About Yesterday: The Yankees Were Shut Down by the Cubs 4-1

About Yesterday: The Yankees Were Shut Down by the Cubs 4-1

By Tim Kabel

July 14, 2025

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The Yankees limped into the All-Star break with a lackluster performance and lost the series to the Chicago Cubs. Whatever supposed momentum the Yankees had from their recent five-game winning streak is gone. They lost six in a row, before winning five in a row, and just lost two more. That's 5-8 in their last 13 games. That's not very good. Included in that string of games is a five-game winning streak. At this point, it is hard to describe the Yankees as anything other than a very streaky, average-at-best team.

Quick Stats – 

·       Cody Bellinger’s 17-game hitting streak was snapped on his 30^th birthday.

·       Giancarlo Stanton hit his 433^rd home run in the second inning. 

·       Anthony Volpe continues to regress and is now batting .214 for the season. His fielding is becoming an issue too.

·       Luis Gil made his first minor league rehab start yesterday. He pitched 3.1 innings in AA. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk and struck out six batters. He reached 97 mph and threw 36 strikes to just 14 balls. That is good news.

·       I listened to part of the game on the radio again. Ricky Ricardo is very good and listening to him and Emmanuel Berbari was quite enjoyable.

·       On July 13^th, 1934, Babe Ruth became the first player to hit 700 home runs in his career. Since then, only three other players have joined him.

·       On July 13^th, 2010, George Steinbrenner passed away.

The Big Story – 

Many Yankees’ fans are frustrated with the way the team has been playing lately. They are also very frustrated with Aaron Boone as the manager. One of the main reasons Brian Cashman and other Yankees’ officials used to justify the hiring of Aaron Boone was that he is a great communicator. He was a broadcaster before he became a manager. Yesterday, he provided an update on Max Fried’s blister. This is what he said: “It's just that (a blister). So, he'll be kind of leaning into all the modalities and all of the tricks that you try and do to deal with blisters. Then we'll see how it lines up for what we want to line them up coming out of the break, based on just how that's recovered.” That is the very definition of the term, “word salad." It is the type of meaningless drivel that is provided to Yankees’ fans by their team’s manager every day. I don't believe this is an act. I don't believe Boone is not allowed to say anything, so he does this instead. If he were not allowed to say anything, he would provide very brief answers that made some semblance of sense. However, I think the answers that Aaron Boone provides to the media are indicative of a larger problem...

Based on statements made by various players over the years and many incidents where players, coaches, or other team personnel seemed to have no idea of what was going on within the organization, as well as the Yankees’ noted lack of fundamentals, I believe that Aaron Boone communicates just as poorly with his players and coaches as he does with everyone else. Clearly, he's a very affable fellow, but he is not a good manager, and he is a terrible communicator. That was supposed to be his strength. If the Yankees’ manager is woefully inadequate in an area that is supposed to be one of his greatest strengths, what does that say about his other skills as a manager?

Player of the Game – 

Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run, which was one of the two hits the Yankees accumulated.

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 one.

Better To Forget-

The offense could not get anything done against Shota Imanaga and the bullpen. 

My Take – 

As noted, I have been a fan of the New York Yankees for fifty years. I know there are some of you who have been fans longer than I have. I have constantly heard from Yankees’ managers, owners, general managers, broadcasters, and players that the Yankees do not settle for anything less than a World Series victory. That is not something that I said or any other person writing for SSTN said. That is what the Yankees’ organization says from top to bottom. Their position is that anything less than a World Series victory is insufficient. The Yankees have not won a World Series since 2009. For a team that states as its mantra that winning the World Series is its goal every single year, that fact thaqt they haven't won for so long is unacceptable.

It amazes me that when I or another writer or a commentator on a radio station says that Aaron Boone is not a good manager and that the Yankees are in a Boone-Swoon, that people will rally to Aaron Boone’s defense. They will say that he has a tremendous winning record. They will say that he doesn't call all the shots. Some people even suggest that he doesn't call any of the shots. If that is the case, then why is he there? There are people who scoff and chortle when they read statements of dissatisfaction with the current state of the Yankees and Aaron Boone’s abilities, or lack thereof, as a manager. Many people think that describing the current state of affairs with the Yankees in a negative way is inaccurate or just plain silly. They will say things like “Yes, maybe the Yankees will only win 91 games this year.” 

Let's take a look at the current situation. Many of us have identified this year's Boone-Swoon as beginning on May 30th, when they opened the series against the Dodgers. Since that date, the Yankees have a record of 18-23. Boone’s defenders will say that this is just a minor blip on the radar or that it's not a real swoon, or that overall, their record is still very good. Well, 18 and 23 is 41 games. That is a quarter of the season. That is not a losing streak. That is a long pattern of playing subpar baseball. That is losing baseball. The most important part about it is that it is the most recent 41 games. That is the team the Yankees are right now. 

The Yankees’ overall record is 53 and 43.The Yankees were 35-20 when they began play on May 30th. They were 15 games over .500. Now, they are 10 games over 500. Many people will look at that and say that I and others are getting worked up over nothing. They will say, “The Yankees are still very good.”  “They still have a winning record.” “This is the 29th year in a row the Yankees entered the All-Star break with a winning record.” These folks will say there is really nothing to worry about and that everything will be fine. However, look at it this way, on May 30th, the Yankees were in first place. They led the division by seven games. Today they are in second place, trailing the Blue Jays by two games. Even worse is the fact that the Red Sox who were below .500 at that time are now in third place, just one game behind the Yankees. It is conceivable that if the Yankees continue playing the way they are, they will be in third place by the end of next weekend.

When you have a team that repeatedly states that anything less than a World Series victory is a failure, it is incongruous to accept Boone-Swoons and a fall from first place in the division. It is incongruous to accept a period of 41 games (a quarter of the season) of sub .500 baseball. That is losing baseball. It is not a slump. It is what the Yankees have become. Will they get back to the team that was fifteen games over .500 at the end of May? I have no idea. However, we have all seen this movie before. Somehow, Aaron Boone always seems to survive. Based on his history as the manager of this team and the way the team is playing right now, is there anyone who can reasonably and rationally put forth a case to believe that the Yankees will win the 2025 World Series with Aaron Boone as the manager?

Next Up-

The Yankees will resume play after the All-Star break by opening a series on Friday, July 18th against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park at 7:15 PM if you would like to know who the starting pitcher will be, read Aaron Boone’s comments above