TORONTO — After clawing their way back from an 8–0 deficit in the fourth inning and tying the game at 9–9 in the eighth, the New York Yankees appeared poised for what would have been their most improbable and thrilling win of the season. A comeback from eight runs down is a rarity in Major League Baseball — and the Yankees were on the brink of making it happen.
However, the celebration never came. In the bottom of the ninth, reliever Devin Williams issued two walks — one of them intentional — and then spiked a changeup that skipped to the backstop for a costly wild pitch. The Blue Jays capitalized on the miscue, scoring the game-winning run and handing the Yankees yet another painful loss within the division.
The defeat marks a particularly bitter pill to swallow for a Yankees team that continues to struggle mightily against American League East opponents. Despite flashes of resilience and offensive firepower, the team now faces urgent questions.
In the wake of this latest setback, a few key issues must be addressed immediately if the Yankees hope to remain in postseason contention.
Infield:
You know what does not make sense? Moving an elite second basemen to third base for a player who is borderline unplayable on both sides of the ball. That’s what the Yankees have done. DJ LeMahieu should not be starting on any contending team at this point in his career, let alone getting his preference on position, making the team weaker. Putting Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second base would make the Yankees infield defense so much better.
The bottom line to this is, if LeMahieu is starting regularly for the Yankees come August first, the seriousness and urgency of winning should be questioned. The Yankees need to look at some third basemen ahead of the trade deadline. Ke’Bryan Hayes to me would be a really strong option for the Yankees. The bat has not been there, but his defense is second to none and that is what the Yankees need. Plus, I believe putting Hayes on a team with the expectation to win, and a better coaching staff, might help his bat come alive.
Anthony Volpe is a whole seperate issue. Here is a fun fact about Volpe: in 2025, Anthony Volpe has left 151 runners on base — that leads ALL of MLB. Volpe has been a nightmare this season on all sides of the ball and other teams know his weakness and that is how they are pitching the rest of the team. I think it’s time to either sit Anthony Volpe or consider sending him down to AAA.
Bullpen:
The Yankees bullpen has been absolutely taxed over the past few weeks, stumbling into the All-Star break next week. We are at the point right now that I really don’t trust anyone to come out of the bullpen and get three outs. Luke Weaver has not been the same since coming back from injury, which I think can be fixed over time, but putting Weaver in with runners on base at this point is just asking for a disaster.
The loss of Fernando Cruz to the bullpen is absolutely detrimental. For whatever reason, the Yankees bullpen has been unable to function without Cruz in the pen’.
Bad news for the Yankees, Fernando Cruz will likely not be back till the end of August or beginning of September.
Devin Williams has been better as of late, but he did give up the go-ahead runs last night, so hopefully last night was just the anomaly for Williams.
Mark Leiter Jr. has been so overused and has been ineffective out of the pen’, that at this point, he is borderline unusable in a big spot/
Tim Hill has been great against lefties, but has not been great against righties, and we saw that rear its ugly head when Hill gave up a homer to Davis Schneider.
The Yankees are going to need to acquire at least two high-leverage arms and really make this a super bullpen. Brian Cashman can take a page out of his own book and make a trade similar to one made back in 2017, where Cashman acquired David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle.