1. The Yankees went into Memorial Day weekend six games back of the Rays in the loss column and finished the weekend five games back. After losing to the Rays on Friday, the Yankees beat them on Sunday and then beat the Royals on Monday, while the Rays lost to the Orioles. Even with the frustrating 4-2 loss to the Rays on Friday, the holiday weekend was still a positive for the Yankees.
2. It was a positive because they made up two games in the loss column on the Rays. After losing Friday’s series opener (despite Gerrit Cole throwing six scoreless innings in his season debut), it seemed like the weekend could get away from the Yankees, and therefore the division. But after blowing another late lead on Friday, Saturday’s game was postponed, Aaron Judge provided a two-run, walk-off home run on Sunday — his first home run in two weeks — and the team put together a ninth-inning rally on Monday to extend their winning streak to 12 straight against the Royals.
3. It was a positive because Cole looked like his old self in his first start since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series. The last time Cole was on the mound in a meaningful game, he blew a no-hitter and a five-run lead in a single inning thanks to his own pitching and defense and the defense behind him. After missing all of last season and the first third of this season, Cole returned and didn’t look like someone who hadn’t pitched on a major-league mound in 19 months. Cole talked his way into starting on Friday at Yankee Stadium (instead of another rehab start in the minors) against the team the Yankees are chasing in what was as big of a regular-season game as the Yankees will play this season, and he passed every test. There are no excuses if you’re playing or pitching and it would have been understandable if Cole looked like Carlos Rodon has to this point, but the criticism would have been fair. Instead, Cole shut down an offense that very few have this season.
4. It was a positive because Saturday’s game was rained out. The team has been bad for more than two weeks, the offense is strictly three bats and the bullpen sucks. The Yankees were fortunate to get Saturday’s game moved to September when they could have Giancarlo Stanton back and a more consistent offense and likely a revamped and new-look bullpen. The Rays have been hotter than hot through two months and getting a game against them moved to four months from now is very welcome.
5. It was a positive because Ryan Weathers bounced back from a letdown start against the Blue Jays to shut out the Rays for seven innings on Sunday. Cole and Weathers combined to throw 13 scoreless innings against the Rays in the two games as the starting pitching continues to carry the team.
It was a positive because Will Warren had another strong start on Monday. Warren lost his control in the second inning and walked the bases loaded before bouncing back in the third and finding his command. The numbers for Warren and Weathers are nearly identical on the season, but I still prefer Weathers to Warren because he has the ability to go out and really dominate in a way Warren can’t.
6. It was a positive because the Yankees won a game in which Anthony Volpe started at shortstop — and provided the go-ahead hit in the ninth inning — and J.C. Escarra started behind the plate and Ryan McMahon and Austin Wells sat. Volpe reached base twice and had the big hit in the ninth, while Escarra had three hits in the game. Entering Monday, there was a better chance a Yankees pitcher would throw a perfect game this season before one of their catchers would record three hits in a game. I would sit McMahon and Wells until the Yankees lose a game.
7. It was a positive because the Yankees are now five games back of the Rays in the loss column instead of the six they were before Friday’s game and the seven they were before Sunday’s game. It’s still a lot of games to be back before the end of May, but it’s better than it was a few days ago.
8. Yes, the weekend overall finished as a positive, but it wasn’t all positive. The offense continues to have too many automatic outs in it. The Yankees scored two runs on Wednesday, no runs on Thursday, two runs on Friday, two runs on Sunday and had two runs on Monday until the ninth inning. That’s not going to cut it. They are wasting so many excellent starts from their rotation by failing to score. The Yankees’ win percentage when they score at least four runs in a game is .824. EIGHT TWENTY-FOUR! Score four runs and have an 82.4 percent chance of winning. Just four runs. That’s 648 runs over 162 games. Only one team in the AL didn’t score 648 runs last season and that was the White Sox and they scored 647. So if the offense could just be as bad as the 102-loss 2025 White Sox every game, they would have an .824 winning percentage. It shouldn’t be hard to score four runs a game when you have Judge, Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger, but rarely does anyone drive those three in unless they drive themselves in, and if they don’t hit, the Yankees don’t score. How many times over the last week did the Yankees fail to score a leadoff double? How many times did they strand a runner on third with less than two outs?
9. Then there’s Aaron Boone. I understand Boone didn’t construct this bullpen, but it’s on him to utilize it as best as possible and put his relievers in the best possible position to succeed. Boone decided not to use David Bednar in the eighth inning with a 1-0 lead on Friday and the top of the Rays’ order due up because it was the eighth inning. Boone loves having set innings for relievers and because of that his decisions of late have cost the Yankees multiple games. It helped cost them the game on Friday. Instead of using Bednar with a one-run lead in the eighth, he used him in a two-run deficit in the ninth. How are we on Year 9 of watching these decisions?
Boone did it again on Monday. Jake Bird wasn’t good enough to be a Yankee after being traded to them last season and wasn’t good enough to be one earlier this season after being sent down again. But a handful of recent appearances in low-leverage situations apparently was good enough for him to pitch multiple innings on Monday in Kansas City and good enough to let him face Bobby Witt Jr. in the eighth inning a 2-2 game. Bird promptly allowed a go-ahead home run to the one feared hitter in the Royals lineup. This decision came a day after the Yankees were postponed when every reliever had Saturday off. Thankfully, the bottom of the order rallied the team to win in the ninth or it would have been another disappointing loss.
10. Tuesday presents an opportunity for the Yankees to win a series for the first time since May 5-7 against the Rangers. Since then the Yankees were swept by the Blue Jays, lost two of three to the Orioles,. lost two of three to the Mets, split with the Blue Jays and split with the Rays. Cam Schlittler gets the ball to try to improve on his league-best WAR, ERA, FIP and WHIP. The Royals will use the left-handed Bailey Falter and his 9.82 ERA to open the game. It’s as big of a pitching mismatch as you can have in the majors with the Royals looking for their first win against the Yankees since Game 2 of the 2024 ALDS. If the Yankees can score four runs, the Royals will still be looking for it, and with Schlittler on the mound they may not even need half of that.
Last modified: May 26, 2026
