The Yankees are staring at more than a bad October. Down 2-0 to the Rays in the ALDS, New York has already exposed some problems that don’t look like quick fixes, even if this series somehow turns around.
Aaron Judge’s absence has mattered, but it hasn’t been the whole story. The deeper issue is that the roster itself has holes that could linger well beyond this winter.
One of the biggest is simple: this team doesn’t make enough contact. Through 18 innings against Tampa Bay, the Yankees have only five hits.
Drew Rasmussen taking a no-hitter into the eighth in Game 1 was ugly, but at least there was some explanation there. Freddy Peralta and the Rays’ bullpen?
That’s harder to brush off. New York had a chance to break things open in the top of the fifth when it loaded the bases with two outs, but Cody Bellinger flew out to deep center and the moment passed.
That miss fits a much bigger trend. The Yankees hit .251 as a team in 2025, good for 10th in the league, and Judge’s career-high .331 batting average and batting title covered up a lot.
This year, the number has dropped to .235, which ranks 25th. Since June 1, when the club played most of its games without Judge, it has fallen to .230 - better only than the Cincinnati Reds.
That’s not a one-series problem. With only so many moves Brian Cashman can make, the lack of contact looks like something that could spill into 2027.
The defense has been just as rough. Game 2 was a reminder of how quickly a team can bury its own starter.
Cam Schlittler wasn’t at his sharpest, but the Yankees also made life miserable for him with four errors and several other shaky plays. The first inning alone was a mess.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. may already be on the way out, and his throwing error helped get Tampa started before he nearly launched another toss into left field. George Lombard Jr. bailed out one of those plays with a good adjustment, but the errant throw still wiped out any real shot at doubling up Chandler Simpson.
Chisholm Jr. is only part of the issue, though. New York can move on from him and Trent "cement feet" Grisham this winter, but that still doesn’t guarantee the defense gets much better.
Aaron Boone has already hinted at a position change for Luis Garcia Jr., who was so poor at second base in Washington that he had to move to first. Shifting him off first now feels more like a patch than a solution to the messy roster Brian Cashman built at the deadline.
Spener Jones stepping in for Grisham in center is an upgrade on paper, but the results haven’t matched the idea. In 315 1/3 innings in center, Jones has posted -4 defensive runs saved and -4 outs above average.
That matters even more with Judge getting older and likely needing more DH days. The problem is that New York also added Heliot Ramos, who apparently neither hits lefties nor plays acceptable defense anywhere in the outfield.
For years, the Yankees have had trouble cleaning up their defense, and this looks like another winter where the fix isn’t clean. The openings available aren’t especially comforting either.
Second base, for example, could lead them into a free-agent market featuring poor defenders like Brandon Lowe, Luis Arraez, and old friend Gleyber Torres. Lowe and Arraez both put together unexpectedly strong defensive seasons in 2026, but their track records make it hard to trust that as the new normal.
Then there’s George Lombard Jr., who might be the most delicate issue of all. Early on, he looked electric in the field, covering ground and making flashy plays everywhere.
Over his first 11 big league games, he somehow piled up 8 DRS. But the shine faded.
In 42 games, he committed nine errors, and the trouble has followed him into October.
In Game 2, Lombard Jr. was part of the damage that let Tampa pull away. He booted a Chandler Simpson chopper that allowed Junior Caminero to score and put the Rays ahead 3-1, then added a throwing error later in the inning that gave Tampa another chance to add on. The criticism has already been there during the regular season, and now the question is whether this kind of October stumble sticks with him.
That’s the danger for the Yankees. The contact issues, the defense, and Lombard Jr.’s late-season slide are all different problems, but they point to the same place: this roster still isn’t built cleanly enough. Even if New York survives this series, the hard part may be waiting after it.
In Other News...
MLB Just Weighed In On The Anthony Volpe Play Yankees Fans Hated
The final night of the Yankees season carried plenty of frustration already, and one sequence in particular left the home crowd buzzing long after the play was over. Anthony Volpe drove a fly ball toward the wall in the loss to the Rays, and the ball appeared to have a chance to leave the yard before a fan reached over the fence and pulled it back into the field of play. The call on the field was not the end of the story, as the play was reviewed and the hit was changed from a home run to a double.
Major League Baseball later weighed in and took action, determining the fan had interfered with a ball in play and ejecting him from Yankee Stadium. For the Yankees, it became another harsh footnote in a season-ending defeat that also closed out the best-of-five series in a 3-0 sweep by Tampa Bay, a result that only sharpened the sting of what had happened on that one swing. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Infield Disaster Just Put Two Bronx Futures In Doubt
The Yankees infield issues spilled into ugly territory in Game 2 of the American League Division Series, when three errors in one inning helped sink them against the Rays and marked the first time in franchise postseason history that had happened. It was the kind of defensive meltdown that can linger long after October, especially for a team already weighing what its infield might look like next season.
Ryan McMahon and Jazz Chisholm Jr. both sit at the center of that uncertainty, with their spots in the picture far from settled. Manager Aaron Boone has already floated the possibility of moving Luis Garcia Jr. to second base, a wrinkle that could reshape the alignment in a hurry and leave the Bronx staring at more questions than answers when it comes to how this infield is supposed to hold together. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Fans May Hate What This Means For Boone And Cashman
The Yankees postseason push has plenty hanging over it, but the future of the dugout and front office appears to be far less uncertain than the present tense. MLB insider Jim Bowden said senior vice president and general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone are expected to be back next year no matter how the current playoff series against the Rays ends, a reality that will sit uneasily with fans looking for change after another round of scrutiny.
Cashman is reportedly headed toward a new contract as his current one expires at seasons end, while Boone is already signed through 2027 and continues to have the backing of team leadership. Boone has drawn fresh criticism in recent days, and with the Yankees still in the middle of a pivotal playoff run, the organization seems prepared to stay the course rather than treat this October as an evaluation of its top decision-makers. [Read more 🡒]