About Last Night: The Yankees Were Phlattened by The Phillies 12-5

About Last Night: The Yankees Were Phlattened by The Phillies 12-5

By Tim Kabel

July 26, 2025

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The Yankees came home after losing two of three games in Toronto and splitting the first six games after the All-Star break. They were looking to turn things around against the Phillies. Instead, the Yankees were turned around and knocked over by the Phillies. The Boone-Swoon that many claim is not happening, rolls on like a mighty river. Denying the existence of the Boone-Swoon at this point would be like Auntie Em telling Dorothy, “It’s just a little windy, dear. Fasten your bonnet. It will blow over.”

Quick Stats – 

·       The Yankees have made nine errors in their last four games. At least they're good at something.

·       Kyle Schwarber’s first two-run home run in the fifth inning off Will Warren was his 1,000th hit and 319th home run, which is the most home runs for a player reaching 1,000 hits. 

·       The Yankees have made 14 errors in July, while allowing 32 home runs. The bright side is that there are still a few days left in the month.

·       The best part of the game was that it was on Apple TV. So, nobody saw it. The way the Yankees are playing these days, they should call it Rotten Apple TV.

·       On May 30th, the Yankees led the American League by 7 games. They have gone 21-27 since, and now trail the Blue Jays by 5 1/2 games. I don't think we can call it a minor setback anymore.

·       Luke Weaver gave up his 7th home run in his last 15 outings. I always thought it was Earl Weaver who liked three run home runs, not Luke. But what do I know? I think the Yankees are in a Boone-Swoon, after all.

·       On July 25^th, 2000, the Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 19-1. They had five home runs, including one by Clay Bellinger. 25 years later, his son hit one in last night's loss.

The Big Story – 

There are still two months left in the season. The Yankees can turn this mess around. But if you ask any reasonable person if they look to be capable of doing so, the most optimistic answer you would get is “maybe”. The Yankees do not inspire confidence in any way. The bullpen gave up ten runs last night. The fielding is woeful. The fundamentals are practically nonexistent. The hitting is inconsistent. Let me ask a question, when everything is going wrong on the team, who do you look to? Who is responsible? In most cases, you would say it is the manager. But for some reason many people have enrobed Aaron Boone 65 layers of bubble wrap. He is protected more carefully than my injured leg.

We all know that Boone offers no hope, leadership, optimism, or even an explanation as to why the Yankees have not played well since the end of May. It's the end of July now. As I noted above, there are two months left in the season. However, we saw what Aaron Boone did with the most recent two months. Do we really want to see what he can do with the next two months? The only response that Aaron Boone has regarding the Yankees dismal play is to become exacerbated with the media, defiant, and churlish. That doesn't help. 

Speaking of help, the Yankees acquired Ryan McMahon yesterday to play third base. I have read mixed reviews regarding the acquisition. It did not cost a ton in prospects, although Alan B could probably provide greater detail than I can. Unlike Eugenio Suarez, McMahon is not a rental, as he is tied up through 2027. He is also a better defender than Suarez and may hit well in Yankee Stadium. He is a lot better than anyone else who has played third base for the Yankees this year, with the exception of Oswaldo Cabrera, who is out for the year with an injury. The way the Yankees have been giving away games lately, it would have made more sense to acquire Ed McMahon. At least he could have sat next to Aaron Boone during the press conferences and guffaw happily. 

Players of the Game – 

Giancarlo Stanton, Cody Bellinger, Anthony Volpe, and Austin Wells each hit a solo home run.

Notable Performance – 

Will Warren was not brilliant, but he kept the Yankees in the game. When he left the mound, the score was tied at two.

Better To Forget-

That the bullpen even existed. 

My Take – 

This is my 500th article for SSTN. While I am not about to set off fireworks, I am happy to have been here for this long. I hope other people are happy about it too. However, I'm not happy about watching Aaron Boone as the manager throughout that entire period. When I started, I did not think Aaron Boone was a good manager. I still don't. In fact, he's probably worse now than he was then because he hasn't improved in any way. In fact, he makes the same mistakes over and over again. Also, he has somehow deluded himself into believing that he is a very good manager. He is prideful, arrogant, and condescending. When you believe that you are right and everyone else is wrong and that things are going wrong despite you, not because of you, things will never improve. Aaron Boone has no motivation to change. If you were to suggest that to him, he would simply scoff at you and offer some inane and condescending platitude.

One of the worst aspects about Aaron Boone as a manager is that he has absolutely no ability to develop, nurture, or guide young players. That is part of the job. He dismisses himself from that as if it is somehow beneath him. He is detached and disinterested. Remember, the Core Four developed for the most part under Joe Torre. He knew how to work with people, baseball players, and especially, young players. And guess what, he won four World Series as the Yankees’ manager. How many has Aaron Boone won?

Once again, Jasson Dominguez was out of the lineup against a relatively mediocre right-handed pitcher last night. Ben Rice wasn't in the lineup either until he came in to pinch hit. I know Boone has to juggle players, but he often seems to make the wrong decision. Speaking of young players, Anthony Volpe has regressed tremendously. What has Aaron Boone done about that? Apparently, nothing. Anthony Volpe did win a Gold Glove in his first season. Now he leads the Major Leagues in errors. He has not developed as a hitter and is among the worst in the Major Leagues right now. He used to be a very good base runner, but he is not anymore. There has to be a reason for Volpe’s regression. You and I could speculate as to what it is, but Aaron Boone should figure it out. That's his job. If he can't do it directly, he should have people on his staff who can do it. I think at this point, the Yankees need to get someone else to play shortstop for the rest of the season. That doesn't mean that Anthony Volpe should never play shortstop again for the Yankees. He needs to be fixed. If the Yankees don't do it, another team will. 

If the Yankees want to salvage the season, they better act fast. Here is my solution.: The Yankees should continue to make upgrades in their players. They need someone to play shortstop, they need more relief pitchers, and they could use a solid starting pitcher. However, the biggest thing they must do is fire Aaron Boone immediately. I don't think Brad Ausmus is the answer at this point. He has become so closely associated with Boone that I don't think there would be much of a difference. I'm proposing something out-of-the-box. After all, what do they have to lose? More games? They're doing that anyway. 

I would bring up Shelley Duncan from Scranton. He has the team in first place. He knows how to develop and work with young players. He has been in the system for a few years now. He is not a broadcaster currently. I think he could help the current youngsters on the Yankees’ roster and any others who might be coming, such as Spencer Jones. We have seen what Aaron Boone can do. We are pretty sure about what he will do. Even if the Yankees crawl out of the current Boone-Swoon, the playoffs are not guaranteed and the division will be difficult to regain from the Blue Jays, who have already clinched the season series against the Yankees. Why do we need to go through this again? I don't want to write another 500 articles about Aaron Boone saying, “It's right there in front of us.” Enough is enough. It's time for the Yankees to go to Duncan.

Next Up-

The Yankees will play the second game of the three-game series against the Phillies today at 1:05 PM at Yankee Stadium. The Phillies will use Ranger Suarez, (7-4, 2.66 ERA). The Yankees will send Marcus Stroman, (2-1, 5.64 ERA) to the mound. Let's hope Ranger is out of range and the Yankees win.