Fundamentals: One Post Says It All (Again)
by Paul Semendinger
October 13, 2026
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For year many here we have stated that the Yankees don't play sound fundamental baseball.
Over the years, we have also demonstrated many times how true this is. We have pointed out positioning, footwork, knowing which base to cover, and when...
We have stressed the importance of taking pitches, working the count, walking, running the bases well...
We have shared examples of opposing players, coaches, managers, analysts, experts, and others making statements on how poorly the Yankees operate when it comes to fundamentals.
We have even shared statements by former Yankees, some of their greats, even, regarding how bad the Yankees are in this regard.
As part of this we have shared examples by all of the above regarding the atmosphere around the Yankees, from the top down.
Creating a winning (championship) environment simply is not part of how this team has operated during the entirety of Aaron Boone Era, and really since 2010 which is most of the Brian Cashman Era and basically the entire Hal Steinbrenner Era.
On and on and on....
I started making this point the moment Aaron Boone was hired. I had concerns about how he would teach and stress the fundamentals - the little things that make a huge difference in creating a winning team. (I'll run that article again soon.) From the start, Aaron Boone's teams were not fundamentally sound. And Aaron Boone has never, in nine years, figured out how to get his players to play solid fundamental baseball.
It is no surprise that the Yankees don't win championships because they play a very poor brand of baseball. They simply do. Year-after-year, the Yankees play a very poor brand of baseball. The blame for that falls entirely on the manager and his coaching staff, and indirectly on the executives that continue to employ the manager (and give him contract extensions) in light of this very obvious fact.
Here is a post from Twitter (X) that shows, once again, how in a playoff game, the second baseman on the Yankees had no idea how to properly play a bunt. There simply is no excuse for this. These are Major League baseball players.
Until the Yankees address this very real concern, they will not win a World Series. Smart teams, like the Dodgers, know the proper way to play the game. The Yankees, under Aaron Boone and his staff, simply, do not.
Take a look:
The BME is only here because of Hal giving the OK to BC for a complete Analytical Takeover at the end of the 2017 season. That means the coaching is by the numbers, graphs, charts, etc. Same with defensive positioning, hitting, & pitching. It's all about athleticism, not baseball talent or know how.
Paul, you keep pointing out about acquiring players and thrn the Yankees moving them around the diamond. How does this exactly jive with fundamentals? It doesn't. When they put up the pitches of a long AB, if a guy has 5 pitches, you will see all 5 within the first 7-8 pitches. Where'd the show pitch? Where's the FB command? Where's teaching these guys to foul pitches…
That, is embarrassing. But KiKe is a winner and has baseball instincts. Jazz? It also tells me a lot about their preparation. Kind of like Game 5, 5th inning when Cole didn't cover first. PREPARATION!!
baseball in the major leagues changed.
some skills were de-emphasized as the game was "modernized" to feature power and name recognition.
there are several reasons for this,
the result has been a marked decrease in bunting and players have not been as extensively trained in how to bunt.
it will change
and is now beginning to change.
MLB is remembering that it must not be all about watching large and heavily muscled 35 year old guys angling to launch every pitch into the night sky.