Yankees have blown 7-game lead in AL East. Here's how they can reclaim the division

New York Times

6 hours ago

TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays have been one of the most aggressive clubs in MLB when it comes to intentionally walking Aaron Judge. They'll do it in almost any scenario, so it was surprising when Blue Jays manager John Schneider did not put up four fingers in the eighth inning of Wednesday's game.
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By then, the Yankees had made a stunning comeback. They trailed by eight runs after three innings but had cut Toronto's lead to 9-7 when Judge stepped in the batter's box to face Blue Jays reliever Yimi García, who was activated off the injured list earlier in the day. García hung a sweeper to Judge, who clobbered it 440 feet to tie the score at 9-9. In their history, the Yankees had only pulled off 14 comebacks of eight or more runs. This would have been a much-needed win for the Yankees, who have been one of the worst teams in MLB since the beginning of June. But Judge's 31st home run of the season wasn't enough of a jolt of momentum for the Yankees.
Yankees reliever Devin Williams allowed two runs in the bottom half of the eighth inning, one on a wild pitch and one on a single. The Yankees have lost 13 of their last 19 games. With Wednesday's 11-9 loss to the Blue Jays, the two clubs are tied atop the American League East at 48-38. Technically, the Blue Jays have the lead because they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Yankees.
The Captain comes through! 🫡#ALLRISE pic.twitter.com/Tq0xGw7EGP
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 3, 2025
The Yankees had a seven-game lead in the AL East on May 28. It's now erased, and the Tampa Bay Rays, in third place, are just a half game back of the Yankees. Judge said he has no concerns about the Yankees no longer being in first place in the division.
'It's a long season,' Judge said. 'We got to play better. That's what it comes down to. You play better, we'll put ourselves in a better position. We're not concerned about what's going on around us. We got to control what we do in this room and what we do out there on the field. We're not getting the job done right now.'
New York was in an immediate 7-0 hole after the first inning. Yankees starter Will Warren gave up six hits, two home runs and allowed two walks in the first inning. With how the Yankees had been playing of late, it felt over after one frame. But the Yankees started chipping away at Toronto's lead in the fifth inning, scoring six runs, three of which came on Giancarlo Stanton's first home run of the season. Despite the Yankees' resiliency, it still goes down as another loss.
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'It's never fun losing three in a row, especially to a division opponent, but our guys competed their asses off, battled and never got down or deflated no matter what we're going through right now,' Aaron Boone said.
Even when the Yankees were cruising in the AL East, flaws with the roster were readily apparent. They've come into focus more over the last month. Here are internal and external moves the Yankees can make to reclaim the division:
Jazz Chisholm Jr. committed his fifth error at third base in Wednesday's game, a throwing error that got by Paul Goldschmidt at first base. The error did not cost the Yankees, but it's just the latest miscue from the out-of-position Chisholm, who told The Athletic on Tuesday that 'everyone knows I'm a second baseman.'
Chisholm's five errors are the ninth most among all third basemen this season, and all but two of those ahead of him have at least 200 more innings played there. The easy fix is to move Chisholm back to second base, where he's been well above average this season. The plan was for DJ LeMahieu to play third base, but since returning from the injured list with a calf injury, he has exclusively played second. That decision has led to the Yankees having two negatives at second and third base.
Most of the Yankees' games are close, putting an even greater emphasis on cleaner defense and fundamentals. The Yankees should try putting their best defensive infield alignment on the field. It could make a difference in tight games.
This flows right from the last section. The Yankees need an actual third baseman on their roster. It's clear there's hesitancy with moving LeMahieu to the position he was expected to play entering the 2025 season.
The issue with adding a third baseman is that options may be limited before the trade deadline. If the Arizona Diamondbacks decide to sell at the deadline, the Yankees should try adding Eugenio Suárez, who could be the best player available. If Arizona decides to move him, it'll likely be pricey because the competition to land Suárez will be fierce. Suárez comes with defensive concerns, but the Yankees would live with them because he has a 137 wRC+ and would provide right-handed pop in the middle of their order.
Eugenio Suárez hits his 11th home run in the month of June 🤯 pic.twitter.com/0Dl8v7BUMG
— MLB (@MLB) July 1, 2025
If the Yankees can't add Suárez, who's a free agent at the end of the year, Colorado Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon might be the next best option. He's an above average fielder, but there are concerns with his bat. He has elite exit velocities but hasn't been able to find much success away from the hitter-friendly Coors Field. Away from home, McMahon's OPS is below .600. He's under contract for two more years at $16 million each season.
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Other third-base options to consider include Willi Castro from the Minnesota Twins, Nolan Arenado from the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Pittsburgh Pirates' Ke'Bryan Hayes and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. All four have concerns ranging from performance to bad contracts.
The Yankees' bullpen is in rough shape. It took a major hit earlier this week with the loss of Fernando Cruz, who will miss a lengthy chunk of time with a high-grade oblique strain. Cruz is the Yankees' leader in fWAR among their relievers, and losing him takes away one of their most impactful high-leverage arms.
Without Cruz, Mark Leiter Jr.'s importance has only grown. Leiter has a 1.59 WHIP, the 10th worst among all MLB relievers, but he's gotten extremely unlucky this season. His BABIP this year is .418, the highest among relievers. It's almost impossible to have such terrible luck on batted balls as Leiter has.
Leiter is in Boone's circle of trust, along with Williams and Luke Weaver. Outside of them, it's a mixed bag. Tim Hill can be hit-or-miss, as can Ian Hamilton and Jonathan Loáisiga. JT Brubaker and Clayton Beeter are depth options and nothing more.
The Yankees need at least two bullpen arms in the next few weeks. Williams has pitched well lately, outside of him not having his best command in Wednesday's loss. But it's still fair to wonder if he'll hold up in October when the pressure and attention are intense.
One intriguing arm for the Yankees to consider is Rockies reliever Seth Halvorsen. His average fastball velocity is 100.2 mph, and he has an elite whiff and ground-ball rate, two important areas the Yankees like to target.
Plugging all of the holes on the roster likely won't be achievable at the deadline. Few teams are projected to sell, so some of the fixes the Yankees must make will have to be internal.
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They need to start being more aggressive with their base running. It can be an easy way for them to manufacture runs. It's exactly how the Blue Jays took the lead in the eighth inning. Williams walked George Springer, who immediately stole second base. The Yankees then intentionally walked Vlad Guerrero Jr. Alejandro Kirk hit a deep fly ball, advancing both Springer and Guerrero 90 feet. Williams' wild pitch scored Springer, which was the deciding run. That was all started by stealing second base.
The Yankees had a similar situation in the seventh inning. Chisholm walked to begin the inning. Jasson Domínguez singled, and Chisholm only advanced to second. If he had stolen second base, he would have scored on Domínguez's hit. Instead, no runs scored in the inning after Anthony Volpe hit into a double play.
The Yankees are an above average team in sprint speed and yet rank below average in Statcast's Baserunning Runs Above Average stat. The Yankees wanted to be better on the bases this season — and while they are — it's still not good enough.
(Photo of Will Warren: Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images)