Daily Report – 8/6/25
Here is today’s report:
Yankees
Last night in Arlington, another costly decision by Aaron Boone led to a fifth straight Yankees loss as they got shut out 2-0 by the Texas Rangers. Before last night’s game, Boone said that in save situations, he’d be open to deploying pitchers other than Devin Williams.
Texas’s starter, Nathan Eovaldi, dominated the entire Yankees’ lineup, allowing just one hit through eight scoreless innings. Impressively, rookie starter Will Warren kept up with Eovaldi, permitting three hits and three walks across five scoreless innings. “Going back to last year and a little bit in the beginning of the year, there were some situations that happened today that I think in the past, a couple runs come out of,” said Warren, who stranded at least one runner in scoring position in four of his five innings pitched. His five scoreless starts this season are tied for the third most all-time among Yankees rookies.
The Yankees and Rangers remained scoreless through seven innings, and after Eovaldi retired the Yankees in order in the top of the eighth, Aaron Boone selected Devin Williams to handle the bottom of the frame. However, this proved to be one of the worst decisions Aaron Boone has ever made as Yankees manager, given Williams’s struggles on Monday, the surplus of available relievers, and the Yankees’ position in the postseason standings.
When asked why he chose Williams to pitch in that spot, Boone said he “liked him in that middle [of Texas’s lineup] with a handful of those righties.” On Monday, Williams allowed a game-tying home run to the then .126-hitting Joc Pederson, who went on to go 2-for-2 last night. I have a hard time believing that Pederson, a lefty due up third against Williams in yesterday’s eighth inning, was considered a good matchup for him.
With one out, Adolis Garcia lifted a hanging changeup in and out of Jasson Domínguez’s glove in left field. After the double, Williams walked Pederson and Wyatt Langford to load the bases for Rowdy Tellez. Instead of relieving Williams with the bases loaded, Aaron Boone let him face Rowdy Tellez. After a grueling 10 pitches, Tellez knocked a changeup into center field for a two-run single. “I mean, I don’t really know what to say at this point,” said Williams, whose 26 earned runs allowed this season match his total in his last three seasons combined. “Just continue to work, keep trying to execute, and help the team in any way I can.”
We must laugh off how comfortable Williams appears to be after he fails in big spots. He is lost in the woods about how to proceed as a former star pitcher struggling in New York. Meanwhile, Aaron Boone claimed he let Williams face Tellez because he wanted to “go with [David] Bednar in a four-out situation.” However, the struggling Williams still had to secure the second out of the eighth before a four-out situation could become possible. The logic behind this decision is lost on me.
“Obviously, there’s been the middle here of a big chunk where he’s been really good, but lately he’s had some struggles,” said Boone when asked about Williams. “We’ve got to hopefully help him turn the corner.”
The Yankees now rank 6.5 games behind Toronto for the American League East lead, three games behind Boston for second place, and their playoff spot sits just 0.5 games ahead of Texas. If the Yankees lose today, they will no longer be in the playoffs. “If we don’t win, half a game back, half a game up, we play like this and aren’t stringing wins together, it’s not gonna matter,” said Boone. “I remain confident in this group, but we continue to say that, and we’ve got to start making it happen.”
“We’ve got some work to do, a lot of things to clean up,” said Aaron Judge, who paused for a moment when asked about his team’s fall from grace. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in his first game back from injury. “The boys in here are fired up to change all that and get things right, because we’ve got a great ball club in here. Just a lot of mistakes all around, but we’ve got to fix them, and we’ve got to fix them now.”
This afternoon, at 2:35, the Yankees will try to avoid getting swept by the Texas Rangers (YES). LHP Carlos Rodón (11-7, 3.34 ERA) will start for the Yankees against RHP Jack Leiter (7-6, 4.10 ERA).
Schedule
2:35 PM: NYY at TEX; YES; SP: LHP Carlos Rodón (11-7, 3.34 ERA)
