About Last Night: Jays Top Yankees

by Paul Semendinger

July 1, 2025

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Last night the Yankees began a three-game series in Toronto against the Blue Jays. The Jays won 5-4.

Quick Stats:

• The Yankees went 1-7 with runners in scoring position

• Yankees batters struck out 12 times

• Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu went a combined 1-for-7 with four strikeouts. (Stanton did have an RBI.)

• Losing Pitcher: Mark Leiter, Jr.

• The Yankees went 13-14 in June. Over a season, that's a 78 win season pace

• Since May 30, the Yankees have gone 13-16. Over a season, that's a 73 win season pace

• The Yankees are 0-30 when trailing after 8 innings

• The Yankees are 12-17 in one-run games

  
  

The Game:

For the first three innings, it was a pitcher's duel. Max Scherzer of the Blue Jays retired the first nine Yankees in order. Carlos Rodon wasn't as sharp, allowing a few hits, a walk, and a hit batter, but he also allowed no runs.

In the fourth inning, Trent Grisham singled, and after Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge struck out, Jazz Chisholm hit a two-run homer. Giancarlo Stanton followed this by striking out. In the bottom of the frame, the Blue Jays has runners on first and third with two outs, but could not get either runner across. Yankees up 2-0

The Jays scored a run in their half of the fifth inning. Ernie Clement singled off the glove of Jazz Chisholm. This was a tough play for any third baseman, but, the ball hit smack into Chisholm's glove and he didn't catch it. The next batter grounded into a fielder's choice to third where Chisholm made a fine play. Clement, though went to second. He then advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Vlad Guerrero, Jr. ground out. Yankees 2-1

The Yankees got that run back in the sixth inning. Jasson Dominguez singled to lead off the inning. One out later, Aaron Judge was intentionally walked (which moved Dominguez into scoring positiom - a strange decision by Toronto). An out later, Giancarlo Stanton hit a ground ball single to score Dominguez. Yankees 3-1

In the bottom of the 6th, Davis Schneider led off with a double for the Blue Jays. That ended Carlos Rodon's night. Mark Leiter, Jr. came in for the Yanks. And that didn't work. Miles Straw hit a ground ball to the hole between third and shortstop. Anthony Volpe ranged to get the ball, but rather than seeing no play, he forced a bad throw that got past third base and allowed Straw to move to second on the throwing error. Nathan Lukes then singled home a run. Straw went to third. A wild pitch allowed the runner on first to move up, putting runners on second and third. Ernie Clement then singled into the shortstop hole. Anthony Volpe gloved the ball and threw to first but the throw was way late and that allowed Lukes to go to third. On that ground out, the Jays scored their third run, tying the game. This ended Mark Leiter, Jr.'s night. Jonathan Loaisiga came in for the Yankees...

George Sprinnger then reached on catcher's interference. Next, Vlad Guerrero Jr. singled home two runs, but on the play Springer was thrown out at third. The next batter was retired to end the inning. Jays 5, Yankees 3

The eighth inning brought some excitement. Cody Bellinger homered to make it a one run game. Aaron Judge was then intentionally walked. Jazz Chisholm bunted Judge to second. (Though it was a strange time to bunt with the team's hottest hitter.) Giancarlo Stanton then walked. Ben Rice hit a long shot to deep left-center, but it was caught. Anthony Volpe then lined out hard to shallow right-center. Jays 5, Yankees 4

The Blue Jays went down in order in the eighth...

In the ninth, the Yankees got a two-out single from Jasson Dominguez, but Cody Bellinger flew out to end the game.

My Takes/Other News:

I would like to see Giancarlo Stanton batting much lower in the order, but I am glad that he and Aaron Judge were not back-to-back, at least.

There was an ad for Canadian pizza on the billboard behind home plate. I have heard of New York pizza, Chicago pizza, Detroit pizza, New Haven pizza... but Canadian pizza? Is that a thing? Do people travel to Canada for pizza?

ESPN reached out to me here at SSTN to share the following: "We wanted to make sure you knew about the forthcoming ESPN E60 documentary on Jim Abbott, especially with his Yankees history. Here is a link to our news release: https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2025/06/new-espn-e60-chronicles-jim-abbott-yankees-pitcher-who-was-born-without-a-right-hand-and-threw-historic-no-hitter/

We are seeing, far too often, Anthony Volpe making bad plays and very poor decisions on the field. Rather than maturing into a more and more solid player, it seems he's regressing. To me it seems like he is trying to do more than he is able and he's making mistakes that hurt the Yankees. For a third-year player, this reversal in his performance, situational awareness, and decision-making is very troubling.

Trent Grisham left the game with hamstring tightness.

J.C. Escarra threw out his first base runner of the year. Probably unrelated, but earlier in the game, the TV coverage showed Aaron Boone instructing Escarra in the dugout. I would love to see Aaron Boone acting in that role, one as a teacher, more often. Most of the time, Boone is seen alone watching the game.

Carlos Rodon was taken out at 96 pitches. We all know that the Yankees' bullpen has been struggling. The team needs their big star pitchers to go longer into games. In his last outing, Rodon threw only 88 pitches. The Yankees need more from him. If he is tired around 100 pitches in late June, that's a problem.

Here is a thought that I have no way of proving or disproving: Anthony Volpe's defense has gotten progressively worse as the season has gone on. What has changed regarding the left side of the infield? Jazz Chisholm was moved there. Is it possible that Volpe's positioning and decision making are off due to the fact that he has to play shortstop a little differently because Chisholm is a novice? I know some readers will immediately jump to Chisholm's defense and state, "No way, he's so great there," but it is something seriously to consider beyond the hyperbole we see sometimes. Note, when a team gets a quality defensive third baseman, the opposite point is always made - the shortstop can move to his left a bit more because the third baseman has more range. If that is the case, that a great third baseman can help a shortstop defensively, the opposite must be also true when there is a third baseman with less range. I have no way of measuring if that is the case with the Yankees right now, but it is something to consider. Compounding all this is the fact that the Yankees now have DJ LeMahieu at second who is slower and has less range than Chisholm had there. Might Anthony Volpe's problems, in part, be because he's forced to (or trying to) cover too much ground (to his left and right) to account for a player playing out of position (Chisholm) and another with diminished range (LeMahieu)? To me this is something worth seriously considering.

Of note, the Yankees are 11-13 in games Jazz Chisholm plays third base. (That might not prove anything, but again it could be something of note.)

DJ LeMahieu has now had 125 plate appearances. He is batting .239. He has 5 extra base hits. His On Base Percentage is .312. He is slugging .319. Over his last 310 at bats (from the beginning of last season), he is batting .219. How much longer do the Yankees need to see from LeMahieu before making a change?

A fair question - Would the Yankees be better defensively with Jazz Chisholm at second and Oswald Peraza at third? That would, at least, have the up-the-middle double play combination (2b, ss) playing in their natural positions. To me, that would be an immediate improvement. Also, as I have noted. Peraza has more speed than LeMahieu and he potentially, at least, has a future. LeMahieu's future is passed.

Next Up:

The Yankee play later this afternoon at 3:07 p.m. (Who makes up these start times?) Max Fried will start for the Yankees.

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The cover image for today was created by Google Gemini.