Daily Report – 8/4/25
Here is today’s report:
Yankees
I have defended manager Aaron Boone for a long time.
I defended him two years ago when the Yankees went 82-80. I defended him last year when he chose Nestor Cortes over Tim Hill in Game 1 of the World Series. I even defended him when the Yankees made four errors in Toronto two weeks ago. But now, after getting swept in Miami for the first time in franchise history, Aaron Boone no longer seems fit to manage the New York Yankees.
Aaron Boone should be relieved of his duties as the manager of the New York Yankees, effective immediately.
After getting swept by the Marlins this weekend, the Yankees fell to third place in the American League East. Boston leads them by 1.5 games, and Toronto holds first place by 4.5 games. The Yankees also lost their grasp of the first AL Wild Card spot, and their playoff hopes are hanging by a thread of 2.5 games over Texas, including 0.5 games over Seattle for the third Wild Card spot.
Beginning tonight, the Yankees will play three games against the Texas Rangers as they hope to maintain their position in the postseason standings. They lacked necessary urgency in Miami, and with Texas’s star-studded pitching lineup, it won’t get any easier for the Yankees.
On Thursday, general manager Brian Cashman transformed the Yankees’ bullpen. He acquired Jake Bird, David Bednar, and Camilo Doval, three high-quality relief pitchers. Friday night in Miami was exciting because the Yankees would have the chance to showcase their new arms. Unfortunately, none of the arms were ready to pitch.
In Friday’s fourth inning, the Yankees got things started against righty Janson Junk. Giancarlo Stanton crushed his ninth home run of the season in the form of a three-run bullet line drive to left field. In the fifth inning, the Yankees extended their lead to 6-0 with a couple of singles from Jasson Domínguez and Cody Bellinger. In the bottom of the fifth inning, things turned sour as Carlos Rodón allowed a two-run home run to Javier Sanoja. He then walked runners onto first and second base for Jonathan Loáisiga, who allowed both runners to score. It was now a 6-4 ballgame.
However, the Yankees’ offense responded in the top of the seventh inning as Trent Grisham launched a three-run home run to right field to give his team a 9-4 lead. Things were looking up for New York, and Aaron Boone decided to use one of his new bullpen arms.
The day after Jake Bird’s Yankees debut on Friday, he revealed he hadn’t slept in nearly 24 hours due to his travels from Colorado to Miami. In the bottom of the seventh inning on Friday, he gave up a grand slam to Kyle Stowers, which cut the Yankees’ lead to one run. David Bednar relieved him, but he gave up his first home run of the season to Javier Sanoja, which tied the game. Ultimately, Bednar left the inning with the Yankees down 10-9.
But the Yankees still didn’t back down. In the top of the eighth inning, Anthony Volpe drove a home run to deep left field to tie the game 10-10. In the top of the ninth inning, Ryan McMahon and Anthony Volpe drove home the Yankees’ 11th and 12th runs of the game. Aaron Boone pinch ran José Caballero for Ben Rice, which contributed to the Yankees’ lead.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Boone used Camilo Doval, and he put infielder José Caballero in right field instead of Austin Slater. This was, by far, one of the worst decisions Boone has ever made, and it cost the Yankees the game when Xavier Edwards drove a base hit that Caballero couldn’t field.
Not only did Boone deploy each of his newly acquired relievers, who visibly lacked necessary rest, but he also put an infielder in the outfield at a key point of a game the Yankees had to win. And he did this with a qualified outfielder available off the bench! This offense should be worthy of Boone’s immediate dismissal, and on most other Major League teams, he wouldn’t have a job today.
Saturday’s game against Miami wasn’t any better. It was arguably worse than Friday’s loss as the Yankees got shut out 2-0, with both of Miami’s runs coming on solo shots by former Yankees catching prospect Agustín Ramírez. This time, the Yankees couldn’t respond to Miami’s offense as they mustered just two hits in six innings against Eury Pérez. Ultimately, the final 14 Yankees batters went down in order.
For the Yankees, Saturday’s loss was highlighted by a couple of unacceptable baserunning mishaps. The first came in the first inning as Giancarlo Stanton singled to left field, and Trent Grisham ran from second base to home plate, but got tagged out on a dart from left field. The next fumble came in the second inning as Jazz Chisholm Jr. got doubled up on a routine pop-up to second base. Chisholm, who was leading off first base while Paul Goldschmidt popped out, thought second baseman Xavier Edwards would drop the ball.
“Just trying to be aggressive,” said Chisholm. “I saw something that I thought they were going to do.”
Later in the game, Aaron Boone summoned Chisholm below the dugout steps for a private conversation about his baserunning mistake. He let Chisholm stay in the game and instead decided to scream at first base coach Travis Chapman. However, this mistake was only partially Chapman’s fault, assuming he communicated poorly with Chisholm. The runner is responsible for making the right baserunning decision.
When asked if he should have benched Chisholm, Boone said, “No, it’s a guy trying to make a play. I get it looks bad, and it’s a bad play, but it’s not a case of a guy that’s dogging it. Just because it’s going bad right now and the world’s on fire, I’m not going to just take guys out for giving a crap.”
Okay, Aaron. That’s a bit aggressive. The issue here is that baserunning mistakes haven’t exactly been few and far between with this team. When asked about that, Boone argued, “When you’re the New York Yankees and you’re losing and you make a mistake, [people say], ‘Look what just happened.’ I can show you around the league – it happens all the time. Doesn’t make it okay. We want to be as clean and perfect as we can be, without question. Don’t get it twisted.”
So, Yankees baserunning mistakes are now acceptable if they don’t happen as often as the rest of the league? If the Yankees are being judged on the same parameters as the worst teams in baseball, then it is impossible for them to win their 28th championship. When asked about the Yankees’ error-filled losing streak, Ben Rice said, “I wouldn’t say there’s concern, but I think a little sense of urgency would be good for us.” Our hypothesis was accurate! The New York Yankees lack urgency! And every loss in this Marlins series was proof.
On Sunday, Luis Gil came off the injured list to make his season debut. Across 3 1/3 innings, he gave up five hits, five runs, and four walks on a prescribed 77 pitches. “I wasn’t commanding how I wanted, said Gil. “But looking back, it was the first start in the big leagues since October of last year.” The Yankees didn’t create enough offense to support their pitcher, and they lost 3-7. The only run they scored off Edward Cabrera came via a leadoff solo home run by Trent Grisham. They only got one more hit off him across the next six innings.
Since May 28, the Yankees are 25-32, and they have been swept in three different series, including two against division opponents. Their playoff hopes are on the line this week in Texas, and tonight, LHP Max Fried (12-4, 2.62 ERA) will toe the slab against LHP Patrick Corbin (6-7, 3.78 ERA) (YES).
Here is tonight’s starting lineup for the New York Yankees:
1B Paul Goldschmidt (R)
RF Amed Rosario (R)
CF Cody Bellinger (L)
DH Giancarlo Stanton (R)
LF Austin Slater (R)
2B Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L)
SS Anthony Volpe (R)
C Austin Wells (L)
3B José Caballero (R)
SP: LHP Max Fried (12-4, 2.62 ERA)
WARNING: Caballero is rostered as a shortstop and second baseman, and Amed Rosario is listed as a third baseman. I guess the Yankees no longer believe Jasson Domínguez can hit left-handed pitching.
