Daily Report – 6/26/25

Here is today’s report:

Yankees

Max Fried continues to show why he deserves not just to start the All-Star Game for the American League, but to win a Cy Young at the end of the season. Last night, Fried threw seven innings, allowing just one unearned run while helping the Yankees secure a 7-1 victory to avoid a series sweep in Cincinnati.

“I’ve got a handful of starts to go before the All-Star break,” said Fried. “Right now, at this time, I’m not looking that far ahead.” Fried has been an excellent stopper for the Yankees, with an 8-1 record after losses, and with last night’s performance, he became the first pitcher in baseball to reach 10 wins. His only poor start was against the Dodgers at the end of May.

“I always give him his props and his flowers, but now he can really take them any time he wants,” said Jazz Chisholm Jr. when asked about Fried’s performance.

“Early on, I was able to keep the pitch count down a little bit,” Fried said on his successful outing. “Drew some deep counts in those middle innings and was really fighting myself a little bit, but credit to the defense and especially the offense of getting some runs on the board and getting some breathing room and being able to compete and have a really good complete game today.”

As fun as it is to see the Yankees win by such a large margin, it should not be forgotten how much they struggle in close games. They still struggled with runners in scoring position in this game, going 4-for-22 and finishing the series 5-for-43. The Yankees have been tested significantly throughout this excruciating stretch of 16 straight games in which they got shut out three straight times. Thankfully, the Yankees have the day off today.

I want to draw attention to something Aaron Boone did in last night’s ballgame. He kept Max Fried in for the seventh inning. He let Fried throw 106 pitches in similar conditions to Tuesday night, when he pulled Carlos Rodón after 88 pitches. Boone said on Tuesday that Rodón didn’t have the energy to pitch the seventh inning, and Rodón agreed that he was “huffing and puffing” for most of the night. Boone needs to figure out a way to modify pre-assigned pitching lanes in close games because losing has become all too acceptable for this Yankees team.

Simply put, Aaron Boone is a talented manager, but he can be stubborn when it comes to analytics, and the clubhouse culture he has created is too loose. How was Jazz Chisholm Jr. able to have the opportunity – the opportunity – to get ejected from Tuesday’s game? Why was it considered acceptable for Chisholm to behave that way toward umpire Mark Wegner? The YES Network revealed yesterday that former Yankee Jose Trevino told Wegner to look at Chisholm before Chisholm got ejected for fuming at Wegner. That wasn’t nice of Trevino, but it doesn’t excuse Chisholm’s behavior. However, isn’t Aaron Boone to blame for allowing his players to act this way?

One of my least favorite sayings from Yankees fans is, “If George were here,” etcetera, etcetera. However, it is important to recall why the Yankees fired Joe Girardi, Aaron Boone’s predecessor. Sure, he hadn’t won a championship in nearly a decade, but Brian Cashman and the rest of the front office felt Girardi was too hostile. That is why the Yankees hired the kind-hearted Aaron Boone, a former Yankee hero and an MLB Network analyst, to be their manager. Boone is loyal toward his players, but he struggles to hold them accountable for their mistakes. That missing component of accountability cost the Yankees a championship last season. It may have even cost them Juan Soto in the offseason.

Throughout Aaron Boone’s managerial career, the Yankees have struggled in June and July. Last season, they broke out of their annual slump by September and rode their American League East division title into the postseason. They beat two AL Central teams before falling to the Dodgers, and that World Series was ugly. So ugly it felt like the straw that would break the camel’s back, and the Yankees would storm through 2025 and get revenge in October. That can still happen, but not if the Yankees continue to lose games and series in the same way they have since Boone took over in 2018.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe these Yankees will persevere. I believe they will right the ship. I believe they will find a way to regain dominance in the American League. But belief will only get me so far, and another October disappointment would be unacceptable for this squad.

Returning to last night’s game, Jazz Chisholm got revenge on Jose Trevino with a two-run home run in the third inning, and he made sure to let his former teammate know. “I did tell [Trevino] it was for last night,” said Chisholm. “He was the one who kind of provoked the umpire and stuff.”

Trent Grisham and Jasson Domínguez each had four-hit nights. Domínguez was hitting .083 in his first 42 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers. In his previous 29 plate appearances, he boasts a .324 batting average. He doesn’t seem to be struggling against lefties anymore. “The more games that you play, the more it helps your confidence,” said the switch-hitter Domínguez.

The Yankees got things started in the second inning, and with the bases loaded, Grisham singled to right field to bring home a run. Jazz Chisholm Jr. delivered a two-run shot in the third to put the Bombers ahead 3-0, and Cincinnati got on the board in the fourth on a throwing error by Chisholm.

In the top of the fifth inning, with his team leading 3-1, Domínguez loaded the bases on an infield single before Anthony Volpe plated Ben Rice on a sacrifice fly. The Yankees then increased their lead to 6-1 with a double from Aaron Judge and a groundout from Giancarlo Stanton.

In the top of the ninth inning, Domínguez doubled, and Volpe moved him to third base with a groundout. Austin Wells then plated the insurance run with a single to left field. The Yankees won the ballgame 7-1.