Yankees talent can't mask their issues this season
Watch Pinstripe Post with Joel Sherman here: https://youtu.be/CLlK9Bdwxio
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
5 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Yankees Projected to Fire Aaron Boone by End of Month
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The New York Yankees earned a much-needed win against the rebuilding Minnesota Twins on Monday, but it might not be enough to prevent a drastic change. Even after that win, the Yankees are in significant danger of missing the playoffs despite an aggressive offseason, several blockbuster trade deadline additions and one of the highest payrolls in Major League Baseball. As a result, the team could finally be ready to part ways with manager Aaron Boone in search of a needed solution. "Just one year after winning the American League and making it to the World Series, the Yankees are playing a brand of baseball fans barely recognize," Joseph Kallan wrote for FanSided. "Whether it's Boone's inconsistent lineups, questionable pitching decisions or lack of accountability, fans have seen and heard enough." Kallan listed Boone as a member of the Yankees who will be off the team by September 1, predicting that general manager Brian Cashman will "put his foot down and end the chaos" by relieving him. However, a midseason shakeup like that could intensify the chaos, at least in the short term. SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - MAY 13: Manager Aaron Boone #17 of the New York Yankees is thrown out of the game during the ninth inning against the Seattle Marinersat T-Mobile Park on May 13, 2025 in... SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - MAY 13: Manager Aaron Boone #17 of the New York Yankees is thrown out of the game during the ninth inning against the Seattle Marinersat T-Mobile Park on May 13, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by) More Chambers/Getty It's exceedingly rare for a team still within a playoff hunt to fire its manager and the Yankees signed Boone to a two-year extension shortly after he reached the World Series last year. However, it's hard to argue that Cashman hasn't surrounded Boone with the type of talent that should be playing better. "No matter the midseason changes — or even offseason ones — Boone always seems to find creative ways to make matters worse," Kallan added. "The Yankees simply won't succeed as long as Boone is around, and deep down, Brian Cashman knows it's true." If Cashman has really reached that conclusion and can convince principal owner Hal Steinbrenner of the same, Boone could be out of a job within the next few weeks. More MLB: Cardinals Predicted to Cut Ties with 10-Year Veteran, Two-Time All-Star
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Why do all these Yankees seasons start to crack at the same time of year?
'Listen, if you can't spot the sucker in your first half-hour at the table, you are the sucker.' – Mike McDermott in the opening line of 'Rounders' The Yankees began a nine-game stretch Monday against a trio of teams that played poorly enough in July to fall from contention to sellers. It opens with their historic patsy, the Twins, at home, then three on the road in St. Louis and then two in their Steinbrenner Field home away from home against the Rays. To end this month, the Yankees have a seven-game stretch against the Nationals and White Sox, the worst teams in the majors in the non-Rockies division. To end this season, the Yankees have 13 games (the last six at home) against the White Sox and the two biggest sellers at the deadline, the Twins and Orioles.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Is Yankees' Ben Rice proving that he should catch more games than Austin Wells?
NEW YORK — This season, no one in the majors has been more unlucky at the plate based on quality of contact than Ben Rice — except Juan Soto. That's important to note because, based on Rice's contact quality metrics, he could be a top-10 hitter in the sport. Here are the only hitters who have a higher xwOBA than Rice this season: Aaron Judge, Soto, Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Schwarber, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Ketel Marte, Corey Seager and Pete Alonso. That is quite the grouping for the second-year hitter to be a part of, and speaks to why the Yankees have been searching for ways to get him more at-bats. Advertisement There are two ways the Yankees can maximize Rice's playing time: start him at first base when there's a right-handed pitcher on the mound, or increase his starts behind the plate to supplant the struggling Austin Wells. As Wells' offensive struggles continue to pile up, the latter option is looking increasingly compelling. Rice was behind the plate for Monday night's 6-2 win over the Minnesota Twins, guiding Will Warren through the first outing by a Yankees starter to go at least six innings this month. His defense has significantly improved from where he was last season when he was with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. In limited action, Rice has graded positively in both blocking and framing, while his arm has been below average. Wells has been one of the league's best framers, arguably the most important skill for a catcher, this season. However, with more games behind the plate, Rice could be as effective at stealing strikes as Wells. Entering Monday's game, Rice's strike rate was only 0.1 percentage point worse than Wells'. At the beginning of the season, when Rice was mainly getting at-bats as the Yankees' designated hitter and first baseman, catching coordinator Tanner Swanson said he believed Rice could start for at least a third of MLB teams. Behind the scenes, the Yankees were having Rice catch bullpens and slowly working him into lopsided games behind the plate. He's now showing he could handle a bigger workload. 'He does a really good job of game planning,' Warren said. 'It's been like he's been catching this whole time and never played first base, so it's really nice throwing to him.' Rice's rise has coincided with Wells' offense cratering this year. Wells' wRC+ has fallen from 106 last season to 84 this year, which is the 29th best among the 36 catchers who've had at least 200 plate appearances as their team's primary catcher. Opposing clubs have a clear game plan against Wells: Throw him any breaking or off-speed pitch, and he likely won't have success. Advertisement Among 165 hitters who have seen at least 200 sliders this season, Wells' .085 batting average is the worst. This isn't a case of him getting unlucky, either. His .194 wOBA is the sixth worst in that group. And among 140 hitters who've seen at least 100 sweepers, Wells' .045 batting average is the worst. 'Over the last month, it's been a grind for him, kind of working on different things, all trying to kind of get that feeling because I do feel like he is such a capable and good hitter,' manager Aaron Boone said. 'We gotta get him to where he is a key figure for us because he really lengthens our lineup when he's right.' Boone is right that the past month has been a grind for Wells. Since July 11, no hitter in the big leagues with at least 50 plate appearances has been worse than Wells, who has a 1 wRC+ in that span. But it hasn't just been a month of struggles for Wells; this is a season-long issue. His chase rate has spiked, while his walk rate has dropped. His on-base percentage is the fifth-worst in baseball this season. He has become a liability when he's in the order, and for a team that hasn't had much success offensively since the All-Star break, reducing Wells' at-bats in favor of Rice could give the Yankees a spark. However, Boone wasn't interested in entertaining the possibility of that happening, quickly dismissing a question regarding Rice getting more playing time behind the plate. 'I don't know. We'll see,' Boone said. Wells has been one of the most disappointing Yankees this season. There was some talk in spring training of Wells becoming the team's leadoff hitter going into the regular season, but now, just a few months later, it's become apparent that reducing his at-bats would help the Yankees. And the way to do it would be giving Rice more games behind the plate, even if the Yankees aren't fully ready to commit to doing that just yet. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
