1. On Saturday, Jazz Chisholm called the Yankees “the best team in the league.” Well, that’s not all Chisholm said. He also added, “Any team that thinks they’re better than us, they should know that when we step on the field, we’re coming with relentlessness. We’re coming to step on necks. We’re not here to play around.”

Ah yes, the relentless Yankees, who went to Minnesota and got two-hit, while striking out 14 times in a 7-0 loss on Monday. “The best team in the league” with the third-best record in the American League and the seventh-best record in the majors. (Chisholm is 0-for-8 with three strikeouts since his outrageous comments on Saturday. He also couldn’t complete a double play that led to the Twins’ first run on Monday.)

2. While the Yankees were getting blown out by the 18-games-under-.500 Twins, the Blue Jays staged yet another late-game comeback against the Rays and won in extra innings. If you didn’t think the division was over after Sunday with the Yankees falling to four games back in the loss column (and five overall), well, it’s definitely over now at five games back (and six overall) with 12 games to play.

3. Since Chisholm gave his latest take on the 2025 Yankees, the team is 0-2 after losing on Monday. Not only did the Yankees lose, they were dominated. Simeon Woods Richardson provided his longest start since June 21 and recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts. He entered the game with a 4.85 ERA.

“It’s definitely frustrating,” Ryan McMahon said. “I think a lot of guys think that we should have been a lot better tonight, but you got to tip your cap sometimes.”

Yes, sometimes you have to tip your cap, like when you’re facing Garrett Crochet like the Yankees did and lost to on Sunday. But Woods Richardson? In a playoff race? There’s no time or excuse to be tipping your cap to fringe major leaguers in Game 150 of the season.

4. It was the first time in franchise history the Yankees’ offense had a two-game span in the regular season with at least 30 strikeouts and fewer than 10 hits (stat from Katie Sharp). “Best team in the league,” indeed!

Here is how the Yankees’ 14 strikeouts on Monday were dispersed: Giancarlo Stanton 4, Cody Bellinger 2, Jazz Chisholm 2, Ryan McMahon 2, Trent Grisham 1, Paul Goldschmidt 1, Austin Wells 1 and Ben Rice 1.

The Yankees were two-hit by the Twins. Two hits against Woods Richardson and no hits against the very hittable bullpen trio of Kody Funderburk, Travis Adams and Pierson Ohl. The Yankees have now lost their last two games to the Twins.

5. Carlos Rodon was fine (6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR), but Luke Weaver wasn’t. Weaver was blasted for five earned runs on three hits and two walks, while only recording one out. All three hits were doubles. In September, Weaver has allowed earned runs in four of six games, pitching to this line: 3.2 IP, 12 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 2 HR, 24.52 ERA, 4.087. WHIP. It’s possible that between Weaver’s last month and Fernando Cruz’s latest issue with home runs that Devin Williams is somehow the team’s best non-David Bednar reliever. The postseason should be fun.

“That was trash,” Weaver said of his performance. (I’m sure Aaron Boone thought his stuff looked good.) “Felt like I was fighting myself the whole time.”

6. Trent Grisham went 1-for-the Blue Jays series, 1-for-the Tigers series and 0-for-the Red Sox series. Not great. Maybe Grisham will show up for this series, considering he’s being given the most plate appearance opportunities of anyone on the team by batting leadoff every game.

7. After going 0-for-7 with six strikeouts against the Red Sox, Austin Wells was right back in the lineup going 0-for-3 with another strikeout on Monday. His OPS is back under .700 at .699.

8. I need this lineup against righties until the Yankees’ postseason spot has been finalized:

Trent Grisham, CF
Aaron Judge, RF/DH
Cody Bellinger, LF
Giancarlo Stanton, DH/RF
Ben Rice, 1B
Jazz Chisholm, 2B
Jose Caballero, SS
Ryan McMahon, 3B
Auston Wells, C

And this lineup against lefties:

Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
Aaron Judge, RF/DH
Cody Bellinger, CF
Giancarlo Stanton, DH/RF
Amed Rosario, 3B
Jazz Chisholm, 2B
Jose Caballero, SS
Austin Slater, LF
Ben Rice, C

9. The three-game lead the Yankees took in the loss column over the Red Sox on Saturday for the first wild-card spot is now back down to one. In two days the Yankees have erased everything they earned on Friday and Saturday. The Yankees can’t tie the Red Sox with the same record because the Red Sox own the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Here is the Yankees’ remaining schedule: Twins (2), Orioles (4), White Sox (3), Orioles (3)

Here is the Red Sox’ remaining schedule: A’s (3), Rays (3), Blue Jays (3), Tigers (3)

(Maybe none of this end up mattering and the Yankees host the Astros or Mariners in the wild-card series or go to Houston or Seattle for the wild-card series.)

10. The Yankees better have gotten their effortless, no-show performance for the series out of their system on Monday because they need to win on Tuesday and Wednesday with the Red Sox hosting the A’s. The Yankees have the starting pitching advantage in both games. They have the offensive advantage and bullpen advantage. The Yankees are a far superior team to the Twins and they better act like it and play like it the next two nights or they will be setting themselves up to go on the road for the wild-card series.

1. The Yankees did enough on their end over the weekend at Fenway Park by winning two of three, but the Blue Jays swept the Orioles to end the division race. The Yankees are four games back in the loss column and five overall because of the head-to-head tiebreaker, and with 13 games to play, the AL East is no longer a possible postseason path for the team Jazz Chisholm called “the best team in the league” after Saturday’s win.

2. The Yankees beat the Red Sox 4-1 on Friday and 5-3 on Saturday with their old “Score early and then hang on for dear life” formula. It was enough to create three games of separation in the loss column for the first wild card, but that lead was cut to two after Will Warren pooped his pants with yet another first-inning meltdown and the Yankees lost 6-4 on Sunday.

3. We all know Chisholm talks too much and rarely ever backs it up, so it came as no surprise that he decided to give his latest “the Yankees are the best” rant a night before Warren would oppose Garrett Crochet.

On June 25, after salvaging the third game of a series Cincinnati, Chisholm said, “I feel like we got a great team and I feel like we’re going to make the World Series again.” At the time the Yankees had lost nine of 12 and after that win they would lose 22 of their next 39.

Three weeks ago after beating up on the AL-worst White Sox, Chisholm said, “We want to win the division. Right now, it’s just like, we’re going to go out there and win that and then we’re going to go and win the World Series.”

Then on Saturday, he said, “We’re the best team in the league. Any team that thinks they’re better than us, they should know that when we step on the field, we’re coming with relentlessness. We’re coming to step on necks. We’re not here to play around.”

So in the three instances in which Chisholm ran his mouth this year, the Yankees went on to lose 22 of 39, lost a fourth game to Crochet this season and are now out of the division race. And who could forget when Chisholm called the Royals’ ALDS Game 2 win “lucky” in the postseason, while Chisholm went 2-for-15 in the ALDS, 3-for-19 in the ALCS and 5-for-21 in the World Series.

4. As long as the Yankees’ postseason position is unknown, if Anthony Volpe starts another game this season at shortstop over Jose Caballero, I will actively root against the Yankees. After going 3-for-6 with a walk and two stolen bases in the second and third games of the Tigers series, Caballero had two doubles, a home run and another stolen base against the Red Sox. Caballero is a tough at-bat at the plate, a menace on the bases and surehanded in the field. He does everything better than Volpe and if Volpe plays again in a meaningful game or in the postseason, I will have to go against the Yankees.

5. Austin Wells better never commit catcher’s interference or allow a passed ball or a stolen base because he needs to be the best defensive catcher in the game to justify his bat. Wells went 0-for-7 with a walk and six strikeouts against the Red Sox and is down to .210/.267/.437 on the season. We know he can’t hit postseason pitching since we watched him go down swinging on elevated fastballs in each round last year, so if he’s going to play (and he is) then he better be amazing behind the plate.

6. I criticize Aaron Judge for his performance in big games, and rightfully so, but he was awesome over the weekend: 5-for-10 with two home runs and four walks. Hopefully this is Judge returning to his pre-mid-June-Royals-series self since that version of Judge hit. 394/.490/.779 in 66 games before Aaron Boone gave him his only non-injured list day off of the season. Since Boone’s lineup decision, Judge has hit .258/.412/.575 in 74 games. The .987 OPS Judge has in the lsat 74 games of his “slump” would be the third-best OPS in the majors this season. But when you build an offense reliant on your star needing to be an all-time, historic great and not just Hall-of-Fame great like Brian Cashman has then the Yankees can’t afford to have Judge being anything less than one of the best right-handed hitters in history.

7. I don’t know if Luis Gil’s six no-hit innings on Friday were the most painful six no-hit innings of all time, but they have to be up there. Gil had runners on all game because of his lack of control with four walks and added in a balk and two wild pitches and somehow came away from the game unscathed: 6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 K. Gil’s ERA is down to 2.83 in eight starts this season despite having put 58 runners on in 41 1/3 innings.

8. The Yankees will likely have to overpay for Cody Bellinger to re-sign him and the end of whatever deal he gets will likely be ugly like all free-agent contracts end up being, but the Yankees have no choice but to sign Bellinger. His RBI double off of Aroldis Chapman in the ninth inning on Saturday was one of the biggest hits of the season and it seems like Bellinger always comes through when needed, whether it’s at the plate or in the field. His ability to hit left-handed pitching like he’s Hideki Matusi and his versatility to play over the outfield and at first base makes him so valuable to the Yankees. Here’s to Bellinger being a Yankee for the rest of his career.

9. The 12-game gauntlet against the Astros, Blue Jays, Tigers and Red Sox is over and the Yankees finished 7-5. I wrote two weeks ago they needed to do no worse than 6-6 and they played one game better. It was the first time this season the team exceeded expectations. Unfortunately because the Blue Jays seemingly come back in the late innings every day the division race is over, so now the Yankees need to ensure they have home-field advantage in the best-of-3 wild-card series.

Sunday’s game was a glimpse into what could happen in said best-of-3. Face and lose to Crochet in Game 1 and you’re facing elimination immediately in Game 2. The Yankees didn’t miss Crochet in any of their four series this season against the Red Sox and went 0-4 in games he started. His 2025 line against them: 27.1 IP, 20 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 4 BB, 39 K, 5 HR, 3.29 ERA, 0.878 WHIP. The home run ball was their saving grace against him like it has been in nearly all of their wins this season, and it still wasn’t enough to win any of the games he started. Add in that they went 1-2 in games started by Brayan Bello and you’re looking at a 1-6 record in games against the starting pitchers the Red Sox will use in Games 1 and 2 of the wild-card series.

10. The Yankees need to use the glorious schedule they have over the last 13 games to stack wins and make sure they are playing at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, Sept. 30. They already pissed away a once-eight-game lead over the Blue Jays to lose the division. They can’t lose the first wild-card spot too.

1. No one beats up on bad pitching like the Bronx Bullies and when A.J. Hinch decided to use Sawyer Gipson-Long as his bulk reliever in a bullpen game on Thursday, the actual game became a formality as the Yankees blew out the Tigers 9-3 after getting blown out themselves on Tuesday and Wednesday.

2. Aaron Judge went 3-for-4 with two home runs, Giancarlo Stanton homered, Ben Rice had two doubles, Jazz Chisholm, Paul Goldschmidt and Jose Caballero each had a pair of hits and Austin Slater and Cody Bellinger each added a hit as well. Nine runs on 14 hits and five walks with seven of the runs coming in 2 1/3 innings against Gipson-Long.

3. Once Gipson-Long was removed the game, the Yankees didn’t score again. That’s unsurprising because after Gipson-Long was removed, Hinch went to his actual major-league-quality relievers as they all needed work because they weren’t needed in the first two games of the series. So nine runs against a bad, left-handed opener and an even worse bulk reliever, and then no runs over 5 2/3 innings against actual major-league-relievers.

4. Cam Schlittler bounced back from his career-worst start last Friday against the Blue Jays by holding the Tigers to one run over six innings with seven strikeouts. Max Fried and Carlos Rodon will undoubtedly be the Game 1 and 2 starters for the Yankees in the playoffs, but I would have to think Schlittler would be in line for Game 3. I get that Luis Gil has more experience, but Schlittler has been better than him this season and until Gil gets his walk issue under control, he can’t be used in a postseason setting unless a fourth starter is needed, and even then, it’s uncertain if he would be the fourth option.

5. I don’t know what to make of the Anthony Volpe labrum and cortisone shot news. I think it’s convenient for all of this to leak and then be announced by the Yankees after the leak considering it’s obvious Volpe is no longer the starting shortstop for the 2025 Yankees. It’s possible the injury has led to a third straight bad season to open Volpe’s career, but he was exactly as bad in 2023 and 2024 as he has been in 2025, so it’s hard to pin his awful 2025 on just this. It’s not like he was an All-Star the last two years and drastically regressed and therefore a labrum tear that grew worse could be the reason why. He’s always been bad, but now the Yankees have a real excuse for why he’s bad. Expect the Yankees to tell you about the labrum and cortisone shot with every opportunity they get to speak about Volpe from now through end of this season and throughout the offseason and in spring training and through next season. Caballero will be the starting shortstop for as long as this season goes, and then come 2026, It will be right back to Volpe with no competition or accountability needed.

6. I thought the Yankees needed to go 6-6 in these 12 games against the Astros, Blue Jays, Tigers and Red Sox and so far they are 5-4 with three to go. The three to go will be the hardest of the 12 given the setting, the opposing starting pitchers (at least on Saturday and Sunday) and what’s at stake.

7. This weekend will be the fourth and final time the Yankees and Red Sox play this season. Here is how the two teams spent the day before the start of each series against each other this season.

Thursday, June 5 (day before three-game series at Yankee Stadium)
Yankees play night game in New York
Red Sox have day off after finishing home series on Wednesday

Thursday, June 12 (day before three-game series at Fenway Park)
Yankees play night game in Kansas City
Red Sox have day off after finishing home series on Wednesday

Wednesday, August 20 (day before four-game series at Yankees Stadium)
Yankees play night game in Tampa
Red Sox have day off after finishing home series on Tuesday

Thursday, Sept. 11 (day before three-game series at Fenway Park)
Yankees play night game in New York
Red Sox have day off after finishing West Coast trip on Wednesday

So for all four Yankees-Red Sox series this season, the Yankees played a game the day before playing the Red Sox, and not just a game but a night game in all four instances, while the Red Sox had the day completely off all four times.

That’s not an excuse for why the Yankees are 2-8 against the Red Sox this season, it’s just an observation. The Red Sox have been able to rest and reset their bullpen for crucial games against the team they are fighting for postseason position against, while the Yankees have had roughly 20 hours between the end of their most recent game and the first game of each series against the Red Sox.

8. My path to winning the division from August 30 is still on track and this weekend presents the last difficult challenge for the Yankees to pulling it off: three games against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Not just three games to keep them in the division race, but three games to potentially decide where the best-of-3 wild-card series will be played if the Yankees don’t pull off the division win. And two of the three games will be started by Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello and the Red Sox are 5-0 in games started by that duo against the Yankees this season.

9. When I first put together a path to the division for the Yankees two weeks ago, I said they needed to go at least 6-6 against the Astros, Blue Jays, Tigers and Red Sox, and so far they are 5-4. But I also said the Blue Jays had to go 4-5 against the Reds, Astros and Orioles, and so far they have gone 4-2. It’s highly unlikely the Orioles sweep the Blue Jays this weekend, so if the Blue Jays go 2-1 against them, the Yankees need to go no worse than 2-1 against the Red Sox. The Yankees can’t lose a game in the standings this weekend. They either need to stay where they or pick up ground. If the Yankees manage to come out of this weekend two games back in the loss column (which would really be three games back because of the tiebreaker) then I believe they will win the division. If they come out of the weekend still three back in the loss column, it will be very hard for them to win the division and if they come out four or more games back then the division is over.

10. It’s never been more “right in of them” for the Yankees this season than it is now. They could do to the Red Sox what the Red Sox have done to them all season and put themselves in a commanding lead for the first wild card while also putting immense pressure on the Blue Jays for the division, or they could play the way they have all year against the Red Sox and piss away the first wild card and eliminate themselves from the division. This weekend is the most important of the season and by the end of it we will likely know which round of the playoffs the Yankees will open in.

1. Remember when the Yankees won back-to-back series against the Astros and Blue Jays and had everyone thinking they were finally capable of beating good teams and no longer reliant on beating the crap out of bad teams? That was fun for the day it lasted.

The good mood the Yankees had all fans in on Monday’s day off has been erased. The Tigers showed up in the Bronx, overcame a two-run deficit on Tuesday en route to a 12-2 win and then humiliated the Yankees for a second straight night on Wednesday with an 11-1 win. The Yankees are 1-4 against the Tigers this season, having been outscored 37-9, and Tarik Skubal only started one of those five games. They are 11-23 against the Tigers, Blue Jays, Red Sox and Astros.

2. Three solo home runs in 18 innings. That’s what the Yankees offense has provided against the Tigers this week. But as Buck Martinez said when he shit on the Yankees during the Blue Jays’ game on Tuesday, the only way the Yankees win is if they hit home runs. It’s hard to win when you rely solely on home runs and solo home runs aren’t going to cut it on their own, certainly not just three of them over two full games.

It’s also hard to win when your bullpen is a complete joke. The Yankees have one trustworthy reliever in David Bednar, and that’s it. Luke Weaver has turned back into pre-2024 Luke Weaver and Fernando Cruz is either lights out or a mess with no middle ground. Bednar stands alone and he only pitches in save situations.

Cruz and Mark Leiter Jr. combined to allow nine earned runs without recording an out in the seventh inning on Tuesday after Will Warren blew a 2-0 lead by allowing a game-tying two-run home run to Parker Meadows and his .568 OPS.

When asked about the seventh-inning bullpen implosion, Aaron Boone answered, “It happens.” No, Boone, it doesn’t. In fact, it was the first time in franchise history two relievers allowed four-plus earned runs without recording an out in the game.

To make matters worse, the Blue Jays came back to walk off the Astros and drop the Yankees to three games back in the loss column and four games overall again.

3. Tuesday’s loss was depressing. Wednesday’s loss was demoralizing. The offense took the night off against Jack Flaherty and his 4.85 ERA, gave lazy and effortless at-bat after at-bat and struck out 13 times in the game with the one run coming on an eighth-inning solo home run from Austin Wells.

4. Carlos Rodon couldn’t get through the bottom of the order in the fifth, loaded the bases for Gleyber Torres and had to throw Torres a strike when the count ran full and Torres lined a two-run single to center. Of course it was going to be Torres at some point during this series since that’s the way the Law of Ex-Yankees works. 2024 Yankee Jahmai Jones had a hit in the game as well and I’m expecting Tommy Kahnle to close out a win for the Tigers on Thursday to complete the trifecta.

5. The Yankees were still in the game down 2-0 in the fifth and sixth and down 3-0 in the seventh. Well, they were “still in the game” but every Yankees fan who watches this team every day knows they weren’t really in the game and weren’t going to come back and win. That’s not who they are. The Yankees’ only path to winning is to jump out to an early lead and then spend the rest of the game hanging on for dear life to that lead. They did it on Sunday and Saturday and Thursday and Wednesday.

6. The Tigers blew the doors off the bullpen with nine runs in the final three innings, including five in the eighth. They scored a run off Leiter Jr., three off Camilo Doval, two off Tim Hill and three off Weaver. The only Yankees reliever to not allow a run was outfielder Austin Slater who got two outs without allowing a run in the ninth. I don’t know if it’s worse that Slater was the Yankees’ best reliever or that Slater was used to pitch in Game 145 of the season with a playoff berth on the line because the Yankees were getting blown out so badly.

7. After going 3-for-the Astros series and 2-for-the Blue Jays series, Aaron Judge is 1-for-the Tigers series. Judge is 6-for-26 in September against the three teams with five singles and a solo home run. When Tuesday’s game was tied at 2 in the sixth, Judge struck out. After Trent Grisham led off Wednesday’s game with a single, Judge struck out. With the game tied at 0 in the third inning on Wednesday and runners on first and second with one out, Judge hit into a double play. With the Yankees trailing by two in the sixth on Wednesday and the tying run on base, Judge hit into another double play. Every game is a big game for the Yankees and Judge has a .740 OPS in September. I wish I were surprised, but I’m used to this level of performance from Judge in big games.

8. Someone else is going to have to step up and carry the offense, whether that’s Giancarlo Stanton getting hot again or Cody Bellinger. It would be nice if the offense as a whole could collectively produce, but we all know that’s only going to happen against last-place teams. So for now I will just hope the Yankees can keep games close enough for Grisham to hit a game-tying, go-ahead or walk-off home run since that seems to be the offensive strategy.

9. The Blue Jays and Red Sox both lost on Wednesday, so the Yankees missed a huge opportunity to make up ground on the Blue Jays and create more separation from the Red Sox. Lance Berkman used to go to the plate with the mindset he was going to make an out, so that when he didn’t he was pleasantly surprised, and that’s how I’m treating the playoff standings. I’m mentally preparing for the Yankees finishing as the second wild card and going on the road to Fenway Park for a best-of-3 in what will end with a humiliating series loss to Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello. That way if the Yankees somehow win the division despite being four back with 19 games to play or finish with the top wild-card spot or don’t play Boston in a best-of-3 I’m pleasantly surprised.

10. I think we all know how this season is going to end. I have desperately tried to talk myself into it not ending in a similar fashion to the last 15 seasons, but the last two nights were the latest reminder of who these Yankees are in the biggest of games against the best of opponents and how their big-name and highest-paid players perform in the biggest of games against the best of opponents. I would like to think they still have an opportunity to change my mind over the next two-and-a-half weeks, but they have been showing us and telling us who they are for 143 games and 88 percent of the season. Thinking or believing they are going to completely change their identity from here on out beginning on Thursday night is the kind of delusional, fairytale mindset Boone lives by. I wish for once Boone would be right and everything would be right in front of them, but nearly every day and every game the Yankees remind you why it’s not.

1. I was disgusted when I left the Stadium on Friday night following a putrid 7-1 loss. Cam Schlittler couldn’t put anyone away as he needed 66 pitches to get five outs and the offense provided one hit (a Giancarlo Stanton solo home run) through the first six innings.

Prior to the series-opening game, I wrote: That’s not to say Schlittler may not overthrow on Friday night. It’s going to be a loud crowd at the Stadium for the series opener with nice weather expected, the Blue Jays in town and the division on the line. If Schlittler stays composed and throws strikes, he will be just fine and the Yankees will be just fine.

Schlittler wasn’t fine. He laid his first egg and turned in his worst outing in 10 career starts, allowing more than three earned runs for the first time as well. He put eight runners on in 1 2/3 innings and the Blue Jays fouled off pitch after pitch after pitch, tiring Schlittler out until they got something to barrel. It was startling to see him struggle given how good he’s been. Maybe it was the Blue Jays seeing him for a second time this season or maybe it was what I feared in him pitching in the most important game of his career to date. Whatever it was, it was a disaster and the Yankees fell to four back in the loss column in the division.

2. Things went much better on Saturday as the Yankees won 3-1 with a nearly-two-hour rain delay mixed in.

Luis Gil continued his 2025 escape act as he walked four in six innings but managed to hold the Blue Jays to just one run thanks to Cody Bellinger throwing out Bo Bichette at home to end the sixth right before the tarp came out.

The Yankees took an early lead in that one thanks to a second-inning walk, error, single and sacrifice fly sequence and added a third run after the rain delay on another sacrifice fly. Both sac flies came off the bat of Austin Wells, who leads the majors with 11.

Luke Weaver, Fernando Cruz and David Bednar combined to throw three scoreless innings and pull the Yankees once again within three of the Blue Jays in the loss column.

3. On Sunday, the game started out beautifully with Max Fried retiring George Springer, David Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on eight pitches followed by a Ben Rice three-run home run off of Max Scherzer in the bottom of the first (which was apparently the product of Scherzer tipping his pitches). Maybe the Yankees would win a laugher against a good opponent, blow out the Blue Jays and let Paul Blackburn eat up innings at the end of the game so the bullpen could get an extra day of rest with Monday’s scheduled day off? Maybe not.

The Blue Jays immediately fought back. Alejandro Kirk walked to lead off the second and Ernie Clement doubled. With runners on second and third and one out, Fried got old friend Isiah Kiner-Falefa to hit a ground ball to short. It was hit far enough in the hole that it would score one run, but Anthony Volpe couldn’t even knock it down or get his glove on it to prevent a second run from scoring.

Leading 3-2 in the third, Fried gave up a leadoff double to Springer and then Schneider reached on a throwing error from Volpe as the “fucking elite” shortstop continues to dazzle in the field. Guerrero doubled in Springer to tie the game at 3. Cody Bellinger drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the third to give the Yankees a 4-3 and the score stayed that way for the rest of the game to get the Yankees within two games in the loss column in the division.

4. Aaron Judge was back in right field on Sunday and back to lobbing in throws to the outfield. It’s obvious Judge is doing barely a step above Smalls running back the ball to the infield in The Sandlot as Aaron Boone gets testy with the media and tries to tell everyone what they are seeing isn’t what they are seeing. It’s the same approach he has used in handling discussing his shortstop the last three years.

I have spent a lot of words in these Thoughts on Volpe, especially this year, and I’m running out of ways to portray just how bad he is for those who can’t comprehend how bad he is. He does nothing well. I think that’s the best way to summarize him as a player: He does nothing well. He can’t hit for average and he doesn’t hit for power (at least not regularly). He’s been caught stealing in 48 percent of his 23 attempts and is a poor situational hitter. He has a weak arm and atrocious fielding technique. He lets every ball play him, fails to charge routine grounders, plays balls on his back hand when he doesn’t need to and seemingly wants to put himself in position to be off-balance when he throws to first base.

Volpe went 1-for-37 with 14 strikeouts leading into the White Sox series then went 6-for-14 against the worst team in the American League and is 2-for-21 with 12 strikeouts since. Remove his weekend against the league’s worst and he’s 3-for-58 with 26 strikeouts dating back to August 15. He went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts, an error and couldn’t knock down the Kiner-Falefa ball on Sunday.

Volpe’s slash line for the season is an improbable .207/.269/.396 in 556 plate appearances. Improbable because no one with those kind of numbers gets to have 556 plate appearances on a team that claims it’s goal is to win the World Series. It would be one thing if he had the type of defense at shortstop that Ryan McMahon does at third base because then you could at least try to argue his importance in the everyday lineup, but instead, I look away when any ball is hit to short and pray it results in an out.

Volpe is a problem. A big problem. An enormous problem. Because the Yankees continue to tell us he’s something he’s not, even after 460 regular-season games and 1,846 plate appearances. There isn’t a single stat — traditional or modern — that suggests he’s even remotely close to being a valuable part of the team even if Boone says there’s no planet in which Volpe isn’t an elite player already and believes he’s a superstar in the making.

5. Watching Jose Caballero play shortstop in person on Friday night was refreshing. Routine plays are made like they’re routine plays and throws from short reach first in the air and on target. I don’t care if Caballero has no power and limited ability at the plate. He puts together tough at-bats and when he does reach he’s a menace on the bases. He can impact the game so much more than Volpe can on both sides of the ball.

Here are the offensive stats for both since Caballero became a Yankee:

There isn’t a person in the world not named Aaron Boone or Brian Cashman who could look at those numbers and think Volpe should be playing every day and that’s without factoring in the disparity in their defense.

Unfortunately, Volpe is going to keep playing every day and the Yankees will continue to tell us everything we have been watching from him over the last three full seasons is an illusion and that he’s “fucking elite” and we’re all “losing our minds” when it comes to evaluating him.

6. A similar story has unfolded with Devin Williams with Boone acting as though everything we have seen from Williams isn’t real. It was outrageous Williams pitched against the top of the Blue Jays lineup in the eighth inning of a one-run game on Sunday. I don’t give a fuck how many pitches Weaver or Cruz or Bednar had thrown of late. It was the biggest moment in the biggest game of the season to date and a situation Williams has proven he can’t handle since the very first game of the season. And yet, Boone still used him. It doesn’t matter that Williams got out of the inning without allowing either of his two baserunners to score. It was ridiculous he was allowed to impact that game given the stakes, with the stakes being the division race being over if the Yankees had lost. (Also, has the opposition not watched enough video of Williams to understand if you never swing against him, you will never make an out? He has no fastball command and his changeup is never in the zone. If hitters weren’t so selfish and greedy in thinking they can get an extra-base hit off of Williams, he would walk every batter he faces.)

7. The Yankees are doing their best to shed the Bronx Bullies moniker. After beating the crap out of last-place teams in August, the Yankees have opened September with back-to-back series wins over the Astros and Blue Jays. The idea the Yankees can’t beat the top teams in the league is slowly starting to fade after back-to-back series wins over the Astros and Blue Jays, though there is still a long way to go with six games this week against the Tigers and Red Sox.

8. Winning the division is still unlikely. The Yankees are two games back in the loss column, but they are really three games back overall because of the head-to-head tiebreaker after losing eight of 13 to the Blue Jays this season.

Here is what needs to happen for the Yankees to win the division:

I stopped at 8-11 because it’s hard to expect the Blue Jays to play worse than that when it’s hard to expect them playing under .500 at all. The Blue Jays’ remaining schedule is much more difficult than the Yankees, but I think the worst any Yankees fan can wish for from the Blue Jays is 10-9, which means the Yankees will have to go 13-6, which is very doable if the Blue Jays cooperate.

9. Here is what I wrote about the Yankees winning the division on August 30:

Let’s make it as hard as possible for the Yankees to win the division. Let’s say they are three games back of the Blue Jays after Sunday, Aug. 31.

The Yankees were three games back after Sunday, Aug. 31.

The Yankees will have to go at least .500 in the 12 games against the Astros, Blue Jays, Tigers and Red Sox to have a chance. So let’s say they go 6-6, which is the floor of what they can do. Two of those six wins have to come against the Blue Jays …

The Yankees are 4-2 in the 12 games against the Astros, Blue Jays, Tigers and Red Sox. They won two against the Blue Jays.

Let’s say the Yankees drop one of their two games this weekend (against the White Sox) and so do the Blue Jays (against the Brewers). The Yankees would be 76-61 at the end of play on Sunday and the Blue Jays 79-58.

This is what happened and the Yankees were 76-61 and the Blue Jays were 79-58 at the end of play on Sunday, Aug. 31.

The Yankees then go 6-6 against the Astros, Blue Jays, Tigers and Red Sox and are now 82-67. The Blue Jays have lost two of three to the Yankees during that time, so they are 80-60. In their other nine games, the Blue Jays have gone 4-5 against the Reds, Astros and Orioles and are now 84-65.

Again, the Yankees won two of three from the Blue Jays and are 4-2 in the 12 games, needing to go just 2-4 to meet 6-6. The Blue Jays went 2-1 against the Reds, so in order to get to 4-5, they will need to go 2-4 against the Astros and Orioles. Not likely, so the Yankees will need to do better than 2-4 against the Tigers and Red Sox. Go 3-3 and the Blue Jays can then also go 3-3. Again, very doable.

The Yankees need to get through this week still two games back in the loss column to have a chance. If they are two games back in the loss column or better at the end of play on Sunday then I do think they will win the division given the opponents in their 13 remaining games and the Blue Jays’ opponents in their 13 remaining games.

10. The Yankees did their job over the weekend by winning the series against the Blue Jays, and they are right on track with what I laid out 10 days ago in terms of what they need to do and what the Blue Jays need to do for the Yankees to win the division. The difference between winning the division and not is getting a bye straight to the ALDS or having to play a best-of-3 with Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello (whom the Yankees are 0-5 against this year) pitching Games 1 and 2. The day off on Monday is much needed given the use of the only three trustworthy relievers of late. It’s also needed to give me (and likely all Yankees fans) a rest from the emotional, mental and physical stress and anguish the 2025 Yankees have caused over the last five-plus months.