The Blue Jays Series

By Sal Maiorana

May 22, 2026

***

Sal Maiorana shares his thoughts on the Yankees.

Here is an edited version of Sal's latest article.

For Sal's complete analysis on the New York Yankees, you can subscribe to Sal Maiorana's free Pinstripe People Newsletter at https://salmaiorana.beehiiv.com/subscribe.

***

All I know is I sure can’t wait until the Yankees’ annual June Boone Swoon begins because it can’t possibly be as bad as their Dismay in May, right?

What could be worse than the way the lifeless, feeble Yankees have played for the past two-plus weeks? We can only hope that this is the low point of 2026 because if there’s still a June Boone Swoon to come, the way the Rays are playing, the Yankees are going to be out of realistic contention in the AL East before the summer even heats up.

***

The Yankees were talking tough about how they were out to avenge what happened against the Jays last year when they lost 11 of 17 games including three of four in the AL Divisional Series. Yeah, way to back it up boys. They were fortunate to win the first two, holding on for dear life at the end because their bullpen was dying to blow both, and they completely went to sleep in the last two and scored one run on nine hits combined and were deservedly booed off the field Thursday night.

It just feels like we’re on wash, rinse, repeat for 16 years running with this team. It’s the same bad baseball year after year. Once again they teased us with a good start and were 26-12 at the close of play May 7, a half-game ahead of the Rays, and all the analysts were already booking Midtown hotels for the World Series.

Since then they’ve lost nine of 13 games, looked terrible in the process, and folks, they are 4.5 games behind Tampa Bay and it’s six in the loss column. That’s right, six games in the loss column which is the one that matters.

And let’s face it, as I said above, that deficit is very likely going to increase this weekend because right now the Yankees are no match for the Rays who are scorching hot and simply don’t lose, as their current 21-4 run would attest. Honestly, I have zero ambition to watch any of those games, and that includes the long-awaited return of Gerrit Cole Friday because there really can’t be a worse team for Cole to be pitching against in his first outing since October 2024.

***

During this 13-game nightmare, the Yankees are batting .198 as a team, they’re OPS is .627, they’re hitting .186 with runners in scoring position, and they’re striking out in 28.7% of their at bats which is the worst in MLB in that span.

I’d say it’s stunning, but it’s not stunning at all. This what they do. The offense is no different than it is every other year - they hit a bunch of home runs, and they do nothing else, so when they don’t hit homers like the last two games in this series, they’re in big trouble.

Oh, but if you listen to the analytics nerds, they’ll tell you that the Yankees are still a great team because of their positive run differential. To me, that’s the most meaningless measurement in baseball.

The Yankees are plus-67 right now which is fourth-best in MLB, but here’s why it’s meaningless. The Yankees have won four games this season - 12-4 over the Astros, 11-3 and 12-1 over the Orioles, and 13-4 over the Royals - which adds up to plus-36 of that plus-67. Great, but memo to the nerds: That only counts for four wins. In games decided by two runs or less, they’re 11-13, and they’re a plus-3. That counts as 13 losses. Put it together and just in that sample size, they are plus-39 in run differential, but their record is 4-13.

Run differential doesn’t mean anything if you inflate it by winning a few blowout games but then lose a bunch of close games.

“We've got some work to do,” Aaron Judge said. “We don't like splitting a series; we'll take care of business the next one.”

More big talk. Back it up this weekend against what has been the best team in the AL, a team that already swept you a month ago.