Daily Report – 5/5/25
Here is today’s report, including a PREVIEW of the first game of Round 2 of the NBA Playoffs between the Knicks and Celtics.
Yankees
Injuries, injuries, injuries. They continue to plague the Yankees.
Whether it’s their rotation, bullpen, or middle infield, the Yankees’ current roster feels awfully reminiscent of JD Vance and Jahmai Jones, or Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Joey Gallo. Except, I guess, that Aaron Judge is hitting .423 and Paul Goldschmidt has the second-best average in the American League at .349, and Cody Bellinger is improving at the plate while Trent Grisham continues to hit.
But that isn’t good enough. The Yankees’ lineup wasn’t good enough to start the season when they opted not to trade for a right-handed third baseman. Now, with Jazz Chisholm’s three oblique tears and Anthony Volpe’s dislocated shoulder, the state of the Yankees’ lineup is in limbo. And they don’t have enough reliable depth.
In baseball, most teams don’t have good benches. But if Ben Rice is one of the best hitters on this team, then why wasn’t he in the starting lineup in yesterday’s rubber game against Tampa Bay?
Yesterday, the Yankees fell to the Tampa Bay Rays 7-5 to lose their second straight series to an AL East opponent. Will Warren got the start on a rainy Sunday afternoon, and he gave up five runs (three earned) across 4.2 innings, despite recording a career-high eight strikeouts. Overall, the Yankees gave up 16 hits to Tampa Bay. Warren’s bad start was yet another example of the struggles Yankees starters not named Max Fried have experienced this season.
What’s more frustrating about Warren’s start, aside from his command issues because of the rainy weather, is that I believe Warren is a Big League-caliber pitcher with great stuff and solid potential. However, he has been unable to find consistency throughout the first month of his first MLB season. Matt Blake and the Yankees pitching lab need to help Warren improve his command and pitch mix.
Command has been an issue for Yankees pitchers all season. The Yankees’ 134 walks allowed this season are tied for the third most in baseball, and when the Yankees walk hitters, they tend to come around to score. Warren walked three batters yesterday.
As far as the Yankees' rotation goes, they remain as desperate as they have been all season for another arm. Preferably, a right-handed one. Carlos Rodón has been excellent behind Max Fried in the Yankees’ rotation, but if the team adds a reliable right-handed arm to their rotation, it will set them up for success in October. But it isn’t October yet. It’s May. Sure, championships aren’t won in May, and while the Yankees are in first place in the AL East, the concerns about this team are legitimate.
Last week in Baltimore, Jazz Chisholm strained his oblique on a swing. He then hit a triple and slid into third base, further injuring the muscle. He deemed his injury a “flank strain,” and he was confident it wasn’t a torn oblique. He was right, it wasn’t one tear; it was three, and Chisholm will now miss 4-6 weeks.
That means Oswald Peraza and Oswaldo Cabrera, with some help from Pablo Reyes, will patrol second base for the next month or so. Now, the Yankees must go back to playing Oswald and Oswaldo at second and third base, just like in 2023. And just like in 2023, every Yankees starting pitcher is struggling except for one.
Anthony Volpe also suffered an injury on Saturday when he dove to make a play against Christopher Morel and felt a pop in his left shoulder. The Yankees are not concerned about this injury, though, and Volpe is expected to return to the lineup tonight. The base hit that Morel recorded off Volpe’s glove in the eighth inning of Saturday’s game became the game-tying run.
On Sunday, the Yankees started JC Escarra, Pablo Reyes, and Oswald Peraza in their lineup. While most of the game was forgettable at best, Aaron Boone made a peculiar decision in the eighth inning that deserves an examination. In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Yankees were trailing Tampa Bay 7-3. Cody Bellinger hit his 200th career home run in the sixth inning to make the score 5-2, but in the seventh, Carlos Carrasco allowed two runs out of the bullpen.
In the eighth inning, Aaron Judge doubled, and Cody Bellinger walked to put runners at first and second with no outs for Paul Goldschmidt. Goldschmidt promptly RBI singled, and Jasson Domínguez singled to load the bases in a 7-3 game with no outs. JC Escarra was due up, the Yankees’ left-handed hitting backup catcher who was 0-for-2 on the afternoon. Instead of pinch-hitting Ben Rice or Austin Wells in Escarra’s place, Boone kept Escarra in the game to face the tough righty, Edwin Uceta. Escarra quickly grounded into a 1-2-3 double play to put runners at second and third with two outs. That was the worst-case scenario for the Yankees in that situation.
Jorbit Vivas came up to hit next after pinch-hitting for Pablo Reyes in the seventh inning, and he recorded his first career hit to score Goldschmidt and Domínguez and make the score 7-5. Then, with two outs and a runner on first, Boone finally decided to pinch-hit Ben Rice for Oswaldo Cabrera, but it was too late. Rice walked, but Oswald Peraza came up next and grounded into a force out to end the inning.
I understand why Boone didn’t pinch-hit anyone for Peraza. There weren’t any players left on his bench who could play shortstop, due to Anthony Volpe’s injury. Nonetheless, Boone should have pinch-hit Austin Wells for JC Escarra initially. Wells ended up catching the ninth inning anyway because JC Escarra was the only eligible player to man third base. When Boone realized he couldn’t take Peraza out of the game, the Rays knew it would be best to walk Rice and pitch to Peraza.
“We’re staying away from Anthony [Volpe], so I’m choosing between [JC] Escarra and [Jorbit] Vivas there. I’m just going to take the guy that’s been here and more experienced. I knew I had one shot with Rice there. Then, when the double play happened, I kind of shut that down a little bit, but then he was the tying run again there with [Oswaldo Cabrera]. So, no, not that point with no outs. I was going to use him for Vivas.”
I understand why Boone opted to save Rice to pinch-hit for Vivas and then changed his mind because of Escarra’s double-play, but that doesn’t explain why he didn’t consider pinch-hitting Austin Wells for JC Escarra in the first place. Perhaps it was a lack of preparation or focus by Boone. It ultimately paid off for Boone to pinch-hit Jorbit Vivas for Pablo Reyes in the seventh inning, and to keep him in the game in the eighth, but couldn’t the Yankees’ manager have at least put Wells in for Escarra? I don’t understand why he didn’t even consider it.
I don’t envy Aaron Boone’s position in yesterday’s game, but I was surprised by his decision. I would have liked him to take a bit of a risk to salvage a game that felt lost for seven innings.
“It’s tough,” said Aaron Judge, “but this team, we battle with the best of them. We got faith in everybody in this lineup, up and down. We know what we’re capable of doing. That’s where we were able to rally in the last couple of innings.”
Tonight, the Yankees will have their work cut out for them at 7:05 PM as the 22-11 San Diego Padres visit the Stadium (YES). RHP Nick Pivetta (5-1. 1.78 ERA) has been one of the best starters in baseball this season, but LHP Carlos Rodón (4-3, 3.43 ERA) has been pretty hot for the Yankees as well.
Here is tonight’s starting lineup for the New York Yankees:
CF Trent Grisham (L)
RF Aaron Judge (C) (R)
DH Ben Rice (L)
1B Paul Goldschmidt (R)
LF Cody Bellinger (L)
SS Anthony Volpe (R)
C Austin Wells (L)
3B Oswald Peraza (R)
2B Jorbit Vivas (L)
P: LHP Carlos Rodón (4-3, 3.43 ERA)
Knicks Playoff Game Night: 2025 NBA Playoffs, Round 2, Game 1 – NYK at BOS; TNT, TruTV, MAX
We made it! It’s the second round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs, and tonight at 7 PM, the New York Knicks visit the Boston Celtics for Game 1 of this best-of-seven series.
This will be the Knicks’ third straight Eastern Conference Semifinals appearance. They lost in each of their last two visits, and this squad of Celtics is the toughest playoff opponent the Knicks have faced in the last three years.
Initially, I thought this season would be a failure if the Knicks lost this series to Boston. If they can stretch the series to at least six games, I will give the Knicks credit. If they win the series, then they will defy expectations, because I don’t believe the Knicks can beat the Celtics.
My official prediction for this second-round series: Celtics in five.
After the Knicks collapsed against the Indiana Pacers last postseason, the team dealt Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle to Minnesota for Karl-Anthony Towns. They also added Mikal Bridges to their starting roster. The goal was to create a unit of players that could contend with Boston. However, as the Knicks showed in the first round against Detroit, their offense runs exclusively through Jalen Brunson. Karl-Anthony Towns is not the elite player we thought he was, and the rest of the starters are inconsistent at best.
Meanwhile, Boston is filled with top players in their positions. They are led by the NBA’s greatest active American-born shooting guard and forward in Jayson Tatum. Around him, there’s point guard Derrick White, and other big bodies including Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday. The Celtics have many big men, including Al Horford, Luke Kornet, and Kristaps Porzingis. They are the NBA’s best three-point shooting team, and the Knicks are one of the worst teams in the league at defending beyond the three-point line.
The Celtics are going to run the Knicks over. Literally. They are bigger than them, stronger than them, and more talented than them. For the Knicks to win this series, they will have to adjust their defense, clog passing lanes, force Boston out of three-point range, and make their three-point shots. The Knicks have struggled to shoot from downtown all season, and they did not shoot well against Detroit. In fact, the Knicks got lucky in many close games, and it was somewhat miraculous that they won the series in six games. On the other hand, Boston beat Orlando easily even when their best player, Jayson Tatum, was injured.
Also, Boston is 33-7 in their last 40 games, and they are the defending NBA champions. Moreover, this is the last season this core group of Celtics will be together, so they’ll be playing with a chip on their shoulder despite cruising to an NBA title last year.
When it comes to three-point shooting, the Knicks struggled to sink their shots against Detroit, whether those shots were contested. Meanwhile, Boston allowed the third-lowest three-point shooting percentage in the NBA this season and carried that trend into the playoffs. Boston’s identity is simple mathematics: Make and prevent threes because they are the most impactful scoring opportunities in basketball.
As far as rebounding goes, Karl-Anthony Towns posted the second-most rebounds in the NBA this season, but he struggled around the boards against Detroit. Boston will surely take advantage of that, so the Knicks will need Josh Hart and Mitchell Robinson to dominate the boards. Robinson continued to be a masterful offensive rebounder in the series against Detroit, and the Knicks need that to continue, especially since Jayson Tatum averaged 11.3 rebounds per game in Boston’s first-round series. Next, I doubt Boston’s defense will be as tight as Detroit’s. Boston will force the Knicks to take uncomfortable shots from deep, not up close, but they don’t want to get into foul trouble. I also doubt the Knicks can defend any team the way Detroit defended them, even though doing so would help them greatly in beating Boston.
Whenever the Knicks get to the free-throw line, they must make their shots. They can’t afford to miss the basket from the stripe. The Knicks were one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the NBA throughout the first half of the regular season, but their second-half struggles carried into the playoffs. Especially if the Knicks can keep the score close against Boston, it will be crucial for them to maintain control of the basketball. That means they are not allowed to turn the ball over, but I would be thrilled if they force a few turnovers.
Boston gets all the awards over the Knicks when it comes to their bench and roster depth, but in the playoffs, every team shortens its roster. Both the Knicks and Celtics will try to keep their starters on the floor for as long as possible, but I expect every Celtics bench player to play better than anyone off the Knicks’ bench.
The Knicks understand the importance of three-point defense in this series. They aren’t afraid of the Celtics, but they know they must work extra hard to beat them. “Obviously [three-point defense] is a huge part, especially with playoff basketball when each possession costs so much,” said Josh Hart. “So, to try to limit that is going to be a big thing. They obviously have shooters all over the court, so we have to be locked in, know who we’re guarding, and execute the game plan.”
If the Knicks keep the score of each game close, they can hand the rock to Captain Clutch. But it’s going to take a lot of work for that to happen, and I don’t think the Knicks stand a chance against the mighty Boston Celtics.
Catch tonight’s game at 7 PM on TNT, TruTV, and streaming on MAX.
Schedule
7:00 PM: 2025 NBA Playoffs Round 2, Game 1 – NYK at BOS; TNT, TRUTV, MAX
7:05 PM: NYY vs. SD; YES; SP: LHP Carlos Rodón (4-3, 3.43 ERA)
