1. Remember that brief moment when it looked like the Orioles may be the team to beat in the AL East for the foreseeable future? That was back in 2023 when the Orioles won 101 games and the division before getting swept in the ALDS. They followed that up with their win total dropping by 10 games to 91 in 2024 and were swept by the Royals in the Wild Card Series. Last season they won 75 games and right now they are on a 69-win pace for 2026.
2. The Yankees didn’t just sweep the Orioles over the last four days, they embarrassed them. The Yankees won 7-2 on Friday, 9-4 on Saturday, 11-3 on Sunday and 12-1 on Monday. It was the type of series the Yankees had against the Orioles in the early Aaron Boone era days when the Orioles were tanking and the only feared hitter in their lineup was Manny Machado. On paper, the Orioles aren’t a bad team, but the Yankees certainly made them look like one this weekend.
3. The Thoughts on Saturday covered Friday’s win, but since then, Ryan Weathers picked up another win, Max Fried had to grind through a start with nearly nothing and Cam Schlittler allowed just one earned run (a surprising bases-loaded walk) as the rotation continues to be far and away the best in the majors. I have come to expect a stellar performance out of the Yankees’ starter every single game. It’s a place the rotation hasn’t been a long, long time.
4. The bullpen has been able to get a lot of rest of late and it was most noticeable in David Bednar’s only appearance against the Orioles. Bednar pitched on Sunday in an 11-3 game just to get some work in after having five days off and was throwing the hardest he has this season. He was forced in to high-leverage situations as a member of Team USA in the World Baseball Classic and then was seemingly pitching in one-run games every night for the Yankees in the first few weeks of the season, and was getting hit like someone running on fumes. With the five days off, Bednar looked as good as he has a Yankee. Here’s to the bats giving him more days off and more appearances where he just needs to get work in.
4. Offensively, the Yankees got everyone to contribute in the four-game series, it wasn’t just Ben Rice and Aaron Judge outscoring the Orioles 39-10. Trent Grisham’s OPS is up to .696, Cody Bellinger up to .859 and Jasson Dominguez is at .833 after a big series from the right side. Jazz Chisholm, Austin aWells and Ryan McMahon even chipped in to the offensive outbursts and Jose Caballero continued his extra-base barrage and defensive gems to send Anthony Volpe to the minors for the first time in his career.
5. Volpe is where he belongs: playing in Triple-A. It’s a move that is three years to late, but I guess better late than never, even if being late in this instance cost the Yankees over the last three seasons. The idea that the Yankees or anyone has to justify why Volpe is in the minors is rather annoying. Of the 103 hitters with at least 1,500 plate appearances since the start of 2023, Volpe ranks last, second-to-last and third-to-last in every major offensive statistic. He’s not a major-league bat and after last year it’s hard to say he’s even a major-league glove. The videos of his defense on his “rehab” stint were alarming and he should have to earn his way back up like every other Yankee has ever had to do. Keep on hitting, Caballero.
6. Can the Rays chill out? The Yankees would have a 6 1/2-game lead in the Central and a 5 1/2-game lead in the West, but in the East they only have a 1 1/2-game lead because the Ryas won’t lose. The Yankees are 8-2 in their last 10 games and have lost a game in the standings because the Rays have gone 9-1. The Yankees have played one game worse than their expected record, while the Rays have played four games better. (That’s the difference between Boone and Kevin Cash.)
7. The AL as a whole is bad. There are three teams over .500. The Yankees, Rays and Athletics. (Let’s forget the Yankees are 1-5 against those two teams and 23-6 against everyone else.) The Yankees have a plus-76 run differential, the Rays are plus-11 and the Athletics are minus-10. If you believe in math, the Yankees should run away and hide with the division at some point. It doesn’t mean it will happen, but it should. After playing the Royals and Guardians in the 2024 AL playoffs, I didn’t think the Yankees could ever have an easier path to the pennant, but this year is shaping up to possibly be that. The best teams seem to be in the NL and if the Yankees win the pennant, they will only have to face one of them.
8. We’re a long way from that, of course. Yes, things have been great the last two weeks, but we’re only three weeks removed from a disastrous week against the Athletics, Rays and Angels. We’re a long way from June and July when the Boone Yankees tend to go on summer vacation. Maybe this team is immune to that because of the starting pitching. If the starting pitching is going to pitch like it has without Carlos Rodon and Gerrit Cole then it’s possible they are.
9. Elmer Rodriguez wasn’t very good in his major-league debut last week in Texas, and now he will face the Rangers for a second time in less than a week, which isn’t ideal. It’s also not ideal his counterpart will be Jacob deGrom, who the Yankees were able to beat last week thanks to a superb effort from Schlittler. Rodriguez vs. deGrom seems like a mismatch, but if I have learned anything as a Yankees fan, it’s you can’t predict baseball …
10. When I stopped writing for WFAN and CBS New York and took Keefe To The City out on its own back in 2012, the first post I wrote was A Sunday with John and Suzyn, a live blog recapping the two calling a game against the Tigers. The first blog on keefetothecity.com wasn’t as much about the Yankees as it was the voice of the Yankees.
John Sterling was the man. A character, an original, a legend. I have missed his voice since he left following the 2024 World Series (after leaving initially earlier that season) and long for him calling games. I miss his stories, his exuberance and his creativity. Who cares if he called a fair ball foul or a flyout a home run every once in a while? It’s baseball. It’s entertainment and he was as entertaining as any voice that ever has or ever will call a baseball game.
Last modified: May 5, 2026
