About Yesterday Afternoon: Angels 11-Yankees 4

About Yesterday Afternoon: The River of Doubt.  Angels 11-Yankees 4

By Tim Kabel

April 17, 2026

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During an expedition in 1913 and 1914, former president Theodore Roosevelt and Brazilian explorer Candido Rondon attempted to chart and navigate the River of Doubt, a 400 mile formerly uncharted Amazon tributary in Brazil. The journey was brutal, leading to the death of some members, a murder within the ranks, and Roosevelt becoming so ill with a bacterial infection and malaria that he almost took his own life to prevent holding back the group. Theodore Roosevelt lost a quarter of his body weight and had lingering health issues, which ultimately led to his early death. Although they did eventually navigate and chart the river which is now called Rio Roosevelt, it was a terrible and harrowing journey.  The 2026 season for the New York Yankees has the appearance of a baseball version of Theodore Roosevelt’s exploration of the River of Doubt. It seems as if it will be a disaster. Furthermore, I don't believe the Yankees will successfully navigate this season.

The Yankees went 7-1 in their first 8 games. Since then, they have gone 3-8. Let's be honest, if it wasn't for Jordan Romano, the Yankees would have lost two more games and would have been swept by the Angels. The Yankees have not won a series since they beat the Marlins.

It must be noted that the Yankees are currently 10-9 and have not really played any top-notch competition. Their starting rotation is not very good. Other than Max Fried and Cam Schlittler, the other pitchers are question marks at best. Will Warren Is more of a #5 starter than a #3 starter. Ryan Weathers, as I have stated before, pitches just well enough to lose. Luis Gil is also unreliable. 

The bullpen has been abysmal. The pitchers are not very good, and Aaron Boone has consistently mishandled them. By constantly using pitchers like Jake Bird, Brent Headrick, and Camilo Doval, Boone has made them even more ineffective and unreliable. We haven't even finished the first month of the season and the bullpen is a disaster area. Let's just say this, if bringing up Angel Chivilli is the answer, I don't want to know what the question is. I firmly believe that having Angel Chivilli pitch in the Major Leagues Is a sign that the world as we know it, is about to end.

Other than Aaron Judge, Ben Rice, and Giancarlo Stanton, the offense has been putrid.

Despite a few big hits against the Angels, Trent Grisham is still batting.155 with 2 home runs and 11 RBI. Cody Bellinger is batting .242 with 1 home run and 6 RBI. Ryan McMahon is batting .119. He has 5 hits, all singles. He has 2 RBI. Randall Grichuk, who was brought in to be a major offensive force from the right side of the plate, has played 11 games and has 1 hit.

The cupboard is bare on every front for the Yankees. I know many people are gleefully anticipating the arrival of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, and Anthony Volpe. Well, as far as Volpe is concerned, Jose Caballero has actually been hitting a lot better lately and has worked his average up to .222, which is higher than Volpe batted in two of his three Major League seasons. I fully expect that even if Volpe bats .100 in his rehab, he will automatically be handed the shortstop job once again. As far as Cole and Rodon are concerned, they are unlikely to return to the starting rotation for the Yankees before June. Remember that when they do return, they will be very limited in the number of pitches and innings they will be allowed to throw. That means the Yankees will need to rely even more on their awful bullpen.

We are journeying down the River of Doubt. Instead of being led by Teddy Roosevelt, The Yankees are being led by Teddy Ruxpin.

A Few Tidbits:

·       The Yankees are 2-3 In games started by Max Fried. They need to win the games he and Cam Schlittler pitch because they can't rely on the other starters.

·       This was a rare loss for the Yankees in a game in which both Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run. The Yankees record in such games is 53-8. 

·       Aaron Judge hit his 89th career first inning home run.

·       Mike Trout became the first visiting player in history to hit a home run in four straight games at Yankee Stadium. He also became the fourth player to hit five home runs in a series against the Yankees. The others were Jimmy Foxx, Darrell Evans, and George Bell.

·       The Yankees lost for the seventh time in nine games.

·       Max Fried allowed 5 runs and 3 hits in 5.1 innings.

·       Aaron Boone was ejected for the first time this season after the 8th inning. Does he have to come back?

·       Oswald Peraza (remember him?) had a double and a home run and drove in three runs. He also had a stolen base. He is batting .269 for the season. Against the Yankees in this series, he had 5 hits in 10 at bats. 3 of those hits were for extra bases. For perspective, Ryan McMahon has 5 hits total in 2026. None of them were for extra bases.

·      Jasson Dominguez Is batting .327 with 2 home runs, 8 RBI, and 8 stolen bases, with a .947 OPS. He has done that in 55 at bats. Remember, 55 at bats is the magic number that the Yankees feel Anthony Volpe needs in his rehab before he can come back to the Majors. How many at bats does Dominguez need?

·      Spencer Jones is batting .254 with 3 home runs, 19 RBI, and 4 stolen bases. His OPS is .849. He has had 59 at bats.

The Yankees hope to win a game tonight when they face the Royals at 7:05 PM at Yankee Stadium.  Cam Schlittler, (2-1, 2.49 ERA) will face Michael Wacha, (2-0, 0.43 ERA).