Daily Report – 9/10/25
Yankees
Sometimes, they do this. To their credit, it’s been a while, but the Yankees had another meltdown of an inning last night, which cost them a 12-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers and a game in the division standings.
A bullpen’s performance can be unpredictable. It’s probably the most maddening part of baseball. In one game, a bullpen might be lights-out. The next night, the opposite might occur. When the Yankees went on a free fall in June and July, their bullpen suffered many injuries, which contributed to many Yankees’ losses. There were also plenty of arms, like Devin Williams, who couldn’t meet expectations. Despite winning a couple of close games against Toronto this weekend, the Yankees’ bullpen issues proved they have not subsided, and they’ll never subside completely.
That isn’t to say the Yankees’ bullpen isn’t talented enough to get the job done, especially in key situations. It’s more of a reflection of what makes baseball so difficult. The Yankees’ bullpen – specifically Fernando Cruz and Mark Leiter Jr. – couldn’t find the strike zone last night. Cruz has been one of the Yankees’ best relievers this season, and Leiter has been inconsistent for the last two months since returning from the injured list. Both pitchers rely on a split-finger fastball, which helps them secure swings and misses. However, neither reliever could locate their splitter last night, resulting in nine Tigers runs. Cruz and Leiter threw a combined 14 of 36 pitches for strikes, which led to four walks, four hits, a hit batter, and a wild pitch.
The seventh inning started with a 2-2 score between the Yankees and Tigers. Cruz quickly surrendered a ground-rule double to Riley Greene before walking Spencer Torkelson and Wenceel Pérez to load the bases. Then, Parker Meadows – who hit a game-tying home run in the fifth inning – RBI singled, and Dillon Dingler walked to make it 4-2 Detroit.
Leiter then relieved Cruz, who hadn’t secured a single out, and with the bases loaded, Trey Sweeney RBI singled, Colt Keith got hit by a pitch, Gleyber Torres walked, Leiter threw a wild pitch, and Kerry Carpenter two-run tripled to give Detroit a 10-2 lead. The Tigers scored eight runs before the Yankees could record an out.
“I don’t know what to say,” said Will Warren, who pitched the first six innings for the Yankees and only allowed two runs. “I haven’t seen anything like that before.”
Tim Hill relieved Leiter, and after Greene grounded out, Hill intentionally walked Torkelson before Pérez grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Detroit’s 11th run of the game. After Meadows singled, Dingler grounded out to end the inning. An inning in which Detroit scored nine runs on five hits, five walks, a hit batter, and a wild pitch.
“This is a sport that, as you see, it’s not as easy as it looks,” said Cruz. “You’re never bigger than the game, and you always learn from failures.”
The Yankees scored their two runs on solo homers by Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger. Judge’s shot came in the first inning, and it marked the 359th home run of his career, remarkably surpassing Yogi Berra for fifth place on the Yankees’ all-time list. The players on the top-five Yankees’ all-time home run list hadn’t changed in over 68 years, when Mickey Mantle joined Berra, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio in 1957. Judge’s achievement was the kind that belonged alongside a Yankees win.
“I was excited to give us a lead, especially going up against the Tigers, where they’ve got a great pitcher on the mound,” said Captain Judge when asked about how it felt to join the elite top-five list of Yankees players with the most home runs in franchise history. “Passing Yogi, it’s pretty special. All-time great Yankee, what he meant to this organization. Even when he was done playing, being around, the stories we heard. He’s the definition of a true Yankee.”
After Parker Meadows tied the game in the top of the fifth inning with a two-run home run, the Yankees had a chance to strike back in the bottom half. Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Austin Wells both singled to put runners at first and second base without any outs. Anthony Volpe, who has been struggling again since his breakout series in Chicago, tried to advance the runners with a bunt. On a 2-0 count, he pop bunted a sinker into foul territory. He then popped out on another bunt attempt against a sinker. Watching Volpe in that at-bat, it didn’t look like he knew how to maneuver his body to execute a bunt. It was so easy to predict that he’d pop out, and the fans at Yankee Stadium knew it, so they booed him.
The Anthony Volpe debacle is too extensive to detail in this report, but simply put, his struggles have been unbearable for the Yankees these last two seasons. The team continues to include him in its starting lineup, even though his 19 errors and .206 batting average are the worst in the American League. Moreover, the Yankees have another qualified shortstop in José Caballero, who is better offensively and defensively than Anthony Volpe right now. Yet, they continue to treat Volpe as their starting shortstop.
The biggest issue with how the Yankees view Volpe might not be how it impacts their results, though. Volpe’s approach is off. His batting stance is messy. His offensive performance metrics are inconsistent. If the Yankees keep pushing their shortstop, they will break him. And that isn’t fair to Volpe.
“Anthony, I view as our shortstop,” said Boone before the start of last night’s game. “We are at that time of the year where it’s all about trying to win tonight, but what’s our best possible team to be out there? Not just at the start of the game, but at the back side of the game and all those [factors]. Maybe a little more scrutiny or intensity to [those decisions].”
It isn’t Boone’s fault that the Yankees lost last night. It’s the bullpen’s fault. But there is no logical explanation behind Boone’s justification for playing Volpe every day. A manager cannot advocate for their starting lineup decisions by discussing the importance of keeping a deep bench. If someone better is on the bench, then they should be in the starting lineup.
Right?
The Yankees hope to bounce back tonight at 7:05 PM (6:05 PM CDT) as LHP Carlos Rodón (16-7, 3.12 ERA) gets the start against RHP Jack Flaherty (7-13, 4.85 ERA) (Prime Video). The Yankees scored five runs off Flaherty in Game 5 of the World Series last year before their dreadful fifth inning. Yeah, that one. Following a series of back issues last year, Flaherty has been struggling this season.
Here is tonight’s starting lineup for the New York Yankees, which includes José Caballero at shortstop, Ben Rice at first base while Paul Goldschmidt continues to nurse a knee bruise, and Giancarlo Stanton in right field while Aaron Judge continues his throwing program:
CF Trent Grisham (L)
DH Aaron Judge (C) (R)
LF Cody Bellinger (L)
1B Ben Rice (L)
RF Giancarlo Stanton (R)
2B Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L)
C Austin Wells (L)
SS José Caballero (R)
3B Ryan McMahon (L)
SP: LHP Carlos Rodón (16-7, 3.12 ERA)
Schedule
7:05 PM (6:05 PM CDT): NYY vs. DET; AmazonPV; SP: LHP Carlos Rodón (16-7, 3.12 ERA)
