MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: The Yankees limp home from what Aaron Boone called “a terrible road trip” — a 2-7 stretch that saw them fall from a half-game up on Tampa Bay to three games back of the surging Rays. The obvious takeaway was the alarming performance of the bullpen, capped off by closer David Bednar squandering a three-run lead with two outs in the ninth of the series finale against the Mets. Although paling in comparison to the disappointment of their recent run of form, there were several positives that can be taken away from the last nine games as well.
Anthony Volpe collected his first hit of the season and ended with a pair of knocks and three runs driven in, the recently recovered shortstop showing improved discipline at the plate with seven walks in 16 PAs. Ben Rice slugged his 15th home run of the year, he and Aaron Judge becoming the third pair of Yankees teammates to hit at least 15 home runs each in the first 47 games of a season, joining Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle in 1956 and Mantle and Roger Maris in 1961. Elmer Rodríguez pitched the best start of his young MLB career and looks to be improving his strike throwing at the highest level. It’s meager consolation for an otherwise wretched stretch.
MLB.com | Anthony DiComo: The Mets’ extra-inning walk-off over the Yankees on Sunday created some pretty jaw-dropping statistics. The Yankees still have yet to win a series at Citi Field since 2018, Aaron Boone’s first year as skipper. The Mets’ win probability stood at just five percent when Tyrone Taylor stepped to the plate with two outs in the ninth. Most damning, this is the first time since the 2024 NL Wild Card Series—the Pete Alonso vs. Devin Williams game—that the Mets have won a game in which they trailed after eight innings. They were 0-96 in previous such games including the playoffs.
The Athletic | Brendan Kuty (subscription required): The Yankees’ bullpen continues to be one of the biggest problem areas on the team, and now they might have yet another legitimate closer crisis. With Bednar surrendering the three-run homer on Sunday, his ERA bloats to 4.95. He’s already one blown save away from matching his total of three from last season after beefing two on this road trip alone. Unfortunately, the Yankees do not appear to have another in-house option to step into the role given that the likes of Camilo Doval and Fernando Cruz are similarly shaky, and will likely ride it out with Bednar and hope his fortunes improve.
NJ Advance Media | Randy Miller: We were provided with a raft of injury updates and speculation on which players could return soonest. José Caballero continues to rehab from a fractured finger and looks the closest to returning, possibly at the minimum return date of May 22nd. Gerrit Cole might be the next behind him. As Scott wrote up for us yesterday, he made his penultimate rehab start on Saturday. The ace could possibly make his long awaited return to the major league team in time for the series against the Royals in the final week of May, more than 14 months after suffering the injury that required Tommy John surgery.
Max Fried (elbow bone bruise) and Giancarlo Stanton (calf strain) are a little further behind, with a June return the most optimistic outcome. Finally, Clarke Schmidt (Tommy John rehab) and Angel Chivilli (chronic shoulder discomfort) are not expected back until September at the earliest.
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