Yanks Lose To O's
- Paul Semendinger
- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read
by Paul Semendinger
May 14, 2026
***
There isn't much to say about yesterday's game.. What follows are some bullet points for a game that was better not seen (and wasn't by many because the Yankees put it on some streaming service).
Max Fried was the starter. He did not pitch well. Fried lasted all of three innings and left the game trailing 3-0 and was tagged with the loss.
Worse, the reason Fried was pulled from the game was because he experienced elbow soreness. Fried claims that he is not worried about this. But, the Yankees are sending him for imaging.
Max Fried's outing before this was not top notch which could indicate that has not been right for more than just last night's start.
The Yankees' track record with injuries is very poor. The way the Yankees handle injuries they "aren't concerned about" is very poor. The Yankees' honesty when discussing injured players is very poor.
The Yankees have not earned the trust of their fans, in any way, when it comes to injuries. Every fan should be concerned right now - and every fan must realize that whatever information that is provided by the team must be taken with a grain of salt. Until Max Fried pitches again, and pitches like the ace that he is, there will be many, myself included, that will suspect that he is not 100%.
The Yankees have a long history of sending players who are not 100% and not physically ready to play into games - a practice that seems to exacerbate injuries and problems.
Anthony Volpe returned to the starting lineup. He went 0-for-3. He also made an error.
Anthony Volpe was hitting all of .221 in the minor leagues this year and .205 at Triple-A. Volpe has done nothing this season to earn back the starting shortstop position.
Overall the Yankees managed one hit. One.
The Yankees have now lost back-to-back series.
The Yankees have lost five of their last six games.
We have made this point a million times over the entirety of the Boone Era - When the Yankees win, they cannot explain why. When they lose, they cannot explain why. The manager never has any real answers. All he says, all the team says, are platitudes. "We're gonna get 'em." "It's the right in front of us." "He's coming around." None of this inspires any confidence from the fans. We have seen this long tired boring act before - many times.
The fact that the Yankees keep trying to sell their fans on this long tired act - is, in many ways, insulting.
The team cannot claim to be serious about winning World Series while operating in this manner and with this manager.
We are past the "small sample size" portion of the season. Many many many fans were frustrated that the Yankees brought back Trent Grisham. Grisham's track record as a hitter is very poor. He had a big season last year that looked to be an extreme outlier. This season he is batting .175 over 137 at bats. This is not a surprise and should not be a surprise. This was very predictable.
Grisham batted under .200 in 2022. Grisham batted under .200 in 2023. Grisham batted under .200 in 2024.
The Yankees continually try to "sell" the fans on players who have outlier seasons and claim that they figured it out, that the performance can (and will) be replicated, and on and on. The fanbase, or most of it, at least, doesn't but any of this any longer, and hasn't for a long time. The fans have the right, they have earned it, to distrust the Yankees' decision-making and the platitudes they offer the fans. The fact that Trent Grisham cannot hit Major League pitching is not a surprise. At all.
It has been pointed out that Trent Grisham's Statcast numbers are strong. His hard hit rate and wOBA and xwOBA and all the rest look good. We see this a lot. We are told, "He hits into bad luck." I don't trust much of those numbers and much of those stats. We see this every year. "The numbers say he should be great," but they aren't.
You know what I want to see? Actual results. That's what matters.
Jazz Chisholm is batting .203.
Jasson Dominguez, currently injured, is hitting .200
Ryan McMahon is batting under .200 (.196)
J.C Escarra is hitting under .200 (.182).
Austin Wells is hitting under .200 (.180).
Spencer Jones his hitting .083. He has struck out 6 times in 12 at bats.
The Yankees are off today. They begin a series with the Mets in Queens on Friday.
