The New York Yankees aren’t playing good baseball right now.
The Yankees have been in a funk for most of the summer, going 18-27 over their last 45 games. They’ve lost nine games in the AL East standings during that time, falling from first place to third place.
Losing AL MVP candidate Aaron Judge to the injured list hasn’t helped, but New York’s also been hurting itself with sloppy play and careless mistakes, contributing to an ugly three-game sweep at the hands of the Miami Marlins over the weekend.
Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox are surging. They’re 11 games over .500 after sweeping the Houston Astros, passing the Yankees in the standings.
With his old team on a roll, Red Sox legend and NESN analyst Jonathan Papelbon ripped New York in a social media post on Sunday.
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“I feel a shift happening @Yankees are playing lazy and making a bunch of stupid mistakes and @RedSox are playing with grit and grind !!! #GritandGrind,” wrote the former reliever on X.
The Yankees made multiple brutal miscues against the Marlins over the weekend, including a costly fielding error by José Caballero and a baserunning blunder by Jazz Chisholm Jr.
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Papelbon wasn’t the only former player to call out New York. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez both criticized their old team on national television Saturday before the MLB Speedway Classic.
“They make way too many mistakes,” Jeter said. “Way too many mistakes, and you can’t get away making that number of mistakes against great teams. It just doesn’t happen.”
Jeter’s right on that front, as the Yankees were exposed by the Los Angeles Dodgers during last year’s World Series.
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It appears they still haven’t learned their lesson. If they don’t turn things around soon, they could be at risk of falling out of the playoff race.
Featured image via Rhona Wise/Imagn Images
