About Last Night: So Much For The Fast Start.

About Last Night: So Much For The Fast Start.  Tampa Bay 5- NY 3

By Tim Kabel

April 11, 2026

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The Yankees opened the season by winning their first three series against the Giants, Mariners, and Marlins. They went 7-1 in their first 8 games. Since then, they have gone 1-4 and have lost their last 3 games in a row. They just lost a series to the lowly A's and were outclassed last night by the Tampa Bay Rays. Last night was throwback Friday night in Tampa and they wore their old Devil Rays uniforms. The Yankees had a throwback to last year's Boone-Swoon.

Luis Gil was activated before the game and made his first start of the season. Gil was not particularly sharp, to put it kindly. He had a 32-pitch first inning. With two outs, he walked Jonathan Aranda before giving up a 2-run home run to Yandy Diaz. Gil only lasted four innings, allowing three runs. He struck out two and walked three. He threw 88 pitches. He certainly was not in his Rookie of the Year form last night but, it was his first start.

The Yankees offense continued to be abysmal. They had a 22-batter stretch without a hit. Ben Rice hit the first pinch-hit home run of his career in the 8th inning. So far, Rice, Giancarlo Stanton, and Amed Rosario are the only Yankees who are hitting consistently. Aaron Judge is slowly rounding into shape. Jazz Chisholm is batting 170. Austin Wells is batting 152. Trent Grisham, who pinch hit, is batting .158 and Randal Grichuk, who started in left field and was not pinch hit for, is hitless in nine at bats as a Yankee. Ryan McMahon who mercifully did not play, is batting .069 and has two hits in 29 at bats. Who would have ever thought we would miss DJ LeMahieu? I am not referring to prime DJ LeMahieu. I am referring to the over the hill DJ LeMahieu who could barely play last season.

Obviously, it is way too early to panic, but there are signs that things might not be so great for the Yankees. The bullpen has struggled and has been overused and mishandled by Boone. For some unknown reason, they carried Cade Winquest until yesterday, but he never even had to have his uniform laundered. He warmed up once in the first 12 games of the season. That's it. He never reached the mound in a Major League game for the Yankees. He was designated for assignment and his future is uncertain. If he clears waivers, I believe he has to be offered back to the Cardinals. Who knows if they will want him. It's possible he could wind up in Scranton toiling alongside of the other “big arm” Angel Chivilli. 

There was a particularly questionable move by Boone last night. In the 9th inning with runners on first and third and one out, Boone did not pinch-hit Trent Grisham for Randal Grichuk. Jazz Chisholm stole second base, putting two runners in scoring position, with the Yankees trailing by two runs. Grichuk struck out. When asked about his failure to use Grisham to pinch hit for Grichuk, Boone’s rationale was that right-handed hitters do better against Bryan Baker. Okay, riddle me this. Why did Boone then pinch-hit Grisham for Jose Caballero, who is also a right-handed hitter, and a better hitter than Grichuk? Boone’s use of logic is in mid-season form. Combining that with a struggling Yankees offense is not a recipe for success. When the announcers are pining for the return of Anthony Volpe as an offensive upgrade, you know things are bad. 

A Few Tidbits:

·       The Yankees managed 5 hits and 3 walks last night, but they struck out 12 times. As far as I know, Nolan Ryan was not pitching against them.

·       Yankees batters failed on 2 ABS challenges and have succeeded on only 2 of their last 13 attempts. 

·       Since their first 3 batters had hits against the A's on Wednesday, the Yankees are 7-86. That is a .081 batting average. That is still better than Ryan McMahon's batting average, by the way.

·      The Yankees 6th through 9th place hitters were 0-15 last night. 

·       Jasson Dominguez is batting .375 in Scranton with 2 home runs, 8 RBI, and 4 stolen bases. He has improved his right-handed hitting and made an outstanding play the other day in left field. By the way, he has played centerfield in two of the last three games, which was his original position. Interesting.

The Yankees hope to return to their winning ways tonight when they face the Rays at 6:10 PM at Tropicana Field. Max Fried, (2-0, 1.35 ERA) will face Nick Martinez, (0-0,2.25 ERA).