Daily Report – 6/18/25
Here is today’s report:
Yankees
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. But fool me three times…
The Yankees lead the American League in runs scored, but in three straight games, they have been scoreless. Last night was worse than Monday as the Yankees went a whopping 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position. That’s four total hits, including two from Giancarlo Stanton, against Kyle Hendricks, whose 5.20 ERA was one of the American League’s worst before this ballgame.
According to Katie Sharp, the last team to win the World Series after facing three straight regular-season shutouts was the 1913 Philadelphia A’s. There is no modern-day precedent for the Yankees when it comes to their current situation. Adversity is important for a team that wants to contend for a championship, especially if that adversity comes early in the season. The Yankees have officially been humbled. Now, they need to overcome their offensive drought.
Make it five straight losses and 29 straight scoreless innings, and another wasted performance by a starting pitcher. While Will Warren surrendered three runs, he struck out 11 batters across six innings. He flashed four-seam fastballs, sinkers, and sweepers. Although his spin rates were down, he found ways to mix his pitches effectively enough to limit the effects of his lackluster sweeper.
“It’s going to happen,” said Warren on his team’s offensive drought. “We just kind of talked about it. Early on, the offense carried us. That’s what makes us a team. You’re going to go through these ebbs and flows of the season. We’d rather have that right now than come the postseason.”
Meanwhile, the Yankees made Kyle Hendricks look like an ace in his best performance since 2020. With his highest velocity clocking in at 89.2 mph, Hendricks dominated in the Bronx, with excellent movement on his changeup, four-seamer, and sinker. The Yankees couldn’t handle him, or any of his relievers.
Notably, Aaron Judge has been slumping lately. He is 3-for-24 with 15 strikeouts in his last seven games, including three strikeouts last night. To rekindle their offense, Yankees hitters have been trying to hit home runs, which isn’t working. They are struggling at small-ball while facing mental roadblocks at the plate amid their first three-game shutout streak since September 2016.
“We are one of the best offenses in the league,” said manager Aaron Boone. “We’ve had a few tough days. Today, I thought maybe we were pressuring a little bit.”
Cody Bellinger is 2-for-20 in his team’s last five games. With his slump, while batting behind Aaron Judge last night, he has offered little protection for the top of the Yankees’ lineup. “Just remembering who we are and continuing to stick with our approach,” said Bellinger when asked how to fix this slump. “It’s been a fight. Obviously, we’re not getting the job done with runners in scoring position. We got to keep going and wake up tomorrow.”
Austin Wells had a similar response about a solution, saying, “I don’t think there’s any reason to change up what we were doing before. I think it’s just part of the season.” He added, “Mentally, you try not to go three games without scoring, but it’s 162 games.”
The Yankees’ first scoring opportunity came with two outs in the first inning. Cody Bellinger hustled into second base for a double before Giancarlo Stanton grounded out to end the inning. In the third inning, Jasson Domínguez worked a one-out single, and after Aaron Judge popped out weakly into foul territory, Domínguez stole second base. Cody Bellinger then ended the frame with a flyout to left field.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, down 4-0, Jazz Chisholm Jr. worked a two-out walk and advanced to second base on defensive indifference. Paul Goldschmidt ended the game with a strikeout.
The Yankees also found themselves plagued by some defensive blunders yesterday, including an interference error by Austin Wells in the seventh inning. The result was an unearned run with Ian Hamilton on the mound.
Additionally, in the second inning, Luis Rengifo trickled an RBI single in and out of DJ LeMahieu’s glove for Anaheim’s first run. Furthermore, in the third inning, with the bases loaded, Jazz Chisholm Jr. couldn’t reach a ground ball by Taylor Ward, allowing two more runs to score. Chisholm didn’t meet with the media after the game because he claimed to have lost his voice.
Following yesterday’s loss, the Yankees reportedly had a team meeting led by Aaron Judge, Paul Goldschmidt, Giancarlo Stanton, and Cody Bellinger. However, Aaron Boone stated today that no such meeting occurred. Nevertheless, after yesterday’s game, Cody Bellinger said, “There’s always a certain point where it’s not necessarily going your way, and you feel it. You feel extra pressure to get the job done. At the end of the day, it’s the same. We had good conversations.”
The Yankees must find a way to split this four-game series with Anaheim. They need to attack the struggling righty Jack Kochanowicz early tonight to help Ryan Yarbrough on the mound. They need to put this slump to bed. Above all, no matter how or when it happens in tonight’s game, the Yankees must score at least one run.
Don’t fool me a fourth time.
Tonight, at 7:05 PM, the Yankees will try to avoid a series loss against the Angels (Prime Video). They will send LHP Ryan Yarbrough (3-1, 3.96 ERA) to the bump against RHP Jack Kochanowicz (3-8, 5.53 ERA).
Here is tonight’s starting lineup for the New York Yankees, with Ben Rice making his first career start at catcher:
CF Trent Grisham (L)
RF Aaron Judge (C) (R)
LF Cody Bellinger (L)
1B Paul Goldschmidt (R)
3B Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L)
C Ben Rice (L)
SS Anthony Volpe (R)
DH Jasson Domínguez (S)
2B Oswald Peraza (R)
P: LHP Ryan Yarbrough (3-1, 3.96 ERA)
Schedule
7:05 PM: NYY vs. LAA; AmazonPV; SP: LHP Ryan Yarbrough (3-1, 3.96 ERA)
