturday night, allowing eight runs on nine hits. In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Yankees cut the deficit to one run, but Ian Hamilton put them down 10-7 with a poor ninth inning appearance. One question Yankees fans are asking after this weekend is why Boone decided to use Hamilton in that spot.
Given Luke Weaver’s absence, the Yankees' bullpen has four high-leverage arms. By the top of the ninth inning on Saturday, Mark Leiter Jr. had already pitched, Fernando Cruz couldn’t pitch back-to-back days, and Devin Williams was being kept for a save situation. That meant Tim Hill was the only available high-leverage arm, but a limited bullpen meant Aaron Boone had to preserve him for a high-leverage spot on Sunday. Therefore, he used Ian Hamilton.
On Sunday, Aaron Judge clobbered a two-run bomb off Hunter Dobbins in the first inning, giving the Yankees an early 2-0 lead. Before the game, the Red Sox rookie said, “If the Yankees were the last team to give me a contract, I’d retire.” Dobbins was probably trying to fuel the Boston-New York rivalry, but his antics powered his team’s offense, especially after Jazz Chisholm Jr. responded to Dobbins’s comments by writing “free smoke” on his Instagram account.
In Sunday’s fifth inning, Carlos Rodón walked Ceddanne Rafaela and pitched a fastball down the middle to Kristian Campbell, who sent it to the right field seats to tie the game. DJ LeMahieu regained the Yankees the lead with a solo home run in the bottom of the frame. But in the sixth inning, Rodón hit Rafael Devers with a pitch, walked one-time Yankee Rob Refsnyder, and watched former Yankee Carlos Narváez send an inside fastball deep to left field.
“Just falling behind and giving up free passes,” said Rodón, who broke after a month of excellent starts. “They did damage. They took advantage of it.” Boone then pulled Rodón for Fernando Cruz, who loaded the bases for Tim Hill. With two outs, Hill allowed his first bases-loaded hit as a Yankee as Jarren Duran singled up the middle to drive in two runs. Suddenly, the Yankees found themselves in a 7-3 hole.
While the Yankees’ pitching was responsible for those runs, the vicious Red Sox were not missing any errant pitches this weekend. The Yankees plated two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning before Jonathan Loáisiga tossed a scoreless frame, but in the eighth, he gave up back-to-back home runs to Abraham Toro and Trevor Story. Both hitters had struggled all season until they found their stride in the Bronx. Aaron Boone said of Loáisiga, “Maybe a little bit of still getting settled into the season after missing a complete year.”
Maybe it wasn’t time for Loáisiga to work more than one inning, as many of Boone’s critics are saying. However, nearly every Yankees pitcher gave up runs this weekend. In the eighth inning of a 7-5 regular-season game, teams do not typically use their high-leverage arms, no matter the significance of the rivalry. Let’s examine the Yankees' bullpen to see which arms were reliable this weekend and if they were available to pitch in the eighth inning on Sunday:
Fernando Cruz: Unreliable, Unavailable
Yerry De los Santos: Reliable, Unavailable
Ian Hamilton: Unreliable, Unavailable
Brent Headrick: Unreliable, Available
Tim Hill: Unreliable, Unavailable
Mark Leiter Jr.: Reliable, Unavailable
Jonathan Loáisiga: Unreliable, Available
Devin Williams: Reliable, Available (save situation only)
This means the only available arms for the eighth inning were Brent Headrick and Jonathan Loáisiga. Therefore, having Loáisiga continue into the eighth inning was Aaron Boone’s best option in this scenario.
Had the Red Sox been closer to the Yankees in the American League East standings, Boone probably would have reused a high-leverage arm, but the Yankees currently have a four-game lead in their division, and the 32-36 Red Sox sit nine games behind them. Therefore, the only logical argument that can be made against Boone’s innocence is that the Red Sox might go on a winning run now, and the Yankees are scheduled to play them at Fenway Park next weekend.
The Yankees had the opportunity to kick the door in Boston’s face and show them who the boss of the rivalry was. They didn’t do that, and they didn’t need to.
Tonight, at 7:40 PM, the Yankees begin a three-game series against the Royals as they embark on a six-game road trip to Kansas City and Boston (YES, TBS). They are not scheduled for another day off until June 26. LHP Max Fried (8-1, 1.78 ERA) will toe the slab for the Bombers tonight against LHP Noah Cameron (2-1, 0.85 ERA).
Schedule
7:40 PM: NYY at KC; YES, TBS; SP: LHP Max Fried (8-1, 1.78 ERA)
