The Minnesota Twins torched the Yankees’ 10-year veteran on Monday night. When Carlos Rodon entered, he did all he could and delivered a quality start. Down only 2-0, the Yankees were still doing fine until Aaron Boone turned to the Yankees’ $2 million reliever Luke Weaver in the seventh. That’s when everything started to fall apart, and the Yankees took a 7-0 loss. Following the game, Weaver and Boone’s takes on his outing couldn’t have been more different.

The 32-year-old Yankees’ reliever admitted his collapse after allowing three doubles and two walks while the Twins scored five runs off the veteran righty. “Yeah, that was trash,” he exclaimed.

Further, he added, “The body just wasn’t on time. It just wasn’t aligned with what I was trying to execute and do. I felt like I was fighting myself the whole time. Mentally, just trying to overcome it, have a good mindset, and just, you know, stay within myself. And those two things just weren’t coming together.” Before getting replaced by Camilo Doval, Weaver had recorded a mere one out.

While he was honest on his outing, Boone, being his true self, didn’t see much wrong with Weaver’s sloppy attempt. “I mean, I thought he did an okay job.” If ever, one just listens to Boone’s postgame remarks without watching the game, it won’t be easy to figure out how the player actually played!

Despite a brutal outing, he still has “Ton of confidence in Weaver. The way he’s throwing, he’s going to get big outs,” Boone continued.

But it hasn’t always been this low with Weaver. The 10-year veteran was once viewed as the Yankees’ most trusted reliever. Earlier this season, he held a 1.05 ERA across his first 24 appearances. But when he was sidelined for 18 games this June with a hamstring strain, he didn’t look the same after returning.

The Yankees’ bullpen has been an everlasting problem this season. In fact, David Cone, during a recent ESPN broadcast of the Yankees’ 6-4 loss to the Red Sox, also echoed the same issue. “There’s no question that the Yankees bullpen is the last piece of the puzzle.” Clearly, the Yankees have little to no time to solve it.

Plus, this loss is good news for the Red Sox. Now, the Bronx Bombers have a meagre one-game lead over the BoSox in the Wild Card race. So, if Boston can win the next six games, against the Athletics and the Rays (respectively easy, of course), they can catch up and come in a tie with the Yanks. And their overall win should be at least nine to get to the playoffs.

And meanwhile, as Boone and company are still confident in their abilities to make a strong playoff run, they’ll have to eat their own words if the relief corps proves them wrong like they’ve been doing.

Michael Kay voiced the Yankees’ biggest weakness

The Yankees have just concluded their 13-game stretch against top playoff contenders. It was far from expected that they would stumble against the Twins. They could only muster two hits, and their bullpen did the rest of the unraveling.

Speaking realistically, the Yankees are still in division contention, but they now lead the Red Sox by only one game for the top spot. That’s concerning. Recently, Yankees play-by-play announcer Michael Kay cautioned the team for their glaring flaw, and maybe it’s too late, but the Yankees should do something about it.

“I mean, the bullpen is the biggest reason why the New York Yankees, despite having statistically the best offense in the league, are not going to win the division in all likelihood,” Kay explained. Until Yankees starters pitch eight innings and turn the lead over to David Bednar in the ninth, it’s all good.

But that’s kinda unlikely to happen all the time. Just as the Yankees will rely on their bullpen, no game will ever be safe for them. They need at least two top starters and a strong bullpen for the playoffs. Since the All-Star break, their bullpen ERA has been over 5.00. And with that, Boone’s recent comments on Weaver felt just a reflection of a lack of urgency.