Another Season Ends in Disappointment for the New York Yankees

With one game in hand, and another to be played at Yankee Stadium, there was still hope going into last night’s Game 4.

ALDS Game 4: Blue Jays Prove They Are the Better Team

Rookie Cam Schlittler was fighting like hell to get through the Blue Jays lineup and navigating their hot bats well, holding the Blue Jays to only two runs until the seventh inning.

With a runner on first a groundball was hit right to Jazz Chisholm that should have been an inning ending double play. But an error kept the inning alive, and subsequently killed the Yankees.

The error continued the inning where Nathan Lukes drove in two making it 4-1 increasing Toronto’s win probability by 18.4%. The big names, All-Stars, and high priced free agents had their spirits broken by none other than Nathan Lukes. And I’m sure you are mispronouncing his name as you read this.

In many ways, that tells the story of the Yankees. Too many of their prized players came up short in the biggest moments. Aaron Judge was phenomenal, and almost everyone else fell flat.

New York’s Rotation Flopped

In Game 1 Aaron Boone handed the ball to Luis Gil, the 2024 Rookie of the year.

After starting the game with two groundouts he helped Vlad Gurerro Jr. end his 21-game homerless streak on an inside pitch that Vlad yanked out to make it 1-0. The next inning it was Alejandro Kirk going deep making it 2-0.

Gil lasted on 2 2/3 innings allowing four hits and two runs before the Yankees had to tap into their bullpen, something Aaron Boone had to do early in the first three games. Game one spiraled later in the game ending in a brutal 10-1 victory, but at least Max Fried was on the bump for game two.

Well, their prized free agent fared worse. Fried struggled to miss any bats allowing eight hits and seven runs before getting pulled after the third inning. Fried looked defeated on the mound and the Yankees were outmatched without any answers.

Although they won game three it wasn’t with the help of veteran lefty Carlos Rodon. Like the two he followed, Rodon had nothing going for him, lasting only 2.1 innings allowing six runs forcing the Yankees to chew deep into their bullpen once again as they held the Blue Jays to those six runs.

Three arms that have helped in the Yankees get to where they were today, all crumbled in the biggest moments. Two lefties the front office invested heavily in, both with experience, looked rattled by the Blue Jays lineup.

Cam Schlittler was the only starter to go over three innings. He might have had the best line of the three, but he was also far from perfect. In terms of blame, he’s closer to bottom, but a rookie putting up the best performance of the series? Yeah, you won’t win many like that.

I’m not asking any pitcher to be perfect. Toronto is a tough offense that ranked fourth in wRC+ and had the lowest strikeout rate in the league. No doubt, they were going to put up some runs. But to go out there and give no reason for Boone to keep you in the game, three straight games, is inexcusable.

Sure, the Yankees offense could have been better in games one and four, but playing from behind all game, heck, all series, is a tough ask.

Judge, but No Jury

In game one, the top five in the lineup was a combined 2-for-18 at the plate, with both hits going to Aaron Judge. In game four, the top five went 3-for-19 with Judge collecting two hits.

In a series against an offense like the Blue Jays, you cannot afford to have the most dangerous part of your lineup – excluding Judge – go 1-for-37. If you are not getting on base in front of Judge you have to at least drive him in once he reaches and the Yankees failed to do so in half of the games.

Yes, the Yankees showed better in game two and three. Bellinger had a moment and everyone showed up, to some extent, in game two. A game in which they lost 13-7.

Aaron Judge did everything you could have asked for. At least two hits in each game, nine hits overall, and a home run that changed game three and had potential to change the series.

Instead, in game four, at home in front of 47,823 Yankees fans, the offense put up two one of which came in the bottom of the ninth when the game was over.

Although it might feel unfair to focus primarily only on two games and more or less ignore the middle two you get to do that in the playoffs. Sample size gets thrown out the window because you do not have the sample size to hope ebbs and flows level out.

I’d argue the two games where the Yankees didn’t show up were the two most important. Game one was a tone-setter for the series and one you held the Blue Jays to only two runs until the seventh. Game four was your chance to ride the momentum and capitalize on your only win.

I liked what the Yankees did this offseason. I thought spreading what could have been Juan Soto money around to help improve the team in more facets than one was a good strategy. But, when it mattered the most, only Judge showed up.

Final Thoughts

To look on a less doom and gloom side, maybe the Yankees ran into a buzzsaw. Toronto put together great at-bats night-in and night-out and have enough All-Star level players to not been seen as the underdog in any way. But, we know Yankees fans don’t want any excuses.

Fifteen years without a World Series win feels like an eternity to many of them.

To see a divisional rival score at will against your team and end the series at Yankee Stadium is a gut punch. Seeing the players your team went out and acquire come up short to less established players from Toronto stings.

At the end of the day, the Blue Jays were the better team. They capitalized in the biggest moments and took advantage of the Yankees mistakes. Each year without a ring with Aaron Judge is one closer to spoiling an all-time great.