1. It took the Yankees one game to show the importance of winning Sunday’s season finale against the Red Sox. The Yankees left New York on Sunday with a five-game lead over the Red Sox (thanks to the head-to-head tiebreaker) and that lead is down to four. Had the Yankees lost Sunday’s game to the Red Sox, their lead would be one game in the loss column with the Red Sox owning the tiebreaker.
It took the Yankees one game because while there was a game in Anaheim against the MLB-worst Angels on Monday, the Yankees didn’t show up for it. Elmer Rodriguez got lit up and lasted only 3 2/3 innings, the defense committed three errors and the offense went 6-for-32 with no walks and 10 strikeouts. It was a pathetic performance all around from the Yankees, but not unsurprising. I answered reader questions on Monday and wrote the following about this series:
The Yankees historically don’t play well in Anaheim and that includes during this awful Angels era. I went back and looked at the last five seasons and the Yankees are 7-8 in Anaheim during that time. The Angels won 77, 73, 73, 63 and 72 games in those years. This year, the Angels have the worst record in the majors and are on pace to lose 100 games for the first time in franchise history. I could see the Angels series not being easy and being somewhat of a trap, especially the Monday game, with the Yankees coming off essentially a postseason series, having to fly across the country and using a rookie starter.
2. It’s not going to get any easier for the Yankees this week either. They will face Grayson Rodriguez on Tuesday and Rodriguez owns a 3.18 ERA in 17 career innings against the Yankees, and they will face Reid Detmers on Wednesday and Detmers owns a 0.59 ERA in 15 1/3 career innings against the Yankees.
3. It’s disturbing that the Angels are 3-2 against the Yankees this season and 50-83 against everyone else, and both of the Yankees’ wins were ninth-inning comebacks against the Angels. Losing 10-1 to any team is embarrassing, but losing 10-1 to the 2026 Angels and ending what was a seven-game losing streak is on another level.
4. In the 138th game of the season, Aaron Boone finally recognized Trent Grisham shouldn’t be the team’s leadoff hitter. Boone did the right thing by moving Ben Rice to first and Grisham to fifth and Rice rewarded Boone’s choice by going 0-for-4. Grisham also went 0-for-4, as did Luis Garcia. Jose Caballero and Austin Wells both went 0-for-3, as it turns out they aren’t very good when a position player isn’t pitching. Cody Bellinger had two singles, Amed Rosario had two singles, Jazz Chisholm had a single and Spencer Jones hit a solo home run. Those were the Yankees’ six hits and Jones’ was the entire offense.
5. Rodriguez didn’t build off his career-best start against the Astros, and instead, reverted back to the pitcher who looked unready for the majors from earlier in the season. Rodriguez allowed two-out walks in both the first and second innings, and then in the third, he allowed a leadoff double to a 35-year-old catcher with a .439 OPS, another two-out walk and an RBI single. In the fourth, with two outs and no one on, he hit the 8- and 9-hitters and then allowed back-to-back singles to make it a 4-0 game.
6. Michael Fulmer relieved Rodriguez to end the fourth and then showed why he’s on his fourth team since last season when he gave up a pair of doubles and a single and threw a pickoff attempt away in the fifth.
After Fulmer, Luis Gil made his first appearance since April 26 and allowed one run over two innings. He did strike out three, threw 27 of 39 pitches for strikes and even threw 98 mph, so there was some promise there.
Then it was David Bednar’s turn. After pitching once in 10 days, Bednar ate up the eighth inning to get some work in and whether it was rust or him just going through the motions to get through the game, he allowed three earned runs on four hits in his inning.
7. It was the kind of game that happens over the course of 162 and the kind of game you throw away and immediately forget about … if you’re in the position the Rays are in, leading the division by five games in the loss column with 24 to play. But the Yankees aren’t in that position and throwing away a game against a crappy opponent (the actual shittiest opponent you can have in the majors this season) is why it’s hard to take them seriously as being alive in the division race. The Rays lost to the Mets and the Yankees had an opportunity to cut the lead to four games, meaning they could control their own division destiny with the four head-to-head games remaining against the Rays, and instead, they took the night off against a team with nothing to play for, a team counting down the days until their latest miserable season ends.
8. If George Lombard Jr. is ready to play, inserting him at shortstop is the only lineup change I would make for Tuesday. Keep Rice in the leadoff spot and keep Grisham fifth. At this point, to me, Jones is a better offensive and defensive alternative to Grisham, but I highly doubt the Yankees (who treat Grisham like Ken Griffey Jr.) are ready to make that determination. It takes a lot more than 118 games of piss-poor defense and being five percent worse than league average at the plate for the Yankees to pull the plug on someone they love internally. Jones has a better batting average, a better on-base percentage, a better slugging percentage, a better OPS, a better OPS+, has accumulated more WAR than Grisham and is actually above league average as a hitter, and the Yankees will choose not to accept that when Aaron Judge returns. Add in Jones’ overall speed (he’s the fastest Yankee) and his superior defense to Grisham, and there is no debate as to who should play when Judge returns.
9. It appears as though Judge will be activated for the next homestand, which begins next Tuesday against the Rockies, whose loss on Monday dropped them one game behind the Angels as the worst team in the majors. If Judge returns on September 9, he will have 19 available games to get ready for October. It’s obviously unlikely he will play all 19 since the Yankees will of course institute some asinine return plan for him like playing a full game in right field and then sitting the next game and then serving as the DH for the next game and then sitting the next game and then playing right field for a full game and so on. The Yankees believe they have figured out a scientific way to beat injuries, and yet, their load plans don’t prevent injuries because injuries happen. It’s idiotic to not play Judge as much as possible when he returns because if Judge is healthy enough to play then he should play every day. He needs at-bats with a limited number of games remaining before October.
10. I’ll worry about Judge’s load management next week. For now, I still somehow have to worry about the Angels, a team on pace for the 100-loss season in their franchise’s history. The Yankees have to sweep the Rays in September and play one game better than them in the other 20 games to win the division. That’s the path to the best record in the American League, home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and a first-round bye. It’s the best statistical and most favorable road to ending a championship drought that’s approaching 17 years. The Mets helped out the Yankees on Monday and the Yankees couldn’t help themselves. That needs to change against this opponent over the next two days.
Last modified: Sep 1, 2026
