TORONTO — With the commerce deadline nearing, the Yankees want a 3rd baseman, a number of relievers and rotation assist.
what else they want, although? To scrub up their act.
One more reminder of that got here on Monday evening, as sloppy play remained a problem for Aaron Boone’s Bombers in a 4-1 loss to the Blue Jays. The untidy efficiency, which featured two throwing errors within the infield and a season-high 5 walks from Carlos Rodón, dropped the second-place Yankees to 55-45. The workforce, which has struggled with fundamentals all through one other summer time skid regardless of simply profitable a sequence in Atlanta, is now 4 video games out of first place within the American League East.
Toronto, winners of a franchise report 11 straight residence video games, has led the division since sweeping the Yankees over 4 video games at Rogers Centre between June 30 and July 3. The Yankees, in the meantime, are 13-20 since June 13.
“I’m concerned about us playing well and getting consistent,” Boone stated when requested if he’s centered on the standings or simply his personal workforce. “It’s been a month now the place we haven’t been our greatest, and we have to clearly begin enjoying higher constantly and placing wins within the win column. That’s all we are able to actually fear about. You possibly can’t fear about, ‘We’re up this, we’re down that.’
“We gotta play well, and if we do that, then that’ll show up in the final two months of the season in the victory column, and we’ll be where we want to be. But we gotta do a better job of that.”
The Yankees, well-aware that they wanted to rebound in opposition to their rival, took a 1-0 lead within the fourth inning when Giancarlo Stanton blasted a solo homer off Kevin Gausman. However they unraveled within the fifth, permitting the Blue Jays to attain 4 runs.
That started when Rodón, who had already labored himself out and in of two bases-loaded jams, issued his ultimate stroll of the evening to start out the body. A Vladimir Guerrero Jr. single then set Bo Bichette up for a two-run double, giving Toronto a 2-1 lead.
Rodón got here inside one out of stopping the bleeding, profitable a 14-pitch battle with Davis Schneider. Nonetheless, consecutive throwing errors from Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe gave the Jays two extra runs earlier than the fifth inning got here to an finish.
“I felt like I rushed through the sequence of defending that ball,” Peraza stated earlier than Volpe supplied the same clarification.
Boone, a staunch supporter, described Volpe as a “f–king elite” defender earlier this month, however his protection has inarguably regressed in his third huge league season. His error on Monday, a brief throw that Paul Goldschmidt couldn’t choose, gave him an American League-leading 12 on the season.
“It’s a few too many,” Boone stated. “That stated, errors get handed out a variety of completely different locations in a variety of other ways. So I’m not so fearful about it. It’s making performs. He’s nonetheless making a variety of performs, however he hasn’t been as constant as he desires to be and as constant as he usually is. So there’s a couple of balls he’s left on the desk, one tonight included. And people are performs he expects to make and we’d like him to make, too.
“We’re talking about a few extra errors. I get it. That’s the separator of when he wins a Gold Glove and when he’s not. He’s still a top shortstop. He hasn’t made a few plays that have generated a lot of noise.”
The truth is that it’s been extra than simply “a few extra errors,” as Volpe additionally entered Monday with -3 Outs Above Common and a Fielding Run Worth of -2. A below-average hitter and unfavourable baserunner, Volpe did have two Defensive Runs Saved, however that ranked tenth amongst 25 certified shortstops.
Advised that metrics haven’t graded Volpe nicely, Boone shot again, “Because he hasn’t made three or four plays.”
“That crushes you a little bit,” the supervisor continued, talking of a participant who had 14 Outs Above Common final yr. “He’s still making a lot of rangy plays. He’s still making a lot of plays. He just hasn’t been as consistent as he has in his first two years, and that’s three or four plays we’re talking about and a couple of games here where he hasn’t completed some plays, and it’s changed his overall defensive season.”
Boone additionally stated that Volpe is wholesome, a degree that the participant reiterated as nicely. Volpe has been noticed often icing his left shoulder, which he banged up earlier this season, and he was additionally hit by a pitch on his left elbow in June.
Brian Cashman lately talked about that Volpe has performed via issues whereas discussing his protection.
Requested about his defensive shortcomings, Volpe stated, “Anytime you get a ball hit to you, you expect it to be an out, so when that doesn’t happen, it’s frustrating.”
He added that he’s been speaking to infield coach Travis Chapman about his inconsistencies, and the 2 persistently work on defensive drills earlier than video games.
Peraza, in the meantime, threw broad of Goldschmidt from the recent nook. With a wRC+ of 26 coming into the sport – the second-worst mark of any hitter with at the very least 150 at-bats – Peraza already offers away sufficient outs on the plate. The sometimes stellar defender can’t afford to take action on the opposite facet of the ball, too.
A former prime prospect, Peraza is simply beginning due to his protection, and the truth that the Yankees have failed to usher in an influence third baseman for a while now. They hope to rectify that mistake earlier than the July 31 commerce deadline.
“I focus on the work and trust the work and keep doing it every day,” Peraza stated. “And as far as trades and things like that, it goes back to what I just mentioned. You have to focus on what you’re doing on a daily basis and focus on the things that you can control.”
One one that lacked management on Monday was Rodón, who additionally wanted to be higher.
Whereas solely two of the 4 runs scored on his five-inning watch have been earned, the lefty put himself in unenviable positions and condensed his begin with 5 free passes. Sure, the Blue Jays labored some lengthy at-bats in opposition to Rodón — Schneider wasn’t the one one — however the Yankees anticipated extra from their All-Star in a divisional matchup.
“I should have been better,” Rodón stated, declining accountable his erratic night on a prolonged layoff following the All-Star break. “I wish I was a little more economical throughout the game. A lot of pitches wasted.”
A lineup that mustered only one run additionally dissatisfied, although Gausman was on his A-game after some off outings in opposition to the Yankees earlier this season.
With the Yankees having now misplaced their final 5 video games in opposition to the Blue Jays, the membership is 10-17 in opposition to AL East opponents this season.
Boone famous that that report would want to enhance earlier than season’s finish if the Yankees hope to win the division, however they solely dug themselves a deeper gap on Monday evening.
Rodón acknowledged that after the sport.
“Our goal is to not only win this division, but to go out there and get a chance at the World Series,” he stated. “So it’s tough. They’re playing good baseball right now.”
Volpe, alternatively, struck a tone extra constant along with his skipper’s.
“It’s still the middle of July,” he stated. “We’ve got so many games ahead of us. We don’t stack ourselves up against one team or another. I feel like we stack ourselves up against ourselves. So when we play our best, I think everything will take care of itself, regardless of how many games are left.”
Initially Printed: July 21, 2025 at 9:48 PM EDT
