Daily Report – 6/25/25

Here is today’s report:

Yankees

I don’t enjoy criticizing Aaron Boone, and I have mostly been supportive of him this season. But the way the Yankees lost last night in Cincinnati has raised several concerns. The Yankees lost 5-4 in extra innings, and their 1-6 extra innings record is one of baseball’s worst. The Yankees also have the most losses in baseball when leading by multiple runs at the start of the seventh inning, and their clutch stat is the worst in the majors (Sharp).

The Yankees wasted a terrific performance by Carlos Rodón in which he shut out Cincinnati through six innings. After 88 pitches, with the Yankees leading 3-0, Aaron Boone decided to relieve Rodón in the seventh inning. Boone said the heat tired Rodón out, and Rodón agreed, saying, “I was huffing and puffing a little bit. Usually, I go back out there in those situations. I want the ball, but I could tell I was gassed.”

Ultimately, Jonathan Loáisiga surrendered three runs in the seventh inning to tie the game. This Yankees’ loss is ultimately on his shoulders, but I still disagree with Boone’s decision to remove Rodón after 88 pitches. The Yankees currently have a depleted bullpen, with one arm, JT Brubaker, outside the circle of trust. Loáisiga and Brubaker were the most rested relievers in the Yankees’ bullpen last night. Boone had the opportunity to preserve his bullpen, and he didn’t take it.

“Huffing and puffing” is the story Aaron Boone and Carlos Rodón chose to use because Boone would have still been ridiculed if he had admitted his decision was based on analytics. Rodón always sweats on the mound. He always huffs and puffs. He wore short sleeves in the snow in April! Yes, I am saying that Boone and Rodón lied to the media about the reason for his early removal.

Next, in the top of the ninth inning, Jazz Chisholm Jr. received a low strike call from home plate umpire Mark Wegner. Chisholm complained that the pitch was called below the zone, but Wegner had been calling low pitches for strikes all night. Chisholm overreacted, and after quitting on the rest of the at-bat, he struck out. When he returned to third base in the bottom of the ninth inning, Chisholm got frustrated at Wegner because he was looking at him. Chisholm repeatedly asked Wegner, “Why are you looking at me?” before getting ejected from the game. He was unable to contribute to his team in extra innings.

“Everybody knows how I am,” said Chisholm, who claimed he did not argue with Wegner until he started staring at him. “If I’m going to go at an umpire, I’m going to go at an umpire. I’m not going to hide it, none of that. If I wanted to say something to him, I would have said it. Nobody’s going to stop me from saying something to an umpire if I want to. I’m a grown man, so for me to not even say nothing to you, and me to ask you why you’re looking at me and you toss me, I feel like there’s a problem.”

Chisholm doesn’t seem to understand the importance of winning. As a player for the New York Yankees, he needs to set his personal agendas aside and prioritize being a good teammate. Jazz is a great player with a personality that can spark a team. Meanwhile, I think Aaron Boone handled the situation as well as he could have. Boone probably said something to Chisholm between innings. If Chisholm didn’t chirp at Mark Wegner from third base, then I believe him, but he must understand his position in that situation. Just because he’s a grown man and earning millions of dollars while playing baseball doesn’t mean he has any authority over the umpire. In fact, it’s the umpire who gets the final say. Jazz needs to understand these in-game situations and make better decisions in the future.

Speaking of in-game situations, Austin Wells led off in the top of the 10th inning, and he swung at the first pitch he saw and popped it out. The saying for the visiting team when it comes to Manfred's man on second is that bunting is not the preferred strategy. Last week, Trent Grisham led off for the Yankees in extra innings at Yankee Stadium. He showed bunt three times before Boone removed the bunt, and he immediately popped out. If the Yankees can’t score inherited runners in extra innings, then they should try bunting when on the road. They hold the worst extra innings record on the road since 2020, after all. As soon as Wells failed to advance the inherited runner, it became clear the Yankees were on the way to another loss in extra innings.

After Wells popped out, pinch-hitter Jasson Domínguez lined out to center field. Then, Trent Grisham and Ben Rice both walked to load the bases for Aaron Judge. After a pitching change, Judge popped a 1-1 fastball out to shortstop, ending the inning. He had nothing to offer his team in extra innings.

Devin Williams threw nine pitches in the bottom of the ninth inning before Mark Leiter Jr. took over in the 10th. With a depleted bullpen, it wasn’t clear why Williams couldn’t pitch another inning. The Yankees don’t view him as a multi-inning reliever, and there doesn’t seem to be any reason why. Leiter had thrown 27 pitches on Monday before last night, but the Yankees had to keep him in the game because their only other available arm was JT Brubaker. Leiter was now tasked with maintaining a 4-3 Yankees lead after Aaron Judge scored on a wild pitch in the top of the 11th.

“I fought as hard as I could, unfortunately came up on the losing [side] and they beat me,” said Leiter, who couldn’t secure a single out in the 11th inning. Elly De La Cruz put runners at the corners by beating Leiter to first base, and Spencer Steer tied the game with a single to center field. Then, a wild pitch advanced the runners, and a walk loaded the bases for Gavin Lux. The Yankees spaced five infielders from third to first when Lux came off the bench, but he had no problem lacing a high sinker into center field for the win.

“We got to play better, that’s it,” said Aaron Judge. “We’re not playing that great, but we’ve got to learn from it. We’ve got to move on. We’ve got to turn the page. We’ve got to get to the next one. We got a lot of winners in this clubhouse, guys who know how to move on from tough stretches, and we’ve done that before.”

Tonight, the Yankees look to avoid getting swept in Cincinnati (Prime Video). They will send LHP Max Fried (9-2, 2.05 ERA) to the mound against RHP Brady Singer (7-5, 4.13 ERA) for the Reds.

Here is tonight’s starting lineup for the New York Yankees:

1. CF Trent Grisham (L)

2. RF Aaron Judge (C) (R)

3. 1B Ben Rice (L)

4. DH Giancarlo Stanton (R)

5. 3B Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L)

6. LF Jasson Domínguez (S)

7. SS Anthony Volpe (R)

8. C Austin Wells (L)

9. 2B DJ LeMahieu (R)

SP: LHP Max Fried (9-2, 2.05 ERA)

Schedule

7:10 PM: NYY at CIN; AmazonPV; SP: LHP Max Fried (9-2, 2.05 ERA)