The Athletic | Chris Kirschner ($): Aaron Boone is perhaps the most critiqued man in New York sports, and whether fair or foul in general he received a lot of criticism for how he handled the Yankees’ Game 1 loss. After pulling Max Fried following 6.1 innings of shutout ball, his first choice out of the ‘pen imploded as Luke Weaver coughed up the lead, and the lefty platoon bats that Boone started over regulars Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ben Rice didn’t contribute enough to win out. Personally, I wouldn’t
say this was so much a fault of Boone’s as it was the Yankees failing to execute, but it played into a much larger narrative of Boone getting out-managed by his Boston counterpart Alex Cora, who rode his ace Garrett Crochet for 7.2 innings before handing the ball over to his closer Aroldis Chapman.
However, the narrative flipped over the remainder of the series. Boone let Carlos Rodón argue for his case to stay in Game 2 and gave them an additional inning of work, escaping out of a jam before he caused another one and then pushed the right button by summoning Fernando Cruz to escape that one. Then he rode his rookie arm for eight dazzling innings of work to secure the series victory, and his defensive substitution of Ryan McMahon for Amed Rosario paid off when McMahon flipped into the Red Sox dugout to secure an out. Cora, meanwhile, lifted Brayan Bello early in Game 2 and taxed his bullpen heavily entering the do-or-die Game 3, and subsequently let Connelly Early out to dry in the fourth inning as his defense did him no favors and forced him to throw over 30 pitches and give up the only four runs of the game. The managerial advantage went New York’s way, and for the first time since both skippers were hired the series tipped in their favor as well.
NY Daily News | Gary Phillips ($): Cam Schlittler, as mentioned, arrived on the national stage with his eight shutout innings against the Sox, and it was fitting that they were the opponent he dominated. Schlittler grew up a Sox fan in deep Boston territory, attending Walpole High School before going on to Northeastern University, and has always held the city in high esteem even if he now plays for their archrivals. In May, Schlittler finished his game with Double-A Somerset early and on a whim asked if he could get tickets to a Sox-Mets game going on an hour away. Schlittler treated it like an extra scouting mission, getting to see the big leagues from a slightly different perspective than the glimpses he’d seen in spring camp, and it’s part of a larger commitment Schlittler has to constantly work on growing as a professional. That extra attention to preparing led to the season he’s enjoyed this year, rocketing from Double-A to the majors and a spot in the Yankees’ rotation as a key contributor to their playoff push.
WFAN | Ryan Chichester: Our old PSA friend Chichester took it upon himself to try and rank the top 10 Yankees pitching performances over the Wild Card era after Schlittler’s debut warranted some debate about where it would rank in Yankees history. There’s some iconic performances to remember here, but Schlittler does well for himself thanks in large part to the stakes and opponent he was facing. It also helped that across the board he looked untouchable throughout the night, something that even the mightiest of postseason performers can’t always say — unless your name happens to be Roger Clemens.
FanGraphs | Eric Longenhagen: With the minor league season wrapped up and the regular season closed, it’s time to start updating prospect rankings and close the book on the 2025 list. The Yankees have just one prospect in Longenhagen’s newest board, though it’s a good one with George Lombard Jr. taking the 15th spot after a solid season saw him jump into the upper half of the minors and join a handful of second-tier infield prospects as the future of the position.
