On Thursday afternoon, Michael Kay addressed mounting criticisms regarding the New York Yankees’ underwhelming performance during his show on YES Network. With the team holding a 73-53 record, placing them third in the American League and a half-game behind the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East, Kay warned that the Yankees’ current trajectory could jeopardize their playoff hopes.
“Verdugo is not hitting. There’s a lot of things that have to go on here,” Kay stated, emphasizing the need for improvement across the board. He added, “They’re going to the playoffs, aiming for great things. If they continue playing this way, they’re not going far.”
Kay expressed particular concern after witnessing the Yankees’ 9-5 loss to the Cleveland Guardians at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. “What I saw yesterday was disturbing,” he remarked, pointing to the team’s lackluster performance both offensively and defensively in that game.
A significant point of contention for Kay is the Yankees’ insistence on utilizing Clay Holmes as their closer, despite his struggles. “It’s one of the worst records in extra innings,” he remarked, highlighting Holmes’ tendency to falter in crucial moments. Holmes, who has blown ten saves this season—the most by a Yankees pitcher since Dave Righetti’s 13 in 1987—has drawn the ire of fans and analysts alike.
Manager Aaron Boone has defended Holmes, stating, “I expect it to be Clay on a lot of nights, but if I feel like that really good matchup for Clay is in the eighth on a given night, where it serves him or lines up better, then I’ll be open to doing that a little bit more than I have.” However, the ongoing struggles in the bullpen, particularly in late-game situations, have raised questions about Boone’s strategy.
The struggles of Clay Holmes
Clay Holmes has a 2.82 ERA this season, complemented by an impressive ground ball rate of 67.6%, ranking him first among pitchers with at least 40 innings. According to CBS, the stark reality remains: ten blown saves are simply unacceptable.
Kay pointed out that while Boone deserves some blame for the Yankees’ current plight, the issue extends beyond just one individual. The team’s struggles, particularly offensively, cannot solely fall on the manager’s shoulders. “It’s not only on Boone,” he said, acknowledging that other factors contribute to the team’s lackluster performance.
As the Yankees continue to battle for playoff positioning, the need for a more effective strategy in both the bullpen and lineup has become increasingly urgent.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
Boone learned nothing from the 2023 disaster season. Doing the same thing expecting a different result. Volpe is going to implode from every day use, needs some time off to recuperate. Verdugo is done DJ is done, Gleyber has lost his way, and Trevino is a backup catcher, not a starter. Holmes is no closer, but a blower. Make closing by committee. This team is playing sub 500 and that won’t get you far in October.
Holmes doesn’t have a strike out pitch which compromises his “closer” status. The ball goes in play, and often becomes a hit or an error.
THERE IS SOMETHING REAL BAD GOING ON WITHIN THE YANKEE EMPIRE.!!!.. WE AS “THE
HARDCORE YANKEE FANS” KNOW EXACTLY WHO THOSE SCUMBAGS ARE !!!.
I’VE.BEEN SAYING SINCE LAST YEAR 2023 !!!.
THE 3 BLIND MICE : “”CROSS EYED CASHMAN”” , “”RANDY LOOSER”” LEVINE AND “”AARON THE GOON BOONE”” ARE “THE YANKEE EMPIRES” WORST ENEMY !!!.
WE “THE HARDCORE YANKEE FANS”
DESPISE AND HATE ALL 3 OF THOSE ASSHOLES BLIND MICE !!!.
HAL STEINBRENNER… WTF ARE YOU DOING TO THIS POOR YANKEE TEAM !!!. YOUR FATHER , ” THE GREAT GEORGE STEINBRENNER” BUILT A DYNASTY OF THE GREATEST SPORTS TEAM IN SPORTS HISTORY !!!. ALONG WITH A LONG LIST OF GREAT LEGENDS THAT LED “THE NEW YORK YANKEES
TO 27 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIPS .🏆 !!!.
YOU HAVE THE RITE PLAYERS TO GO ALL THE WAY WITH 28 CHAMPIONSHIPS 🏆 !!!.
SHITCAN THOSE 3 BLIND MICE .T O D A Y !!!.
IT’S FUCKIN TIME …HAL !!! GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS AND ACT LIKE A “REAL FUCKIN OWNER’ !!!. FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE !!! .
FIRE 🔥 THOSE THREE MAGGOTS , HIRE JOE GIRARDI BACK AS MANAGER , WHO HELPED WIN THE LAST CHAMPIONSHIP 🏆 FOR THE YANKEES AND DEREK JETER AS OUR NEW G..M.. !!!. WE’LL, GET TO THE FUCKIN WORLD SERIES AGAIN !!!.
IF U STAY WITH THE 3 BLIND MICE …YOU WILL DESTROY THE YANKEE REPUTATION AND LOOSE “THE REAL HARDCORE YANKEE FANS ” FAITH IN YOU ,HAL !!!. REMEMBER WTF I SAID !!!.
PLAYOFFS ???
DID HE SAY PLAYOFFS???
MY TEAM CNT WIN A GAME !!.
AND YOU SAID … PLAYOFFS ???.
PLAYOFFS 😂😂😂 !!!!!.
ENOUGH SAID !!!.
GOD BLESS 🙏 AMERICA AND N Y C,
🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
Kudos, with an asterisk, to Michael Kay for speaking up about the most embarrassing loss I’ve seen in the 60+ Years I’ve been watching the Yankees. Yankee players (other than Judge & Soto) looked like Little Leaguers, offensively & especially defensively, throughout the game.
Kay was correct in being critical of Clay Holmes’s ability to deliver quality performances in the closer role for many weeks now.
But that should have inexorably led to some critical comments about Cashman’s Failure to bring in someone at the trade deadline who could share or take over the closer responsibilities.
Kay whiffed on 3 pitches for not blasting his buddy Cashman, who he insanely described as a HOF-worthy GM, not too long ago.
WOW, talk about lowering the bar on what constitutes a HOF candidate! Yes, and while we’re at it lets finally put Bob Uecker in the HOF as a Player!
Michael, love your broadcasts and loved your interview show on YES, but it’s time to STOP giving Cashman a free pass on being unquestionably one of the worst GMs in Yankees history.
As I’ve noted previously, Brian Cashman has NEVER built an AL Championship team on his own, let alone a World Championship team.
Cashman inherited the Fab Five of Mo, Jeter, Williams, Jorge & Pettitte from his predecessors, the truly HOF-worthy Gene Michaels & Bob Watson.
The only way the acronym HOF should be applied to Cashman is to say he belongs in the Hall of Futility.
Kay was correct, in part, to say Boone is partially to blame for the Yankees poor play, although when I witness players failing to execute plays that are taught in High School baseball (!), then Kay needs to acknowledge that Boone & Cashman deserve a massive amount of the blame for the problems on this team.
Kay was 100% correct in saying Verdugo is not hitting (no shit), but that should have prompted Kay to say, bring up Dominguez to play LF, release “Low Rent” Trent, and make Verdugo our 4th outfielder. (I’m sorely disappointed in Verdugo’s performance since the All-Star break: he went from great to horrid.)
Finally, in discussing Boone, how do you NOT BLAST Boone for starting Trevino over Wells in 3 of 4 games (I believe it was), after Trevino returned from the IL?
I’m sorry Kay, but only a Complete Moron, like Boone, would remove Wells from the lineup, when he had established himself as statistically The Best Cleanup Hitter in MLB.
And Cashman is also at fault in this because, the second time he saw Trevino listed as the starter, he should have demanded that Wells start 8 of every 10 games or Boone would be fired, Immediately!