About Last Night: Yanks Lose To Reds

by Paul Semendinger

June 24, 2025

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Last night, the Yankees played the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati. The Yankees scored a run in the first inning on a solo homer by Aaron Judge. They didn't again score the rest of the game.

Quick Stats:

• The Yankees went 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position

• The Yankees struck out 13 times

• Giancarlo Stanton, who has 1 RBI, batted fourth. He struck out three times

The Game:

The Yankees jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first on Aaron Judge's 28th home run of the year.

In the bottom of the inning, spot starter Allan Winans retired the Reds in order. It was a good start for the pitcher just called up from the farm.

The Yankees blew chances to score runs in the second and third innings. (More on this below.) Then they did nothing in the fourth inning with the batters being retired in order.

Allan Winans, who had thrown all of 25 pitches, combined, in the first three innings, and was doing very well, had trouble in the fourth. He hit a batter, gave up a triple (and a run), then a sac fly (to give the Reds a 2-1 lead) and then a homer to Gavin Lux to make it 3-1 in favor of the Reds.

The Yankees had two on and one out in the fifth inning. You know by reading this that they didn't score there either.

In the fifth, Winans hit a batter and gave up a one-out hit to end his night. Ian Hamilton came in, walked a batter, and gave up an RBI single to Elly De La Cruz and the Reds took a 4-1 lead.

In the top of the eighth, Cody Bellinger doubled, Aaron Judge then walked. With no outs, the typing run was at the plate. Giancarlo Stanton struck out. Jazz Chisholm struck out, and Anthony Volpe grounded out.

The Reds scored twice in the 8th to put the game out of reach. One run scored on Elly De La Cruz's solo homer.

Yankees Player of the Game:

Cody Bellinger: 3-for4, 2 doubles

Player of the Game:

Elly De La Cruz: 3-for-4, triple, HR, 3 RBI, 2 runs

My Take:

Because it's played every day, baseball is a game that puts us on highs and lows as we root for our team. When Aaron Judge homered to start a game, there was a feeling of, "Hey, maybe he's hot again. This could be the start of something great." As Allan Winans went through the first few innings and seemed to retire the Reds easily, it seemed as if if the Yankees found a hidden gem. Alas, none of it lasted.

During the broadcast, Paul O'Neill told a story of how Buck Showalter used to communicate with his players. If O'Neill was not going to start a game, Showalter would actually walk out to right field to let O'Neill know. I have never heard any stories of Aaron Boone communicating like that with his players. In response to this some might say, "It's a different game today." My response to that would be, "It doesn't have to be." A good manager should talk to his players, meet them where they are, and communicate clearly with them. Aaron Boone is supposed to be a great communicator, but time and again we hear stories, and he even tells them himself, about how he doesn't talk with his players. I see that as a huge problem. I think that's been a problem since Boone took over as manager.

One knock on the Yankees is they fail often to score runs when they should. In the second inning, they had runners on first and third and one out. They failed to score a run. In the third inning, they had a leadoff double. They also couldn't score that run. This is where the narrative that so many mock comes from - "The Yankees hit too many homers." Many don't truly understand what that means. That phrase means that the Yankees, all too often, only score when they hit homers and they fail to score runs in other times. They score a lot of runs across a season overall because they do hit a lot of homers, but if they'd get more singles and doubles in certain spots, they'd be a better club and they'd win more games. "The Yankees hit too many homers" means that in far too many games, the Yankees only score when they hit home runs.

Also when there is a pattern like this (the team failing year after year to advance runners and score them) and there is one manager the entire time that the problem exists, the natural inclination is to look to that manager and wonder if his approach is the problem. Since 2018 when Aarone Boone started, the coaches have been changed a number of times. Most of the players have also changed. But the manager remains and so does the same problem. It's difficult to draw any other conclusion than that there is something lacking in the way the club is instructed and also in the manager's game tactics and approach. We see this problem year-after-year. If it's not the manager, what is it? (The only Yankees hitters from the 2018 club that are on the 2025 team are Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.)

It is somewhat fun that the top four hitters in the Yankees' lineup last night were all MVP winners. Of course, only one of them is playing at an MVP level this season. Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, and Rogers Hornsby also won MVP awards, but I don't want them in my lineup in 2025.

Jeimer Candelario was just released by the Reds. He wasn't good in 2024. He hasn't been good this year, but from 2020-23, he batted .254/58/216 with 9.4 WAR. I believe he can be acquired now for the MLB minimum salary. Is he worth taking a flier on? On one hand, he is a third baseman having played 698 games there in his career. This is something EJ and I discussed on the SSTN Podcast last night. (The short answer is no, in order for the Yankees to truly build a solid championship team, they need players who would be a bigger upgrade than Candelario.)

Here's a stat that will shock many readers: Giancarlo Stanton has had a WAR of 1.0 or better in an entire season only once from 2019 to today. (Yes, you read that correctly. Once.)

Here is Stanton's WAR seaso-by-season:

2019 = 0.4

2020 = 0.6

2021 = 3.1

2022 = 0.7

2023 = -0.8

2024 = 0.7

Total over 6 years = 4.7 WAR (less than 1 WAR per season)

I do not believe that Giancarlo Stanton should be hitting fourth by any stretch of the imagination. This is not a one year thing. This is not a player who needs to find his timing. This is a player who has not been much better than a replacement player for the last seven seasons. But the way the Yankees' operate is that once he's back, he is treated like then player he was a long long time ago. This is a problem.

Over their last 23 games, the Yankees are 10-13. When the Yankees went 14-9 in their first 23 games, fans were talking as if this team had already won the World Series. As has happened far too often, the Yankees could not sustain that solid pace to begin the year.

This 23 game stretch is concerning because losing a lot in the summer has become a pattern for the Yankees.

Can the Yankees turn this all around? Of course. Is it also concerning that they go through periods like this year-after-year? Yes, indeed.

Maybe it'll change for the good starting tonight.

Next Up:

Carlos Rodon takes the mound tonight for the second game of this three game set. Game time is 7:10 p.m.

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Note - The image today was created by Google Gemini.