Let’s be real—the New York Yankee fans will take this win. A 10-9 nail-biter win over the Minnesota Twins looks great when it comes to the standings. But then, if you dig deeper, just like an onion, there are several layers and problems that are going unnoticed. And this time, very unlikely, but it’s around their captain, Aaron Judge.

The captain of all people got caught in what can only be called a silly act on the basepaths! He tried to swipe third base in a two-run game with one of the league’s best lefty mashers at the plate? If your question is why, there is no good answer to this.

What we do know is that it ended poorly, and he was tagged out. And this just makes Judge and Boone look reckless in a moment where they should be far from it. And recently, Locked on Yankees gave some alarming stats.

Locked on Yankees mentioned, “So here are some stats for you—Aaron Judge was caught stealing at third. I was so angry when that happened. Because that’s the other thing about Yankees that drives me crazy… Judge did something silly; he got caught stealing at third.” She also revealed that the Yankees have been caught stealing at third nine times this season. Second most in MLB behind the Rays, according to the stat from Katie Sharp. Most in the season since 1999! That’s not just a single mistake, and that’s the disturbing part.

Nine times this season alone, the Yankees have run themselves into outs at third base. That self-inflicted wound is something they cannot afford in September baseball. Plus, the team has not exactly been reliable when the games start getting wild.

Like in 2025, the Yankees have three wins in games where they have allowed nine or more runs. That’s three wins out of 18. To put that into perspective, from 2019 to 2024, they had only three such wins in 93 games. Plus, get this—twice in franchise history, the Yanks have blown nine-run leads. Once back in 1912, and then again in 1931—so history is not comforting, honestly. Tuesday night, they nearly joined that list with 10-1!

The gist is that unless the New York Yankees stop taking unnecessary risks, it’s going to cost them big time. They already make strange mistakes, and this was just another one from Boone’s Pandora’s box, it seems.

Yankees win, but their bullpen rings the alarm

The New York Yankees for sure got that win and snapped a two-game skid, but let’s be real—this was not exactly the kind of win that inspires any confidence. Trent Grisham, for example, continued performing great, and he blasted his 31st homer and drove in three runs. The offense did its job and built a massive lead of 10-1 by the fourth inning. But then came the part that Yankee fans are kind of familiar with—the bullpen not bringing their A game. Bullpen issue is something even skipper Aaron Boone agreed to!

Ryan Yarbrough couldn’t find that strike zone and gave up four runs while recording just one out. Later, David Bednar allowed a ninth-inning blast to Trevor Larnach before shutting the door for the save. So yes, a win is a win, but when you nearly cough up a nine-run lead, it doesn’t feel like much of a victory dance. The worst thing is that this is no new development. Since the All-Star break, the team’s bullpen has had a 5.49 ERA. In the year, their 4.61 ERA ranks eighth worst in baseball, and that’s the highest when you consider the playoff contenders.

This is a nightmare stat for a team with not just October dreams but World Series dreams. Sure, Brian Cashman tried to patch things together at the deadline by getting Bednar, Doval, and Bird. But it feels more like the band-aid snapping off than solving any problem. Both Bednar and Doval have been performing even more poorly than they did in their old teams. Bird, meanwhile, has been sent back to Triple A! So while the bats are doing the heavy lifting, they alone can fulfill their big dreams.