Yankees betting on themselves despite their self-inflicted wounds

Before the Yankees boarded their flight from Atlanta to Toronto on Sunday night with what they hoped was some newfound momentum, Aaron Judge called it a “good time to start getting hot.” 

Three days later, inside the visiting clubhouse at Rogers Centre on Wednesday night, the only thing hot was the temper of the fan base following a horrific defensive showing that capped off another miserable series against the division-leading Blue Jays. 

Still, despite the Yankees’ malaise now stretching back six weeks, during which they have gone 14-21, Judge insisted there were better times and a hot stretch ahead. 

“Oh, it’s coming,” the captain said with a grin. “We haven’t hit our hot streak yet, but we’re going to. When it does, watch out.” 

But it is hard to take real steps forward when the Yankees keep shooting themselves in the foot. 

Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter George Springer (4) steals second base as New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (13) misses the throw in the eighth inning at Rogers Centre.

Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees reacts after popping out in the fifth inning during the game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on July 21, 2025.

The closest thing the Yankees have had to a consistent stretch of good baseball recently was their five-game winning streak shortly before the All-Star break. But that was preceded by two six-game losing streaks, and since coming out of the break, they have not put their best foot forward. 

“As frustrating as it is and as pissed off as you are when we don’t play our best against a team ahead of us, we also have to understand it’s a series and we got to keep moving,” manager Aaron Boone said.

Aaron Boone, right, argues with home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez prior to being ejected in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto on Wednesday, July 23, 2025.

The Yankees keep wanting to tell anyone who will listen they are a better fundamental team than last year — when a lack of clean baseball proved to be their downfall on the biggest stage of all, the World Series — except their actual play has more often indicated otherwise. 

“When it’s not perfect and you’re not just pounding teams, you got to do little things right within games to give you a chance to win those close ones,” Boone said. 

The Yankees, who were a season-high 17 games above .500 before this tailspin began, should get some reinforcements over the next week ahead of the July 31 trade deadline. But even the best haul will not be a cure-all for the Yankees if they cannot start playing a crisper brand of baseball. 

“I think it’s about everybody collectively saying, ‘I got to step up, I got to focus a little bit more. Go out there and just do my job,’ ” Judge said. “That’s what it comes down to: Do your job.” 

What was once a seven-game lead atop the AL East was a four-game deficit entering Thursday.

For now, the Yankees will spend the next six weeks tracking the Blue Jays from afar before seeing them one last time (in the regular season, at least) the first weekend of September in The Bronx. 

But by going 6-1 against the Yankees in a span of three weeks (to make it 7-3 overall), the Blue Jays have already clinched the season series, meaning they would have the tiebreaker if the teams are deadlocked after 162 games. 

Of course, there’s a long way to go between now and then.

And the Yankees would be hard-pressed to even have a chance at winning the division if they don’t improve on their record within the AL East (11-18). 

For now, their most immediate order of business is cleaning up their game and getting out of their own way. 

“I still bet on our guys,” Boone said.

“I do think there’s a steadiness to the group and a quiet confidence because we’ve been just OK for over a month now,” he added. “It’s been a lot of winning a few, losing some, couple little losing streaks that you always want to try to avoid. But I do feel like there’s an underlying confidence with this group. That said, we understand that we have to play better, especially within the division, if we’re going to get to the places we want to go.”