Yanks Drop Another, 2-0 To Jays

By Andy Singer

May 21st, 2026

The Yanks are certainly reeling after their second consecutive loss to the Blue Jays 2-0 on Thursday evening. They are now just 4-9 in their last 13 games beginning with their series against the Brewers. Tonight showed the worst of what the Yanks have to offer when Ben Rice and Aaron Judge are kept at bay. The Yankees pitched well, finally getting 5 solid innings from Carlos Rodon; the bullpen was solid, possibly having found a new weapon; the Yankees didn't have any major blunders on the basepaths or in the field; and yet they found a way to lose.

The Blue Jays do not have a good record this year, but it feels like their best baseball is truly in front of them, to steal a phrase used all too often by Aaron Boone. Each of the games in this 4-game series felt like a playoff game. The Yankees came into Wednesday riding high, and leave this series feeling completely stalled. The offense put together almost nothing over the last 2 games despite getting multiple gutsy pitching performances. A split against this group shouldn't feel this bad, but it does right now.

I'm pinch-hitting for tonight's recap, so I'm going to give some raw, reasonably unfiltered thoughts that occurred to me watching tonight's game below:

• Carlos Rodon looked pretty good to me tonight. I never felt like he was in complete control the way he can be at his best, but he was more than good enough to get the job done. Once he allowed a quick first inning run off a Vladito walk/stolen base (!) and a Varsho RBI double, Rodon really settled down, allowing just 2 additional hits and walks apiece through his next 4 innings. Rodon struck out 7 on good pitch sequencing and pure movement. This wasn't Rodon at his best, but he was more than good enough for the Yankees to win.

• That's not to say that I don't have concerns about Rodon, though. Rodon's velocity was down again for the 2nd start in a row. Here's Rodon's average fastball velocity in his 3 starts this season: 95.7 MPH, 94.9 MPH, and 93.6 MPH. For a guy that had a full buildup to make it back to big league action, it's alarming to see a full 2 tick drop in velocity without a significant number of pitches thrown. I really hope this is a short dead arm period. To play devil's advocate a bit: Rodon threw harder from the 3rd inning on tonight, almost like his arm took a minute to open up a bit. The skeptic in me understands that feeling all too well, which makes me think that Rodon isn't all the way back yet.

• Rodon's command definitely isn't all the way where he wants it yet. He consistently missed with his 4-seam fastball above the zone, and his slider was all over the place. Again, his stuff is good enough that he can be effective without premium command, but he definitely got pushed into longer counts because of the lack of command.

• Overall, Rodon showed a ton of guts. He really had his C- stuff and command tonight, but he made great pitches right when he needed them, and still managed to get the Blue Jays to whiff at 38% of the pitches they swung at. If this is Rodon at C-, I can't wait to see him with his A+ stuff.

• I very much wonder if the Yankees have found one of the missing pieces to this bullpen. For the second night in a row, rookie Yovanny Cruz entered a tight ballgame. Again, he showed fearlessness and premium stuff to attack a potent Blue Jays lineup. Cruz lives at 99-100 with an incredibly easy delivery. The fastball is a bit flat, but due to its velocity, hitters have to sit on it, which makes Cruz's solid slider play way up. The Yankees needed at least one more reliever with premium velocity to change the way hitters attack the rest of the bullpen, and Cruz is staking his claim to be one of those guys. I've been interested to see what he could do since I watched him for the first time in Spring Training, and he looked as awesome tonight as he did the night before. The box score will tell you that he needed Headrick to bail him out, but the reality was different watching the game. Bringing in Headrick was about playing matchups and recognizing that Cruz was pitching two days in a row.

• The Yankees sat Austin Wells against a lefty "opener." I wouldn't be shocked if he gets more than one day off with how lost he looks at the plate.

• JC Escarra was 0-2 with a walk. His numbers look abysmal. In two of his at-bats this evening, he ripped liners down the RF line that just hooked foul to the wall side of the first base bag. An eyelash the other way, and Escarra would have had 2 doubles. Woulda-coulda-shoulda, I know, but I do believe that this guy can hit. He didn't have a lot to show for it, but I thought he took better at bats than nearly anyone else on the team.

• Similarly, I have to give credit where credit is due: Ryan McMahon has serious opposite field pop. The much maligned 3B absolutely smacked a middle-away fastball to the left-center gap in the 2nd inning that I really thought was gone off of the bat. A homer would have tied the game. It might have changed the complexion of this game in a real way. According to Statcast, it would have been a homer in 19/30 stadiums in baseball. Alas, it wasn't meant to be, and the Yanks wasted a rare runner in scoring position. I still don't think McMahon will hit enough to justify starting for the remainder of the season, but this was a good piece of hitting.

• Even when he was producing big numbers earlier this season, I didn't think Judge looked quite as dominant as previous seasons. Tonight, he was 0-4 with a strikeout and a game-killing GIDP. In 2 separate at-bats, Judge fouled off pitches that he almost always turns into productive swings. I have felt that way often watching Judge this season. The numbers say that Judge's swing is just a bit slower this year. I can't help but wonder if we are watching the beginning of Judge's decline. I think he's still a great player, but maybe slightly less powerful than the unquestioned best hitter in baseball.

• In 54 plate appearances since missing time for getting hit in the hand at 1B, Ben Rice has hit .176/.222/.431, with 2 BB and 14 K. That was coming into tonight, before going 1-4 with 1 K. Watching him swing, I can't help but think that Ben Rice isn't totally healed yet. This team can't survive both Ben Rice and Aaron Judge not being at their best as currently constructed.

• I noted that the game felt like it was over after Aaron Judge's GIDP to end the 8th inning sucked the air out of Yankee Stadium, but an earlier play and decision really indicated that Thursday wouldn't go the Yankees' way. Brent Headrick relieved Yovanny Cruz, and really looked good. After getting the first out in the inning, Aaron Boone went to the bullpen with George Springer coming to the plate. Springer is a dead-fastball hitter. To whom did Boone turn? Camilo Doval, who is known as the best fastball-dominant pitcher in the Yankee bullpen. I said out loud to no one but myself in my kitchen, "this will not end well." I was right, but for the wrong reason. Doval threw almost nothing but sliders, punctuating 3 straight with a sinker to bring the count to an even 2-2. Doval, as one would expect with a game plan that didn't suit his strengths, hung his 4th slider, and Springer whacked it for a solo shot to make the game 2-0. Doval got the next two outs to end the inning with ease. I'm not happy with any of it. Boone did not put Doval in a position to succeed, and Doval's game plan (specific to Springer) went against what he does well naturally. None of it was right.

• Jazz Chisholm, who has played quite well recently, went 0-4 with 4 K's. I think he should wear George Springer's pants tomorrow.

• Anthony Volpe went 0-3 with 2 K's tonight. Caballero should be the starting SS when he returns tomorrow night.

• Spencer Jones hit one ball hard, and it went for a single. He also stole a base, which is great. He still looks completely overmatched as a big league hitter right now. He's going to get some run now with Grisham's tweaked knee. I hope he proves me wrong, but I stand by my scouting report of him: he won't make enough contact to access his truly prodigious power with enough frequency to be a useful player.

• The pitching staff should get more credit than I've given them thus far. They really did a good job tonight. I've complained enough about the bullpen that they deserve a shoutout when they pitch well.

The Yanks start a huge weekend series with the Rays tomorrow. The team is reeling; they need some wins here. A bad weekend will really make winning the AL East an uphill climb. Gerrit Cole makes his first start in a real big league game since October 2024 tomorrow. Let's hope that this is the beginning of a turnaround.