Daily Report – 5/20/26
Yankees
On Monday, it was David Bednar. Yesterday, it was Camilo Doval. Last night’s game was too close for comfort, but the Yankees escaped ninth-inning trouble to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4.
The Yankees were lucky Ben Rice hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning, and even luckier that Tim Hill, Jake Bird, and Brent Headrick pitched three scoreless frames. The struggling Doval’s rusty 5.19 ERA needed all the help it could get in the ninth inning.
The final frame began with a full-count walk to Andrés Giménez as Doval slammed high-speed sinkers dozens of feet from the strike zone. Pinch-hitter Ernie Clement then singled before George Springer lined a sinker to the mound.
With runners at second and third, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. fouled off a 102.1-mph cutter before blasting a sacrifice fly to center field. Then, Daulton Varsho singled before Kazuma Okamoto finally grounded out to end the inning.
It wasn’t pretty, but Doval earned his first save with the Yankees, who acquired him at last year’s trade deadline.
“Coming to the Yankees, I’ve always said that every game feels like a World Series kind of game,” Doval said through interpreter Marlon Abreu. “The energy, the adrenaline. You see the guys, how much they care. That’s contagious. You want to pitch in games like that.”
When the Yankees acquired Doval, he had spent three successful seasons as San Francisco’s closer. However, throughout his career, he has struggled with command issues that the Yankees have not been able to solve. They shortened his delivery, which helped him hold baserunners, but his ERA has skyrocketed to 5.40.
In 2022 and 2023, Doval’s ERA was sub-three, and he totaled 66 combined saves. In 2022, he used his slider 47% of the time, but in 2023, only 36%. That year, his sinker rose to prominence, but in 2024, the Giants increased his slider usage again, raising his ERA to 4.88. The Giants over-tinkered with Doval, and he hasn’t been the same pitcher since.
In 2025, Doval’s slider was so erratic that he relied mostly on his cutter with the Yankees. This spring, Matt Blake tried to improve Doval’s sinker, and it worked wonders for the first few weeks of the season. Doval now uses his sinker 42% of the time, a necessary change given his struggles to control his slider.
In simpler terms, the Giants ruined Doval, and the Yankees are trying to repair him. So far, their efforts have been unsuccessful, but hopefully they will soon bear fruit. Doval’s velocity remains his greatest strength, and there is no doubt his stuff is solid. It is his command that continues to plague him.
Another Yankees pitcher who struggled with his command yesterday, but has been brilliant all season, is Will Warren. He cruised through his first three innings, retiring nine of his first 11 batters, but things unraveled in the fourth inning. Suddenly, Warren couldn’t locate his pitches.
In the top of the fourth inning, four batters reached before Warren recorded his first out. By then, Toronto had already scored two runs, and with runners at second and third, Andrés Giménez laced a hanging sinker to left field for a single. Yet, Warren regained his composure and secured his next two outs, limiting the damage to three runs.
In the bottom of the fourth, Aaron Judge worked a full-count walk. He challenged Dylan Cease’s sixth pitch, a low slider, and confidently strode to first base as home plate umpire John Tumpane announced the challenge. By the time the strike three call was overturned, Judge was halfway to first base.
Behind Judge, Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked on seven pitches before Ryan McMahon blasted the first pitch he saw the opposite way. In the hot Bronx, the ball carried high over the left-field fence, breaking McMahon’s 0-for-24 skid. He finished the night with two hits, and for the second straight game, the Yankees found themselves in a top-of-an-inning hole and immediately climbed back out.
Warren returned to the mound for the top of the fifth inning and worked a clean frame. In the bottom half, after Trent Grisham walked, Ben Rice struck a high fastball into the first right-center-field grandstand. The home run was his 16th of the season, tying him with Judge for the second-most in the American League.
“It’s starting to get to the point where you just kind of expect it from Benny,” McMahon said. “He’s been locked in. He’s an awesome player, and he’s come through for us big time.”
David Cone likes to refer to Rice as “Benny Barrels,” and rightfully so. Rice’s 19.6% barrel rate ranks in the 97th percentile of Major League hitters, and his 54.5% hard-hit rate ranks in the 96th percentile. His fielding skills aren’t as impressive, but in the seventh inning, he robbed Tyler Heineman of an extra-base hit.
“That’s what makes baseball fun,” Rice said. “Of course, we’d rather it be a nice 1-2-3 [inning], but the reality is it’s not always going to be that way. When they’re threatening with runners in scoring position and trying to tie the game up, it’s our job to lock it in and stop them.”
In the seventh inning, Jake Bird put two runners on base for Brent Headrick, who had given up runs in each of his last three appearances. Headrick started the season by stranding his first 13 inherited baserunners, and for the first time in four outings, he finally did so again. Headrick totaled a bullpen-best 1 1/3 scoreless innings and two strikeouts.
Tonight, the Yankees hope their ace, Cam Schlittler, will ease their tired bullpen’s burden, although the offense will face a tough customer in Trey Yesavage. The Yankees also announced yesterday that Gerrit Cole will make his highly anticipated season debut on Friday night.
For the first time in 569 days, the Cole Train will enter the station. Cole’s last start before Tommy John surgery came in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series. He did everything he could to keep the Yankees alive, but he was haunted by five unearned runs in one disastrous inning.
“I’ve missed [pitching] quite a bit,” Cole said. “I’m confident, I’m optimistic, but I definitely know there’s some work in front of us. It’s just the right time to take the next step.”
The Yankees have carefully ensured they don’t rush Cole’s recovery. In six rehab starts, he has shown impressive command and velocity, hitting 99 mph his last time out. Cole’s timeline was always 14 to 18 months, and he will return after just 14.
“We’re thrilled to get him back,” Boone said. “Obviously, what he means [to us] on the day he pitches, but back in the mix. Those of you who know Gerrit know what the competition and what pitching and what being part of the guys on that active roster means to him. Will there be some bumps along the way, or navigating getting back into that full level of competition at this level? Sure, but that’s part of it, too.”
Tonight, at 7:05 PM, RHP Cam Schlittler (6-1, 1.35 ERA) will toe the slab for the Yankees against the righty Trey Yesavage (1-1, 1.40 ERA), who set records against New York in last year’s ALDS (Prime Video). Yesavage’s 64º arm angle is the highest in the Majors. This will be a tough battle of two rising aces in the American League East.
“Hopefully we’re facing each other for the next X amount of years,” Schlittler said. “That’s the situation you want to be in. I think it’ll be a fun matchup for both sides.”
Here is tonight’s starting lineup for the New York Yankees:
DH Ben Rice (L)
RF Aaron Judge (C) (R)
LF Cody Bellinger (L)
2B Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L)
1B Paul Goldschmidt (R)
CF Trent Grisham (L)
3B Ryan McMahon (L)
SS Anthony Volpe (R)
C Austin Wells (L)
SP: RHP Cam Schlittler (6-1, 1.35 ERA)
Schedule
7:05 PM: NYY vs. TOR; YES, Gotham Sports; SP: RHP Cam Schlittler (6-1, 1.35 ERA) vs. RHP Trey Yesavage (1-1, 1.40 ERA)
