About Last Night: NYY 4, TEX 3

By Ethan Semendinger

May 22nd, 2025

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Jasson Dominguez hit a walk-off home run nearly out of this world as the Yankees took advantage of a great Ryan Yarbrough start and beat the Rangers by a score of 4-3!

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Quick Stats -

• Winning Pitcher: Luke Weaver (1-1, 0.42 ERA)

• Losing Pitcher: Luke Jackson (0-4, 5.52 ERA)

• Save: None

• Home Runs (Texas): Jake Burger [x2] (5, 6), Sam Haggerty (1)

• Home Runs (New York): Cody Bellinger (8), Jasson Dominguez (6)

Big Story - Is anybody else also still worried about this team? I know it sounds crazy to say when the Yankees have the 5th best record in the MLB (by winning percentage) with the best run differential in the MLB (+93), highest team OPS (.820), and best BAA (.206). And yet, I still cannot get comfortable all the time when watching a game.

And, a large part of that is the rotation. The Yankees current depth chart only lists 4 starting pitchers: Fried, Rodon, Schmidt, and Warren. Who is going to be the teams fifth starter? It can't be Gerrit Cole (obviously), it shouldn't be Marcus Stroman (obviously), and I'm not willing to wait another 2 months for Luis Gil to return. Nobody knows what kind of performance he'll be able to give when he returns.

For now, the Yankees are hoping that Ryan Yarbrough can handle the extra load. That is not a long-term solution.

Maybe the Yankees could trade for Paul Skenes! I'd be willing to sell the farm for him, if the rumors are true. (They aren't...until the right package comes along.) How about all of the Yankees top-10 prospects? Yes, I'm serious.

Anyway, it was Ryan Yarbrough's spot in the rotation last night. Here was the Yankees' line-up behind him as they headed into the middle match of their series against the Rangers.

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Player(s) of the Game -

• Jasson Dominguez: 1-4, Run, WALK OFF Solo Home Run, 1 K

Notable Performances -

• Ryan Yarbrough: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB's, 8 K's

• Luke Weaver: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB's, 0 K's

• Cody Bellinger: 2-4, Run, Solo Home Run, 1 RBI

• Anthony Volpe: 1-3, Run, Triple

• Aaron Judge: 1-3, RBI, BB

Better to Forget -

• Tim Hill: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 1 K

• Ian Hamilton: 0.1 IP, 2 H's, 1 R (1 ER), 1 K

• Austin Wells: 0-3, 3 K's

• Trent Grisham: 0-3, 2 K's

• Ben Rice: 0-4, 2 K's

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The Game - This morning's game summary will be a quick player-by-player analysis of last night's game, in addition to some other trends and feelings by me as we all approach the end of May.

Starting with the line-up:

Trent Grisham: Grisham went 0-3 with a walk and 2 strikeouts last night in the lead-off spot, where there have been a number of different hitters so far this year. Grisham is in a slump in his last 7 games (hitting .174/.345/.174 over his last 23 at-bats), and it appears as though his early season magic with the bat may be reaching its end. In my opinion, it is better to be safe than sorry, and I would look to move Grisham back where he truly belongs in the line-up (in the bottom third).

Ben Rice: Rice went 0-4 with 2 strikeouts in last night's game as he barely holds onto a season batting average above .250. Over his past 15 games, Rice is hitting just .224/.291/.449. I do believe Rice has a great situation in New York to learn from Paul Goldschmidt as a first baseman and hitter, but again it looks like some of his early season magic may be starting to wear off as well.

Aaron Judge: While Judge didn't make an overwhelming presence in last night's game (going 1-3 with a RBI and a walk), he continues to hold a batting average above .400 and an OPS of 1.246! There are not enough words to describe how ridiculous this season has been so far for Judge. Wow.

Cody Bellinger: On the flip-side of Grisham and Rice's early season hot-streaks, Cody Bellinger's bat was severely lacking up until his currently ongoing 15-game hitting streak. He added another last night with a hit and a solo home run. Maybe Bellinger, who is now hitting .264, could be the next number 1 or 2 guy ahead of Judge.

Jasson Dominguez: WHAT A WALK-OFF! Jasson Dominguez delivered a ROCKET of a home run to win the game last night. Moments like these are great to celebrate and build from for the young and budding superstar. I have a very long leash for Dominguez and he isn't making that a regret.

Anthony Volpe: His triple last night was aided by a poor judgement on a flyball by the Ranger's center fielder, and Volpe took advantage. That's good stuff to see from a player who will need to lean on his best tools (speed and defense) to continue to show his potential. While the offense is still not quite where the Yankees have hoped, hard work and effort will be the thing that allows Volpe to stick around the league.

Austin Wells: Well, well, well...going 0-3 with 3 strikeouts isn't a great night. And, even though it was Jacob DeGrom throwing those strikeouts, that's still not great. Wells is now hitting a perfect .200 on the season, and he will need to improve that number. His OPS is fine, but Wells needs to be getting more hits.

DJ LeMahieu: Since coming back from injury, the stats are a bit misleading in going against LeMahieu. I think the eye test has been positive. His glove has been great and has saved the Yankees a few times already. They don't need the .300 average LeMahieu right now, but they can't handle a sub-.200 average LeMahieu either. Overall, I think he'll be fine in his role given the loss of Chisholm and Cabrera.

Jorbit Vivas: It's clear his time for playing in the MLB has come a bit too soon in his development right now. I'd be looking for a replacement at third to help Vivas long-term so he can get reps where he belongs in Triple-A. Who that replacement is, I'm not quite sure, but that's why the Yankees have a front office staff.

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Some notes on pitchers:

Ryan Yarbrough: A tremendous effort last night in a head-to-head match-up against one of the better pitchers of this generation in Jacob DeGrom, as Yarbrough gave the Yankees 5 innings of 1-run ball with 8 strikeouts. If he can be the long-relief/spot starter for the Yankees this season, that's amazing! Lots of credit to him for last night's performance.

Jonathan Loaisiga: What a nice addition to the bullpen that Loaisiga has already been since his return from injury. Though, that's always been his story. Please stay healthy.

Tim Hill/Ian Hamilton: Overuse will ruin both of these pitchers. Unfortunately, they both gave up runs in their efforts last night. Hopefully the Yankees can find them (and the bullpen as a whole) some more rest moving forward by getting a true 5th starter. However, you do have to perform when given a role. Luckily neither of their efforts were a true disaster.

Yerry De los Santos: Whew! He avoided some serious pain in his inning of work. Luckily, he was able to battle through it.

Luke Weaver: He's the closer. I want Devin Williams to be great, but Weaver has that closer mentality. How the Yankees found him is a miracle, and yet another display of their excellence with finding relief talent.

YANKEES WIN!

HOPEFULLY THEY FINISH THE SWEEP TODAY!

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Next Up - The Yankees will finish their 3-game weekday series against the Texas Rangers early this afternoon at 12:35 PM EDT. Carlos Rodon (5-3, 3.17 ERA) will take the mound for the Yankees, as former Yankee Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 1.61 ERA) will pitch for the Rangers. Game on YES.