Daily Report – 5/11/26
Yankees
The Yankees got swept by the Milwaukee Brewers yesterday. On Friday, the sensational Jacob Misiorowski shut them down. On Saturday, Camilo Doval blew the lead before a misplay by Tim Hill in extra innings that cost the game. Yesterday, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, David Bednar surrendered a walk-off home run.
The Bombers now hold a 1-8 record against teams with winning records — Milwaukee, Tampa Bay, and the Athletics — while ranking last in the Majors in singles. But guess what? None of that matters. The Yankees are still a good team. They still rank among the American League’s finest.
Sure, their 1-8 record against winning teams is concerning, but it does not define the Yankees. Also, singles aren’t the priority in this age of baseball, especially for a Yankees team that leads the league in home runs.
This weekend, the Brewers were ready for the Yankees, who had gone 6-0-1 in their previous seven series. Thanks to sensational pitching, Milwaukee won all three games. Even yesterday, with the game tied 3-3 in the ninth inning, their pitching staff gave Brice Turang, an excellent breaking ball hitter, the chance to catch enough of Bednar’s competitive curveball to drive it over the center-field fence.
“Tough weekend, obviously,” said manager Aaron Boone. “We didn’t play our best, and I thought they pitched really well against us and matched up well against us. But just not able to string together enough big hits there. Good swing by Turang to finish it off. Obviously, a tough weekend.”
This weekend, the Yankees adjusted to Spencer Jones’s presence in their lineup. In 10 plate appearances, he struck out 50% of the time, stalling a struggling bottom of the lineup that already strikes out enough. Jones did earn his first hit and RBI in the second inning yesterday, a line-drive single to center field that put the Yankees ahead 2-0. His family cheered in the crowd.
“Everybody was waiting for it,” Aaron Judge, who homered in the first inning, said of Jones’s first hit. “Just happy his family could be here for him. We see the work he’s put in all the way from Spring Training, and even the year before, when he had a fantastic year in the Minor Leagues, and you kind of think he might get the call then.
“Not getting the call and seeing some of that work pay off, it’s just a special moment. Happy to be here with it.”
With José Caballero’s consistency and Ryan McMahon’s resurgence, the bottom of the Yankees’ batting order has improved in recent weeks. However, because of how often he struck out this weekend, Spencer Jones’s presence magnifies a gaping hole in that part of the lineup: the catchers.
Austin Wells and JC Escarra are both left-handed hitters. The Yankees have plenty of viable platoon options on their bench, so the lack of a right-handed-hitting catcher doesn’t necessarily impact the offense. Both catchers are excellent defensively, but Wells, the primary starter, went 0-for-6 in this series with four strikeouts. He is hitting .183 this season with three home runs and five RBI.
Last season, Wells recorded a career-high 71 RBI. In 2024, he served as the cleanup hitter on a Pennant-winning team. This season, if he plays 126 games like last year, he is on track for just over 20 RBI. The Yankees have scored 215 runs this season, the most in the American League, but imagine where they’d be if Wells’s production were anywhere near what it was last season.
However, one major weakness Wells faced last season was his high strikeout rate, which he has reduced this year by lowering his bat speed. His walk rate has risen to 16.8%, a career high, and he is hitting the ball harder than ever, good for a .223 expected batting average.
Although the eye test suggests otherwise, Wells has improved the quality of his at-bats. According to the numbers, the results will soon prevail.
Meanwhile, Carlos Rodón made his season debut yesterday after a bone spur removal delayed his start. He permitted three runs on two hits over 4 1/3 innings, recording four strikeouts. His stuff was decent for his first start of the season, but with five walks, a hit batter, and a wild pitch, his command was erratic.
The lefty walked the first batter he faced in each of his first three innings, but none of them scored. Rodón didn’t allow a hit until the bases were loaded in the fourth inning with batters he either walked or plunked. After Garrett Mitchell put Milwaukee on the board with a sacrifice fly, Rodón fired a wild pitch, advancing his baserunners to second and third.
Subsequently, Blake Perkins’s single scored two runners instead of one, putting Milwaukee ahead 3-2 instead of tying the game. Rodón’s wild pitch proved costly in a time of crisis on the mound.
“Any time you give up free baserunners and walk the first guy of the inning, it’s never a good thing,” Rodón said. “Bases-loaded situation, two outs, and they get the hit there. None of that happens if I get ahead and get guys out.”
Throughout his four years in pinstripes, Rodón has been known to wear his heart on his sleeve. His emotions have hindered his ability to escape from jams. In his first two seasons, whenever Rodón faced adversity, he crumbled, especially if he lacked his Grade-A stuff. But last year, he was a different pitcher, posing as a model for consistency in a rotation that lost its ace before Opening Day.
The Yankees hope Rodón returns to his 2025 form and doesn’t revert to the hormonal figure who could sweat through 10 jerseys but could barely get 10 outs if adversity struck. A reliable Rodón could complete this rotation, but a wild version can break its flow.
Tonight, at 6:35 PM, the Yankees will send LHP Ryan Weathers (2-2, 3.03 ERA) to the mound against RHP Brandon Young (3-1, 4.35 ERA) in the first of three games at Camden Yards against the Baltimore Orioles (YES, Gotham Sports). The Yankees swept Baltimore at the Stadium last week, which puts momentum on their side.
Here is tonight’s starting lineup for the New York Yankees:
CF Trent Grisham (L)
1B Ben Rice (L)
RF Aaron Judge (C) (R)
LF Cody Bellinger (L)
2B Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L)
3B Ryan McMahon (L)
DH Spencer Jones (L)
SS Max Schuemanan (R)
C Austin Wells (L)
SP: LHP Ryan Weathers (2-2, 3.03 ERA)
Schedule
6:35 PM: NYY at BAL; YES, Gotham Sports; SP: LHP Ryan Weathers (2-2, 3.03 ERA) vs. RHP Brandon Young (3-1, 4.35 ERA)
